Infinite Powers

[ClaecElric4God]

Well, I might as well post some reviewy past stuff, since everybody else has. Just Zare though. I mean, Karissa is a slightly shy, introverted teenager with way too much time on her hands, who plays Infinite because she's a teenager and it's a video game and teenagers play video games. That about sums it up. I guess if you wanted to go all deep and psychological, you could observe that as Kenji, she releases all that pent-up fun-loving goofiness she's too shy to express irl. She's not exactly...deep.

1 year, 6 months ago.
Eric blinked the sleep out of his eyes when the soft crack of the door woke him up. He couldn't figure out why his mom tried not to wake him up when she came in. What was the point of visiting if she was just going to sit there watching him sleep? He started to sit up, clenching his teeth when he found that he still couldn't force his way through the pain in his chest. So he lay back in the hospital bed, examining the medical equipment that he'd thoroughly memorized.
"I'm so sorry," she said as she shut the door behind her. "I woke you, didn't I?" A typical greeting from her. Eric gave her a frustrated look, until he saw how red her eyes were, and caught a glimpse of the crumpled up tissue in her hand. She must have cried the whole drive here...
"Mom..." Eric began, a lump forming in his throat. But just like she had every day for the last week, she put a finger to his lips, then bent down and kissed his forehead. But Eric couldn't contain it any more. He'd spent every conscious moment since that day thinking about it, tearing himself apart. He couldn't hold in his emotions any longer.
"It's...all my...fault!" He forced through his sobs. He was ashamed of his tears, but all he could do was lay there, his gaze locked with hers. "He's gone...I...if I'd just..." There was so much more he wanted to say, so much he needed to say, but his throat locked up, his chest felt heavy, and all he could do was sob, the tears running down his face. His chest shook with the sobs, intensifying the pain. He gasped sharply, and his sobbing subsided into a soft weeping.
"Eric," his mother reached down and clutched his uninjured hand, squeezing it tightly. "Don't do this to yourself. It's no one's fault. You can't take the blame for this." But even as she tried to reassure him, the tears welled up in her eyes, and she laid her head on his lap, crying gently. Eric tightened his grip on her hand, willing her pain to go away. Her heart was breaking because of him, for him. How could he not blame himself for that?

1 month later
Eric awkwardly mashed a few keys on his laptop. Typing one handed was so annoying. He tried to use both hands to put on the headset, but his cast made things harder, so he resorted to the encumbered, one hand approach.
The first thing he felt on entering the world was the use of his left hand. It felt good to be able to move it around, no pain or restrictions. But then he looked out and saw the rolling hills, the wind whispering through the tall grass, and memories came flooding back. This was the last location he'd been in, the day before...
A message alert popped up, and Zare opened it, wondering who would have bothered to message him when he'd been MIA for so long. The message was from a month ago, the day after the accident.
Thanks a lot, Zare. You missed the rendezvous. We waited for you for half an hour. In the end we had to ditch our plans because we didn't have enough players. If you're not going to take Infinite seriously, you should get a real life. We're here to play, not wait around for someone who isn't going to keep his appointments. Don't bother contacting me, I don't have time for an untrustworthy party member. - Anton
And an event update that said: Anton has removed friend status.
A mixture of emotions flooded Zare's mind, threatening to overload it. Frustration, hatred, rage, mistrust, and finally the deepest sorrow. He sank to the ground, resting on the balls of his feet. Clutching the crystal that hung around his neck, he wept, his body shaking with the sobs. All the emotions of the last few weeks came rushing out. Everything he'd held in to look strong for his mom. After that first time, he'd vowed he'd never let her see his tears again. But here, where he had no witness but the grass and the sky, he cried without shame.
After what seemed like hours, Zare finally stood, recomposing himself. Suddenly, he hated this beautiful world. It was so perfect, it catered to everyone's whims. And worst of all, no one truly died here. He'd lost to countless enemies and monsters, even been murdered in cold blood by other players. But no matter how many times his HP dropped to zero, Zare was still alive. He was still breathing, blood still pumped through his veins. He had to wonder, had he been so careless, so reckless, because he'd somehow allowed the two worlds to cross? Had he allowed himself to believe that he was invincible? That there was always another chance? Had death become a myth to him?
What was I thinking?
Zare shook his head. There was no point dwelling on it. Regardless, he'd had enough of Infinite for one day. He thought back on the message. At first he'd been unbelievably angry at Anton, but now it was just funny, in a not at all funny way. Human beings were the most heartless creatures. Anton had no idea what Zare had been through, just jumped to the conclusion that he'd been too lazy to keep his word. Zare's thoughts or feelings meant nothing to him. It only mattered that he was right and Zare was wrong. Zare shook his head. People weren't worth dealing with any more. Oh, sure. He'd be polite and mannerly, just like always. But there was no point trying to make friends any more. People were too self-centered. Zare wasn't about to so easily trust people to care. No, he wasn't going to form any true bonds with anyone here. Never again.
Zare scrolled through his menu and logged out. Sitting at his desk again, he ripped off the headset and slammed the lid shut on the laptop.

[Wolfsong]

OOC- Claec, ouch. poor Zare...

