~*~* Chronicles Of The Rift II *~*~ Starts [Mature] FINISHED!

[darktyranitar]

~~~Marion~~~
As the sun goes down...

I gulped nervously, as one of the Garuda - I've forgotten his name - had asked me to come to the roof. I've asked Adalia if it would be a good idea.

"I dunno... he looks okay to me." There was a small hint that she knew what I actually had in mind - a small hint that looked like something between pleasure and happiness.

It was the way he was looking at me. I know that look - the nervousness, the anxiety, and a really small hint of flushing on his face - and could it be... that he is...

He pulled the door to the roof open, letting in warm air into their stairway. It was quite pleasant.

"Are you her sister?" he asked, as we walked side by side towards the rooftop. By now, I found myself blushing, and was convinced that I was actually bisexual rather than homosexual like I had suspected earlier.

"No... she's just a friend." I then recalled how she was the first person I met upon dropping into this world, and the night after the Ninetails fight. "One of my best friends," I added in a whisper. He said nothing, and walked to the middle of the roof and sat down, his wings still.

"Tomorrow starts a harsh morning of training," he began. "Mmost likely it won't even be dawn when you start. Obstacle courses, sparing matches, endurance runs - you can expect each one of these before you get your wings." I looked at him, mouth slightly agape. Did he just said "before you get your wings"? At this, he grinned and flapped his wings slightly. "You don't think you can beat the Naga with out a temporary form of these do you?" He asked.

I said nothing and just stared towards the distance of the Naga's palace. I sighed. "We have been through so much, I figured I might actually be home by now." As I said this, I realized that I have almost forgot what my home looks like. The place... and the faces... I can't seem to remember them at the moment.

Life way back when I was Faiz.

There was a silence before the Garuda nudged me. "I bet this doesn't happen at home." He pointed to the sky as the sun disappeared over the horizon line. There were small ribbons of what I assume was mana appearing in the sky above the town; it was a colourful ribbon of colours of the rainbow, constantly changing from time to time.

"It's amazing..." I gasped.

I then felt his hand touching my cheek, turning\my head away so that I was facing him. He was smiling. "It's the best place to see it, I usually come up here alone at night." He explained, looking straight into my eyes as he said this. "You are the first person I have ever brought up here." He seems to hesitate, before he moved close towards my face.

I then realized what he was doing. He was going to kiss me.

"Um…" I began, pulling myself away from him as I looked up for the right thing to say. He seems to be hurt by this. "I… I think… don't you think this is a little… too sudden?"

He seem to be even more hurt. "Why?" He asked. "Is it because we are different? Is that it? You can't accept my kind?"

"No, no… it's not that… it's just…" My eyes were cast downward towards the floor; I can't look at him right now, not with that hurt look on his face. "It's just that there's this someone… and...…" I know I have said enough. "I… I need to go to bed…" I rushed past him, avoiding his eyes.

"But Marion… I…" the words were cut off as I closed the door behind me. I momentarily slumped against a floor, before I slowly made my way back to my room, laid myself on the bed - before noticing that Adalia was gone.

I sighed, and wondered if I what tomorrow would bring; there's the training thing, and then… he would be there as well… Perhaps… perhaps I should ask Adalia about this tomorrow. Or maybe Moswen… no, that'd be out of the question.

It took me a while, but finally, I fell into a dreamless, fitful sleep.

It was later when I'd wake up that I remembered that I never caught the name of the Garuda.

[ChobiChibi]

~Loki Kinoshita~

As he watched her leave, Loki remained silently stunned by the little girl’s words. After all that she said, he could no longer use the words “little girl” whilst thinking or talking about Adalia. She was trying so hard to fit in with everybody and was extremely conscious of her age, something someone as young as her shouldn’t have to worry about.

“She shouldn’t have to deal with this…” Becki commented, a worried tone to her voice in his head.

“That’s the thing…” Loki replied, finally beginning to understand how she felt. “She wants to be given the chance. I think she shouldn’t be expected to be grown up all the time…” He sighed. “I’m just a little hurt that she thinks I’m too old for games…”

Knowing exactly where Adalia would go, he set off towards Moswen’s room. Once he had reached the door, he swallowed hard before taking a deep breath to compose himself and knocked on the door. After a few seconds, it opened fractionally revealing Moswen in the doorway.

He bit his lip. “May I-”

Before he was able to react, Moswen’s hand made contact with his cheek, the sharp sound of contact echoing slightly in the hallway. “I think I deserved that…” He muttered.

“That was for leaving and breaking Adalia’s heart.” She stated firmly, her other hand still tightly on the door handle.

He rubbed his reddened cheek, taking another deep breath. “Please may I talk to Adalia?”

He received a piercing glare before she slammed the door closed. He clenched his fists, a reaction that had been spurred on by Becki as she became angry. “Are you going to stand for that? You can’t let her stop you from regaining Adalia’s trust again. She doesn’t know how much-”

“Shut up…” He mumbled to himself, his other cheek reddening with embarrassment. “I don’t…”

“That’s not how you really feel. Go on! Don’t let her stop you!”

Encouraged, Loki knocked on the door for a second time, this time louder and more confident. As Moswen answered, she started speaking before he had the chance to have his say. “She doesn’t want to see you, I won’t let you in. Stop torturing her, Loki, you’re not doing her any good.”

“How do you know that? She confided in me, even though I’ve been away. I regret going, I honestly wish that I had stayed, but I can’t change the past and am willing to stick around for the future.” As the door began to close on him again, he leant against the door with his hand, keeping it just slightly ajar. “Adalia, I’m sorry I seem too much of an adult, I know you don’t have to rely on adults and I-” He raised his voice slightly so that she would hopefully hear what he had to say, but was again interrupted by the door closing as his concentration had slipped.

Loki sighed, rubbing his temples. This approach really didn’t seem to be working very well. He sat down in the doorway, his head leaning against the skirting. Maybe everything will blow over tomorrow… he thought, his eyes closing slowly as he tried to relax and forget about the trouble he was in.
~~
May edit tomorrow, tis annoying me... *goes to sleep*

[classy_cat18]

Kite/Shonta
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I cocked an eyebrow and started to try to understand the information she had given me the past few minutes. "So...let me get this straight. You used to be a human but you made a deal with the gods and fused with the guardian Naga."

She nodded, still in that slightly insufferable Adalia form, legs and all. "It was for eternal life," she said mournfully.

"And you wanted eternal life for what now?"

"I wanted to see my love Miroku again."

"Miroku? Ban's sword?" Now the energy that I felt from the sword made sense now. So did Zombie-chan's ranting. "So you're the chick that was all 'tits and arse'."

She tilted her head and gave me a blank look. "What was that?" she asked me.

"Oh, nothing. I'm still trying to understand why you roped in all of us when you're really stuck on one guy." The logic didn't make sense to someone that believed that it wasn't possible to truly love more than one person, especially after all that happened to Adalia.

"You remind me of him. I truly care about you and the others. Please stay with me!" she pleaded while she tugged on my shirt.

I didn't know whether to sympathize with or slap her. She had been stuck in the palace forever and it didn't seem that she was going to escape anytime soon. Loneliness and desparation did crazy things to people. And I knew she didn't really love me, but a part of me didn't care. But to look like her and say such things...

"Why are you still looking like that?" I growled at her.

"Like what?" she asked innocently. Then she knew. "You love her, don't you?"

I ran a hand through my hair in annoyance. A headache was pounding in my head. "And you thought that I would like you better if you pretended to be something that has been getting on my nerves for the past two days? Why not look like Knes and kick my ass? Wouldn't that be more fun for you?"

She started to tear up, looking more and more like the little girl she disguised herself as. I thought of the moment that I scared Adalia from my room. "I just...wanted to make you...feel better," she sobbed, sniffing between words.

I made the mistake of tilting her chin up so I could get a better look at her tear-stained face. Her eyes met mine and I felt my heart melt. I was actually making her cry. Like messing with the real Adalia wasn't enough...

"I'm sorry! I guess I haven't realized how lonely you've been. I'm not mad at you, I'll stay with you! Just...cheer up!" I gave her my best smile.

And cheer up she did. A wide smile appeared on her face as she tackled me onto the mattress and gave me a quick peck on the lips. She even kissed like her. "Thank you, thank you! You won't regret this, I promise!" she said gleefully.

I felt really good, being held like that. My anger dissipated so all that was left was pleasure. I could just stay here forever. So what if the others feel differently? It's not like there was anything worthwhile back home. "I just thought of something," I told her quietly.

"What?" she asked just as quietly.

I sat up. "I don't know your name. I mean, what do I call you?"

"What do you want to call me? Does Adalia make you comfortable?" I shook my head. She still wasn't Adalia. "I am a Naga so how about that?"

"Call you Naga?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. I forgot my old name while in the crystal."

She doesn't have a name. That really sucks. So Naga doesn't sound right. That's like calling a pet lizard Lizard. So woman...snake...woman...snake...

"How about Eve?" I blurted out, reminded of the biblical story. It seemed to fit.

She smiled again and stroked my cheek. "I like that name," she said softly. I kissed her forehead and hugged her close like she was a treasured doll.

[Roy Karrde]

Vel
~*~*~*~*~ FASTER! ~*~*~*~*~

The morning updrafts allowed my wings to soar high above the field, watching the obstacles, from the crawl through the mud, to the swaying beam, and of course the climb. The long climb up the rocky wall, only to arrive at the top and dive to the pool below. This one above all else would help them in their flight. I had the unpleasant tasks of making sure they completed the drills before sunrise, which was already beginning to peek over the horizon, and drown out the stars. “The Naga moves fast, you have to move faster!” I screamed, swooping down, and giving Marion a gentle nudge to help her past the swaying beam, to which I hoped no one would notice.

I was almost glad the little girl wasn’t out here, she would only hold the group up and time was of the essence. I flew over to where Stella was climbing out of the mud pool, her body caked head to toe in mud. “The Naga will kill you if you do not move faster!” I yelled, flying up and observing the battle.

Within the next hour they were finally lining up, each looking tired. I kept trying to not look at Marion, last night, the whole incident where I had tried to kiss her. I quickly shook the thoughts of embarrassment from my head. “You will be going against the Naga soon, really soon.” I stepped past the girls and quickly turned on my heals, walking back, picking up a long wooden pole, tossing the first to Marion. “Time to see how experienced you are on the field of battle.” And then the poles to the other girls.

I quickly gestured to one of the hatchlings to come up. Hatchings were the term to boys about or just below the same age of the girls, who too were trying to earn their wings. I stepped back a few paces, allowing the battlefield to be drawn as the first of the young men stepped up. Now the girls’ didn’t have their weapons, how would they fare using a unfamiliar weapon in combat.

Good luck with the Hatchlings, each person that defeats one in battle will feel a sharp pain in their back as they slowly gain their wings, color of the feathers is your choice, they will fully emerge during the endurance run afterwards. We will be going into the final battle soon.

Naga/Eve
~*~*~*~*~ Morning ~*~*~*~*~

Eve, I pondered the name most of the night, I dare not move from Kite’s embrace and maintained the look of the small girl he loved. As the sun rose, Kite’s grip began to loosen, his tail uncoiled around my legs as I got up, walking toward the mirror and slipping the robe off. Her hair was beautiful, the type that shimmered in the sun. Her face also had a type of cuteness to it, but what else? She had no breasts, her skin was soft but not in a womanly way. How could he love me like this, but not as a beautiful adult woman? “Ad…Eve..” Kite whispered.

I slowly turned around matching his eyes, I felt an overwhelming feeling to cover myself, and a feeling I had almost never felt before around a man. “You…you are her, all the way..” He whispered, his eyes slowly gazing across the nipples, which only heightened the feeling. I quickly brought an arm across my chest, and another one covering my crotch, my face flushed in embarrassment. “I’m so sorry.” He quickly covered his eyes, although his tail twitched with excitement.

“I should change back.” I turned my back, the swirl of mana quickly dying, the change back happened so fast that it was almost nauseating. “Meet me downstairs.” I quickly turned, slithering out of the room and down the hallway, unlocking each door and saying the same before meeting in the large and spacious main room. My eyes caught Ban’s as he walked down stairs, there was something so different, so familiar in his eyes. Meanwhile Dimitri’s widened at the sight of Ovan and Kite’s new form.

“Planning on letting us go?” Dimitri asked, crossing his arms.

Oh I’ll play your little game Dimitri, but by the end of the day you will defend me like the other three now defend me. “Oh no, not yet, not when the fun is just about to begin.” I explained, slithering over to a desk and opening it with my tail, taking out four blocks of mana infused clay. “See I was supposed to sleep a long time, but I was awoken very early, and because of that I had a long time to practice certain crafts.” I moved my fingers around the clay blocks, quickly sculpting them.

“One of the most interesting things is a mine that used to be in this town, it contains a clay that was full of mana, very different from some of the other inanimate objects in this world.” I continued, placing each four of the blocks on the ground, and thumping each one gently with my tail. “To a true sculptor, they would take on the appearance of what ever they were created to look like, and the power of the same.” Each of the clay creatures quickly grew, a perfect replica of Dimitri, Ban, Kite, and Ovan.

“If you cannot defeat yourselves, how will you defeat the girls?” I asked, to the men, in the flash of a second their doubles were moving to attack them.

Adalia
~*~*~*~*~ Sleeping… ~*~*~*~*~

I was awoken in what felt like the middle of the night, the room was bathed in darkness, and there was the slight sound of movement in the room. Outside of the door there was even more movement as whispers could be heard as people ran up and down the hallway. “Moswen?” I called out, sitting up and glancing around the bed, I had fallen asleep curled up next to Moswen, now the bed was empty. I glanced around, finding Moswen walking over to the window and peering outside before walking over to the side of my bed.

“Something is happening, I’m going to see what is going on and then go back to the library.” She whispered, her voice soothing yet a bit of exhaustion and curiosity mixed in. She placed a hand on my shoulder, lowering me back down onto the bed. “You need to rest.” She added.

I quickly rose back up again. “But I want to go with you.” I objected, this time Moswen lowered me back down quicker.

Moswen let out a long sigh, her tail twitching. “They are just rounding up most of the group, I am just going to see what is happening and then I will check in on you before heading to the library.” She explained again, walking around the bed, toward the door as I rose again.

She was trying to sugar coat it but they were taking all the older girls and training them for the Naga battle, I wasn’t picked because of my age, and Moswen, Moswen was just acting weird since the last battle. “Moswen I know they are getting all the girls, and I just want to go with you because I am a big girl too right?” I asked, tears brimming and a long yawn escaped my lips as Moswen glanced back at me.

“If you go to sleep, I will see what I can do about getting you into the afternoon training.” She said, I quickly laid my head back down on the pillow, closing my eyes and idly scratching my chest, which sent a stab of pain radiating upwards. Pulling down my nightgown, I peered down at my chest to find long red scratch marks across my chest, the skin felt tender to the touch, but at the same time it, itched to the point of annoyance. “Great…” I moaned.

I lay in bed for a long time, just laying there, every few minutes I would scratch my chest and be reward with a sharp pain. Not long after sun began to bathe the room, that my thoughts turned to Knes. If I were captured he wouldn’t rest until he rescued me, and here I was just lying around. “Alright, if they wont let me train, then I will rescue him myself.” I sprung from the bed, taking the bed sheets and tying knots in them, before finally tying my homemade rope to the bedpost.

I moved to the shutters, swinging them open and tossing my rope out the window as the door swung open, a black shape springing across the room and throwing me to the ground, pinning me down. “Don’t jump, don’t kill yourself, please.” Loki growled, his face morphing back into human form. Our eyes matched for a second, and then he looked up, noticing the rope. “You were planning to…jump out the window with a bed sheet?”

I quickly struggled free of his arms, rising to my feet and scooping up my staff. “I am going to go rescue Knes, no matter what anyone else says.” I crossed my arms; Loki’s tail and ears sank at the sound of Knes’ name. “I just have to.” I added testing the rope one last time before crawling on it.

“Fine, but I am going with you.” Loki quickly pulled me off of it before crawling on himself. “We work better together right?” He asked, drawing a smile to my face.

As we made our way down, thoughts of letting go, of just relaxing and it would all be over began to fill my mind, my grip on the rope began to loosen. “Loki…” I whimpered, retightening my grip on the rope. “I think I might fall..” I closed my eyes, clutching the rope as it swayed in the breeze.

“Loki….LOKI!” I screamed, my fingers slipping from the rope as I went into a free fall, the ground quickly rushing toward me as I screamed.


Alright boys, you can take which ever copy you want, have fun defeating them!

[Haruko]

Ovan
-why do we always hurt the ones we love? / when I lost everything, I realized what was important - the regret .~ Toki no Namida by UVerworld
Control: Danielle

As I awoke into the morning, the fever and aching from my body from the day prior had completely disappeared. My arms still felt a bit tight from the burns that Ovan self-inflicted, but I could feel the mana in my body being fully energized; even moreso than normal. I had practiced the rest of last night on walking on this odd, snake like tail, and I was sure I had gotten it down. I stretched and slowly got out of the bed, to see the Naga-women unlocking my door. She smiled to see me awake as I placed my top-half clothing on.

"Meet me downstairs."was all she said as she left me to do my things. The belt, which held the sheath for Valkyrie, was a snug fit around the waist. I placed Valkyrie inside and sighed, I couldn't even hear her anymore. Even if she was against this change, her voice was a bit comforting.. I then placed on my gloves, the mail - both engraved with runes, and a shirt. I slithered outside; albit disgusted that I was getting good at it after a nights practice. I slithered all the way downstairs and to the main room, which was spacious enough. I saw, much to my 'delight', Kite, and Dimitri. Ban himself was coming downstairs.

As I stood infront of the Naga, Dimitri; one who didn't yet get changed into the hideous..yet freeing form, eyes widened from Kite and my appearance. His arms crossed in defiance, he looked at the Naga; who seemed to be a bit playful herself.
“Planning on letting us go?”Dimitri asked.
“Oh no, not yet, not when the fun is just about to begin.”The Naga explained, and slithered herself over to a desk, opening it to reveal 4 blocks of clay. “See I was supposed to sleep a long time, but I was awoken very early, and because of that I had a long time to practice certain crafts.” As she explained this, her fingers gently moved through each block of clay, sculpting them.

“One of the most interesting things is a mine that used to be in this town, it contains a clay that was full of mana, very different from some of the other inanimate objects in this world.”She added, then placed the sculpters on the ground, thumping each with her tail. Each of them slowly grew into perfect replicas of ourselves, as the copy of myself smirked at myself; his piercing blue eyes hinting away at the darkness.

“If you cannot defeat yourselves, how will you defeat the girls?”She asked, and as if it were a gun to start a race, our doubles started to chase after their originals.

------

D!Ovan* quickly ran over from his starting area and over to O!Ovan, talking out his D!Valkyrie from the sheath and charging it with wind. All in one swift reaction, O!Ovan quickly took out Valkyrie, and scraped it against the earth, charging it in mana as the earth around it gathered and plastered onto it, making a great Zweihander. Using it to block the original attack by D!Ovan, the duplicates attack pushed back the original defense still, as their eyes met.

"You fight like a girl."The D!Ovan smirked, the tone of his voice dead serious as the blades continued to grind against each other, the wind hitting and trying to destroy the earthen sword. Chips and pieces of the earth fell off, returning to its normal form as O!Ovan glared at its copy, and quickly took a offensive measure; pushing back the duplicates sword and quickly changing Valkyrie's mana from earth to ice as D!Ovan quickly came for another strike, smirking through as he changed the swords form into fire.
"Defiantly like a girl."He said as the fire melted the ice, leaving a bare sword. O!Ovan growled lowly as he changed his swords state into water, and the duplicate's sword was left bare as well. The mana in the tail was providing both with much more mana than normal, allowing the elemental changes in Valkyrie to numerously more than normal.

The impact of the two swords collided and sent both back, O!Ovan against a pillar and D!Ovan against the air. Although with many yards apart, their eyes continued to meet, never to lose track of each other as they caught breath.

As both of them made sure they were well grounded, they ran; slithered, but all the same, towards each other, not allowing the other to know what element the sword would compromise of next. But each had eyes, brains similar to each other, and therefore both knew what it took to win.

As lightning started to dance from both swords, you couldn't tell apart the two. Each had the same look of determination in their blue eyes, each had the same messy brown hair, each had burn scars on their arms from the day prior. As if dancing infront of a mirror, the two men continued to do so, exchanging blows with their swords of lightning, occasionally getting a wound on the other.

"Maybe it is because you're a silly girl behind a mask?"D!Ovan playfully jested as he thrusted his sword through a part of O!Ovan's tail, and O!Ovan winced in pain, hissing at his duplicate as it smirked back at him.
"Shut your fucking mouth!"O!Ovan yelled as his eyes turned into slits from pure rage, and after a few harsh bouts; where the lightning from the two swords bounced around the room. As blood from the slightly deep wound poored onto the marbled floor of the Naga's palace, diving into the indents created from O!Ovans gathering of the earth, O!Ovans only chance now was to trip the duplicate and slice into him deeply.

Seeing his chance, O!Ovan continued to exchange blows as he backed up near the blood pools, avoiding them diligently. He could feel the blood loss was substantial; the amount of mana in his tail was great, and so was the amount of blood. But it was his fight, and he had to win it.

As he saw the duplicate lose his footing on the slippery surface below, O!Ovan smirked and stabbed him in the left portion of the chest, electrocuting his fake heart. The fakes body fell into it's original shape, clay, as the original fell from standing, panting. He took off his shirt to reveal his mail armor, and wrapped it around the wound that was on the tail, tightening it around the wound the fake had given him.

"I might be a girl..but I can kick your ass.."O!Ovan mumbled to himself, glaring at the clay until he slowly slithered back to the Naga mistress.

O!Ovan:Original!Ovan. The non-fake.
D!Ovan: Duplicate!Ovan. The fake
D!Valkyrie: Duplicate!Valkyrie. Fake Valkyrie.

Stella D'Aubigine
-everything that happens in the unseen future has a meaning / so stay like this, there'll come a time when you will realize ~D-Technolife by UVerworld

As we awoke to the moonlight pouring through the sandstone building's windows, I stretched. My wound had started to scab; which was good, and I could feel most of my mana having regenerated. I looked at Danarica's baby, who seemed to be sleeping peacefully after a few attempts we had during the night. I took out my backpack and throwout the dirty, bloodstained shirt I had worn the night prior. I had only one fresh shirt, and I knew it was going to get dirty today during practice. It was no use avoiding, however; because it would get dirty one way or another.

We had been gathered outside to run an obstacle course, which was the first trainning session of the day. Although my old trainer had ran me through around the trainning grounds, I had no experience with obstacle courses whatsoever. Halfway through, I found myself covered in mud from head to toe; my wound stinging in pain and festering once more.

“The Naga will kill you if you do not move faster!” I glared at the Garuda as he said this, and I picked up the pace to finish the obstacle course. I never wanted to run one again, especially in a skirt. I gathered my breath as we were given a break for an hour. I looked around and found a small pondish-pool near the apartment we were settled in,and wet my shirt; hanging up my shirt to dry and taking off my bandages. I quickly wet myself and placed my skirt back on, which still was covered in some mud; but not immensely, and my shirt, which was wet but not covered in mud. I sighed as the wound seemed to be clean enough; I didn't have my herbs on me to clean it any better.

I walked back to the place designated by the Garudas for the training as we formed a line. It was here that I knew I was going to shine, it was sparring; an event I knew well. We were each given a wooden pole, primitive yet it would get the trainning done. I waited for my turn to come up, and smiled as I did, looking at the teen aged Garuda as we went in the middle of the arena.

"May we shake hands? It is tradition in with my trainer to do as such." I asked the teen aged halfhuman in the eyes, and our hands met halfway, shaking for a fair fight. I smiled, and prepared my pole in the stance I was taught by my master, and looked the Garuda.
"I'm sorry, but you will not earn your wings today." I told him honestly, and we started our match. As our poles met, I could feel the determination in his blows; he sincerely wanted his wings today. Yet I needed to fix the mistake I had done. Both couldn't get accomplished, sadly.

We both exchanged blows for a fair few minutes, as neither of us could see an opening in the others defense. He was well trained, but so was I. My trainer would certainly shun me for losing, especially when I knew it meant the most.
'Opening!'The words shot up in my mind as he aimed a strike to my stomach, and I twisted my legs; allowing my pole to hit him on the side of his stomach. I smirked as I hit him, and withdrew my pole to block his hit that was aiming to trip my legs. I quickly used the time to push up his pole, and we got back into normal stance, our eyes meeting.

'Touch his neck and it's mate.'I thought as we continued to exchange mindless blows that we could easily match up.I looked at his hands as the grip on the pole wasn't as strong, and if I could try to get it out of his hands; that would be game-set-and-match.

As we continued to mindlessly exchange blows; I could tell our match was slightly boring the higher Garuda; but it was also interesting in that a human was as decent as a Garuda in the arts. I smirked as I looked at the teenaged Garuda one last time, and as I finished one of my blows to his pole, I lunged foward, hitting the middle of his pole. His hands fumbled from the sheer pressure of the hit, and as I hit it once more, it fell to the ground. I then took my pole and pushed the tip up to his neck, and my finger to his nose.

"Mate."I smiled, and he smiled back, happy to have an equal to duel. We both stood there, laughing for a minute until I felt a severe pain from my back, as if someone had stuck a lit piece of metal on my skin.

[kalad1]

>>Danarica<<

I frowned as I sat on the edge of the bed, twirling a dagger in my fingers, dextrously tossing it up and down. I watched the blade, thinking about what it represented. It represented blood, death, killing, and murder. It was a weapon, not a tool, but a thing designed to kill. It once seemed so light a thing, but as I tossed it, it seemed to weigh tons.

I was a mother now. I had a child. Was it truly right for the hands of a mother to hold an item like this? The hands of one who was supposed to give life being used to end it? I'd killed Fearls... and people... didn't they have mothers too? Was I the source of a lot of pain? Just the thought of losing my child sent my mind into a near panic, what kinds of pain had I inflicted? If I continued, would I not be a hypocrite worse than any other? In the eyes of how many people would I be a horrible demon?

And... Ovan... he was probably in the hands of that vile snake, could I really face him? Possibly even hurt him? Why did my blood turn to ice at that thought? What if he never saw our child again? Or... what if I lost him? Sure, that seemed selfish, but... I had no other skills beyond killing, how could I get by without him?

Just then, I was shaken out of my reverie by my child crying, obviously hungry. Sighing, I stood up, gathering her in my arms, and letting her drink. Standing there, supporting a life so fragile, I knew it...

I couldn't keep going...

I decided to walk as I fed her, heading outside, and seeing the others lining up for the training ground. The sun was almost blinding, shaking my resolve as I walked up to them. The others gave a passing glance to me, their eyes watching the training ground. I glanced down at my child, still nursing at my nipple. The sensation, the feeling, only strengthened my resolve as I tried to find my voice. "Are you okay?" Marion asked, getting out of line and stepping over while Stella went up to battle. I took one more glance at my child, knowing I did the right thing and said "I'm not going on this journey any longer, I'm staying here."

They all looked at me silently, clearly suprised and astonished. Sighing, I stated, "I'm a mother now for #$%^'s sake! I'm supposed to be caring for my child, not gallavanting around on adventures!"

[classy_cat18]

Kite/Shonta
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

My double raced straight for me with the obvious intention to castrate me...and more, of course. Our halberds clashed with a metallic clang (even though the double's was clay) and pushed against each other.

"No fair. You have legs!" I complained through gritted teeth.

"War's a bitch, ain't it?" my double sneered while slowly pushing me back. It jumped back and attempted to jab me through the chest with its halberd but I leaned back on my tail, marveling at the ease of the task.

"Ha!" I stood up straight and swung my blade at him. My duplicate summoned an unfamiliar shield that my halberd struck. The result was an unfamiliar pain that started in the hands and raced through my body to the ground. I was thrown back to the ground. Electricity. I didn't even know I could do that.

"I'm guessing you didn't know you could do that," Duplicate told me as it lowered its shield.

"I really hate you right now," I growled while getting back up. The mana that was concentrated in my tail started to flow through my whole body.

"Why? I'm exactly like you, right down to the bad attitude."

"Exactly."

We both tightened our hold on our weapon. The mana pressure in my body rose so I raised a regular barrier as Duplicate swiped at me to ease it. Wasn't working. The pressure just kept rising.

Duplicate bore down on the shield in an attempt to break it. For a while I thought it would succeed. Then the inner pressure got so high that I wanted nothing more than to release it. I focused it all on Duplicate and then...

"AAAAH!" the double screamed as the shockwave sent it flying backwards. It hit the wall so hard that he seemed to shatter into pieces upon impact.

I chuckled and lowered my halberd. "Cleanup on Aisle Three," I joked.

[Bulbasaur4]

MOSWEN



Moswen’s hair billowed in the wind as she sat along one of the rooftops of the Garuda’s home. Leaning back slightly, she withdrew a sigh and saw the moon clearly. Closing her eyes, she recalled a bit of what she had finally gathered together in the Garuda’s library.

The library had been filled with a great deal of information- most of it uninteresting for Moswen’s purpose. It wasn’t until hours later that she found a few severely old books clumped together in the corner of the library. They held histories of the world and spoke of two Gods. Gods that were said to be intertwined- a Goddess and a God. Both were clearly separate identities but yet neither could live without the other. It was from their grace and essence that the world was created and the world formed a similar pattern. None could live with out a bit of each of their essence. Moswen easily realized by the readings, that the Gods were similar to Yin and Yang- or rather, they were Yin and Yang. The books held several interesting facts as well- including the idea that no creature could be made completely of one essence or the other- not even the Gods themselves. However, if Yin or Yang almost completely took over something… that thing or area would be subjected to chaos.
More vague descriptions of the crystals had been included as well. However, one thing caught Moswen’s eye. One of the ancient books (the title had worn off) seemed to be dedicated to speaking of the ‘true’ form of the crystals that harbored mana. Most of the words had vanished and pages were torn, but Moswen had gathered a bit of information. Apparently, when a guardian is defeated the crystal dies or shatters. However, the crystal is not gone but rather it reverts into its true form. This form would be located precisely below the original position of the crystal. While by itself, the crystal harbored no power… having released its mana. Yet, if the true crystal was to be connected or linked to another, the two would be react. The same thing would occur between all four. If all four were brought together… some how… (Moswen couldn’t decipher how it was done), then a great deal of power would be released or granted. Yet, Moswen couldn’t determine exactly what the power was or how it was released. Too much of the book had been worn away… she didn’t even know what the true form of a crystal looked like. The book did make one thing clear however- bringing all four jewels together was dangerous and most likely, bad.

More research had been done by Moswen, including a bit on the Naga. Fatigue soon had settled within Moswen’s gaze however, so she went back to her own room. Moswen had not been placed with anyone else… but soon Moswen heard Adalia enter her room. Moswen had comforted Adalia with the arrival of Loki. Then of course, Loki had showed up. Moswen had slammed the door in Loki’s face a few times before he got the picture. She knew it probably was the wrong thing to do- to simply block him out for now. But Adalia had made it clear she didn’t want to speak of him and truly she was too upset to talk anyways.
“You… you were really stern with him.” Adalia had spoken, and Moswen nodded. Sitting next to her, Moswen withdrew a sigh. Foggy memories of her former life entering her mind… and Moswen instantly knew that the reason for her swift change was due to the subconscious memories she had forgotten temporarily.
“I know how you felt Adalia- being left by Loki.” Moswen said gently, turning a sad gaze at Adalia. “ Before this world… I was abandoned by one I loved dearly as well. He spoke of horrible things to me… and left me shattered into pieces- pieces that could never be, well… completely placed together.”
Adalia and Moswen sat in silence after those words. Moswen had left out some of the deeper personal details, but they were unneeded. Soon however, Moswen ushered Adalia to sleep. As soon as that had been done, Moswen had headed out to search in the library… but instead she some how ended up on the roof.


Moswen withdrew a deeper breath as she stared up at the sky still.
“What are you doing up here?” A voice echoed, and Moswen raised a brow and turned her head to see the Garuda- Vel, standing near her.
“Thinking.” Moswen replied shortly.
“May I sit next to you?” He asked, and Moswen didn’t respond but instead gave a nod. Vel then sat down and assumed a similar position as Moswen. The two sat in silence for a while, and Moswen began to wonder why he was near her in the first place.
“Why is it that you aren’t training?” He then asked. “What do you really fear about it?”
Moswen absently bit her lip. “I fear of the monster I would become if I were to battle anymore.”
“If you fear your powers, you should grow to control them.”
“It really doesn’t work that way.”
“I have yet to see any power that cannot be trained with.”
“Look,” Moswen began, turning to face him. “I have two types of powers. One helps while the other destroys. The more I release of the destructive one, the more it takes over my body. Sometimes when I release a little bit… it takes over anyways. I don’t know exactly how it works, but I have a feeling that I’m not the only one who controls it. It has a … a mind of its own. I can’t really explain.”
“Well…if that is how you feel…” Vel thought for a moment. “Why don’t you train the one that helps?”
“I fear that one might try to take over as well.”
Vel laughed, “You sound like you have different personalities harboring within you.”
Silence filled the air. It was uncomfortable silence- silence that made Vel wonder what it really meant. Moswen felt the pressure of wanting to tell someone rise within her as she clenched her fist, finally looking at Vel with a deadly serious look.
“I think I have a God residing within me.”
More silence. Moswen then stood up, her tail swishing agitatedly. Before Vel could speak, Moswen looked at him and suddenly grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.
“If you tell anyone, I’ll destroy you.” Catching herself, Moswen shook her head. “Sorry… just… don’t tell my companions or anyone. I don’t want anyone to worry about me. They need to get home. We need to just… do what we were meant to do on this earth and they need to go home.”

With that, Moswen began to walk away. Vel watched her for a moment before speaking.
“When are you going to let down that defensive barrier you have up?”
Moswen paled. Did he really see through her that easily? The Garuda’s sense of perception was unnerving. Still, she didn’t turn around but merely spoke low.
“I have let one enter the barrier. But he alone may just tear it down.”
Moswen then walked away. “Tomorrow, you WILL let the girl known as Adalia train. She’s stronger than you think… and if you think she’s weak, then think of the saying that a ‘chain is only as strong as its weakest link.’ But she is not weak.”
Moswen’s voice trailed off as she leapt off the side of the building and vanished from his sight.




KNES


“Loki! LOKI!” The voice screamed in the air. At the point in which Adalia’s body should have hit the ground and spattered into a gory mess, two feet stood. Adalia’s eyes were tightly shut until realization that she was not dead dawned upon her mind. Opening her eyes, Adalia looked up to see the bewitching eyes of Knes gazing painfully down at her. His strong arms held her tightly, he having appeared via teleportation at just the right moment. He had been watching her as she climbed down with Loki… his face paling as he saw her hands slip.

“Kn-Knes?!” Adalia gasped, and he gave a slight nod.
“Yeah, sorry if you were expecting someone else.” He said softly, glancing up at Loki who slowly slid down.
“Knes!” Adalia exclaimed, wrapping her arms about his chest as she buried her face into him. “I thought the Naga had taken you! I thought you were under her spell! I thought you forgotten about me!” Adalia’s face streamed with tears as Knes sat her down. A gentle smile came to his face as he took a finger and gently wiped away her tears.
“I could never forget about you. I got away from the Naga and now I’m here.” Knes then looked to Loki, but his expression remained well hidden.
“You can train then and help us defeat the Naga!” Adalia exclaimed, but Knes gave her a hug and shook his head.
“You girls will be more than enough to defeat her and bring the others back from their induced state of mind. Besides… I found out once we destroy this Guardian, we have to go to the moon. I gotta find a route to take us there.” He said, but Adalia swiftly pointed at Loki.
“Loki brought a map to it actually! We can use that!” Knes grew slightly agitated, but hiding it well he nodded.
“Where is the map?”
“In my room.”
“I’ll go get it then… I’ll be right back.”
Knes teleported, but unbeknown to Adalia and Loki, he had targeted Loki as well.
The two soon teleported to Adalia’s room and within an instant Knes had grabbed the map to the moon.
Loki’s expression filled with confusion as he realized what had happened.
“Look… I did this so I could speak to you.” Knes said, crossing his arms as his true gaze came to full. Looking at him with anger, Knes withdrew a breath.
“I don’t care why you’re back. I don’t care what help you bring. I don’t care that you randomly left on your little pitty trip. All I care about is that you don’t hurt Adalia anymore. If you really care about her, then don’t ever do something idiotic like that again.” Loki opened his mouth to speak, but Knes held up a hand. His mind swam with ideas, with torments… but his voice softened as he spoke once again- as if his mind was fading else where.
“Just… if you love her and have a change in heart, then steal her love away from me. If you think you can be better for her than anyone else… then try to earn her love. I want what’s best for her, whether it be me, you, or someone else.”
With that, Knes teleported them back to Adalia.

“I gotta go… I’m going to check the map out.” Knes said to Adalia, planting a gentle kiss on her forehead.
“I’m not leaving you though. I promise I’ll be back.” Knes said with a smile. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a small silver pendent of a crescent moon. Opening Adalia’s hand, he placed it in her palm.
“I found this a long time ago and thought it was really beautiful… but now I want to give it to you, as a promise.”
“What promise?” Adalia asked, as Knes stood up straight.
“A promise that I’ll only do what’s best for you. I’ll always be thinking of you.”
With that, Knes vanished.



~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Knes held the map in his hand as he walked down one of the alleyways. Gazing up at the moon, he smiled.
“I already know the way.” He thought, narrowing his eyes at the thought of the map and Loki. He then looked to his hand that held the map, and suddenly the map burst into flames and burned within his palm until it was nothing but traces of ash in the wind.
“Time to go have a chat.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

[darktyranitar]