Caesar stood outside the Tieran Palace, eyes focused on the building. it wasn't heavily guarded which seemed rather stupid. Nervously he pulled the hood of his cloak lower over his face. Despite everything, he was feeling quite nervous. Why, why had he agreed to do this? This had "fool's mission" written all over it.
"I don't wanna do this, I don't wanna do this," he thought as he entered the building. From his knowledge of the building's layout, he believed his goal was Rolf's study in the very back of the keep. Which meant he had a lot of skulking to do.
After several near-discoveries and some really awkward moments, Caesar reached the room...and heard a voice within, beyond the closed door. He didn't dare try to enter that way. he walked a little farther down, and discovered another door hanging open. Crossing his fingers, he carefully and cautiously stepped inside.
It was an empty room, save for some old crates. There wasa window to let in light. Praying the other room also had a window, he climbed out,. Below him could be seen the forest floor. He swallowed and climbed to the left, overjoyed to see an open window, leading to his destination. He climbed onto the sill and looked in.
Rolf was seated at a desk, reading something on a paper. He seemed perturbed, adn then pleased. "Finally!" he exclaimed. "About time."
"Lord Tiera?"
He gasped. Instantly he leapt up, dropping the paper hastily under the table. he almost ran to the door, saying, "What is it?"
"Not much of a sneak," Casesar thought, watching with mild amuzement as Rolf stepped out the door, closing it behind him. Caesar instantly dropped into the room, snatching up the paper. The first thing he rejestered was the seal in the left corner. "Nescala?" He began to read, and as he progressed, his eyes grew wide.
Rolf, the spider has arrived, and is spinning his web. I am launching the first battle at Megiddus, as planned. Don't be late!
~Noriko Nescala
"What are they planning?" Caesar wondered. "They're enemies...unless this spider is a common foe of theirs?"
He was startled by a loud shout. Rolf was standing in the doorway, staring at the floating paper. Grimacing, Caesar tucked it into his inventory and flung himself out the window.
"Intruder!" Rolf was shouting. "Intruder!"
Caesar grabbed onto a tree limb and swung himself up. He crouched low in the leaves of the tree, considering his options. He needed to escape, and he doubted Rolf was going to let anyone elave unfrisked. He would have to abandon his horse...and Kenji. The guy was nice enough, but...Caesar couldn't help but doubt that Kenji would remain at his side. He had just stolen an object of importance from Rolf Tiera, their head. Kenji said he was Tieran-born. however, they had come in together, and...
Logging out. That was his last option. If only he could remember where his last saved coordinates were. Just before he did that, though, he sent a pm.
My apologies, but you are about to be in trouble, and it is my fault. I am also sorry for lying to you. I did not exactly come here to meet Tiera, but to spy. When I met Cyrano back at that small outpost, he told me of a rumor he'd heard, of a strange, secret correspondance between Tiera, Nescala, and the IFF. Because of my position with the factions, he wanted me to look into the rumnor, in exchange for a full pardon and some gold. Like a fool I took it.
When they come by and wonder about me, be honest with them. i wish you all the best. Thank you for two surprisingly fun days. You've been the strangest, funniest, most wonderful companion I have ever had. I hope we meet again...as friends. If you stil somehow wish to travel with me, I shall be in Nescala...
Good luck ~ Caesar Regal
He wondered if that was a little too open. Shrugging, he sent it.
He logged out.

/Pierce/Arachni/
IFF headquarters wasn’t as confusing a place once you had actually walked it. Arachni debated going directly to Maximius, or wait for the pompous old goat to summon him. Both had their pros and their cons. He was still thinking when he turned a corner and literally ran into Ryfia.
She yelped as she fell, landing hard on her back. He stumbled but held his footing. He quickly stepped forward and helped her rise. “I am so sorry. Are you alright?” he asked.
“I’m alright,” she said, quickly hiding her grimace. When her eyes focused on him, he recognized an anger in them, not directed to this instance. “Now if you’ll excuse me-“
“Have I done something to offend, good lady?” he asked curiously and calculatingly.
She looked startled. “I do not-“
“Forgive me if I continue to press my case, but your eyes say otherwise.” Smiling gently, he leaned forward. “If I have offended, my lady, let me know, that I can mend what is scarred.”
She was openly surprised by his words, and within he laughed at her unshielded emotions. After a moment, she said, “Come.” And marched down the hall. Curious, but keeping his wits about him, he followed. She led him outside, toward the empty beach. She stood on the edge, between sand and water, staring at the sea in contemplation. Then she turned to face him, eyes burning.
“You’re a monster!” she exclaimed fiercely. “An uncontrolled fire in a forest! As if our world wasn’t engrained enough in a bloody war! You’ve dragged us into it now! You will drown this whole world in blood, you and Maximius both! You’re worse than a coven of vampires, you-“
“My lady,” he said quietly, interrupting her furious tirade. “Is it monstrous to save a life?”
“Of course not!” she replied, startled by his question. “But when have you-“
“It is what I hope to do. Lady Ryfia,” he continued softly, meeting her gaze, holding her eyes. “Indeed, the sorrows of war are great, and much blood is spilled. Yet, both Nescala and Tiera have refused to negotiate and declare peace. The only way for us to finally have said peace is for we who can to step forward and end this conflict, like a parent interceding between two children. I did not wish it to come to this, but when it is all we have…”
“But…but there has to be…”
Smiling gently, warmly even, he took her hand, holding it firmly between his own. “Sometimes peace comes at a steep price,” he told her, tone kindly and sympathetically. “All we can do is try to diminish the cost.” He inclined his head smoothly. “All I ask if you have faith in me, good lady.”
“Just Ryfia,” she said, sounding dazed. “Arachni, I…I still do not feel that this is right, but…if you really feel this is all we have…I’ll trust you.”
“My thanks…Ryfia.” He smiled dazzlingly, enjoying his conquest. She was such a simple-minded fool. He would be able to use her without her ever guessing what was happening.
She seemed startled, and certainly disoriented. “Are…are you going to see Maximius?”
He shook his head. “No, I shall wait till he summons me. I would not want to interrupt him in anything important.” Or something. He wondered how he would eventually deal with the problem Maximius presented. That man had almost as much power as Reysa, the renegade ex-moderator, had. He would not be easy meat.
“Patience,” he told himself. “I have time yet. My moment will come.”