~~~Marion~~~
Aiming for heaven, though serving in hell

If there was anything of the other world that I could remember right now, it was this one thing:

"Yi? What does this remind you of?" I managed to said as I trailed behind her. She gave a nonchalant shrug.

"Evil National Service aka. PLKN, 'Khidmat Neraka'."

"Ah, that," she replied, and continued trailing through the mud. "So. NS has crawling through mud obstacle?"

"No, but there is one time where we had to jump into a muddy river. Twice. In a day. But we only did that once."

"Ah... that sounds... nice. Good thing I was exempted out of 'em."

And it stopped there, as the instructer Garuda - Vel, as I have just learned - continued to give out orders - and I was reminded that National Service's training was far lighter than this one.

“The Naga moves fast, you have to move faster!" He screamed, before he swooped down and gave me a slight nudge as I was on the swaying beam. I would have pointed out that I can do it on myself, thank you very much, but he quickly went to check on the others.

And finally... after a few hour of going through living hell, we were told to line up, where Vel then passed each of us a long wooden pole. “Time to see how experienced you are on the field of battle,” he said. I sighed. Sure, my only means of defend other than Karam was a long piece of wood, but so far, the only target that I have hit was Yi back then in the snow mountain. I glanced around, and noticed that she was not in the line. Alas.

I stayed at the furthest line behind and let the others battle first; the fact that all of them won only made me more nervous than comfortable.

All eyes were then turned towards one figure. It was Danarica, feeding her child, and a troubled look on her face. "Are you okay?" I asked her and got out of line, letting Stella to go first. She then announced that she will stay here and pull herself out of the journey.

When the crowd went silent, she replied with I'm a mother now for fuck's sake! I'm supposed to be caring for my child, not gallavanting around on adventures!" There was another silence, and she then stormed off from the training ground. The fight resumed, and I waited until it was silence again; I looked around, and notice that I was the last one to go sparring.

"Alright, alright," I mumbled, getting into the middle of the batling field. I was slightly worried; so far, our side is winning, and being the last of the remaining battler, my opponent would surely be more determined to win this one.

"Right, let's get it over with," he said, swinging the pole in one hand. "Unlike the others, I won't lose easily."

And he really meant what he said. Within seconds, he was striking down blows, and I was forced to block most of the time. I would try to look for an opening, but he attacks just too fast.

As the battle progressed. I noted that it appears that his plan was to attack repeatedly and brutally, to give me no room for attacking. So I held on a little longer, and waited for an opening. Then it came: there seem to a pause after a strike, as he stopped to catch his breath. I swung the pole to hit his head, but then quickly pulled it back and hit him in the stomach instead.

He groaned, but quickly swung his pole to deflect a second blow. I let out an angry cry, as we furiously continued to thrust and parry. I was very tired... and I could really use a rest right now...

I gave a growl and swung the pole as hard as what my strength could muster, To my pleasent surpise, my opponent's pole was send flying away, and I swung the pole so that it lightly touched my opponent's neck.

He seems surprised, but then shook his head and smiled. "Good game," he said, and gave a half-hearted handshake.

"Thank you. Um... so..." I stopped, as I felt the skin on my back beginning to stretch. I dropped to my knees as the muscles and bones beginning to twist. It was as if something was snaking its way out from my skin; when the Ninetails bit my arm, it was from the outside, but in this case, it was from the inside.

"Aaaarrrrggggghhhhhh!" I gripped into the pole tightly that I felt the splinters sticking into my skin. Then, for one moment, the twising stopped...

I drew in a small breath...

And then the wings came out, and it felt as if a knife has just sliced through my skin inside out. A hand then gripped mine, and my eyes travelled up to meet Vel.

"It's almost done," he said in an assuring voice. "It's almost done."

The pain slowly subsided, and I felt a tingling sensation on my back. "It's the feather, isn't it?"

He nodded. "It's beautiful."

"Really?" I tried to touch it with my finger, but a jolt of pain ran through my back. I brought the finger up to find that there was trace of blood.

"Come on, let's get you cleaned up." He helped me to my feet.

"Uh... Vel?"

"Yes?"

"I just had this thought... do we have gunpowder somewhere?"

[Emotional Faun Chiko-sai]

dt: LOLOLOLOLOL SUPER DUPER UBER PROPS FOR PUTTING IN KHIDMAT NERAKA! ABSOLUTE GENIUS. I larfed. Long and hard. However I'm not planning to finish the obstacle course or participate in the duel because I'm helping Roy to create a gigantic helping of Adalia-Angst so I retconned your post except for mention of the crawling through mud thing, hope that's ok :x

Saifa, Okiku, the body/F, F, F
210:
Plan for wings

The body rifles through the proliferation of scattered papers littering the table. She has no qualms about viewing other people's correspondence, not when her opinion of said other people is lower than the green scum floating upon the tops of puddles, because the scum is at least decorative, and she rather thinks Garuda are not. She harbors dislike for constitutionalized anythings, and constitutionalized training regimes may top the list.

There is a simple reason for her presence within the offices of the Garuda; offices, they say, but they are little better than caverns, hollowed out of existing rock, on the sides of low cliffs. The simple reason is: elimination of other activities currently available for participation. She has no desire for wings, since she does not need or want them, and watching people crawl through mud and the like is fun only to certain creatures of dimmer wit than hers. She had admittedly joined in, mud crawling to some extent, but had copped out at the first opportunity, leaving poor Faiz to soldier on through his, mmm, her, repeat performance of National Service. She chooses to omit the memory, and is indeed glad that she was not picked for it, back in the day.

More elimination - she could have done the library had it not been already occupied by Moswen; the good professor has been spirited away by his sword's ex-apparently-still-love interest so there was no entertainment to be had from that quarter; Adalia has Loki and she will not be the one to interrupt anything they may be doing; she does not feel like pandering to a short-tempered woman with a baby. The town is open for exploration, and overall security seems to be lax, so why the hell not.

There is a niggling sense of familiarity about something, or someone, that she cannot place.

She is distracted by an interesting piece of parchment headed EXECUTION COMMITTEE, please note down: name of Hatchling and date of execution for archive purposes. It is so interesting that she spends a whole hour more searching for relevant missives, poking about for previous records, and tut-tutting (with a slight, satisfied smirk, it must be said) with a finger against her lips.

Moswen is her next port of call.

*

Tiptoeing, the body looks over Moswen's shoulder to see exactly which page of execution orders she is looking at.

"Oooo, Kalah-senpai, what do we do now? Do we maim little birdpeople? Do we kill? Do we rend most tastefully from limb to limb?"

Moswen puts a hand to her forehead, as if in great trepidation, then lets out a sigh, though the body knows that the sigh is not directed at her, and pats the taller woman's back, bobbing to and fro on the balls of her feet.

"Adalia... cannot lose. If she does..."

The body draws a dead finger across her throat, and claps her hands.

[Roy Karrde]

Just to note, I came up with the execution thing before it was announced Adalia would be participating, figured it would be a good thing to show the Garuda’s as a sort of gray side of good, and not just these pristine good guys.

Vel
~*~*~*~*~ Bloodied! ~*~*~*~*~

Returning from the washroom, I pondered what Marion meant when she asked about gunpowder, first of all, what was a gun, and second of all, how did you make powder out of it? I made a mental note to ask her both of these questions as I returned to the room she sat in, towel in hand. “Are they getting stronger?” Was the first question out of my mouth, noticing Marion was sitting on the bed, flexing her wings slowly, holding her dress on with only a hand.

Folding my wings ever so slightly, I moved around behind her, and began to run the towel through the dried blood on her wings, feathers were ticklish already, I could only imagine how her’s felt right now. “Th-that tickles.” She let out several small giggles before going into a full fit of laughing.

“Maybe you want to try?” I suggested, holding out the damp towel. The laughing soon softened, her hand letting go of the dress to grab the towel, causing the top to drop into her lap. Being a man, well bird man, my eyes instantly went to her breasts, and so did her’s. The image was burned into my mind, to say the moment was, shocking would be a understatement. Before she could open her mouth to scream, I jerked my left wing around to cover her chest.

Both of our faces were already several colors of red. “Sorry…” I quickly apologized as she brushed off her feathers with her delicate hands. My mind kept flashing back to her round, soft, beautiful breasts, but were quickly jerked back to reality with a angry Moswen and giggling Zombie standing in the doorway.

Moswen’s eyes glanced at where my wing was covering Marion’s chest. “We need to talk.” Her mouth moved with restrained anger. Getting up as slowly as possible so that Marion could cover herself, I walked into the hallway, shutting the door behind me while Marion asked about the note that the Zombie girl had found.

I gave out a long sigh, shaking my head. “Adalia and the rest were never in danger.” I shook my head, trying to find the right word to explain it. “You have to understand, we are the only thing protecting this town, and possibly our world from the Naga, we do not have extraordinary super powers like you, our skill does not come anywhere close to your level.” I explained, Moswen’s glare seemingly to disappear ever so slightly.

“The hatchlings know what they are getting into when they come into this, only the strong survive, if we do not cleanse the ranks so that we only have the very best, well then, even more will die.” I turned my back to her, opening the door to go back to Marion’s room. “It’s a matter of the greater good.” I added.

“It isn’t right.” Moswen responded, my mind flashing back to our discussion in the library, how she feared her own powers. I opened my mouth to answer, but couldn’t reply to that, because in my own heart I felt the same way.

It was near dusk when we all arrived on the roof again, the ladies and one boy had feathers that glistened in the sun. “Moswen, I’ll fly you!” Adalia ran up, grasping Moswen’s arm, flapping her light pink feathered wings.

“We will be going over the barrier, once over land and do not stop running till you get inside, the place is large so try to fly when possible, beware of her fangs and tail, each are lethal.” I explained, it was the pep speech for the group. With out another word, I turned, giving my wings a small flap, and then jumped into the air. Letting the wind guide us to victory

Naga/Eve
~*~*~*~*~ Last Dinner ~*~*~*~*~

With my tail wrapped around the glasses, and a bowl of fruit in one hand, and dinner plates in the other, I slithered back to the table, laying the plates down on each one as well as the glasses and the bowl in the center. “You have to remember, that I don’t have any live stock and a small garden.” I explained, coiling around myself for support. I actually had to find buckets and other objects to serve as chairs for Ban and Dimitri since for years I was used to just coiling around my tail for support at the table.

Kite groaned, looking just as exhausted as the rest, each of them bruised and tired from their battle. I took a deep breath in through my fangs, and awaited in anticipation as they each opened their plate to see the small scampering mice run around on their plate. Kite, Ovan, and Dimitri all seemed to recoil in shock for a second. “I knew this was a bad idea.” Kite sighed, picking up one of the mice by it’s tail.

I glanced over at each one of them, finally settling in demonstrating that the meal wasn’t completely disgusting. Taking one of them I opened my mouth, and gulped it down quickly. “See? Nothing to fear” I explained, drool dripping down my mouth in satisfaction of the meal as I reached for another one.

“Umm… diseased much?” Ovan asked, poking one slightly with her finger as Kite began to eat one, finding it somewhat satisfying. She quickly pushed the plate away, wincing as she uncoiled herself and grabbed some of the fruit. “No thanks..” She shook her head as Ban bit down on one, and Dimitri continued to play around with his.

Off in the horizon several shapes began to appear, outlined around the sun as they flew closer. It was too early for the battle, much too early, but I had to work with what I had. “Everyone spread out, the Garuda’s will be here.” I commanded, leaving the room with the only one that could turn against me now, the only one I didn’t have within my grasp. “Dimitri?” I cooed, slithering over to him, wrapping my tail around him, pouring as much mana as possible into my aura.

“You will defend me, wont you?” I asked, running a finger down his fur, and to seal the deal, leaned in for a kiss.

Adalia
~*~*~*~*~ Battle Weary ~*~*~*~*~

Thoughts bounced around in my brain, ricocheting off of different thoughts to the point that my head hurt just as much as my wings. Which Loki licked gently, every few seconds nuzzling some of the feathers, causing a tickling sensation as he sat next to me while testing his panther form. “I do still love you Adalia.” That line continued to whisper in every areas of my brain, to the point that it was all I could hear. “I do still love you Adalia, I do still love you Adalia.”

Loki nudged my side, bringing me back to reality as he rose, padding around to my other side and placed a paw to steady my left wing and began to clean it. “Be careful, it’s tender.” I whispered, holding the pendent Knes had given me in between my fingers. With out even thinking about it, I rose to my feet, flapping my wings slowly as Loki looked up at me with his panther eyes. My mind was still awash in emotions and ideas as I flapped the wings a few more times, finally taking flight, soaring into the warm air.

“Adalia, Adalia!” Loki screamed, taking off after me, soaring into the air with his wings flapping fast enough to catch up. After a minute or two I turned, meeting him as he hovered next to me, gasping for breath. We both looked into each other’s eyes and I felt as if I didn’t even have to say it. I loved him, and I loved Knes, I didn’t need to say it. Loki looked back, almost scared what to say next.

I was the first to break the silence, first a grin crossing my face, and then I broke out in a fit of giggles. “So many guys like me!” I grinned, stretching and falling backwards, being caught by an air current and spinning around into a flip. “Dizzy..” I flipped a few times before having to steady my stomach and myself.

Loki was quick to fly over, placing his hands on my shoulders. “Steady yourself..” He replied calmly as I placed a hand over my stomach and scratched at my chest. “Does your chest hurt?” He asked.

“Itches..” I winced, glancing back at the rooftop where everyone was gathering. “Race you!” I laughed, angling my wings and rushing forward toward the roof. The sound of rushing wind behind me signaled that Loki was going as fast as I was. “MOSWEN!” I screamed out in pure enjoyment, tumbling right into her arms.

“I win.. I win..” I panted, glancing at Loki who had tumbled across the surface of the roof. Glancing around I quickly came to the realization that this battle was about to happen. “I will fly you Moswen!” I grinned cheerfully.

Vel quickly spoke up, explaining what was going to happen in a few short words before turning and leaping into the air currents. “I’ll be okay.” Moswen patted my shoulders before leaping off the roof onto the next rooftop.

There was no racing this time, instead we each flew in tight formation, our eyes focused on the small courtyard on the other side of the barrier, which we easily sailed over. “Stick together..” Vel whispered, rushing to the wall of the building, as I followed, something tickled my shoulder, like a finger tapping on it and motioning for me to follow.

“Huh?” I wondered out loud, walking away from the group and around the corner, the shadows as dark as a pitch black room. “Is some one..” Something whipped around my legs, swinging around and ensnaring my body, the thick and scaly object slipping into my mouth before I could scream.

“Hello Adalia.” Kite emerged from the shadows, my eyes growing wide in shock as I realized what was around me, a large thick snake tail, a large thick snake tail that was connected to Kite!


Alright clean your wings off, eat, relax, try to fly, and meet up on the roof. You can get to the Naga’s base but don’t start the battle yet ^^

[ChobiChibi]

~Loki Kinoshita~

Loki sighed as Adalia stared at the pendant that Knes had given her in glee, a large smile spread across her face. He didn’t understand why Knes had said what he did; surely he wouldn’t be happy without her? Why wasn’t he angry with him, after all he would likely to be taking his place if she wanted him back?

“Shall we head back now? Loki?” She asked, her eyes shining with excitement.

He nodded, “It would be for the best, they might worry about where you are.”

“And you, of course!” She giggled, shoving his arm playfully. She held up the pendant so that he could see. “Will you help me put this on?”

She pulled her hair away from her neck as she turned her back to him, handing him the pendant and allowing him to fasten it. As they walked back together, Adalia occasionally sprinted ahead to study the new things that she saw with a curious gaze whilst Loki kept a steady pace, his watchful eye monitoring her every movement as his mind wandered.

“Loki? What are you thinking about?” Adalia queried, a look of concern on her face. He had almost walked into her several times, apologising each time. “You seem to be distracted.”

“I’m just trying… It’s just…” He attempted to get around the subject and come up with something completely irrelevant, but he felt it was only fair that she should know. After all, she sometimes seemed more grown up than he did. “When I visited the oracle, she asked about you.”

“Really?” she exclaimed, her eyes lighting up. “What did she want to know?”

“She asked me what colour your eyes were, your hair, your clothes… She told me I was a bad person not to remember such details-”

“You forgot about me?” She interrupted, her expression fading.

“Of course not! I explained to her that I have never known what colour your eyes are, I can’t tell. I’m colour blind, remember?” She shook her head. Loki smiled and laughed quietly. “It’s okay, not many people do. She… she asked me if… She thought that I loved you like a little sister…” Loki noted that they were close to the training ground and that the others had nearly finished. “I was awestruck that she knew we had any kind of relationship… Also angry.”

“Why? What did you tell her?” Adalia asked in frustration, a small amount of anger flashing in her expression. He didn’t know if she was angry at the oracle or him.

“Loki!” His ears perked up as the Guruda, Vel, called over to him, waving him over to where he stood. “It’s your turn!”

“I told her that she was wrong, and that I loved you with my whole heart.” He replied to Adalia, picking up the pace so he wouldn’t keep them waiting.

She followed on behind him, stopping at a reasonable distance from where the training was due to take place. She watched as he placed his sandals to one side before removing his obi with his sword tucked neatly inside as usual and handing it to Vel for safekeeping. He was given a wooden pole around 6 and a half feet long before being introduced to his opponent.

As with the tradition of Loki’s family and culture, he bowed to his opponent only to receive a smirk. “Del’s not one for formalities.” Vel commented as Loki returned to his full height. The young Guruda was a few inches shorter than him, his tidy hair shining in the afternoon sun and was well built.

Almost immediately as the duel had begun, Del’s pole made contact with Loki’s side, causing him to stumble. As he regained his balance, he began using offensive combos, only to be countered and have to defend again. As time went on, it became clear that the Guruda was beginning to tire faster than Loki as he was able to keep up the speed in which he could block and attack. Del made one final attempt to knock Loki down, attempting to bring the pole down onto his shoulder. He took the chance to trip him, kicking the pole from his hand and resting his own a safe distance from the Guruda’s head.

Catching his breath, Loki threw the pole away and bowed in respect, a shooting pain travelling like lightning up his back. His wings ripped through his back from his shoulder blades, blood trickling down his back and soaking his shirt.

“You’re a half breed that transforms, aren’t you?” Vel asked. Loki nodded and he continued. “When you next transform, a smaller set of wings will grow in the same way… Prepare yourself for that. Sorry about the fast growing time, all transfiguring half breeds grow that much faster than everyone else, but we don’t know why…”

Loki nodded before heading back towards the apartment building. He spun around quickly, smiling weakly at Adalia as he tried to ignore the pain. “The oracle also asked me if I still love you…”

Adalia’s face flushed, “What did you say?”

“Yes.” He replied, his smile now growing on his face. “I do still love you, Adalia.”

[classy_cat18]

Kite/Shonta
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"That was just too easy. I never thought you would be stupid enough to stray from your group," I said while staying coiled around Adalia. She said some muffled words but I didn't care what she said. "I see you got some pretty little wings. Now you're a pretty angel princess."

Tears started to drop down Adalia's cheeks. But now I could face her with no guilt. She wasn't her. She wasn't my Eve. "I told you that this wasn't over. You broke my heart, Adalia. I think you should pay for that. How about...I break your neck?"

I could feel her pitiful struggles and hear her muffled screams. I laughed a little and leaned in close to her. "Actually, I'd like to play a game with you. It's called Birdy Hunt. If you survive, you win. But...there's a catch."

I squeezed until I could hear the snapping of bone. So much for her wings. Then I sniffed at her neck. "Is that Loki I smell? That jackass panther? Really, I wonder who's the sucker in the relationship: you or him." I lightly kissed her neck, then licked at it, and finally...

"MMMMMM!" she exclaimed as my fangs pierced her neck. Venom pumped into her veins slowly, slowing her down. I released her and watched her stumble around like a wounded bird. Her wings twitched but the broken bone kept her from actual flight.

"I'll give you a head start," I informed her while slithering in the shadows. "Either sink or swim. Oh wait, there's no water around." I laughed wickedly as she tried to run away.

[Haruko]

Ovan
-probably, being proud is a part of my strength / i myself love the role I play.~ Sorairo no Kaze sung by Mizutani Yuuko
Control: Danielle

“Umm… diseased much?” I looked, disguisted, at the food that was presented to us by our "mistress of the evening". A rat, still alive, was the main course, followed by fruit that was by the table. As I looked at it, I could feel the bottom of my stomach get more and more nauseous. I shook my head in utter disguist, putting it down."No thanks.."I added, picking up a few pieces of the fruit and digesting some; even though that was hard as some of the other men actually ate the vermin.

'It still hurts..'I told myself, gingerly feeling the wound on my tail. Even if that fake me wasn't me; it still hurt, words and actions. The wrapped up wound stung everytime I twitched the tail; and I knew it'd be that way for a good while.

It was a few minutes later that the snake-lady's face grew into one of concern as she looked over our shoulders, onto the horizon.
“Everyone spread out, the Garuda’s will be here.”She commanded, leaving with Dimitri; the only one who didn't have a tail. Kite left for a room, and I decided to hide in the courtyard, going a bit slow to hide my presence.

I arrived and found a bush perfect enough to hide in; and my tail seemed to blend in perfectly with it. I bent down and watched as they slowly flew over; and the "Garuda's" the mistress was talking about were our female comrades with wings, although missing Adalia. As they passed by without a sound, Stella seemed to hang back, looking around as she took the delicate flower out of her hair. As her fellow comrades in flight left, she was left alone; but she probably knew that there was only one person here.

'don't..'I heard a faint, staticy voice coming through; and I knew it was Valkyrie. It was wrong to fight against Stella; but I had no choice but to play along with this stupid cat and mouse game for now. I slowly crept out of the bushes, and her eyes widened.

"Ovan! You're alright...whats..."She looked horrified at my tail, and I returned a glare at her, unsheathing Valkyrie."Your.."
"Stella; lets entertain her for a bit, shall we?"I pointed my sword's tip at her as it bursted in flames, and her face seemed to be one of horror as she extended her sword."How many hits can your sword take before disintergrating from my flames, I wonder?"

"Why?!"Stella asked as, instead of coming closer to strike at me, commanding petals from the local flowers to come to her."Why are we fighting?!"
"Because I have to protect.."I said, but stopped."No, I have to keep this power I was given!"I finished, and she flung the petals at me, giving them the strength and properties of blades. I was able to disintergrate most with my blade, but only a few struck at my side; pure luck.

[darktyranitar]