/Stephen/Ashimatya/
He laughed softly. “I see.” They walked in silence awhile before he spoke again. “Did you know there are ways of keeping a person locked in Infinite? By disabling the log-out function, or somehow affecting their real body so they can’t actually “wake up”. It’s a scary thought, isn’t it, this virtual world becoming the only reality?” His brow furrowed, as he thought back. 7 years back. The memories came flowing in, penetrating things that dug at his well-built shield once again.
He closed his eyes, holding it all in. “I believe we are close,” he said, accessing what all of his senses told him. “Over this last cliff.” Unfortunately, this one was quite steep, and there weren’t enough shadows to be useful. He smiled faintly and started climbing, even as the memories intruded.

7 Years Ago…
Ashimatya whooped, laughing quite hard. “You’re so gonna die!” he shouted, laughing.
Cyrano, precariously balanced on a ledge as thin as a tripwire, waved back. “I will be if you keep messing up my concentration!” he retorted.
Ash laughed again, throwing an arm around the guy next to him. “What do you think? Will he make it?”
The man’s blood-red eyes rolled expressively as he shoved Ash away. “Of course not. He’s still getting used to having working legs again. He’ll never make it.” He brushed his bright red hair out of his face, grinning.
“At least I don’t look like a vampire, Pierce!” Cyrano replied, grinning back. He began placing one foot in front of the other as Python replied.
“Forget again, brainiac? I am Python in this world!”
“A truly fitting name,” Ash commented. “Of course, Dracula might have worked even better, but hey, we can’t win every time.”
Python backhanded Ash, sending him sprawling. He watched Cyrano as he made it to the other side of the abyss. Cyrano glanced around, then said, “Okay Python, you’re next.”
“No way in heck. I’m finding another way.”
“Oh, don’t be such a worrywart.” Ash suddenly grabbed him by the shoulders, threw Python over his shoulder, and stepped onto the wire-thin ledge. It was perhaps a hundred-mile drop into the tiny river below, but Ash walked leisurely across like it was a regular road, ignoring Python’s loud protests. Ash winked at Cyrano, who struggled to keep a straight face, as he unceremoniously dumped Python on the ground. “See? It was that easy!”
Python gave him a dark look as he stood up. “When I am god of Infinite, I’ll make you sorry for that.”
“God of Infinite?” Cyrano grinned. “You’ve a lot of grinding and questing to do then, friend.”
Python grinned. “Yeah, but it’ll be worth it.”
“Hey,” Ash commented. “We just crossed Death’s Drop without batting an eye. We keep this up, we’ll be legends in no time.”
The boys laughed, shared high-fives, and walked off to continue their quest.

/Rowan/Caesar/
When he logged back in, he didn’t recognize where he was at first. He was surrounded by smoking tents, charred rubble, and a few unrecognizable bodies. Then he remembered.
“Oh, this is the camp Cyrano burned to the ground a day ago,” he said. He looked around, trying to remember a city near here, when he heard a loud whinney. He turned to see a black horse sniffing about the mess, which he recognized as the one who’d bucked him earlier the day of the attack. He walked toward the mare slowly, trying not to scare her.
“We’re both alone out here, aren’t we?” he commented softly. She raised her head at the sound of his voice, but didn’t run. “We’re both prey now, in this miserable world. If I show my face in Tiera, I’m toast. If he gets word to Nescala fast enough, I’m dead. I really am in trouble.” He was beside her now. He gently laid a hand on her neck, stroking her mane softly. “Will you go with me?” he asked musingly.
The mare gently nudged him, apparently recognizing him or deciding he was friendly. But as it was, he appreciated the gesture of trust. “Lets go. We mustn’t keep Nescala waiting,” he said brightly, some of his humor returning. He mounted, well accustomed to riding bareback, and rode swiftly from the camp. He was surprised by how smooth her gait was, like sailing on wind. He had forgotten about that. Heck, had he ever noticed?
“I’m not giving up on the guild yet,” he said suddenly. “But…I’m not gonna let it be my life anymore. I’ve…I’ve so much more I could do, like…”…having friends. Kenji. Why was he so interested in rejoining that crazy unpredictable? He should be rejoicing! He normally hated people like that. What was it about Kenji?
Then again, he had stuck with Caesar a long time. He snorted. “Don’t be foolish. The unpredictable act on a whim. You can’t trust them…”
He’d told Kenji he would be in Nescala. Heck, he’d told the whole bloody story to Kenji. If they were working on something important, Tiera would be madly trying to alert Nescala. But what if Kenji didn’t tell? What it he…
“We’ll find out, won’t we?” he thought, part dismal part hopeful. He looked at the mare, focusing on the mane between his fingers. “You never were named, were you?” he mused. “I’ll call you Amicus. Its latin for “friend”. I really could use one right now.” He smiled softly, veering for the one camp he knew the location of. He needed fresh supplies, and knew he could get them there.