Atten-shun! *is perhaps reminiscing about NS too much*

So yeah... Yi, I hope you don't mind being issued with the weapon here. And apologize if I OOCed your char or anything; I tried to stick to her crazy/insane personality as accurate as possible. And I hope kalad doesn't mind Marion borrowing her daggers.

~~~Marion~~~
Sun and steel // Primo Victoria

After getting the back of my dress sewn up (Zombie-chan lend some help; an area was left untouched so as the dress can be removed without bothering the wings), Zombie-chan and I were walking through the hallway, discussing about the notes that she stumbled upon earlier. I was horrified at the prospect of being executed after losing the sparring – and was both grateful that I won and upset to learn that I had just send the young garuda to the gallows. Zombie-chan doesn’t seem to be too concerned about this finding though.

“Oh, so is that why you run beforehand? You’re afraid that you might lose?”

She grinned widely. “Of course not! Just can’t be bothered to tire myself go over the wings, and not that I want or need them, mind you.”

I thought back of what I had just said. “Yes, of course not. It won’t matter if you lost ; you’re already dead, anyway.”

“Bless, Faizer.” She squeezed my shoulder. “You said the funniest thing.”

“Funny… yes… I have this one idea…” I told her the idea that I had just came up with.

“So what do you think?”

“Hm…” she gave me a look as if I had just claimed that I was actually a monster in disguise. “Is this coming from your liking to rifles? Or has the NS-esque training has got into your brains, perhaps?”

“Yes, no, maybe… yes, blame it on NS… yes, it was like hell.” I raised two forefinger and gestured a shooting action. “But that… that was one of the best thing out of the whole darn training. It bring me a tear or two when I reminisce about it, it does.” I noticed the look on Zombie-chan’s face, so I quickly cleared my throat. “Err… right. So, think you can see if you can find a crate or two of the stuff?”

“Yessum,” she gave a sloppy salute, before going off towards a direction. I went towards the opposite direction and headed for the library.


“Yes?” Moswen said without looking up as I entered the library. “Ah, Marion,” she said when she looked up. “Do you need anything?”

“Well… yes.” I sat down. “Um… Moswen… let’s say that there’s this person who likes this person, but the second person has another person that she likes, and then there’s a third person, which seems to have a little feeling for the first person, and the first person think she has a little feeling for him as well… and the persons is actually me, you, and Vel, then what should I do? I want to look for anything here relating to explosive… if there is any.” I mentally cringed at the words that I had spoke.

Moswen raised an eyebrow, but began to browse through a book lying on top of a table. “I think I have seen an entry or two… try looking through that book there…” she gestured towards a row of books. “The thin book with the red cover.”

Within moments, there were books all over the table, but sadly, there isn’t much info on explosive weapons. We did found a book mentioning about a certain draft on how to create a cannon, only that the material needed aren’t available here. A journal has suggested that the Garudas has encountered a group of traveller carrying what appears as a ‘powder that is capable of exploding’, and though it stated that the Garuda had kept the powder with them, it is not state where it was stored.

“Why do you want to look for gunpowder, anyway?” Moswen asked as she had finished skimming a book. “Isn’t it a little dangerous? And do you think it is actually capable of bringing down the Naga?”

I closed the book I was reading, and scratched my head. “Well… I just had this idea... that if could tinker a bit with some gunpowder, put in a bit of my mana…” I shrugged. “I’m hoping to get… something.”

Moswen said nothing as she slowly got up, and began to pace around the library. Concerned, I put down the book in my hand, and went to follow her. She was leaning against a table, apparently staring out towards the space.

“Moswen?” I asked; I was thinking of waving my hand in front of her when she blinked rapidly and gave me a weary look.

“Sorry… I was… having some thoughts.” She replied in a tired voice, getting away from the table before

“Are you alright?” I asked, not moving from my location. “You were like this after the…” I stopped, as I remembered about the Opera House; the image of the huge black wolf that was Moswen, feasting upon the Cereberus was still vivid in my mind.

“I’m alright,” she said with as much conviction as she could bring. “Really, I’m alright. Don’t worry about me.” She gave a small smile, and that eased me into smiling as well.

“It’s beautiful,” Moswen commented, addressing my wings. I looked behind at my ash-grey wings, giving them a slight flapping.

“But it really hurts when the wings come out… and it still feels a little cramp back there.” I then remembered something. “Oh yes… Yi. I wonder if she has any-”

An explosion roared through the hallway, followed closely with the unmistakably smell of gunpowder. “Sounds like she found what you were looking for,” Moswen said.


When Moswen and I arrived at the location of the explosion – a basement that has the words “no entry beyond this point” written on the door – we could hear Zombie-chan’s coughing among the smoke, with Saifa’s swearing added in between. We later found her standing next to a stack of exploded barrel, face blackened with smoke still coming out from her hair. Despite that, she looked perfectly unharmed – in fact, she was even smiling.

“Look at this!” she gestured to the remaining barrel. “They have enough of the powder that is only fitting for a huge firework for the 4th of July!”

Moswen sighed, and shook her head. “They are not going to be so happy to find this out.”

“Okay.” I opened a barrel cautiously, scooping the powder with a bowl that I found sitting nearby. “I have what I need. Have you ever played with the meriam buluh – bamboo cannon – before, Yi?”

“Nope!” She looked at the powder in the bowl, and then looking up at me. “How about you, Faizer?”

“No. But well… there’s always a first time for everything, right?”

Behind me, I could hear a small voice saying, “Karam will most definitely not be staying here, thank you.”


“Fire!”

Zombie-chan lit up the wicker, and we quickly closed our ears as make-shift cannon roared, spewing out hot gunpowder. I smiled, and picked the cannon up – I had earlier strengthen the cannon, a pipe-like structure made out of stone with one of its end blocked, with a bit of my mana, so it is unlikely that it will break down each time after a round is fired.

“Yeah, we can use this one on the guys. Not enough power to kill, but loud, and really bright.”

“Are you sure that you never played the meriam buluh before?” Zombie-chan asked, running her hand over her ears. “Oh, and would you look at that, I’m still not deaf yet. So when are we going to stop so that we can – excuse me – piss off?”

I had learned that by channelling some mana in the gunpowder, I can create varying effect of the cannon blast. From long ranged shot, to short but wide radius blast to shot that is blindingly bright and deafeningly loud. I had prepared two type of ammunition so far: one for stalling the Naga and the guys - with its slightly less powerful shot but louder explosion and bright flash of light - while another one was to blast the Naga to pieces. I nodded approvingly. “We stop here. I have what we need.”

“Yay!” she clapped. “So do we blast the Naga to pieces, or do we just decapitate her? Hullo, little Karam!”

“26…” Karam then plopped down the floor, gasping. “Karam tired! Can Karam rest now?”

“No. Finish up all 50 round. Or it’s cold porridge for dinner. On the floor.”

Karam shrieked, and went to completer the remaining 24 round of running around the village.

“That wasn’t nice of you,” Yi commented. “Still in the Khidmat Neraka mood, I see?”

*****

Later at dusk, we had all gathered on top of the rooftop; I could see that everyone had a tensed look on their face, and I understand quite well what they were feeling at the moment.

With the exception of Zombie-chan, that is.

“We’re going to blast the snake woman out, hurrah, hurrah…”

I smiled at the prospect: a crazed zombie, and a cannon in her hand. Now that is dangerous.

“You go for the initial strike, then you’ll pass the cannon back to me; I have the rest of the gunpowder with me. All right?”

She grinned widely and gave a quick salute.

“Marion!” Adalia called from behind. I turned around; she had wings with her now, a light pink feathered wing. “Aren’t those Dana’s?” she pointed at the two dagger hung around my waist.

I nodded, patting them once. “She told me to kill the Naga with these: one to slice her tail off, and one to slit upon her neck – on her behalf. But don’t worry; if we’re lucky, we might be able to take her out with a single blow from the cannon.”

Vel then begin to give his speech of our descend upon the Naga’s lair; I had caught him glancing at me several times, and I smiled reassuringly; to tell him that we’re going to make it through. That we’re going to emerge victorious.

“The beginning of a victory,” I said under my breath, and flapping my wings, followed the rest of the group as we began to make our move.

[Bulbasaur4]

Moswen


Moswen stood tall upon a rooftop as the wind swept through her hair. She had been caught off guard when Marion had entered the library and she couldn’t help but feel as if Marion had wanted to talk to her about something. Moswen remembered the letter and her eyes grew sad for a second, as she withdrew a light breath. Kitsune stood next to her- having tagged along the entire time on their adventure. He had grown a bit too… now looking like a medium-sized puppy.
Sounds of battle perked Moswen’s ears up, as she scanned. The idea of battle caused her heart to pound against her chest- was she really ready for this?
The entire time at the Garuda training grounds… being locked away in the library from time to time- it had given her a lot of thought time. Yet, when it came down to it… was she really ready? Speaking to Adalia had also given Moswen a lot of thought – poor child, she had been submitted to a horrible ordeal with Loki. Yet, deep down she was thankful Adalia at least hadn’t dealt with the same ordeals as Moswen. Such a thing… no one was deserving of them…. It was a …
“No. Think of now. Think of this time.” Moswen said to herself, withdrawing a deep breath. “Things will be okay… I doubt that-”
Moswen leapt down off of the edge of the building, just in time to see the full battle. The Naga was there along with Ovan, a strange looking Dimitri, Kite… all equipped with tails but… Moswen’s eyes had widened at something else. Behind them all, standing back with a rather distant look was… Ban. And to her surprise, Ban had not changed. He did not look like the snakey versions of the others… but rather, he was just himself. And he was not battling!
“Ban!” Moswen found herself yelling, a rush of excitement surging through her veins. He had not changed like the books said all men would when in contact with the Naga. Millions of thoughts rushed into Moswen’s mind and for a few moments, she lost all grips of the world around her. Gracefully she leapt through a few of the battles, dodging the Naga who was doing some combat with Zombie-chan, who was readying her cannon.
“Ban!” Moswen said again, reaching him as she walked up. “You didn’t fall for it… I’m so glad.” Moswen smiled halfly, the first true smile she had done in a long while. But she was sure of it this time- this feeling that she had gotten when she had first seen him. At first she had denied it; that it couldn’t be true. Yet, now… upon seeing his unchanged figure, she knew for a fact that she couldn’t deny it any longer.
A large boom got Moswen’s attention and she turned around and saw dust. With a new zest in her heart and an ignited fire within her soul, Moswen grinned and turned to face Ban again.
“How about we go and join-” Moswen began, before suddenly came to the realization that Ban’s face was unchanging. The usual spark within his face had been replaced with a slightly cold exterior and his position was unchanging. Moswen felt her fire slowly flickering away, as her mind tried to pry off the doubt that was beginning to cling to her. No, he looked fine. He was fine. He had to be fine…
“The one you are looking for is no longer here.” His voice, Ban’s voice, sounded into the air, sounding cold and indifferent. It was as if an icy blast of wind had brushed against Moswen’s body as she stood there, frozen.
“Now either fight me or retreat. I do not have time for idle talk.”

Moswen’s eyes were wide open and they quivered slightly. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Her spirits had merely risen only to plummet that much farther. Without saying a word, Moswen closed her eyes as a brief tear drizzled down her cheek as she turned and simply walked away. Her tail wavered against the ground as her ears flattened against the side of her head.
“Moswen!” Someone called to her, but she was no longer listening.

I am a fool… I actually believed in it…
Moswen thought, although her mind was quite numb. She believed she had healed opened up again… and like in fate’s wish, she had been destroyed instantly in that moment.
Why… why does it hurt so much?
A few more explosions went off, but Moswen continued to walk on. If anyone would have asked her to remember where she was going, where she was… she would have been unable to recall.
I should have seen it… who would ever feel that way…
Moswen suddenly found herself slumping to her knees. Her eyes could no longer see however. She didn’t know where she was or what she was doing. In her mind, she was in a dark void. She wanted to disappear…
I give up. Please… let me disappear… Let me leave this world.



Moswen’s fallen body was still as stone as it crumpled and laid upon the ground. Within a few moments however, suddenly a brilliant light white seemed to burst from her right side. Like a gentle blanket it washed over her body, causing her hair to turn completely white. Her black tattoos soon vanished and her armor clanked as it too snapped free only to disappear. The light blue cloth that covered her right then extended and covered her entire body, wrapping tightly around it to form a light blue kimono with a white obi. Slowly Moswen’s body came to life, as her tail and ears became a soft snowy white to match her hair.
“Moswen! Moswen are you okay? Wh-what…” Marion’s voice entered the air, causing Moswen’s new body to open its eyes and reveal their brilliant reddened amber color.
“What…” Marion began, completely dumbfounded as she was covered with gunpowder which looked like soot.
“Greetings. I am the Goddess of Yang.” The new figure of Moswen spoke, her voice sounding delicate and airy. She smiled brightly, seeing that the battle with the Naga was coming to a close.
“Where… where is Moswen?” Marion asked, her eyes wide with shock. For a moment, the yang god seemed saddened by this but giving a sorrowful nod she gave a half-hearted smile.
“She is sleeping for now.”
“W-why?!”
“Her pain… she…is in so much pain. She needed rest.”



!*!*!*!*!*!*

I’ll leave it there. I was going to bring it further but I’ll wait until the battle finishes. If it doesn’t finish soon, I’ll just bring it forward later this week or so.

[Haruko]

Stella D'Aubigine
-unending freedom...Far more time than I have a use for / but at least I'm free to lock those days behind me ~Feeling Fine by L'Arc-en-Ciel

As everyone seemed to finish their sparing with the "hatchling" Garudas, the pain that I had felt after my match becae apparent; instead of the younging gainning his wings this day, I was gainning my own. They seemed to be a light green; much like the color of a stem of a beautiful flower. Blood dyed the wings though, fresh from both my wound and coming out of my back. As everyone seemed to go off with someone else, I found a body of water and started to clean the pair of wings gingerly.

"I wonder what Teacher would say now.."I said to myself as I cleaned them with a cloth I kept in my bag. I continued to clean them until I felt a presence behind me, and stopped.
"You had a teacher?"I looked behind me, and it seemed to be one of the Garuda. I nodded to myself as I dipped the cloth in the cold water once more, and pressed it against the feathers; washing away the blood.
"She taught me everything I know."I replied. "She taught me to be strict in mind, nice to others..how to fight, how to care.."

'And yet, teacher, you always had me down in shackles with those earrings..

"She sounds like a nice teacher."He replied as I finished cleaning my wings. "Well..I came to say that Vel wanted to meet everyone on the roofs soon." The Garuda left shortly after, and I sighed. My body housed a guilty conscious; if I didn't hand Ovan over so easily, maybe the other men wouldn't have gone. I looked down at the water, back at the reflection of myself.

I had looked at that reflection for atleast 5 minutes until I gathered myself to try the wings out. Remembering what Teacher had said about birds; they ride the air currents and the winds beneath their wings, I positioned my wings exactly like a birds. Soon, I was exactly like a bird, being wrapped around in the warm air current, not restricted by the ground.

I took my time getting to the roof that I saw Vel on, as I saw Adalia and her friend playing around, and others gathering to. This too, was nature; the sky, currents and wind. The part I couldn't reach; I was the earth and my brother was the sky. Mother was the sky, father was the earth..

I reached the rooftop in time to hear Vel's orders; we were going to attack the Naga's base now. It was now or never; and even though I was still injured on my back; I felt better in spirit. We flew in a tight formation, soaring over the barrier that covered the beasts lair as if it were only a small thing. It was as we left the courtyard that I felt a presence. Even though we were told to stay together, I kept my wings to a silent flap; and hung back as the others continued inside.

'I definately sense mana..'I thought to myself, taking out the flower from my hair and extending it into it's fencing sword.'Only one trace, I should be fine..'

As I looked around the trace the source, I saw a bush's leaves move as a figure came out. Ovan; atleast a half human Ovan. He was alright though, from what I could see.
"Ovan! You're alright...whats..."I looked at his tail, horrified. It had a wound, much like my back. He glared at me as he unsheathed his sword."Your..tail.."
"Stella; lets entertain her for a bit, shall we?"Ovan addressed me directly, pointing the tip of his sword at my head as the blade covered itself in a bright flame. I extended my sword a bit more and hardened its base to an unnatural point; but the flames..it wouldn't take long to completely bring my sword to ashes."How many hits can your sword take before disintergrating from my flames, I wonder?"He added, reading my face and mind as he placed a cocky smirk on his.

'I can't get close to him!'I thought to myself, looking around. 'Only way is to do ranged attacks!'. Unlike the vast, desert like outside, the Naga had flowers and plants for fruit. I had plenty of ammo, I tried to tell myself as I gathered some of the petals and leaves off of the plants. Giving them the strength of metal and the sharpness of a blade, I looked at Ovan again, not wanting to strike him at all. I just wanted to bring him back.

"Why!?"I demanded an answer from him."Why are we fighting?!"
"Because I have to protect.."He said, but stopped short, rethinking."No, I want to keep this power I was given!" He finished. If he wasn't going to come back with just words, I would have to try and knock him out. I flung the petals and leaves at him; but most disintergrated as he swung his sword, the flames leaving a trail that left most in ashes. Only a few got through and struck his side.

"I think you need to get down from there."He smirked, and rushed closer. I flew up as he seemed to change the properties of his sword from fire to wind; as a cyclone danced around his blade. I flew up high enough for him to be no reach for me, and him not to be able to reach me. But it was still a nill attempt, as he strengthened the cyclonic magic on his sword. A cyclone flew from his sword and meshed in with my wings, dragging me to the ground. As I hit a harsh landing, I felt a sharp pain in my left wing, and saw a big gash of blood as he stabbed it right in the middle, now using the fire properties in his sword. Ovan...was never able to keep up with making so many changes in his sword. Was this the power he wanted? I yelled in pain as he smiled, pulling his sword from my wing.

"Grounded."He said as I slowly got up, my left wing now heavy due to injury. I kept stance and aimed my sword at him, mustering more petals and leaves around me.

This was a one sided fight..but I had to fight it to the end..

for it was all my fault.

Leave Stella and Ovan's fight alone.;3 I have things planned.

[Roy Karrde]

Adalia
~*~*~*~*~ Infected ~*~*~*~*~

My body stung, as if it were pierced by thousands of different little painful needles. “I’ll give you a head start.” Kite stated as I crawled backwards, my wings falling limp at my side, feathers being ripped off with every inch back I made. “Either sink or swim. Oh wait, there’s no water around.” He laughed as I turned to crawl away only to find my legs getting ever more limp with each passing breath.

With in moments I was grasping at grasp to pull myself forward, I could feel Kite’s ever-watchful eyes on me, smirking as his tail blocked my escape route. The pain in my legs quickly turned to itching, painful itching that could not be ignored. I grabbed at my robe, pulling it up to see something shiny reflecting the light as it lay just under my skin. The itching became too much, I had to scratch, my nails quickly ran over it, flaking the skin off to find pink scales underneath. “What did you do to me?” My eyes fixed on the scales in shock.

“I just gave you a new look, do you like it?” The scratching became more furious, my nails chipping away flakes of skin just to stop the pain. “You’ll feel much better soon.” Kite’s voice came again, sounding soothing as he slithered around me.

“Get-Get away!” I pushed back at him, struggling to move my legs.

Kite quickly reached down, grabbing my legs, which were quickly becoming even shinier, my toenails flaking off. “Where do you think you’re going, princess?” He asked, a pain shooting through my wings as the Naga poison and the Garuda Wings fought each other, my feathers coming off in clumps in a losing battle. “The birdy losing her wings?” He asked mockingly.

“I don’t want to be like you!” I shot back, whimpering as I held the feathers I worked so hard for.

Kite shook his head, shrugging. “Too bad, I’ve marked you, and now you’re mine.” She grabbed my limp legs, pulling me back as it dawned on me. It was a poison; it was in my blood stream. I could slow, even reverse it with my mana. The change was immediate, the pink scales on my leg, suddenly reversing directions, crawling up my legs instead of crawling down. ‘I forgot that you could probably heal yourself, so I’ll have some fun with you until then.” Kite grinned, sinking his nails into my leg.

Pain ripped through my leg, I had to bite my lip to keep from screaming as the change began to slowly progress down my legs again, the scales reaching my feet as my legs felt more and more pressed together. “We’re having fun now, huh?” Kite asked digging his nails in again. “No need to be scared of your own kind..” He smirked, a black shape suddenly rushing down from the sky, tackling Kite.

“Loki..” I whispered.

Vel
~*~*~*~*~ Revenge ~*~*~*~*~

Battle to the left, and battle to the right, the group seemed to dive head first against their one-time allies. Although my mind began to wonder as to where the little one went. The Panther one turned, his ears twitching before rushing off in another direction. All the while, Moswen seemed to be having a confrontation with a familiar man. My eyes continued to scan the area, looking, searching for her. I wanted my chance to kill her before Marion was able to initiate her plan. “There you are..” I mumbled, swooping in and withdrawing my sword.

Her eyes turned and focused on me at the last second, bringing out her own sword as the two smashed together. I withdrew, flying into the air to regroup. “You’ve held me prisoner for the last time.” She roared, flames rushing around the sword and flying up to attack me. “Oh have I forgotten to mention? I can draw on the powers of Ovan and Kite since we have shared mana.”

The flames had burnt a few feathers of my wings, but I had a bigger problem on my hands. Such as how to defeat this woman. “Marion, Zombie, stand back.” I yelled to them, knowing they were about to implement their plan. “She’s mine..” I flew forward.

Naga/Eve
~*~*~*~*~ One down ~*~*~*~*~

The male Garuda came at me fast, swinging his sword with a brutality that shocked even me. The boy had a blood lust, and if I had more time, I may have even added him to my little group. But now wasn’t the time, not with my life at stake. “You’re different than the other Garuda’s.” I remarked, coiling my tail around his leg. He responded perfectly, kicking the nerve that controlled the tail to uncoil it. I was beginning to wonder if I had met my match.

“Why do you have to destroy my happy family?” I asked, keeping my eye on the current battle. The first fire attack had drained me more than I had expected, calling upon a person’s power from a long distance was not something I truly wanted to do again, but I may need to if the battle continued on. “Why?” I asked again, after not receiving a response the first time.

“Because if you could, you would destroy my kind.” He responded, coming down for another sweeping attack. Drawing upon Ovan again, I channeled Electricity into the sword and sent a bolt straight at him, shocking the poor man. “I have to kill you.” He groaned, raising his sword with shaky hands.

I rose my own sword. “I know..” With a clean cut I whipped my tail around with blinding speed that he probably never saw it. Separating his head from his shoulders in one clean cut with my tail. “Just like I had to kill you..” I remarked, shaking the blood off of my tail.

[darktyranitar]

~~~Marion~~~
Angels are calling your name...

It was too sudden and surreal that I stared long and hard at the decipitated remain of Vel, in utter disbelief. And Moswen had... apparently gone somewhere else, and it doesn't look as if she's coming back soon.

Then, pray, what should we do now?

"Ow," Zombie-chan remarked sympathetically, before firing off another round, shaking me awake from my thought. There was an explosion of dust and debris, in which I quickly pulled Zombie-chan and Karam down as something swished above us; it was no doubt the Naga's tail.

"Okay, so cannon doesn't work..." I said, after I had just learned that she can create a barrier to protect herself. Not to mention the swords. Taking out the remaining gunpowder, I shoved it down the cannon. "Still, we could use some kind of distraction..."

"Oh, okay." Zombie-chan said, and she readied the cannon. "Any good plan?"

"Karam think we're going to die," Karam said dreadfully.

"Optimistic, aren't we?" Zombie-chan remarked.

I recalled on how Vel decided to go face to face with Naga, only to get his head cut of clean. I winced. "Very great, Vel," I muttered, as I laid the daggers down, contemplating our options. "Good thinking..."


"Um. She's coming." Zombie-chan pointed. "Order to fire?"

"Now or never. Fire away." I picked the daggers up and flew up just as the cannon was fired. This was followed by yet another smoke of dust. I waited for a while, until the dust cleared down a bit.

There we go.

I threw one of the dagger at what appeared to be the tail. There was a shriek, and I knew that I had strike home.

Here, here...

I quickly dove straight towards the Naga, both hands gripping the dagger tightly. I had somehow hoped - what else can I do at this point but hope? - that from this angle, she would not be able to slash me with her sword. My hands were trembling, as I already imagined the feel of the steel sliding into the flesh.

However, I had forgotten to take one important thing into account. And it turns out it wasn't the sword that I should worry about, as the Naga's fangs were embedded into my arms.

Great. Great...

"You might have hurt my tail," she said, spitting out blood. "But you seem to have forgotten about my fang." She looked down at the sword, as if contemplating if she should slash me right here, right now. She smiled, and tossed i aside. "Hold that thought. Now tell me, are your arms becoming numb?" I looked down at my arms, which had indeed been rendered immobile. There was a purplish tinge around the bite mark, and slowly, it was spreading out.

"Don't worry," she smiled wickedly. "The poison won't kill you. Yet." She shook her leg, and kicked away a part of her cut-off tail slowly with disapproval. "So, what do you plan to do? Your hands are out of order... and I was very sure that I managed to slash your friend there."

She was too occupued with her talk that she seems to not notice that I was now getting down on my knees.

"Look at him," she addressed to the body of Vel. "Not a bad one, yet he has to die so early... but I can't help it; it's either kill or be killed. Tsk, such a-"

Her face flushed as soon as the dagger was slashed across her neck. I grinned, biting down into the hilt of the dagger. The blood came out in a stream that a large area of the ground was quickly painted in blood.

But despite that, she was still alive. And extremely not pleased.

[ChobiChibi]

~Loki Kinoshita~

He wasn’t sure what logic there was in pouncing upon his foe, but he was sure it was the right course of action. Loki had shifted straight back to his human form, gripping onto Kite’s arms and using his body weight to pin him firmly to the floor. He panted as he attempted to catch his breath, his small sharp canines noticeable as he growled with his yellow-green eyes fixed glaring at Kite.

“Don’t ever touch Adalia again…” His voice was firm, yet only contained a touch of anger.

Kite simply replied with a laugh. “So now you’re playing the hero? Little emo Loki with problems trying to redeem himself?” Loki’s nails began to dig into his arms as his temper began to rise. “It’s no good; you know she wouldn’t be able to stick with one person…”

“Don’t say things like that! You didn’t love her, Kite, Shonta loved the Ryan that is somewhere inside of her!” He protested, his knuckles turning white as his grip continued to grow tighter with his anger.

“I love Adalia too, Loki.” He began, a coy smile appearing on his face. “I love the feeling of her soft skin when I run my hand down her thigh…”

“You didn’t-!” Loki yelled, interrupted by the sudden movement of Kite’s tail wrapping itself around his waist and throwing him at the wall. He instinctively tucked his wings in just before crashing, the pain instead shooting along his spine, skull and lip where he had bitten it on impact.

“You have no idea what went on whilst you were gone.” Kite tormented, slithering across the floor towards his stunned target. He lunged at Loki, his fangs ready to strike. Loki brought his sword in front of him, blocking Kite from reaching his exposed neck, but not injuring him in any way. “Why don’t you give up now? You stand no chance!”

Loki glanced at Adalia as she slumped against the wall, her eyes drooping closed and snapping back open periodically. From what he could tell, he noticed that her cheeks had lost their normal shade of grey and were closer to a pastey white. He had to get to her, he had to stop the poison, but how could he when all Kite wanted was to kill him?

He shook his head, struggling to keep Kite at a far enough distance away from anywhere that he could bite. “If you really loved her, you wouldn’t poison her and let her die.”

One sudden push from Loki sent Kite what would have been staggering backwards, if he had had legs. He glared, his halberd in his hand. “If you really loved her, you wouldn’t have left her.”

Making a dash towards Adalia, Loki quickly scooped her up in his arms and placed his lips gently upon hers. As he withdrew, he gently wiped her chin of his blood, praying that it would get into her system quick enough to help slow the poisoning. He lay her gently back on the floor before blocking what could have been a fatal blow from Kite, and continuing to battle. Each blow deflected by the other, their skill equally matched, Loki could only hope that he would find an opening to end this battle without having to cause any serious harm and aid the others in the fight against the Naga.

[Haruko]

WARNING: Not for those who get nauseous at the thought of blood. Get cliffnotes from someone else if you can't stand it.
Also crazily writen. Blue is Ovan, Green is Stella.

stella//ovan
-the fight isn’t over, it’s still going /what would I give for my future self? ~Boku wa Boku Datte by Wada Kouji
Control(Ovan): Danielle

I aimmed and tried my best, firing off rounds of petals and leaves at Ovan; but to no avail. He would either swat at them with his tail, or swing his blade of fire and disintergrate them. I growled a bit lowly, lightheaded slightly from the blood loss from my left wing. The blessing that the Garuda had given me was now only a hinderance.

"You can't do much, can't you?"Ovan taunted."Heal and throw pretty flowers. I'll let you retreat if you want; only because I still have some feelings for my counterparts comrades." Counterpart? What was Ovan talking about? That was surely him; for that was his sword in his hands, and his dangerous gloves on his hands.

"I came here to fix the mistake of allowing her to take you! I am not retreating!"I resigned my fate. He laughed slightly, knowing that I could probably die if he got anymore serious."And what are you talking about.'Counterpart'?..Are you the Ovan who helped me escape, or the person who created Ovan?"

The look on Ovan's face changed from one of battle, to one of pure amusement. He smiled, and looked at his sword, then back at me.
"The latter."He replied, "I'm sick and tired of having to put up with so much bullshit, really.."
"Those are things you can talk to the group about! You do not have to be traitorous in order to achieve things!"I replied, placing myself in a offensive stance."You can tell people how you feel, you know!"
"No one would understand."He said, placing his sword in the same position as mine, the flames around it flickering with even a stronger light."I'm a girl in boys body, who got someone pregnant after getting drunk. What do I do when I want to return home?! I can't! It's no fair!"His eyes looked into mine with despair; filled with hopelessness. "This woman..offered me a way out. I had to take it.."

As he finished, we started to exchange blows with our swords. With each hit, my sword took damage. Burn marks soon started to appear on the enlongated part of my flower-sword as the blows we exhanged increased. It soon came to the point where my whole sword was covered in scorch marks, and that the sharpest point; the tip, was falling off. We exchanged one more blow until we found ourselves on the opposite sides of the courtyard.

"If you are not Ovan, that what should I address you as?"I asked, the tip of my sword falling off. He looked away, questioning if he should answer my question. I took the time to summon more petals and leaves to my side; but it was useless. I was done, my sword was piled on the grassy floor as ashes.
"Danielle."He replied, looking me in the eyes. He quickly sprung forward when done saying the feminine name, and I flicked my wrist in hopes of creating a diversion of blade-sharp petals and leaves. It was only a diversion tactic as I tried to spring into the air; but it was no luck, the left wing was broken half way through. Ov...Danielle swept through the petals with a fiery sweep, leaving a few to hit him as a tease.

You can touch me, but never kill me..



"I'm sorry, Stella."I looked into her eyes; but differing from before, I was now only five or six inches apart from them. Valkyrie was now stabbed in her lower thigh, crimson blood dripping down from her leg as I pulled her out. Stella first fell onto her knees, looking up, and then onto the ground with a clenched fist.
"i can't.."She whispered, a small pool of blood gathering near the thigh. I more than likely missed the best spot to kill her; so when she got her last words out, I would stab her in the chest.

"I can't..leave this world yet.."She mumbled to herself, as small wet drops formed onto the soil beneath her."brother..I need to find him.."

'Do you wish to live..?'A voice rang out as I felt my life slipping beneath me. So many regrets, so much left to do..
'Live..yes, I do..'I replied desperatly. Maybe this was it, I would die and see my parents again.
'Do not think such pitiful thoughts, my child.'

I decided to leave Stella to bleed to death after a second or two of thinking. Turning my back to her, I slithered away until I was about 5 meters or so away from her. It was then that I started to get goosebumps down my spine and through my arms; even an odd sensation through my tail. I looked behind me, and my eyes widened in both horror and amazement.

Stella was enwrapped by a glowing green mana that seemed to swirl around her body; it keeping herself afloat as if a woman possessed. The mana itself seemed to stem from the ground, and it stopped the bleeding from both the thigh wound and wing. Once the bleeding stopped, her eyes glew as the sword that was once ashes reformed through the mana itself. It regained it's form completely, and a swirl of glittering green mana. All this mana..from where? The earth?

"Stella..?"I asked her, and she tilted her head; but gave no response. I reignited the flames on my sword and looked at her as she looked at the flames on the sword, and then at me, laughing.
"Pitiful."She responded coldly, and with a burst of energy, ran at me with her sword in offense, striking at my stomach. I almost has no time to react and defend; it was luck that I could. It seemed that her sword; which was once completely vulerable to my swords flames, was now invulerable. Was it that mana that wrapped itself around it? We exchanged blows for what seemed forever; it was no longer a one sided fight. However, with each blow, she smiled.

I didn't understand until our final exchange of blows, where as to we both landed; again, on the opposite side of the field. She smirked, and it was when I saw small, seed like things on my chest and tail emerge. As a pop sound was made from each one, vines emerged and shot towards Stella, as she grabbed it and yanked, pulling me like a doll.

"But..you can only control plants around here!"I exclaimed, confused.
"yes.."She replied, her eyes lifeless."These seeds are those of the plants around here. I am only manipulating them, Danielle." She finished, continuing to yank on the vines to pull me closer to her. I kept my tail onto the ground, but it seemed as like the vines themselves were pulling me to her. I tried to cut them with a fire emblazed Valkyrie, to no avail. She laughed slightly at my futile attempts. I changed Valkyrie's form to wind to cut the vines up; but they only reformed in mili-seconds.
"What..are you?"I looked into her eyes, that were now only three feet away. Was this why she had those earrings on; and why she was so afraid when they broke off?
"I am.."She said, at a loss of words. The vines continued to yank me closer; and I only had one true weapon. The tail the mistress gave me, I now wrapped around Stella so that we both had each other ensnared. At best; we would take each other down.
"I am...nature."She replied, unfased by the constricting tail that binded her legs and chest. The vines stopped when we were only a feet apart from each other. There seemed to be a few single moments as to which none of us did anything; the vines paused, and my constricting tail only continued to ensnare her. However, as for her; she was looking into my eyes deeply.

"too much like brothers.."She stared deeply into my eyes; and from a blind spot in my eye, prepared her sword. It was what came next that changed the tides of battle. Taking the blade into her free hand; an arm that wasn't being constricted by my mistake, she rushed the very end of her sword into my left eye; the vines preventing my Valkyrie from getting any closer.

"YOU BITCH!"I yelled, holding my left eye in sheer pain as blood dripped down my cheek; and the sight from it turned a blood red before darkness. I quickly pierced my fangs into her skin; giving her the best dosage of poison I could in the amount of pain I was in. If I had to go down; so was she.


Dun touch the eye.

[Bulbasaur4]

The Yang Goddess

The battles raged on.

“I believe this is quite enough…” Knes’s smooth voice entered the air, catching Kite and Loki both off guard. Knes leaned against the side of the building, a little too close for comfort to the fighting duo.
“Ah… so now we can ALL be together…” Kite sneered, pushing Loki away. Loki stumbled back a bit, wiping a bit of blood off of his lips as he kept a steady gaze on Kite but made himself aware of Knes.
“These battles are over.” Knes continued, taking a step forward as Kite clenched his fist. “The Naga is dead. Slashed by Marion, blown to pieces by a make-shift cannon.” Knes continued, as Kite continued to shake his head.
“Liar!” He spat, as Knes tilted his head to the side.
“Am I? I’m sure you can feel that your powers have waned…especially since Loki, a person who only has his own powers, has begun to get the upper hand on your power AND your Naga-gained abilities.”
Kite charged at Knes and aimed for another blow, but Loki suddenly slid in the way and blocked. Knes remained unmoving, unflinching.
“We’re all fools… fools for love. If you want to talk about betrayl and misdeeds- well then, she’s done it to us all.” Knes’s eyes flickered to Loki for a brief moment. “But fighting will change nothing for this is a fight with no victory.”
With that, Knes suddenly gave a nod- as if to signal as suddenly Kite felt two strong yet delicate arms wrap about his arms and torso.
“What the-” Kite yelled, twisting to see who was behind him.

It was the Yang God. Her soft white hair strewn about her shoulders as she smiled tenderly as she held Kite fast. Kite’s eyes began to flutter slightly, as his voice subsided and a cooling sensation rippled throughout his body. He then began to glow with a silvery color as his body slowly transformed itself back into his original state. His fangs shortened to their normal size and his tail shriveled away. The scales left his body and his cat-like eyes grew away from their snake design.
Gentle easing Kite to lay on the ground, the Yang God kneeled over him in her decorated light kimono and tilted her head softly. Kite’s eyes fluttered open although realization had not hit him fully yet.
“Good… you are fine. The Naga’s sway shall hold you no more.” She said, her voice as cooling as her touch.
“Can you help Adalia?” Knes then said, swiftly walking to her as he knelt by her side. Loki followed as the Yang God approached.
“With the Naga defeated, her powers have all but waned. Poisons used in battle and their affects will be easily remedied.” With that, she knelt before Adalia and spread her hands wide over the girl’s body.
Please forgive me Moswen… for I am using your own strength that you did not discover.
The same silvery color stretched over Adalia’s body, much like Kite’s. The pale skin in her cheeks began to flush back into color as her body temperature rose. After a brief few moments, the Yang God gave a nod and closed her palms. Standing up she looked to both Knes and Loki.
“She is well. She should wake up soon.”
With that Knes smiled and quickly scooped Adalia up in his arms.


“Now for the rest…” The Yang God said quietly, walking out of the road in which the Kite battle had taken place and more towards the main opening. This was where everyone else was. Marion had fallen, Zombie-chan was battling Ban and Ovan and Stella had battled as well.
“Such sway the Naga still has…” The Yang God said quietly, frowning as she suddenly held her hands up high. “No more of it.”
Bright balls of white light formed within her open palms and then swiftly as they had formed, she squished them. As the balls of light were squeezed, they suddenly exploded into fragments of snow-like dust into the air. Quickly the wind picked up and began to spiral in the air, touching all of those within the battle field.
It took a while, but eventually the changes that had overcome began to undo themselves. Proper spirits were returned, proper owners within command and proper bodies now revealed. Marion’s injured form had healed as well… and soon the group came to the realization of their own pitiful battle.
“You must not fight amongst yourselves…” The Yang God called, a bit of sadness within her eyes. “You have only one more battle left, and that is with a God.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Necessary posts of others filled in here XD
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~


The Yang God had placed a hand upon Knes and revealed to him the location to teleport everyone within the group. So the group then arrived in a place that perhaps they did not expect.
It was perhaps like a miniature place of paradise- the calm before the storm. A small yet illuminated crystal-clear pool was the center of this paradise with different colored smooth stones hidden beneath its surface. Lush tropical-esque plants dotted all around, and the night sky’s beautiful stars seemed to be close enough to reach. Small Byanetts floated upon the breeze – firefly like tiny fairies, that glowed different colors and acted like bugs for they could not speak. Different colored fruits grew upon the trees – all of them edible and nourishing. It was a good place of rest.

“So…” Adalia began, having regained her composure. “… can you explain this to us again? I thought we were helping the world and helping the Gods.”
“And where is Moswen?” Dimitri said, narrowing his eyes at the Yang Goddess.
“Yes… I should explain.” She replied, her white ears perking forward as she sat upon a large smooth stone.

“This World has two Gods- myself and another. We are essential to this world’s balance and without us, the world falls into a sort of chaos. For thousands of years we worked together and brought peace and harmony to this world.” Her eyes grew saddened as her voice grew grave. “But as time grew on… the God, Yin, grew more aggressive. With his night sky he grew more greed and the nights became longer. Then one day within a moment, he attacked me using his aggressive powers of the night. He had many followers since he had broken our rules and made himself known. With so many followers he had obtained a great deal of power and within a few years, I had been defeated.”
“He deemed me dead… or gone, although that was foolish thinking on his part. I indeed was near extinction, having gone into hiding with only a tiny piece of spiritual energy that I had left. But of course, I knew that Yin was not done. He needed to completely wipe me out and to completely gain control of the world. But in order to do that, he had to release the four crystals of mana that we had placed on this earth to help maintain harmony. In order to do this, he needed to bring in outsiders- those who did not know of the crystal’s importance to the world to defeat the guardians and release the crystals so that he could gain their power.”

Silence filled the air. Slowly Kite spoke.
“So we… basically have been tricked. We’ve released all the crystals and given him the power he needs.”
Yang nodded. “Yes… but, all is not completely lost.”
“What can we do now? From hearing your story… he was powerful enough to defeat you.” Stella commented.
“Yes, but I was unprepared… perhaps blind to what I should have obviously seen. While I am far from full strength, I am close. You all have grown strong as well… so strong that in fact that I believe you can defeat him. And while you have released the crystals, he does not have their true power yet. So this world stands a chance.”
“Where is he?” Adalia asked.
“The moon.” Loki whispered, and the Yang Goddess nodded.
“Yes, the moon.”
“The moon? How the heck are we supposed to get to the moon? And isn’t it rather… uninhabitable?”
“Perhaps from your original world, but here our moon does have life upon it- although small. I also know that one of your friends has the ability to get you there and knows the way.”
The Yang Goddess looked to Knes, who simply nodded.
“So tomorrow, it is up to all of you to defeat Yin. Yet in the meantime… I offer you one more gift.”
“Wait.” Marion said, looking at Yang. “Moswen…” her voice trailed off.
“Ah yes… Moswen…” The Yang Goddess said slightly, a twinge of sadness within her voice.
“Moswen is still here, within me. I am merely borrowing her body. You see, I knew of Yin’s plan to bring you here but was powerless to stop it. So when I sensed your arrival… I quickly sought one of you to harbor within. Moswen was a good candidate, since she did not harbor herself and the one who used to be called… Kalah, but just Kalah in fact. The Yin God sensed this and then tried to purge me from her body before she awoke but I managed to fight him off. That would explain to you her unbalanced powers and the armor that I formed upon her to contain.”
“Get out.” Dimitri said suddenly, narrowing his eyes. “Get out of her body. Let her decide if she wants you to control her or not.”
The Yang Goddess frowned slightly, quiet for a moment before she rose her head upwards to look at all of them. With a flicker of a glance towards Ban and seeing his sullen face, she quickly looked away.
“She did make the choice. She wanted to go away.”

Silence.

She stood up and looked at them with a slight smile.
“But back to the gift I was mentioning before…”
“You need to be in high spirits before you go. It is crucial to win a battle of this magnitude and I can tell by looking at all of you… that you are in low spirits. So before tomorrow, I ask tonight that all of you make a wish. You may have any wish that is possible upon this world and within your memories and dreams and I will grant it. You can wish to relive a memory or perhaps an inner wish that could come possible within your dreams. Anything, so long as it makes you happy.”




[ Something Ryan wanted to happen. ]

[classy_cat18]

Kite...just Kite
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Nothing," was the response that escaped my lips.

"Excuse me?" the Yang God asked me with her airy voice.

"I wish for nothing! I want nothing more to do with this damn battle or this damn life! I tire of being confused of my own feelings, wants, and even my own damn identity!" I glared at the various group members with eyes filled with rage. "I am sorry for all the things I've done as a Naga and also sorry for any grief that I have caused before. And now...I am sorry for being useless for this upcoming fight." With that, I threw my halberd to the ground and started to storm off.

"Kite, wait!" Adalia shouted as she ran to me.

"STAY AWAY!" I roared, successfully making her shrink back. "I want nothing to do with you. Right now I want to feel nothing but my own sadness but if I could, I would tear out my heart and give it to you if you need it so desperately!"

The oasis, if you could call it that, was small but I was determined to distance myself from everyone. I leaned against a tree and slid down to the ground for rest. She...she thought she had cured me, but I feel worse than ever. At least when I was a Naga I didn't feel this inner conflict; I could kill without feeling nothing but satisfaction. But now... I felt the regret come rushing back so I took it out on the closest thing to me. A piece of fruit fell on my head as a result of that.

"Kite..." That annoying Yang God was near me again. "Are you not feeling well?"

My hand grasped the fruit that had fallen. "What kind of stupid question is that? I never feel well! Because of you, I'll feel bad about every little thing I did to everyone! I don't like feeling regret! I want to feel hate!" With emphasis on the last word, I threw the fruit at her only to have her dodge it with no effort.

"I..." she started.

"Don't talk," I snapped. "I know if you start talking then I'll start feeling better."

"That kind of thinking isn't healthy for you."

"Didn't I tell you to stop talking?" Not once did I consider the fact that I was talking that way to a god. "I know it's not healthy! I was never in my right mind to begin with! At least I know that much about my other self."

"You mean Shonta? Does that mean you're Kite?"

I laughed bitterly and threw up my hands. "Honestly, I don't know who I am. I think during this little adventure of ours, my two sides mixed in each other. Kite became more of my voice of reason than a whole other soul. That happened before Eve got to me. Whoever Shonta is, if I am her, then I don't have her memories. Not the ones I want, that is."

I curled my tail around myself. Gods, I missed my tail. "I guess this is Shonta at her worst. I remember her -- or me -- being a bitter person most of the time. She hid it well, making everyone believe that she was a sweet person. No one that went through as much as her could be that sweet. Because of her bitterness and anger, she let go of all worthwhile memories. Now I don't belong anywhere. Reality feels like hell, and fantasy is now obsolete. If it wasn't for the fact that I was an evil creature, I would've killed myself the moment that I found out that Eve was dead."

"Eve?"

"That's what I named the Naga." My eyes narrowed. "Staying with me will accomplish nothing. There is no wish in this world that will make me feel better."

[Dr.McNinja]

“You…will defend me won’t you?”

Dimitri smiled as the Naga’s face grew close to his, he didn’t have too many moments of clarity lately, the trauma of losing half of his soul had done that to him, but in this very clear moment he could feel something akin to happiness fill his mind.

“No, I don’t think I will…”

Lashing out, Dimitri bit into the Naga’s face with his fangs, ripping out a piece of her cheek. With a scream the Naga jerked back, blood dripping down her face. A sudden scowl replaced the seductive look that had previously been on her face, even as she withdrew and began healing herself. Viciously she mocked Dimitri.

“My blood is poison you fool! Its power will seduce you just as well as my kiss would have!”

Dimitri withdrew his hand from his cloak, the burning Temperance card held tightly in its grip. Holding it up, he watched as it slowly burnt away to nothing.

“Powerful poison indeed…that could have become troublesome.”

The Naga narrowed her eyes at him, her anger mixed with some measure of confusion and interest.

“Why can’t I seduce you? What about you is so different that you won’t bow to me?”

Dimitri could feel the fog returning and shrugged, knowing he didn’t have much more time before the world faded once again.