[ClaecElric4God]

OOC: Hope this is what you wanted, Wolf. I kind of improvised...

/Karissa/Kenji/
Karissa huffed at the look her mother gave her, but continued to glare her down. Finally, the older woman sighed and put a hand to her forehead.
"Oh, fine," she gave in. "I spoil you rotten, you know that? But if your father catches you on that computer when he gets home from work, I can promise he won't be happy."
Karissa hugged her mom quickly before running up the stairs to her bedroom.
Yes! She itched to get back in the game, back to that wonderful place where nothing was real and she didn't have to be shy or nervous about anything.

Kenji jerked up, surprised to find that he was sitting in a perfectly normal position. He realized that he must have been extremely preoccupied worrying about Regal, to have logged out in such a boring fashion. An icon told him he had a new message, and he quickly opened it, always eager to hear from his many wonderful friends who all loved him so much (though somehow he couldn't think of any of them offhand).
On reading the message, Kenji was surprised, though only mildly. He'd had a feeling Regal had had alterior motives, and either way, it was nothing new for him to be deceptive.
What was surprising, though, was that last part. Kenji, a wonderful companion? He couldn't think of a single person in Infinite who'd ever said that to him. In fact, everyone always said the exact opposite, all the time. He got a strange, warm feeling. Was this what it felt like to have a real friend? He couldn't be sure, since he'd never had one.
And that last part. Was that...an invitation to rejoin him?! Kenji was suddenly glad Regal wasn't there to see his reaction, because he couldn't have kept the surprise off his face. But it was quickly drowned out by a huge smile. Kenji read back over the message, laughing that, despite how uncharacteristically honest Regal had been, he'd still kept quiet about his identity as head of the slavers' guild.
"You lied to me?!" Kenji said aloud in mock horror. Then he grinned. "Of course, that wouldn't be the first time, Caesar."
Kenji weighed his options, trying to figure out what to do next. After all, Regal had just disclosed valuable information to a Tieran citizen, who was obligated to bring said information to the authorities and aid in the hunt for the sly dog who had infiltrated Tiera and apparently done something espionagish. It was Kenji's sworn duty to report everything he knew about Regal, for the good of his country. Kenji thought for a moment, and sighed, planting a fist on his chest. He knew where his loyalties lay, and he couldn't ignore them. Breathing deeply, Kenji was fully prepared when the soldiers arrived, demanding to see Kenji's inventory and asking about the man he'd arrived with. Considering the inventory search, apparently Regal had stolen something as well. What was he, jack of all trades or something?
Kenji stood quietly for a moment, his head bowed. When he looked up at the soldier, waiting expectantly for his reply, there were tears in his eyes, and his lip quivered.
"Oh, please, sir! I don't know what to do!" He wailed pitiously. "Thi...this is my first time playing Infinite. I came with a friend...he invited me to play with him. But today...I just...I logged out for a bit, and when I came back he was gone! I was so scared, I don't know how to play this game by myself. It's so big and scary and I don't even know how-"
"Nevermind that," the guard interrupted harshly, ignoring Kenji's plight. "Do you know his whereabouts, or if he was acting suspicious at all. Answer now!"
Kenji started whimpering again, and furiously wiped his eyes with his sleeve. "That's what I'm trying to tell you! I need your help! I went looking for him, and I saw him talking to some scary guy in a black cloak. I overheard my friend tell him to give back something he stole from Lord Tiera. My friend is so brave isn't he?"
The guard growled at Kenji, and Kenji took the hint, continuing with his story.
"Anyways, the guy got all angry, and he...he...stabbed my friend, just like that! So my friend died and I don't know where he is." Kenji choked on his tears, cupping his face in his hands.
"Is that all you know?" The guard demanded.
"Oh, yeah," Kenji sniffed, looking up again. "The guy must have seen me, cause he ran over and grabbed me. I begged him not to kill me, cause, you know I've never died before, and it's really scary. Anyways, then he told me if I didn't want something extra bad to happen, I had to keep quiet about what happened and about him stealing stuff. And then he said something that didn't make sense. He must've thought I heard something I didn't. Cause he said...um...'If you tell anyone about my plans to head deeper into Tiera and lay low, I'll personally find you and slit your throat.' Oh, no! I told you! Now he'll really do it! But...it's for the good of...Tiera...right?" Kenji broke down bawling, hanging on the soldier's leg. The NPC finally seemed to notice Kenji's trauma and knelt down, patting him on the head.
"It's fine," the soldier said reassuringly. "We'll catch this villain and make sure he doesn't harm you. But here, take this revive potion, just in case. Do you know his name?"
"Yeah, it was Artemis." Kenji greedily grabbed the potion, but then went back to sobbing on the soldier, who had to pry Kenji off of him. The man barked a few orders to his men, then they quickly left the room.
When he was sure the men were gone, Kenji stood to his feet, sighing.
"NPCs are so boring. Any real person wouldn't have known what to do with all that crying, and I probably could have gotten a good reaction from them. But no, he just ignored me then left. But, at least I got this out of it."
Kenji tossed the potion back and forth between his hands, grinning. Then he put it in his inventory, packing up the rest of his belongings as well. He needed to get out of here if he was going to catch up to Regal. Kenji contemplated PMing him, but figured it would be better to keep Regal in suspense, after all the trouble he'd put Kenji through. All that acting was hard work...