“I already sacrificed half of my soul for something, that sacrifice summoned more power than your poison could counteract, and just mabye what's left really really isn't in the mood right now.”

The Naga glared at him for another long moment before withdrawing, leaving Dimitri to drift back into his confusion.

-------------------------

He returned, at all places, at the end of the battle to hear of Moswen’s fate. With that the last of the fog in his mind was blown away, his confusion about his identity, his purpose, even how the heck he got here was gone. Moswen had given up, she had given up and he hadn’t been there to try to give her what hope he could. He had promised, and she had had to face whatever had driven her to the edge alone.

Taking several quick steps away, Dimitri stumbled around a nearby obstruction, leaning against it out of view of the others. One hand fumbled clumsily through a pocket, withdrawing with a single card held in its grip. The bright blue orb of a world shown on its face, the World card who’s partner was in Moswen’s possession. With a moments hesitation he activated the card, seeing its glow raise and fall in response to its call to its partner. If Moswen was there, she would hear it. The card would call to her and only her. Dimitri watched the card light and fade nearly two dozen times before he closed his eyes. Images floated through his head, images lost during those days of confusion. Wishes, dreams, hopes, things he couldn’t even put names to.

“I wish…”

He hesitated. His wish would have been something selfish, something for him, something that would have made him feel better. That wasn’t what he really wanted though, it wasn’t what his mind and his heart and the tattered remains of his soul wanted. He didn’t wish for something physical, he didn’t wish for anything that wasn’t his to take. Sighing, he leaned his head back and looked up, his voice barely a whisper.

“I wish I could have told her. Maybe she already chose, maybe it wouldn't have made a difference...but I wish she had known.”

He didn’t know if his voice would carry to the goddess of if she would hear him regardless. It didn’t truly matter anyway, the wish had been half to himself in the first place. Replacing the World card in its place, Dimitri looked blankly at that which lay above.

[Roy Karrde]

Naga/Eve
~*~*~*~*~ Our so called Lives ~*~*~*~*~

Pain racked my tail, sending waves of horrible agonizing pain up and down it. It pulsed so deep that it felt as if it was going to keep me shaking for hours. How dare she cut off a piece of my tail! “Don’t worry.” I smiled, my fangs withdrawn from her arm. “The poison wont kill you. Yet.” I smiled, if she was strong enough, if she fought it enough, she may even turn into a naga like myself, maybe a lesser female to join my group. My family. o what do you plan to do? Your hands are out of order… and I was very sure that I managed to slash your friend there.” I continued, wanting to keep her occupied as the poison made it’s way through her system.

“Look at him?” I continued, pointing to the Garuda’s body, that was her weakness, keep mentioning the Garuda. “Not a bad one, yet he has to die so early… but I can’t help it; it’s either kill or be killed. Tsk, such a..” My eyes widened in shock, the dagger slashing across my neck, my body becoming weak as blood spewed forth. One hand instantly went to my neck, struggling to hold the blood in. Forget waiting for the poison, she was going to die now!

I flicked the dagger off of my tail, whipping it around at a speed faster than the human eye, whipping it around her body before she could even react. Snake’s strangle their prey, crushing them when they were going in for the kill, the bitch would feel that anguish. “Scream as your bones are crushed.” I roared, coiling my tail around her tighter and tighter. “SCREAM.” I yelled at the top of my lungs.

The woman looked back at me, fear and pain filled her eyes, and then a look of rage, the dagger still in her mouth. In one swift head movement she dug the dagger right through my tail, severing the nerves that caused it to coil. I screamed out in pain again as I dropped her, my only free hand desperately trying to get the dagger out. “ZOMBIE! NOW!” The woman screamed, my eyes looking up just in time to hear a shocking explosion.

Immediately I drew upon Kite’s shield powers, but he was far away. My eyes lit up in fear and horror as I realized that I would die here. That I would be killed off by this little animal, this creature.

“My Kite… My Miroku…I love you both.”

Adalia
~*~*~*~*~ One Wish? ~*~*~*~*~

My mind was abuzz as I walked around the oasis, half of me felt happy; I got a wish, what should I wish for? Then the other half of me remembered Kite, out of everyone here I had hurt Kite the most, and he showed me that during the battle. I began to walk past the flowers, distancing myself from the group. I wished I still had my wings, that they didn’t disappear after the battle like everyone else, that they stayed around and I could just fly away. “I wish I could make Kite feel better.” I whispered, looking up at the night sky and finally collapsing into the flowers.

The sound of footsteps, and a body collapsing into the flowers next to me drew my attention. “Knes?” I wondered out loud, sitting up, and looking at the person who laid down. Out of everyone I expected to see, out of everyone on this planet I expected to see, I never prepared for this.

“Hello sis.” My sister grinned back; she lay there in the grass, her blonde hair spread out, wearing her usual shorts and black ‘Writers Block’ shirt. But it wasn’t just that, for the first time I had been able to see her as Adalia, and she reminded me of how much we looked the same. There were some subtle differences here and there, but over all she looked like an older version of me. “Havn’t seen you in a while.” She added, tears running down my cheek as I rushed over to her, enveloping her in a deep hug.

After a moment though, I pulled away, something felt wrong, instead of the warmth and love that I could feel around my sister. All I felt now was just power and emptiness. “I’m not your sister, I am the other god here, I took this form because I knew it would be easier for you than some golden haired goddess.” She explained, sitting her hands in my lap and looking into my eyes. “I came here because I want to talk about the other god, she calls herself the light God, the yang God, and demonizes me, that I am evil.”

“But you are evil right?” I asked, curious as to what was happening.

She shook her head, her blonde hair shaking in the wind. “Let me tell you a story.” She got up, placing her hand on the small of my back as we walked through the oasis. “Back in time, so long ago that it’s hard for me to even remember it. This place was a paradise. What you know as the ‘Yang Goddess’ took control of the earth here, the very ground itself. I took control of the sky, always watching from afar.” She explained.

“After thousands of years, the humans here began to wonder which one was better, the sky or the ground god. So like what humans do, they broke off into their own religions, one worshiping the ground, one worshiping the sky, instead of worshipping both equally.” She shook her head in sadness and pain. “Soon war happened in both continents, and the God of Sunde, the ground, she tried to intervene for peace. Well her version of peace. So I struck back at her, because I believed that they should settle this themselves. In the end one entire continent was destroyed because of my stupidity.”

We continued to walk, finally stopping as she leaned down and picked a flower, placing it in my hair and smiled softly. “It took the destruction of millions of lives for peace to finally happen. My followers took the southern half of this continent; the other’s took the northern half. But millions of lives had been wiped out by using a mana power so strong that it destroyed a entire land mass.” Tears were dripping down her cheeks now, as if she was remembering horrible events. “So to punish my followers, I took their mana, from their bodies and the land, creating the Fearls. While they may be monsters, they are under control, and I took away the possibility of another massacre happening.”

She paused a few minutes, shivering in the night air. “But my creation had a problem, they eventually became monsters, and became envious of the worshipers to the north. So they attacked them, and the god of Sunde created the crystals to keep harmony over the land. But by doing so my moon was repulsed away, sending me into a far away orbit so that I had to stay far away for thousands of years.”

I had a feeling the story was going to end soon, she drew in a long breath as if she sensed it too. “But my fellow god placed her trust in humans again, seemingly giving them overwhelming trust. How did they repay her? They forgot about her! Seeking technology and exploration of mana over worship. Since I had taken the mana of my worshippers I no longer needed their worship to sustain my power. She still did, and slowly she became weak as the humans turned their back on her, and sinned again and again.” She explained, the sound of footsteps trailing us soon came to my ears. “So my moon returned, the crystals failed, and I brought you here so that you could bring back the crystals, and so that I could finally do what she should have, and here we are. I only wanted to bring peace to the world, and thus I am supposed to die?” She asked.

A voice so powerful, so deep that it shook even me called out. “Stay away from her Adalia, everything that comes out of her mouth is a lie.” I spun around in shock, finding the Yang Goddess standing there, her eyes narrowed on my sister. I stood there, looking back and forth, not sure what to do. “All she has done was cause pain Adalia.”

My sister shook her head in response, crossing her arms. “I’m not truly evil, you’re not truly good, and everything is a shade of gray. What is so wrong with telling some one my version of events, and how I remember them?” She asked, truly I had to agree, what was so wrong?

“Because your events are skewed, they are completely and utterly wrong.” The Yang God replied.

“I have sat on a moon for thousands of years, the only thing I could do is sit and remember, while you had to watch humans cuss your name and forget you. Yet you say that I forgot the events?” Samantha asked. I could feel the anger build between the two.

“Stop it, both of you.” I held my arms out, shaking my head in frustration. “I don’t know who to believe, but it’s not worth fighting about it.” I pleaded; Samantha placed a hand on my shoulder and then slowly disappeared into the night air.

“I don’t know who to believe.” I passed the yang god, walking toward the camp, my voice firm for the first time in a long time. “But I have made up my mind on my wish, I wish that I could show Knes Earth, let him meet my family and show him my place, as Adalia.” I explained, I got to meet my sister, even though it was only an illusion. Now I knew what I wanted, I wanted to introduce Knes to my family.

The yang god, paused for a second, calling out for Knes who appeared instantly at my side. “Adalia has made her wish.” She instructed, walking to us and placing a finger on both of our foreheads. Knes and I exchanged startled looks, her touch suddenly becoming cold, causing our eyes to grow heavy and for a brief second closed. When I reopened them, it was sunny with cool air washing over our bodies. Birds chipped around us and the rush of cars passing on the street could be heard off in the distance. The change was dramatic, even startling, but one thing was sure: I was home!

Knes’ eyes turned to the left and then to the right in shock. His mouth continued to hang open and move with words that were not spoken. “Samantha’s car!” I rushed forward in shock, running up to the black European car, still as new and beautiful as I had seen it just months before. “My pine tree, my house.” I spun around in shock with a torrent of emotions running through my head.

“What is a car?” Knes wondered out loud, running his hand over the sleek metal of it. “It has metal like a sword, but… it looks like a carriage?” He asked out loud as I giggled at his newfound shock. My hand snatched at Knes’ and quickly dragged him along the freshly cutgrass up to the front door. “Building’s built with such finely cut stone.” He whispered, admiring the brick while I opened the door and walked in. Stepping onto the cool wood floor.

“Mom! Dad! I’m home!” I yelled out, walking into the den. The first one out was Austin, the eleven-year-old brother. A boy who I had once towered over and tortured was now towering over me, causing me to take a small step back. “Hi Austin..” I gulped, putting on a cherry smile.

“Hey Mom, there is a weird girl in our house.” He called out.

Samantha was the next to come up, walking down the hallway from her room and arriving in the den. Just like with the Sky God, it was like looking at a older image of myself. Knes’ eyes widened in shock, looking over her body before quickly turning away and back to my cross-armed glare. Samantha looked back and forth between the two of us before settling on me. “Ryan?” She asked, sitting down on the couch as our cat came up and began to sniff my leg.

“It’s a long story..” I explained, sitting down on the couch as my mom came in. A usually strong shorthaired woman who rushed forward and scooped me up in her arms. “Mom, this is a bit embarrassing.” I whispered as she quickly let go. Her eyes traveling to Knes who put himself down on a chair, which rocked back at his weight sending him jumping out of it in shock.

Through out the next hour I explained to them our adventure in the world, and how I met Knes, who was once my age also. Which led to some glares at a sixteen-year-old boy dating their son turned pre teen daughter. “So here we are.” I finished, rocking back and forth on the sofa, trying to enjoy the softness of the leather.

“You are just so cute!” Samantha remarked happily, my cheeks warming in embarrassment. “Oh, OH! I have to get pictures!” She yelled, rushing back to her room. After a moment I got up to follow, leaving Knes to sweat it out in the den with mom. I was almost glad my Dad had taken a trip out of state on his motorcycle.

Before I had scoffed at Samantha’s semi girlish room, but now I found it a lot more interesting, almost going into her closet before stopping myself and hopped onto her bed. “So you get to go on a out of world adventure, and I’m stuck with school?” She asked, with fake sarcasm.

“I also haven’t had a period yet.” I remarked, sticking my tongue out at her. Meanwhile I knew Knes was getting the parent treatment, luckily it was probably the lighter version of it. Even still, it was great to be home, even if it was only for a few hours.