/Eric/Zare/
Zare blinked, caught off guard. Was that true, or was Ash just trying to unsettle him? He couldn't tell for sure, and Ash's expression didn't betray anything. Zare shrugged.
"Not really," he replied quietly, looking straight ahead. "Maybe it's arrogant, but my current reality isn't one I'd be afraid of never having to face again." But then he pictured his mother's face, and instantly regretted that statement. As much as he hated it and tried to immerse himself in this one, there was no way he could leave that world behind.
Zare rolled his shoulders as if shaking off soreness, shoving those thoughts out of his mind. Not only was he breaking his own personal rule, Ash was the last person who needed to know about Zare's problems. This was a video game, not a group therapy session. No one here cared about his problems, and they weren't obligated to.
But even as he redrew the barrier between them, Zare couldn't help but notice that Ash looked preoccupied - even a little sad, as if caught up in memories of his own. What exactly went on in that guy's head?
Zare was snapped out of his thoughts when Ash announced their "arrival". Zare looked up at the cliff, raising an eyebrow. Well, this wasn't going to be easy, that much was certain. Zare contemplated shifting into his much more agile and limber form, with the added benefit of claws to help keep his grip. But then he noticed that the cliff face was nearly devoid of shadows, and his mind was made up. If Ash was going up without powers, there was no way Zare was going to be shown up. Anyways, he didn't imagine it would be that hard, considering his skills.
"So," Zare grunted between exertions. "What exactly is the plan? And how do I factor into it? Or am I just a decoration?"

[FreddyCast]

Sage Blaze, Saint Reave, and Maximius
1 year ago, Part 3

LINK
(Somewhere in Void Realm, the brothers wake up with headaches)
Saint: Ugh...brother...where are you?
Sage: Ohh...my head feels like it was hit by a warhammer.
Saint: Brother, I can’t see you.
Sage: If you’d stop squirming you’d notice that I’m tied up behind you. (Saint turns his head to see that they’re both tied up by an energetic force of blue light)
Maximius: So, you’re both awake. (both brothers quickly turn their heads to the right at the same time)
Sage: HADRIAN!! LET US GO.
Maximius: No, I think I’ll keep you two like that for a while. You see, before I was so rudely attacked I was going to offer you two a spot in my organization. Family should stick together, you know.
Sage: Join your ego club...HA...like we’d ever join the likes of you.
Saint: YEAH, WE KNOW WHAT YOU’RE ALL ABOUT. YOU ARE NOT FAMILY.
Maximius: Come on boys, can’t you let the past rest. I’ve moved on and decided to graciously offer you to be part of the IFF elites. (Maximius extends his arms forward)
Sage: Thanks, but we don’t want your charity. We’ve gone through our lives together without you just fine.
Saint: Plus, you were never one to let bygones be bygones.
Maximius: *sigh* After I raised you boys like my own sons.
Sage: We were never your sons.
Saint: YOU TREATED US LIKE BIRDS IN A CAGE.
Maximius: To protect you from this cruel world.
Saint: NO, TO MAKE US INTO YOU.
Sage: Egotistical
Saint: NARCISSISTIC
Sage: Selfish
Saint: SELF-CENTERED
Sage: Self-absorbed
Saint: PRIDEFUL
Sage: Conceited
Saint: VAIN
Sage: Boastful
SAINT: AND...and.....and umm....*whisper* what else, brother?
Sage: Swollen-head
Saint: YEAH, SWOLLEN-HEAD. *lol* his head does look swollen, doesn’t it brother, hahaha. (Sage smirks while Maximius’ vain pops up in his forehead)
Maximius: You boys disappoint me greatly. The spitting image of your father no doubt. He was always a disappointment and the cause for all my pains. The man who STOLE my love.
Sage: We never knew our parents, whatever problems you had with them has nothing to do with us.
Maximius: Oh, but it has everything to do with you boys. Who do you think put you in my care....It was your mother. She chose ME to take care of the children of the man who took away my ONE chance at TRUE love.....Love...just hearing that word makes me sick now.
Sage: So that’s why you treated us like caged animals?
Maximius: hah...(He looks at Saint and addresses him) Saint you know how it feels when someone steals the person that you love. And you know WHO it is that stole her from you. Is he not the one tied up behind you. (Saint stares at his brother feeling hurt at what Maximius said, but then he looks back at Maximius and closes his eyes)
Saint: I remember it as clear as the day...I knew my brother and Eilis liked each other. I knew, but I’d never thought you would betray me like this, brother.
Sage: Trent, it’s not what you thi....
Saint: SHUT UP....but that never would have happened if YOU, UNCLE, hadn’t come between me and Eilis. YOU were the one who instigated the whole thing. I won’t forgive you for that.
Maximius: I see....Then you leave me no choice, but to end you two right here...*whispers* forgive me Hannah, my love. (Maximius raises his hand with palm wide open) ALMIGHTY THRU...(Suddenly a figure appears behind)
Michaelis: Lord Maximius, Andonowin, Andonov’s brother is coming. (Maximius puts down his arm surprised by this news)
Maximius: Here in the Void Realm?
Michaelis: Yes, Lord Maximius. (A vortex suddenly open s and a tall dark figure with a tattered red cape appears)
Maximius: Andonowin, my friend, why have you graced us with your presence here.
Andonowin: What are you doing here, Maximius? No one is permitted here in this forsaken realm. (He sees two players behind Maximius and Michaelis tied up by a blue energetic force) What is the meaning of this? Why have you taken captive two younglings and brought them to the Void Realm? And do not lie to me, Maximius. I know your tricks.
Maximius: Not all of them. (He shakes his head) You shouldn’t have come here, my friend.
Andonowin: You think that I’m oblivious of what you are planning? I will end your schemes here and now. (Maximus looks over towards Michaelis)
Maximius: Michaelis, how would you feel about becoming a leader of IFF? (Michaelis is caught off guard by Maximius’s question)
Michaelis: huh...I..I’d be greatly honored, my lord.
Maximus: Good, now leave, it’s going to get really messy around here.
Michaelis: Yes, lord. But what about the noobs. (Maximius grins evilly)
Maximius: Leave them be, I’ll take care of them myself. Now go. (Michaelis bows as he feels excitement towards the coming conflict between Maximius and Andonowin, but a bit disappointed that he won’t be able to witness it, and leaves through a portal that he opens with a hand gesture)
Andonowin: You think you can defeat me, Maximius. Your arrogance knows no bounds. (Maximius directs his attention at Andonowin and faces him down)
Maximius: I don’t think I can, I know I can. But I’ll do more than just defeat you, my friend.
Andonowin: You are a traitor to the IFF and a menace to the world Infinite Powers. This day you will fall forever. (Andonowin materializes his weapon, a double-scythe staff. Without taking his eyes away from Andonowin, Maximius addresses the brothers)
Maximius: Boys, are you two ready to see two gods fight to the death.
Sage: We’re ready to see you die.
Saint: And fall on your big swollen head.
Maximius: Hahaha. Alright then, boys. Just enjoy the show, cause it will be your last.