[darktyranitar]

~~~Marion~~~
Still life

“Well.. that’s… it then…” I winced, as I painfully dragged myself away from the remain of what was the Naga. I looked up, only to find that Zombie-chan was now engaged in a fight with Ban.

“Fool.” Slowly, I crawled off until I was close towards the body of Vel. And then I felt my whole body shutting down, just like that.


There was a soft nudging on my head. Cautiously, I opened one eyes. Karam was continuing to nudge my head, a mournful expression on his face. Upon noticing that my eyes were opened, his face brightened.

“Marion is still alive…” she sniffed, and if ferret were capable of sobbing, then that was apparently what he was doing now.

“A… l- alive?” I struggled with the word. Karam nodded, and pointed towards the lone figure that stood out among the rest. It was Moswen – no, the goddess of Yang, as she has said earlier. The others that were previously engaged in fight stopped and looked up at her, with something that looks like a cross between regret and realization.

Moswen… are you still in there?


With my healed body, I carried Vel’s body and laid it down in the neatly shaped hole that was close to the temple. Since digging up soil would take time, I settled for the rock and bricks that I could find lying all over the place.

“You’re very stupid, you know that?” I said to myself, as I continue to fill the hole. “Why did you have to act…” Another brick. “On your own? Then look what happened…” I stopped for a while; there was only one remaining hole. I sighed. “Right, enough of that… don’t talk bad about the dead, right.” I paused, and then put the last brick to cover the hole. ‘Here lies Vel, who was the first to fall against the Naga. Rest in peace.”

The brick went down, and the tomb was sealed. His sword was laid down carefully on the highest point of the tomb, with the blade neatly sheathed.

*****

This is only temporary… all things will pass. We’re really going back to home… but still… still…

A wish, she says?

Well, if that is so…

“I wish…” I hesitated. Is it possible? “…for Moswen to come back here…”

The words dissolved in the air as a sudden gust of wind swept across me. I sat down and watched the surface of the water, aware of the figure standing at the other side of the oasis.

I stood up. “It’s… not possible, is it?” The Yang goddess watched me over with an unreadable look on her face.

[Roy Karrde]

God of Sky and Space/Yin God
~*~*~*~*~ Looking down on those ants below ~*~*~*~*~

The hour of my fight was soon approaching, the hour that could decide the fate of this world for the rest of it’s span in this large universe. So why was I not preparing? Why was I not sitting on my moon, gathering my mana, and preparing for the eventual battle? I did not fully understand it myself, the feeling in my gut, the feeling of what did the humans call it? Fear? Fear of dying, fear of losing my existence, it was something that was quite unique to face my own mortality.

“I just don’t want to die..” I drifted along, like the wind, unseen, and only felt until I came up upon a unique half-breed, his hatred and sadness was radiating off of him. “What unique emotions.” I whispered, peering into him, into his soul and dragging out a image that would make myself more recognizable to him.

I took on the appearance with only a thought, walking over to him and bending down as I read his thoughts and memories. “Why the long face sis? Or should I say brother now?” I asked, punching him playfully while I fixed the final details to look like his… or her brother from the other world.

Kite looked up at me, his face full of shock and then a smirk rose up upon it. “Oh did you take the wrong appearance, I have been wanting to hit you for a long time.” He laughed; his fist pulled into a ball and swung around to hit me in the stomach.

Being a God, I had to pretend it hurt, grabbing the fist with one hand and spun around with my own fist. Of course Kite dodged, he had not survived in this world long enough to not learn how to dodge. “I just want to talk.”

Kite hammered his fist into my gut, once, and then twice. “I don’t give a shit about the mind tricks you want to offer.” He growled, pounding his fist into my gut once more.

I staggered back, faking that it hurt to give him some sort of gratification. “In a few hours, the sun will rise and you will travel to my home, you may win, and if you do you will go home.” I explained.

Kite smirked, clinching his fists. “Good, then this nightmare will be over with.”

I couldn’t help but laugh, sinking in to the memories of Shonta. “You think your life is so peaches and cream back home?” I asked. For a moment Kite stopped, his eyes looking away as if he were trying to search his memories. “I could give you happiness, I could give you her.”

Kite laughed, waving his hand as he began to walk away. “If you are a god, you should know that I am over her.”

Kite took only two steps before I answered. “Liar.” I held open my hand, mana swirling around it to show one future, one outcome of what I could bring. He only had to take it.

A short post, both something Classy and I have been tossing around as the Yin God tempting some of the members of the group. Kind of a Last Temptation type of thing before sun rise.

[classy_cat18]

Kite ~ Angry as hell
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I couldn't believe what I was seeing. And that god had the balls to just smirk at me while he was showing it. "Do you actually believe that Adalia will be willing to do that?" I asked him calmly.

"I can make it happen," he told me while still in my brother's form.

I stayed silent for a couple of minutes, my eyes darting from the mana vision to his acne-filled face. "I don't know what I should be sick from, your face or what you're showing me. If you were going to convince me to such a deal, you should've chosen a nicer face."

"I got both this form and this vision from your memories and desires. In other words, this is from your own sick mind." His smile got wider.

I closed my eyes and tried not to pound him, knowing that it wouldn't help. "Okay, so maybe a part of me wants this. But the rational part says that there are strings attached and you want something so I ain't buying it."

"What do you care? You said that you didn't want anything to do with the fight."

"That's it, I'm calling your sister! YANG GOD! HEY, YANG GOD!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. The Sky God, getting angry, disappeared just as his "sister" came into view.

At that moment I got an idea. "I know what I want to wish for. I remember this beach with pink sand and blue water. It was nice and warm. Could I go there for a while? You know, for reflection?"

The last thing I saw before I left was her nodding with a smile.

[Bulbasaur4]

Sorry for the lack of posting but I've been in a slump. I'll try to post sometime this week... I promise i'll try. I just haven't been in an RPGing mood as of late. >.<;;

I'm thinking of what to do with my next post a bit as well.

[Roy Karrde]

Its okay Kalah, this summer has been hard on all of us. Thank you for saying you will post this week, I am sure we are all anticipating it. ^_^ We need to make some "I believe in the Yin God" or "I believe in the Yang God" banners.

[Bulbasaur4]

Roy and I compromised. Here is my post, soon to be followed by another Yang post, but not until after Roy and perhaps someone else posts too.

Yang Goddess

So it had been done, for most. Adalia and Knes had been placed gently upon some supple grass, put to sleep in a wondrous slumber. A few of the others had followed suit… living in their own final wish that was real but yet unreal at the same time.

But then it came to Dimitri. Her gentle gaze washed over the poor half breed, as she realized the own deeper pain he had in not telling Moswen what he wished to. Taking a gentle hand, she brushed it upon the side of his furried face and instantly a feeling of warmth overcame him. Buckling to his knees, Dimitri too fell into a sleep but his was different. His was connected…

“Who’s there?” A voice called out from the darkness to Dimitri. He was now standing in a world that was filled with nothing but black but yet it he could easily see his own hands and himself. The ground wasn’t visible, for some reason he was standing perfectly find in what seemed to be a void.

“It is… Dimitri…” He responded slowly, as the form of Moswen came forth. She was the same but yet she was different. He hair was no longer two set tones, but was constantly shifting like a rainbow of natural color. The tattoos upon her body were now everywhere- not just settling upon her left side. She had no armor however… but instead a billowing dress of white was adorned upon her graceful body.

“Dimitri?” Moswen looked confused as she reached him. “But how? This is my resting place… I didn’t…” She trailed off, looking away for a moment. “I didn’t want to be disturbed.”

“Why did you go? Why are you here?” Dimitri’s questions instantly rose, but a voice rose in his head. <Remember your wish.> Dimitri soon bowed his head in remembrance, lifting it only to look back up at her.

“Forget what I’ve asked. I came here… to speak to you, to tell you something.” He continued, as Moswen looked at him with her penetrating gaze- both eyes now violet.

“I wanted to tell you earlier… but… I was a coward. I didn’t realize what I was feeling, but now I do. Moswen… I care a lot for you.”

Moswen twitched her ears slightly, before giving a slight nod. “I care about you as well Dimitri.” Her voice was tired, beaten as if she meant what she said but yet other things weighed upon her.

“No Moswen. Not like that… I… I love you.”

Moswen’s eyes widened as she stared at Dimitri, speechless. Then suddenly her eyes brimmed with tears that streamed down her face as her eyes flashed with a deep inner sadness.

And within that moment, Dimitri knew everything.

Dimitri came to and found himself looking up at the Yang Goddess. She smiled at him and stroked his face but then gently moved away. She didn’t need to say words, she knew nothing was going to comfort him.

Then came Kite, whom had been chosen by the Yin God to meddle with. She narrowed her eyes at him, but if anyone would have really looked within them… they would have realized there was something else there.

But as he vanished, Kite had his wish. In his own demanding way, he wanted to go away for reflection. With a nod, she waved her delicate hand over his face and soon sleep came to him as well. She grabbed his body gently and rested him against a tree, near the others. Only a few had not sought to find slumber within their wish.

Then came Marion. Her wish was to get Moswen back? The Yang Goddess withdrew a breath as she stared at the girl… seeing her eager eyes staring back.

“Alright, I will bring her forth but it shall only be for a short while.”

With that, the Yang Goddess closed her eyes and soon her features melted away and grew to become the familiar Moswen that Marion was used to. A few eyes saw this, perhaps only those who did not sleep but Moswen’s eyes were resting upon Marion’s.

“Why…” Moswen began, but before she could finish she suddenly found Marion’s arms wrapped about her. Shocked, stunned but most importantly… confused, Moswen took her own arms and wrapped them about Marion. After a few moments of tender silence, Moswen and Marion sat down near the crystal clear pool. It was there Moswen found out Marion’s wish and there that Moswen’s heart ached for her companion.

“I know… it’s only for a short while…” Marion began, looking at Moswen. “But I wanted to see you.”

Moswen was silent for a while, before she gave a nod. “I’m honored that you’d waste a wish upon seeing me.”

“But it wasn’t a waste!”

More silence, and suddenly Moswen leaned forward and kissed Marion on the forehead and then hugged her. “I’m sorry…” She whispered, but Marion could not hear.

Time passed and the two had talked and merely sat in the silence. However, suddenly Moswen stood up.

“It is time…” She said, closing her eyes as Marion gave a knowing nod. Taking a few steps away, Moswen suddenly spoke outloud but it was apparent she was talking to the one that resided within her.

“Please give me a mere moment. There is something I must attend to.”
A pause, a nod, and Moswen disappeared into the forest.

It didn’t take her long to find him. The lone warrior was sitting upon a rock with his sword propped against it. His eyes were to the sky as if he were deep in thought, but at the sound of footsteps he turned to look at Moswen in shock.

“Moswen…? But I thought…” He trailed off, but she stopped, keeping a distance.
“I only have a short time here.”
“You’ll be back… right?” He asked, but Moswen did not answer.
“I… I have time to tell you one thing.” She continued, looking away for a moment before withdrawing a deep breath and settling her gaze upon him. The nighttime air seemed choking to her as she opened her mouth, her heart beating faster.

“I… I told myself… back… when I was gone…” She started, “That I had to… to let it be known. I had to tell you.” Ban’s gaze was confusion upon her as she kept her distance, feeling tears brimming to her eyes but she fought them away.

“Ban, I… I… love… you…” She finished, closing her mouth although she swore it as if her words had pierced the air and echoed over again. Ban at first was obviously speechless, but then he twisted his face so he could try to say something but every time no sound came out. Moswen couldn’t look at him, she closed her eyes tightly to try to keep herself from looking at him. However, as she stood there suddenly the sound of movement came and she opened her eyes just in time to see Ban’s figure right in front of her. Within less than a moment, he wrapped his arms about her and hugged her tightly to the point where she could hear her own frantic heart movements along with his.

And for the first time, in a very long time, she felt happy.


However, the moment was cut off as a brilliant flash of light rippled through the air and Ban’s body faded away from Moswen’s. Moswen found herself trying to hold on, but suddenly she too was sucked back into the void of her own mind as the Yang Goddess was forcefully surfaced by some other power. When the light finally receded, Ban was gone and the Yang Goddess was left in place.

“Knes…” She said quietly, her eyes wide with fright as she suddenly ran back to the main group where she heard young sobs echoing in the quiet paradise. Bursting through into the clearing, there she saw that everyone had disappeared except for Adalia. Her face was wrought with tears as she rested upon her knees, sobbing. Instantly the Yang Goddess knelt by her side and hugged her, bringing the young girl to her for comfort.

KNES

The day, or the seeming day, went by perfectly. Knes had enjoyed himself as he and Adalia discovered many fascinating things about her home called “Earth.” He had been shown a strange thing called the ‘internet’ and they had even gone out on a car ride. Cars were absolutely fascinating things for Knes and he was both frightened but yet exhilarated as they speed down strangely made roads. The houses themselves were strangely built… and things from magical buzzing lights to water coming at a whim was impressive.

Towards the evening they had dinner, and Knes had practically gorged himself on anything he could get his hands upon. The food was deliciously wonderful and unlike anything he had ever tasted. There were so many sweet tasting foods!

For some reason, Knes could feel that time was cutting short on their day however. It was growing to be midnight and both he and Adalia could feel that when it came to the time, they would be back in the original world. Sitting upon the roof, Knes had teleported the two of them up there so that they could gaze upwards at the stars. The two of them held hands as Adalia pointed at them and told him about the different constellations and the stories behind them. Knes laughed at some of the absurd ones, but he too then told her about a few strange stories about the stars as well.

It was a wonderful night until that point, and Knes had forgotten everything. Yet, suddenly Adalia sat up and gazed at Knes.

“I love you, Knes.” She said, and suddenly she leaned in and planted a sweet but gentle kiss upon his lips. Breaking away, she looked at Knes expectantly and he blushed a bit before opening his mouth to return the greeting- because it was the truth, wasn’t it?


However, suddenly the world fizzled away and they were back at the place of paradise. Opening his eyes, Knes found himself staring up at the sky- and in most particular, the moon. Realization suddenly dawned upon him as he absently stuck his hand into his pocket, finding a smooth stone that he knew to be green there. It was the Naga’s.

Sitting up, he saw Adalia had come too and she was looking at him. Some type of realization had come to her as well… and Knes turned to face her.

“You look as if you’ve been hit by a stick.” He commented, his voice growing more solemn as slowly the realization of what he had to do gained upon him. It was enough to make himself sick… and a huge knot began to grow within him.

“There… there is something I want you to know, before someone else brings it up.” Adalia said, her voice sounding more mature than usual. “I… I love you and I love Loki.”

Knes’s heart pounded in his ribcage at the mentioning of Loki. Seething anger bubbled from within him- why would he love the man who abandoned him? Was he that…

But Knes stopped himself. This was for the better. She shouldn’t love Knes anyways… he wasn’t meant to be loved, not like that. And after this night, he wouldn’t be loved again.

“However, I want to be with you! I love Loki in the way that-” Her voice trailed off as she saw Knes stand up, biting his lip absently as he focused.


Was everyone in his range? Yes… yes they were. He could even sense Moswen, but knew that she’d be forced to go away soon. After this final act.

“Don’t speak anymore Adalia… your voice hurts my ears.” Knes said, his hair brushing away slightly so that his red eye burned into her own gaze.
“W-what?” Adalia asked, staggering back at the surprise change in his tone. Knes couldn’t stop now though… he had begun. He couldn’t explain. He had to keep going… keep going or else he might falter…

“Haven’t you figured it out Adalia? I despise you. I’ve only been using you from the beginning… ever since we first met. I’ve only been protecting you so that I could gain your trust… and get in with your little group of pathetic so-called heros.”

Knes couldn’t fathom how much it burned his tongue to say the things he was saying now. His eyes were threatening to water from the seering pain… but he fought it. He had to.

“You fell for it of course, and I expected you to. It’s okay though… because now we don’t have to pretend anymore. I don’t have to pretend… and I can join my true alliegance with the Yin God.”

Lies… they were all lies… except for his alligance. It was with the Yin God. However… now he was wondering if it was worth it… seeing her beautiful face like this…

“Or should I say, ‘The Sky God’. Man Adalia, you’re so easily deceived. Do you honestly believe that the Yin God told you the truth… that he was the.. .heh, ‘sky god’? He did that to only confuse you. I can’t believe you took his word over the Yang Goddess’s… who has been residing in Moswen. Or do you think Moswen would allow the Yang Goddess to lie to her friends?”

Adalia stammered to try to speak, but Knes couldn’t stop. He was on a roll.

“Oh, and don’t think I don’t know what you’ve done! The night you kissed me… back when Loki was around. You think he was the only one who was hurt? You hurt me too you know! Kissed me and led me on when you were with him! And now you love him still, after he abandoned you? After I’ve been around protecting you all this time?! Why Adalia? Do I have to abandon you to in order to earn that proper love?”

A bit unplanned… and Knes knew it was time to go.

“Stay away from me.” Knes said lastly, narrowing his eyes. “I don’t ever want to see your face again!”


I’m so sorry Adalia. If only you could read my heart… please understand, I’m saying these things so you’ll forget about me. Loving me will only bring you pain… please, I’m trying to bring back my family. But I love you Adalia, I love you so much. You’re the only one who let me forget about them for a while… t he only one who helped my pain go away. I know you’ll never forgive me or love me again… but if I had one wish, my wish would be that you could see the truth, once and for all.

With that, Knes concentrated upon everyone- everyone except Adalia and the Yang Goddess. Knowing the route to the moon- the route that the Yin God had given him, he summoned up his power and soon everyone vanished with him.


Leaving Adalia and the Yang Goddess, back upon the world.
If I leave her there with the Yang Goddess…. She won’t get hurt… maybe I can spare her…

THE YIN GOD

Everyone except for the needless girl and the Yang Goddess had been left upon the world. The others were teleported in front of a temple upon the moon. However, as soon as Knes had teleported them in front of the temple, he had teleported back to the Yin God.

“Excellent Knes, you have done well.” His voice spoke, smooth and deep. Stepping away from one of the windows that overlooked the world, the Yin God’s true form came into view. Knes had seen it before, but it was a slight shock. Long flowing and smooth black hair draped over his shoulders, down to his torso. His eyes were black as coal, although they didn’t look vastly sinister… just dark. The clothes that he wore were crimson red, much like a male version of the Yang Goddess’s kimono. Black ears, very wolf-like protruded from his head, along with a wolfish tail that mirrored Moswen’s own tail. He was like the opposite of the Yang Goddess… but yet, they still were very much alike.

“I will admit, your outburst was a little… detailed, but I did not mind.” The Yin God picked up a book, looking at the cover- it was the bible of the world. “To think, that she believed my tail so easily… just as easily as those former humans upon the world who believed this Bible that I wrote. It is pathetic… how easily humans believe what they hear if it suits their fancy. To think I am merely a Sky God?! Pathetic! I'm sick of humans... sick of how they forgot us, even the simple names we crafted for them! Now all they use is science... technology... things that are second to us! Well they shall learn from ME!” With that, he flung the book against the wall, and by some added magic it exploded at the force.

“I control far more than just the sky!” He laughed, looking at Knes. “The Yang Goddess was far less convincing to the girl… she does not believe in manipulation to show her ways. That is why she lacked the ability to make the girl believe her. But it matters not. I no longer need any of them to believe my lies, now that my plan is coming to the final stretch.”

Knes had gone into a bowing position, as the Yin God stretched.

“Soon they will enter the temple and be weakened by the battles there. By the time they reach me, they shall be easily destroyed.”

“My Lord, does the Yang Goddess really wish to destroy you?” Knes asked, as the Yin God shook his head.

“No… no she does not. She merely wants to restore the power I have taken, back to her so that we are equals again. She would never destroy me…”

Knes hesitated for a second, before looking back. “Because… she loves you?”

Startled, the Yin God looked at Knes and for a brief moment, his face revealed that such an idea was unnerving.

“No… no… because we cannot exist without the other. She thinks I have forgotten, but I have not. The elements of Yin and Yang… one cannot exist without the other. However, that is why I will deal with the others… and then when she is all alone, I shall beat her down to a fraction of her life. Then I shall seal and contain it… forever keeping her within my temple and under my control.”

A smile came to his face, “Then those humans will all become Fearls. They’ll all be trapped and they’ll all kill… screaming in inner agony at their treacherous deeds. All while knowing, that the reason they’ve become Fearls is because they’ve forgotten their Gods… the Yin and Yang. They’ve believed lies and forgot their hearts… forgot me, Yin, forgot her, Yang. But now they shall never forget…”

Anxiety reached Knes, but the Yin God looked at him and smiled. “Oh do not worry Knes, that little mountain side home will be free from Fearls. As soon as this battle is over, my debt to you will be paid and your parents, your sister… they’ll return with you to your protected home.”
I’m sorry…

[kalad1]

Dana
____________________________

I wandered through the abandoned structure, as others around me, who I payed no mind to, spread out, examining everything, drinking up the past. I frowned, I didn't really belong here, at least, I didn't feel that I did. If anyone was more truly a stranger to this than anyone else, it was I. I heard an exclamation from another part of the temple, and turned to see what it was.

My little girl giggled in my arms, or at least what sounded like a giggle as the man that made the noise came running up with bundles of fruit in his arms and a look of joy upon his face. It was a small reminder as to how starved this world was. I did yearn a bit to be in the field of battle with my friends, but there was no turning back now, I didn't even know where they were. I gave a long sigh and pushed open a beautifully designed door and stepped in to breast feed the baby, immediately as I stepped in my foot crunched under something that sounded like glass.

I heard people gasping and murmuring in both shock and awe. Turning to look down, I saw that scattered across the floor were shards of crystal. I stepped back, pondering this, as the others rushed forward, picking up every piece they could get their hands on. As I blinked in confusing, they spoke rapidly to each other about the ramifications of this find.

Many were talking about how these crystals shards resembled the ones talked about in the ancient texts; others were chastising them for that. I was beginning to wonder if this was happening in the other towns we visited, the locals picking through the wreckage and finding crystals that were now filled with mana, crystals that they had once thought was nothing more than a display. We were sent here to bring hope and faith to a hopeless and faithless world. “It’s true… this crystal is infused with mana now because we defeated the guardian, guardians that were created and placed in the crystal by the god of gens… the god of earth.” I explained.

The all began to stare at me in shock. I began to wonder if saying that was a good idea...

(Note: Dana doesn't know about the Ying Yang gods, also, sorry about the lack of color, just didn't feel like working it in)

[Roy Karrde]

Worked with this in conjunction with Classy, in hopes to finally resolve the Adalia/Kite stuff.

Adalia
~*~*~*~*~ In your heart, in your mind, I'll stay with you for all of time~*~*~*~*~

Knes’ words echoed through out my brain, rattling around them with the memories of that one night in Talidan where I had kissed him. Wherever I walked the words seemed to get louder and louder. “I despise you.” That was the word Knes had used, looking me in the eye and telling me that he hated me. Tears were flowing down my cheeks as they did oh so often. I just wanted the pain to stop. I wanted the pain to stop so badly, for people to stop hurting me.

Eventually I found myself back at the camp, everyone else asleep or off on their own as I fell to my knees. Letting out a long wail of pain, my voice trembling as I screamed so horribly that I almost didn’t recognize it as my own. The scream took my entire breath away; I gathered in another one and let out another long scream before collapsing onto my side, holding my stomach and coughing between long sobs.

“God, please bring him back please, he’s one of my only friends, please, please.” I sobbed, tightening up into a tiny ball.

“I promise to do anything, just bring him back.” I sobbed.

“Adalia?” Kite’s voice echoed in the distance, a moment later I could hear the sound of running footsteps against sand. “Adalia what the hell happened?” He asked, rushing to my side.

“Knes, he said so many bad things.. he hates me.” I mumbled through sobs, for a brief moment, a brief flash I could predict what was going to happen next, Kite would say something horrible, or punch me, or tell me everything was my fault.

To my utter shock those things did not come, instead Kite bent down and wrapped his arms around my body and pulled me into a hug. “Shhh, it’s okay, its okay, he doesn’t hate you.” Kite whispered, kissing the top of my head and rocking me back and forth in a hug.

“Kite..” I whimpered, sobbing into his shirt.

“Something must be wrong, he ha…” Kite suddenly stopped speaking, his body disappearing in the blink of an eye, causing me to fall back into the sand.

“Ki…Kite?” I mumbled, looking around in fear, the place was completely empty, and the feelings of fear and loneliness began to creep in.

I bent back down, hugging my knees and began to sob again, this time from both fear and sadness. Everyone was gone now, Knes, Kite, Everyone.

[classy_cat18]

Kite ~ In Paradise

It was strange. All I had was this one beach and the surrounding ocean. Then again, it made sense. All I asked for and remembered this one beach. And it was good for reflection with no one to bother me. "Okay, let's just say that I survive this last fight and get to go home. Will I want to go home?"

No one was around to answer me. The gentle waves rolled in and rested right in front of my feet before sliding back into the ocean. "I wish I could go to this place. Besides, what good was my old life? I have a chance to form a new one. No debts, no enemies, find a girlfriend..." My voice faded there and I turned my head to the side to find that there was more of the island.

"Are my memories returning? No, that's not the right question. They're Shonta's memories. I guess she likes that idea." I walked out into the water with my bare feet and felt the slightly cool water. "I guess I'm ready to go back."

One blink brought me back to the Goddess's headquarters (or whatever you want to call it). Unfortunately, the tranquility of the place just wasn't there. My ears twitched as I heard Adalia cry as loudly as her little lungs allowed, even letting out a scream. After confirming that no one was going to comfort her, I decided to go see her.

"Adalia?" I called out before finding her curled up in the sand. I hurried over to her and crouched next to her. "Adalia, what in the hell happened?"