To be continued.....

[Wolfsong]

/Rowan/Caesar/
after a bit of riding, Caesar eventually located the camp deep within the marshes near Central. he rode in slowly, looking about carefully.
"Hold right there!" a man clothed in black and green ordered, stepping out of the moss-covered trees. "State your business."
Caesar studied the man thoughtfully. "I have come to speak with the leader of this particular camp."
The man's eyes narrowed. "Why should I let you in? Who the heck are you, anyway?"
"That is none of your concern. You should let me in because I'll kill you if you don't." After a moment, Caesar suggested, "I tell you what. Go find your boss and bring him here. If he doesn't know me, then you can try to throw me out."
The man started at him a long moment, then called over his shoulder, "Martin, get the boss! We have someone here who claims to know him."
After a bit, a man strode into view, a katana sheathed at his waist. Caesar raised an eyebrow. "Wasn't Issalidor in charge of this particular camp?"
The man nodded, hand dropping to his katana. "He left us," he said shortly. "Vanished without a trace. Who are you to know of Issa?"
Caesar rolled his eyes, suppressing a sigh. "I'm the head of your own guild. Would you mind too much if I could come in? I've had a rather bad couple of days."
The man straightened, eyes narrowing. "That's quite a grand claim. they say the head of the guild is a master of the rapier." He eyed the one Caesar wore casually on his hip. "If you wish to prove yourself, come at me."
Caesar eyed the man's katana, considering, then nodded sharply and dismounted. He stepped away from his horse and toward his opponent, hand resting lightly on his sword. "may I have your name, before we duel?" he asked.
The man nodded slowly. "Acceptable. I am Artemis Cordon, master of the katana." He drew it.
Caesar stared at him, the name triggering a memory. "You're a master of the katana?" he asked. The man nodded, and he shook his head, grinning. "And he's of the guild. I'll be...I have a friend dying to be your apprentice," he said, drawing his rapier. he held it up, the blade in front of his nose. "I am Caesar Regal, Master of the Slaver's Guild and Master of the Rapier. Lets begin."
The two sparrers soon attracted the entire camp, who watched the different styles of swordfighting with awe. Artemis' attacks were strong, capable of smashing the slim rapier blade, but as it was a heavier weapon, it was somewhat slower. However, Caesar's speed more than made up for the blade's flimsiness, and he sidestepped the blows that would snap his swords, making smooth strikes of his own.
After a long time fighting back and forth like this, Artemis suddenly held out his hand. "Enough!" he cried. Caesar stopped mid-blow and stood there, huffing. They stared at each other a long moment, then Artemis nodded. "I believe you, Caesar Regal," he announced. "I have not met such a swordsman for the longest time."
Caesar nodded. "First off, I'll need some fresh supplies. Secondly, what can you tell me of Issa's departure?"
Artemis nodded. "Come with me."

/Stephen/Ashimatya/
He refrained from laughing at that last comment, though his lips did twitch. "The idea is we're going to sneak in, learn what we can, then meet out here tonight," he said. "I want to scout the place out first before I make any final decisions on the plan. No point jumping in blind, after all."
He continued to climb, his mind still on the past. Funny how a few simple words could open it back up so...painfully. "I don't want to look back," he mentally complained. But it didn't matter, the memories came.

6 years, 7 months ago...
"I'm going out on a limb here...Slaver's Guild?"
"What gave it away?" Python asked sarcastically, raising his sword arm a little.
"Not a good time for arguing," Cyrano reminded them curtly.
Standing back to back, the three friends held up their weapons, watching the men circling them. it was a mismatched group, but they obviously knew what they were doing. The emblem on the leader's coat, a manacled bird with clipped wings, gave away their intentions.
Python glanced at Cyrano's new weapon, a broadsword that was as tall as he was, saying, "Can you actually use that thing?"
"Sure. It isn't that heavy..."
"That wasn't what I meant."
Ash thrust his hand forward, judging the men close enough. A bolt of dark energy left his fingertips and struck a man in the chest, knocking him way back. Instantly the slavers fell upon them.
Python, already a high level swordsman, dispatched those on his side easily. Cyrano, still adjusting to the awkward length and weight of his weapon, managed fairly well. Ashimatya, wielding a scythe like Grim himself, flew among the enemy ranks with a vengeance. Quite soon, the three men had conquered their foes in a spectacular battle.
"I never did like slavers," ASh remarked, cleaning his blade. "Such a nasty bunch."
"I despise them." Cyrano declared passionately. "They make their living off the sufferings of others! So much blood they will have to account for. But no one raises a finger, no one says a word. They just let the blasted guild do as it pleases."
"It is pretty dang powerful," Python said. He nudged one of the fallen with his boot, eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "With all their power, people fear them, and fear to stand against them. All because of their power and control..."
"You speak as though you desire such things," Ash commented.
Python shrugged. "What man doesn't dream of having power, of controlling his destiny?"
"You know what?" Cyrano said suddenly. "That'll be my new, personal quest. I will destroy the Slaver's Guild. I will set the captives free. You guys with me?"
Ash crossed his arms behind his head, grinning. "I'd be glad to assist you whenever I can. Us versus the powerful guild...we'll be talked of for decades!"
Python tore off the emblem from the leader's cloak, staring at it thoughtfully. Then he tore the chains off and held the bird out to Cyrano. "Clipped feathers grow back," he said simply.
Cyrano smiled and took his and Ash's hands. "Thank you, my friends. I don't know how I can ever thank you properly."
"Dude, just pay us back by making us legends. If you fail, well....we'll just try again," Ash remarked cockily. Cyrano laughed and Python facepalmed.

/Zara/Kiari/
Kiari had pushed the bed up against the wall under the window, and had gotten a pretty good look at what was outside. It appeared to be an area in the extreme Wilderness. Not only was there a faintly visible barrier within a five-mile radius around her, but the building itself was surrounded by some pretty big monsters. She sighed, and sank back down, leaning her head against the wall. What to do...
"Well, I could just jump out and run, but then I'd have the shield to worry about," she murmured. "Lets see..." Then her mind wandered on. "Who would want me killed? The only thing I can think of was them, and that was a long time ago..." She thought about it, then sighed and fell back. "Focus on escape. Then we'll work out the bugs," she told herself.

[ClaecElric4God]

/Karissa/Kenji/
Kenji walked up to the teleportal.
"Hmm, where should I go? That worthless Regal didn't tell me where he would be. 'Nescala'. Does he not realize how big Nescala is?" Kenji huffed, trying desperately to be perturbed. He sighed, looking through the options.
"Ooh, a swamp! Sounds fun." Kenji chose the location and waited. Hopefully he'd find Regal sooner or later...

/Eric/Zare/
"Well, at least you're smarter than you look," Zare jabbed, trying to put a light-hearted twist on it. He couldn't figure out whether he liked Ash or not. He was too...unreadable.

[Wolfsong]

/Rowan/Caesar/
"So what news on Issa?"
"There's not much to tell," Artemis said sullenly.
They stood in Issa's abandoned tent, where Artemis would explain while Caesar looked around. Issa's room was extremely neat, everything had a place and was in its place. Caesar sat on the floor, tired out, saying, "Well then, speak."
Artemis sat down with him. "Issa vanished yesterday, after allowing a strange man into the camp. The man had left alone, and we figured he was another contact or deliveryboy or something. Issa then asked for a time to be spent alone, which we obeyed. We did not see him the rest of the day. When someone came to his tent to deliver the evening meal, Issa was gone. We have no clues of how, or where, or even why. Our only connection is the other, stranger man, and he vanished too."
Caesar nodded slowly. "Troubling. Come, I will try something." He stood and left the tent.
As his hands trailed to his pocket, there was a sudden flash of light in front of him. He stepped back just in time, as the figure formed right where he had been standing. He gasped as he recognized the person.
"Kenji?!" he choked out. Artemis reached for his sword, and Caesar quickly snapped out of it. "Artemis, wait!" He took a deep breath, then faced Kenji. "Welcome back," he said quietly. "To what shall I...owe this meeting again?" He withhold the joy he felt, waiting to see the unpredictable's reaction.

/Stephen/Ashimatya/
"Oh thank you," Ash said, performing a graceful bow despite his awkward position. He finally reached the top, and stretched out leisurely. "Well, so much for the easy part," he said, looking down upon the IFF headquarters.

[ClaecElric4God]

/Karissa/Kenji/
Kenji stood stock still, staring at Regal in surprise. Well, that was fairly easy...He looked at the other man, sizing up the katana (which intrigued him more than a little bit), and noting the name "Artemis". So, he'd run into Regal entirely by coincidence, who happened to be accompanied by Kenji's imaginary friend, who also happened to be a katana wielder. Weird... Kenji cocked his head at Regal, looking confused.
"I'm sorry, have we met? You look, vaguely familiar..." He extended a polite bow of greeting to Regal, then turned to Artemis.
"Old friend! It's been so long! However have you been? It's so good to see you again. We have so much to catch up on!" Kenji grabbed the man's hand, shaking it furiously, with an elated grin on his face. He ignored that fact that he'd never met this man in his life, nor did he expect him to recognize him. However, inside he was jumping for joy at having reunited with Regal. Somehow this felt right...

/Eric/Zare/
Zare stretched, working the tension out of his muscles. It'd been awhile since he'd spent that much exertion.
"Looks fun. Should be a piece of cake for you, right? Of course poor little me will probably be spotted immediately."