Adalia finally found enough air to speak between sobs. “Knes, he said so many bad things...he hates me.”

I didn't feel guilty about the smug look that I managed to hide. For a whole minute I tried to figure out what I could do to express my satisfaction. Saying "I told you so" just wasn't enough. Slapping her would've been too much. But the more I thought about it, the worse the idea seemed. My selfish side told me that I couldn't handle more crying.

I hesitated before hugging her and kissing the top of her head. “Shhh, it’s okay, its okay, he doesn’t hate you," I whispered to her. Rocking her seemed to calm her down a little.

"Kite..."

“Something must be wrong, he ha…” I didn't get to finish my sentence as I was taken away.

[darktyranitar]

Give me inspiration!

ATB/Let U Go
Massive Attack/Risingson
Sabaton/Metal machine
Sabaton/Purple Heart
Muse/Knights of Cydonia
Iron Maiden/Still Life
Beck/Devil’s Haircut
Iron Maiden/The Prisoner
Muse/Apocalypse Please
G. K. Chesterton; English Hymnal
Radiohead/The Bends
Iron Maiden/From here to eternity
Featuring: the cast of CotR2 (minus Moswen, Adalia, Knes, and the others who didn’t make it)
Presents:




Untitled XD

I've been to all the familiar places
I've been running like a sentence
Never begun
I've been looking for a way to let you know
I got nothing left to fill the spaces
I got nothing but a center coming undone
I've been doing circles and it shows

Every cloud in the sky
Every place that I hide
Tell me that I,
I was wrong to let u go
Every search that I heel
Every flower that I feel
Tell me that I,
I was wrong
I was wrong to let u go

Moswen.

Then, a flash, and we were gone.

See me run, now you’re gone. Dream on.”

I have a phobia
A fear of the dark
Afraid to shoot strangers
The animal talks

Guns scare me shitless
But love gun’s my friend
The sentinel’s coming
But is this the end

Riding on this crazy train
I’m going paranoid
Watch me lose my mind
And break the law

It’s close to midnight and
He’s barking at the moon
The rainbow in the dark is shining

I suppose it was to be expected… after all, the Yang Goddess did said that we were up for the fight of our life – and for this world’s fate as well.

We have fought in distant conflict
And for all to many years
Seen our friends go down
Wounded dead or lost

And of course, it was expected how our battleground would be like: the surface is very rocky, and the ground is a deep black, and the air tastes of death and pain.

It looked like hell… well, perhaps a bit like it anyway. But nowhere near the real hell; for one thing, hell was white – it was the colour of the hottest fire.

“Wow,” Zombie-chan said, eyeing the surrounding around her.

“Ah. Typical final boss setting, don’t you think?” I asked her. She nodded, and tsked approvingly. The others were probably just as amazed; and if I am right, just as unwilling to fight as us. It was as if all the spirit to fight has gone out of us.

Huh. And just when this was supposed to be The Fight.

Come ride with me through the veils of history,
I'll show you a God falls asleep on the job,
How can we win when fools can be kings?
Don't waste your time or time will waste you

No one is going to take me alive
The time has come to make things right
You and I must fight for our lives
You and I must fight to survive

It was so depressing that I felt like I could just shout:

“Dnatsrednu tnod uoy sgnit diw elddem tond. Ecnob eert ed diw sgnit ed des oh tahw. Mmmh, mmh.”

…which I did.

Something's wrong 'cause my mind is fading
And everywhere I look there's a dead end waiting
Temperature's dropping at the rotten oasis
Stealing kisses from the leperous faces

Love machines on the sympathy crutches
Discount orgies on the dropout buses
Hitching a ride with the bleeding noses
Coming to town with the brief case blues

Got a devil's haircut in my mind
Got a devil's haircut in my mind
Got a devil's haircut in my mind
Got a devil's haircut in my mind

“Wonder how’s Adalia and Moswen is doing?” Zombie-chan said, after a considerable amount of peering over the group.

I am not a number; I’m a free man!

“Safe from here, I suppose.”

Aye. Let’s hope so…

Is this st. anger
The ultimate sin
Or have I really
A black knight within

The gates of Babylon
Are open and wide
Shout at the devil
There’s nowhere to hide

Fighting for the world to keep
The wild child in it’s cage
Broke my metal heart
Against the wall

Huh. The end is here?

It's time we saw a miracle
Come on it's time for something biblical
To pull us through
And pull us through
And this is the end
This is the end of the world

Oh, God/Goddess/the gods…

O God of Earth and Altar,
Bow down and hear our cry,
Our earthly rulers falter,
Our people drift and die,
The walls of gold entomb us,
The swords of scorn divide,
Take not thy thunder from us,
But take away our pride.

Then it hit me; not a recounting, but a spark of wild thought. “…Yi?”

“Mm?”

“Do you think madness is infectious?”

“A bit. Why do- oh.” She retreated, as I raised my stick up with both hand. “Whoa Faizer… are you losing it?”

I grinned. “What the hell.”

“Well, this is technically a pseudo hell, see, so-”

I pointed at my grinning face. “It’s right here, see: madness!”

“Ah. Nice.” She pursed her lips. “Very nice. So. What do you have in mind? Beat yourself senseless with the stick?”

“Nah; I may be crazy, but I’m not stupid.”

“Okay… how about a sing-along then?”

I shrugged. “Hell, that’d be better than depression…”

“Yup.”

“How about a round of Sanctuary?”

“Doesn’t ring a bell.”

“Okay… The Bends?”

“Right-o!”

“Right. One, two. One, two…”

“Many, lots.”

My baby's got the bends
We don't have any real friends
I'm just lying in a bar with my drip feed on
Talking to my girlfriend waiting for something to happen
And I wish it was the sixties
I wish I could be happy
I wish
I wish
I wish that something would happen…

Hell, what the hell are we doing? Hell, is this the devil’s doing? Hell…

Hell ain't a bad place
Hell is from here to eternity
Hell ain't a bad place
Hell is from here to eternity

[Roy Karrde]

Adalia
~*~*~*~*~ War upon Heaven ~*~*~*~*~

“Then let us go to the moon, let us save them, together.” Moswen or the Goddess spoke, my tears drying away as the surroundings began to shift and swirl, and in a blink of a eye we were upon the moon, the stars twinkled all around, and the dirt was pitch black. Behind us was the large world of the Gens, looking like a glistening blue and green ball. The air though, the air tasted of death and decay, almost as if years upon years of pain had been inflicted upon the place.

“He must know we have already arrived, so lets tread lightly.” Moswen spoke, pointing to a large spire off in the distance that seemed to twist and tower over all the other rock formations.

Suddenly all the comforting words that she had told me about rescuing Knes drained away, the fear returned, the fear that I would have to face Knes. The fear that Knes would kill me. “This place feels like hell.” Dimitri whispered, appearing at our side.

“I know.” I whispered back.

“Adalia?” Loki asked with a shaky voice as we began to make our journey toward the spire, our eyes always on the look out for something unusual, anything that could be used to attack us. The whole thing was making me shake in fear at the thought that something could pop out at any second.

I turned around to see a large grin across Loki’s face, he was looking directly at me instead of our surroundings, and something in his eyes seemed to have changed. “Your hair.” He gasped. “Its so beautiful, more beautiful than I ever imagined.”

“It’s the same hair I have had for months.” I looked at him as if he were crazy.

Moswen nudged my side. “The boy wished to see color.” She spoke softly, as I began to realize why it was so shocking to Loki, he had never seen me in full color, it must be so shocking now.

“Can I touch it?” He asked, stepping forward.

With a soft nod Loki ran his hand through my hair, taking the strands in his hand and looking at them closely. Just that small touch was relaxing, it calmed my nerves and I leaned into the touch.

“It’s so beautiful…” He whispered, Loki leaning in as we both closed our eyes, our lips touching in a soft kiss.

“It’s time…” Moswen broke the moment. “Knes has teleported down to meet us at the entrance.”
“I’m going to kill him.” Kite growled, cracking his knuckles.

“No..” I shook my head, stepping forward. “I have to do this alone.”

“Have you gone completely stupid?” Danielle asked in anger, turning to look at me with fear and anger in her eye. “He will..”

“I know.” I whispered, knowing the end of his sentence. ‘He will kill me.’ “I brought Knes to the group, it was my fault that all of this happened, I was the one that trusted him the most..”

“Suicide mission.” Zombie laughed in a sing song voice. Almost before she could finish the last word Loki turned around punching her across the face.

“I’m going with you.” Loki growled.

“Me too.” Kite added in agreement as a feeling bubbled up inside of me, the feeling that they really did care about me, they really did love me.

“Thank you.” I smiled, and then shook my head. “But all of you have to go and face the other God, so that we can free that world.” I pointed toward the world of Gens. It was what our mission here all along had been, to free them.

“Screw that.” Loki shook his head in anger, stepping forward and taking my hand. “Lets go, we can find a safe place to hide on that world, we can stay there forever, and not have to worry about Knes or Gods, or what ever.”

“But you want to fight the God, that’s why you came back.” I asked him.

“I don’t want you to die.” He whispered, blinking back tears.

I shook off the feeling to cry, to shake and fall to my knees in fear. “I’m pretty tough.” I grinned happily, as Loki fought to smile. He leaned in and cupped my cheek for a second before I turned and walked away, walking past the group who each looked at me as I passed them.

Kite reached out and touched my arm as I passed him, I turned and we met eyes. The memories of him cradling me in his arms, whispering that everything was okay flashed through my head. “I always knew you were a good guy.” I smiled.

“Don’t tell anyone.” Kite cracked a mischievous smile.

Standing up on my tip toes I leaned in and kissed his cheek. “I wont.” I whispered, our eyes matching for a few more moments before walking away.


“If the battle gets to be too much, don’t hesitate to run back to us.” Marion spoke up as I passed her. I nodded back and then broke into a run, heading straight toward the large back spire.

When I got closer I could see inside the large hollowed out entrance. Inside was a large cavern, bathed in the green light of mana, but the walls were covered with faces of people, moaning in pain and struggling to free themselves from the walls, inside sat what looked like a dark male version of Moswen, his eyes glanced at me and I shuttered, looking away. His eyes were filled with so much hate, so much anger. It was so different than when he appeared as Samantha just hours earlier.

[Roy Karrde]

Guys if you are going to post something like that, do it in the Talkback please. I'm deleting the posts but if you want to post them in the Talkback tell me.

[Haruko]

Stella D'Aubigine
-I'll devoid myself of desire- "only to be drowned in despair"

We were teleported up to the moon's surface for the upcoming finale, the final battle that I pushed my fate in from the start. As the swirl of vision faded from the teleportation, I could instantly feel something wrong within the surface. The surface was of a black soil and the air was heavy of the feeling of utter despair.

It felt perfect for the mood I was in right now, actually. I had injured a comrade..the one who had rescued me from that hell. Even if it broke his bond with the Naga monster, I still felt pings of responsibility for his now handicapped vision. I looked at him slighty, seeing his back as we walked towards where the others, and maybe me, would meet our fate. I had cleaned his eye and fixed a patch from gauze, but the damage I had done was unrepairable.

It was why I didn't wish for anything when it was my turn for maybe my last final moments of bliss. I didn't deserve it.

I muted out the voices of the others as we seemed to get closer and closer to the entrance of where our enemy would be. As I took a step, I could feel more and more an evil presence in the soil, unlike the presence I could feel in the earth on our planet. And with each step, a voice came slowly into my head.

'Do you desire of anything, my child?'
'No, now leave me alone.' I responsed in haste as we seemed to come to a stop. Adalia seemed to have left to get Knes back; the so-called traitor in the group. I looked at her for a second until we continued to where we were heading. We approached a cavern where there seemed to be a huge spiral top nearby, and the voice in my head only seemed to get worse.

'Do not tell me you don't have any desires, my child.The voice now came in clearly as we entered the cavern. The walls seemed to be an eerie glowing green that gave off a heavy air. I kept myself at the slowest pace as I felt at complete unease, my body tensing at each footstep. I placed my hand on the wall and in an instant, I could almost feel my heart skip a beat.

'HELP ME!' The earth on the wall seemed to scream, and I wanted to scream back just the same. The whole place put me at an complete and utter unease, I just wanted to get out as quickly as possible.

"Are you alright, Stella?"Ovan looked back at me as they walked, and I seemed to daze out for a second. I nodded quickly and catched up, trying to null out the feelings of anxiety that laid in my heart.

'So child, you wish to finish this as quickly as possible? I may lend you my strength and will.'I felt the voice's presence's completely wash over myself as I stood still, my body freezing as I felt another being in my body; not myself. Was it the one who asked for help? But this presence had such a strong violent will..

'We will show them you are not only a innocent in the background.'She said, twisting my lips into a smile as we walked into a big room. At the opposite side was a being that seemed to match Moswen's description; a male version of her with a black tail and her. My body seemed to be in the voice's control; she seemed neither evil or good as she looked at him with a feeling of utter hatred and despise pinging in my heart.

[Roy Karrde]

Adalia
~*~*~*~*~ The end of all things… ~*~*~*~*~

When I approached him, I thought there would be some tricks, some scheme that he had planned. That he would teleport from the side and attack me, instead I just found Knes standing there, his arms crossed and his eyes full of sadness. “I told you not to come after me.” He shook his head as I readied my staff. “You couldn’t have just leave me be?” He asked, his eyes falling onto the staff.

“Do you really think I am going to attack you?” He gazed at the staff for a minute as I held it in my shaky hands. I shook my head no and slowly lowered it as Knes turned and the two of us walked around the side of the huge spire. “So we’re going to have to fight? After all we have been through we have to fight?”

My eyes traveled down to my feet, my head hung low. “You don’t understand, he can give me anything, he can give me my life back.” He pleaded, his hand clutching his chest. “You can still leave, turn around and go back, and we all can be together, with our family. He can give you anything you want too.”

I paused for a minute, my eyes brimming with tears. “It’s not right, everything we have seen, everything you have done, it wasn’t all for selfish reasons, I wont believe it.” I shook my head and grabbed his hand, for a moment I thought he would jerk away but he didn’t. “There is still good in you, I know there is, I know you know this isn’t right.”

He turned to look at me in shock for a second, only for an explosion from inside the spire to cause me to look away. When I turned back Knes was gone. “Knes!” I called back to him, my voice echoing through the mountainous terrain, making it sound like a distant cry.

My hand’s immediately went to my staff, creating a green bubble of mana around my body for protection. “We’ve done this before, back in Kulun. You and I fought and you remember how that ended.” The voice echoed from my left, I immediately turned to find nothing there. “You’ve never lost your parents, your family, and then the chance to get it back?”

“Will you kill me to get them back?” I asked, my voice trembling as I spun around to try and find him.

“Just close your eyes, when you wake up you will be with me and everything will be perfect.” He whispered into my ear as I spun around, flinging three mana spheres in his direction only to find nothing.

The entire world seemed silent; the sound of two rocks moving on my left sent the spheres in that direction, only to find nothing. “You can’t keep that up forever..” Knes yelled out, the spheres sent hurling in that direction. “Eventually you will run out of mana or faint, so why put your body through the pressure?”

He was right, there was no way for me to keep flinging the spheres at them and expect to actually hit him, he saw them coming from miles away and I was just too slow. Then again maybe I could catch him by surprise. I immediately concentrated on one of the mana spheres, transforming it into a drill bit and sending it into the soft earth beneath me. “Don’t you want something Adalia? Something you desire with all your heart?”

I paused for a moment, my mind flickering to Kite and the rest of the group, all of the people I had sworn not to heart, only to break their heart. Every day I wished I could go back and just let Kite hold me and touch me, if it would keep him as my friend I would have done anything. “I know you have made mistakes, I’ve dried your tears from them, this God, he can fix them for you.” Knes whispered, placing a hand on my shoulder.

I dropped my staff, nodding for a moment, I wanted desperately for Kite to be my friend. I wanted everyone to be my friend, but I had made such a mess of everything. But it wasn’t worth the lives of thousands. With a flick of my wrist the drill bubble sprung up from the ground beneath Knes, capturing him in it and pinning him to the wall. “It isn’t right..” I shook my head.

Knes struggled for a second, glaring at me before finally relaxing. “It isn’t right..” I turned to match my eyes with his as a deep rumble shook the earth. Explosions roared all around us as the mountains shook and deep gashes begun to form in the earth. “Adalia!” Knes screamed, one of the fissures forming at my feet.

My body stood there in shock as the cracks around me deepened, the Earth giving away as the entire moon seemed to begin to break up. “ADALIA!” He screamed again, using all his strength to break the mana bubble, leaping across the hole and tackling me just before the Earth below my feet gave way.

With several grunts and gasps in pain, we both rolled along the ground, I rose to find both of us on one of the mountaintops, looking down at the holes forming far below us. Knes stood next to me, gasping for air from the teleportation. “Its over…” His eyes filled with tears of both sadness and relief as a light burst through the spire. Two twin beams of light, one black, and the other one white intertwined, becoming one brilliant beam.

“It’s the gods… they are so beautiful.” I whispered, sitting down next to Knes, my hand gently touching his. As we watched, the soil around us turned from black, to gray and then finally brown as green energy slowly rose from it and traveled back to the planet. “What?” I asked, reaching out to touch the mana.

“It’s the mana taken from the fearls… it’s going home.” Knes explained as I leaned against him, watching the mana trail off toward the planet for what felt like hours.

“They would be proud of you..” I finally broke the silence.

“Who?” Knes asked, looking down at me.

“Your family, after all you have done, they would be proud of you. I know because I would think my parents would be proud of me after all I have done.” I said with a smile. The two of us looked at each other for a second, our mouths slowly moving closer together, our eyes shutting.

“Hey Pretty Princess” A voice yelled out, breaking the moment as I balled my fists in frustration. “Maybe we should leave you here, so that Earth wont have to deal with you.” Kite yelled out, breaking the silence as he walked up the side of the mountain.

“Its time to go home squirt.” He glared reaching us while gesturing toward the spire. “Everyone is waiting to say good bye.”

“I’m not a Pretty Princess.” I fumed, taking a fruitless swing at him, only for Kite to place a hand on my head, keeping his body far out of range of my fists. “And you ruined my special moment.”

Kite glanced around in annoyance as Knes teleported us into the cavern where a large round sphere radiated in white light. “We’re going home..” I whispered in shock, taking a step toward the sphere. It felt like a dream come true, in just a few moments I would be back home, in the welcome embrace of my family. “Knes can we..?” I turned only to find him talking with the two Gods; my heart instantly sank as I realized he wouldn’t go with us.

“Free of baby sitting!” Kite yawned and stretched his arms, acting as if a huge weight had been lifted off his back.

“I’ll be sure to send you a litter box when I get home.” I shot back, pulling his tail in annoyance as Kite shot an angry glare in my direction. I stuck my tongue out playfully before turning to Loki.

“I wish we could have spent more time together.” He frowned, running a hand softly through my hair.

“Maybe next time.” I replied, a tone of hopefulness in my voice.

“Maybe…” Loki whispered, kissing my cheek.

I took a few steps toward the bubble, turning at the last moment to give Danielle a hug before she stepped through. “Thank you for being a big brother.” I kissed his cheek as he patted my head.

I had so many other things to say, but it just felt wrong to interrupt their goodbyes. Not to mention the need, and the want to get back home. I took another step toward the bubble before finally feeling two eyes upon me. I turned back to find Knes, tears in his eyes. “Not even going to say good bye?” He asked.

My legs seemed to move with out even a though, I rushed forward throwing my arms around him as I pushed my face into his chest, tears streaming down my cheeks. “Its not good bye, its not good bye.” I cried over and over, holding onto him as hard as I could. “We will meet next time.”

“Next time.” He nodded in agreement, kissing my head as I leaned up to look at him. A moment passed and we both kissed on the lips for what felt like forever, what I wanted to be forever. “I promise we will meet again.”

I slowly nodded, letting go of him and slowly turned around and walking toward the bubble. Our journey was coming to a end, one where we fought, but also shared happiness and joy. As I stepped into the light, I knew it wasn’t good-bye, not for me, not for anyone else.

Yet even if we did not see each other again, the memories of our adventure would live on in our hearts forever.

Okay guys, it’s the end, write your ending and goodbyes, but don’t post getting home, just in case we do have another one, I want to leave the events of getting home open ended!

[Haruko]

Ovan
"We'll walk as we look up at this infinite blue sky / It's painting our future selves" - Secret Rendezvous sung by Takeuchi Junko
Control: Danielle

The battle ended as quickly as it seemed to have started. It was all just a simple fleeting whirlwind that led up to the two gods becoming one. I breathed heavily as I stood, watching the beam of light infintely go towards the sky.

'The mana that the ferals once had been deprived from is being returned..'Valkyrie let out a relieved sigh; as if a duty of her was done. Brilliant streams of light flew from the beam and seemed to; more than likely, go back to the planet below; where it belonged.

As everyone seemed to watch this, they were also saying their goodbye's as a bubble had formed - one more than likely to take us home". I looked at it in disbelief, not wanting to believe it's existance.
'So, it's time to depart, eh?'Ovan remarked.'Don't tell me you've grown attached to us, Dani! That cold heart could only get attached to the freezer door.
'Shut up!'I hastily replied, looking at Valkyrie and my, no, Ovan's hands for more than likely the last time. 'I just thought..'
'It'd never come?'He replied.'Remember, Dani, I was created to support you through this journey. It was going to end..but endings have beginnings as well, right? Take what you've learned here and apply it in your world.'
'Heh, I guess.'I replied, stubbornly, and he laughed.

'And I will always be with you, Danielle.'Valkyrie spoke up. 'I am but only a spirit in a sword; but you gave me a name, an attachment. We've grown to each other and I believe now, you are a lot like me when I was alive. You just need to believe in yourself more, alright?'
I teared up a bit, holding Valkyrie's handle tightly.'Yeah, sure.'
'You can do it, we believe in you. So believe in that.'.She finished, and I looked on my side to find a distressed Stella, who was in disbelief of everyone leaving.

It was going to be the hardest on her; I forgot. She belonged here, and we were the only friends she had, since we broke her out. Her face had one of utter bewilderment as she had said her goodbyes, but was holding the pain in. I, who had stayed out of the bubble still, looked at her.

"These people..have allowed a complete stranger like me to be by their side; to ensure the fate of this world...I don't think I can ever repay the favor.."She talked to herself,"And now, they're going to vanish before me! What am I going to do.."
"Go and find your brother."I spoke up from behind her. I saw her body jump as she looked behind herself. "It's what you deserve. Now do it, and don't look back."
"I..thank you, danielle. and ovan."She looked at me with sadness; more than likely not wanting me to go. I hugged her slightly; a sibling hug, before stepping into the bubble.

Through the painful times, happy times, silly and awkward, this journey was part of my thread of destiny. Meeting Valkyrie, all the people on Gnes, the people who I roleplay everyday - every bit of it was an experience I will never forget. What will happen now, I wonder?.

Stella D'Aubigine
"Please, give me a dream for one night / Embracing the beautiful warmth I'd almost lost / I want to go beyond the memories" Omoide no Mukou (Beyond the Memories) by Miyazaki Ayumi

A fleeting moment.

My body was no longer mine as I felt a foreign presence, a dark mana if I had to compare it to the presence that invaded my body on the plante below. It fought without restricting my mana, controlling the soil and fauna of this ground much more freely than I could. But as the battle finished and the two gods became one, my body seemed to almost collaspe from the sudden loss of mana.

'Thank you..for letting us get our revenge..'I heard the feminine voice say in my head as a purple cloud of dust gathered around me, and dispersed as I felt the presence wane and disappear completely. Was my body simply a tool for revenge? My body..was a wonder; and yet, so monstrous at the same time..

I collected myself as the bright light from the two gods brought forth a bubble of sorts. This bubble..didn't seem to belong of this world, was it of the world that the creator of Ovan spoke of? As it seemed, everyone was saying their goodbyes to each other. I waved them off bleakly, unsure of everything and anything. Where were they going? If they were going..to what Ovan's creator spoke of, where should I go? I was acting like a pet all this time to them; only there because they freed me. I entangled my destiny into theirs because of that..

I turned my back to them and held in my tears,"These people..have allowed a complete stranger like me to be by their side; to ensure the fate of this world...I don't think I can ever repay the favor..and now, they're going to vanish before me! What am I going to do.." I talked to myself, the words getting choked up in my throat.
"Go and find your brother."An unexpected voice spoke from behind me; Ovan - or more than likely his creator, Danielle. I jumped in a bit of bewilderment and looked behind myself at him. "It's what you deserve. Now do it, and don't look back."

'I don't..deserve anything. I hurt you, Danielle..Ovan..'I thought to myself, then looked at him. But it was what I did want to do..ever since I broke free with his; no their, help.
"thank you danielle..ovan."I replied, and looked infront of me to find Danarica holding her child. I had forgotten about it..what was the child to do in this situation? Both of it's parents were going their home, and this child was of this world, not theirs..

"Dana..I'll take care of her."I let her speak before she did."Go home, it's where you belong."I let her and Ovan say their goodbyes to the child, and then slowly cradled the infant in my arms. The child seemed upset that her parents were leaving, that was only natural. One day I'd tell her of their adventures, of course.

"Farewell, everyone."I waved them off as Knes did the same, my throat choking up as I held the tears back.
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~3 week's later
It was in a small village dinner that I caught him. Me and Dana* - I had shortened Danarica's name and gave the child that name, in honor of her mother, had been traveling through towns and cities to find him. The whole scenery seemed more full of life than it ever did before my adventures with them ever happened, and I'm sure that we had a positive effect on this world.

"Dana, we're going to see Uncle Noel."I told her as I opened the door, having her in a pouch saddled infront of me and tied and secured with cloth and buttons - perfect for long walks and I could see her smiling face all day. Inside seemed quiet except for a man who seemed to be flirting with a waitress.

"Yeah, do you know how many people I've saved with this sword! Tons!"He smirked, and they both laughed. His eyes were a sky blue and his hair was golden yellow; it was definitely my brother, Noel. The air definitely had his mana presence. The waitress left as she took his order, and he smiled as he looked at me, then the kid.

"Ohh, a woman with responsibilities, I like that!"He said."Sit, sit!"
"Noel, shut up."I responded, Dana giggling slightly as I sat down."It's Stella. You know, your sister?"
"Stella..?You've grown! Where'd ya get the kid?"He asked, looking at her."She doesn't look like you at all."

"She's from my friends; they're away now though."

If any of Stella's post is not ok, Kalad, PM me.