[Wolfsong]

/Zara/Kiari/
Kiari climbed up to the window again, an idea in mind. She worked her way to the roof of the enclosure, finding herself a comfortable spot to work from. She hoped it was stable, as things were about to get a little chaotic. Quietly, she sifted through her equipment, looking into her accessories. She smiled faintly when she found them, and began equipping them one by one. Each ring had its own gem, and its own spirit. Kiari equipped at least a dozen, then exited her inventory. Slowly, she raised her hands, staring at them with an empty expression. Perhaps it would be easier to log off, but…a part of her wanted to rejoin Sage, Saint and Elian, strange as that sounded. She was quiet a long moment, then decided on a course of action, sending a pm to those three…and to Hawke.
I’m in a spot of trouble, though you might have guessed that by now. Anyways, while I have the time, I’m creating a signal. Look for a large beam in the Extreme Wilderness. I’ll be there. Watch out of the monsters, but I’ll try to take down the force field. ~Kiari
That said, she raised her eyes to the heavens and began.
“Child of Sylph, come to me on the wind’s breath. Ferrice!” A wind flowed like a stream around her. Riding it was a silver-haired mature woman the size of a small child.
“Come, son of Volt, Master of Thunder and keeper of Zeus’ bolt. Come, Razan!” A bolt of lightning shaped like a male human figure appeared beside her, red/gold eyes flashing.
“Arise, descendant of Gnome, come to my aid. Terrae!” There was a loud rumbling, and a large squirrel/groundhog burst from the ground, its human-like eyes displaying intelligence and eagerness.
Kiari continued summoning till she had every element before her. She studied each one in turn, then quickly gave them their instructions. As she did, she wondered if any of her friends would come. Sage hated her about as much as she did him, and he could pressure Saint into not coming. That left Elian and Hawke, though there was no reason they wouldn’t come…except IFF.
She thrust those thoughts aside. They were depressing with no real ground to stand on. Instead she ordered the spirits to begin.
It was an amazing display. Wind, Fire, Earth, water, Lightning, etc joined together, merged into one grand, glowing sphere. Kiari took it into her hands, then thrust it upwards. “heaven’s Fire!” she cried. The sphere suddenly erupted, shooting bolts of pure light all around. Kiari hoped none of the monsters were hit; she didn’t want to start a battle. She was going to be quite weak after this. The ball finally released a beam of light that shot upward, toward the roof of the shield. She heard a satisfactory crack, and then the whole thing collapsed.
So did the exhausted Kiari.
She fell back onto the roof, trembling slightly. That was…draining. The beam was still glowing. She wondered how many would see it, wonder, and come running. She hoped those friendly to her would arrive before Mithos. She knew he’d come running the second this came to his attention.
“Who hired him, I wonder…” She stared at the sky a long time, then started. “Them! It has to be them! He did say..darn it!” She smashed her fist against the roof, seething.

Some time back…
“Kiari! Kiari!”
Kiari, seated by the Aersha shoreline, stood when she heard Hawke call. “What is it, Hawke?”
Hawke pointed towards the cliff. “Someone came by looking for you. He said he needed to talk to you. He told me to give you this.” He held out a black band with a small symbol in it.
Kiari took it, studied it a second, then snorted. “I told them…Take me to him, Hawke!” She climbed onto his back, and he carried her up to the cliff. A lone figure in a black cloak stood on the ledge, head tilted back to watch.
Hawke alighted on the ledge, and Kiari dismounted. “Thanks Hawke. I’ll call you when I need you.” He was startled by her dismissal, but flew obediently away over the cliff face. Kiari turned to face the cloaked man, eyes hard. “You can take the hood off now, Lief. What the heck are you doing? I very plainly quit.”
The man pulled the hood back, revealing a plain but handsomely set face. But the eyes were hard, cold orbs with an icy gaze. The smile made him look almost demonic. “You look well, Kiari,” she said. “I hear you’re a leader in the IFF now. Quite a position…so much opportunity.”
She glared at him. “I quit the bloody Thieves’ Guild, Lief. Why are you back?”
“You know we can’t just let a member go, just like that.” He snapped his fingers. “Besides…you were gifted with quick, clever fingers. We’re not letting you go, Kiari.”
“I’m not coming back,. You guys were beginning to take too many liberties. And then assisting the Slaver’s Guild! No, I am not coming back. And,” she added, cutting off his reply. “If you guys continue to pester me, I’ll turn you over to Cyrano. It’s that simple.”
His smile died, his face icy hard. “I see. Then remember this. All loose ends will either be tired closer or exterminated. Including you.”
She knew it was coming, but couldn’t move fast enough. The poisoned dagger took her in the side. Vision blurring, she sank to her knees. “You bast…” her vision turned back as she heard the scream of a hawk enraged…

/Rowan/Caesar/
At first, Caesar was surprised and a little hurt when Kenji only bowed and turned away from him. However, he was soon struggling not to laugh as Kenji gleefully wrung Artemis’ hand,. Much to the fellow’s dismay. Kenji had also succeeded in grabbing Artemis’ sword hand, which meant the poor guy would have to resort to other means of defense.
“Well,” Caesar said cheerfully, deciding to play along. “I’ll go give you two some privacy.”
“Regal, darn you, don’t you dare leave me!” Artemis protested, struggling vainly to free his hand from Kenji’s grasp.
Chuckling, Caesar walked off. Well, either Kenji would admit to know him again or he wouldn’t. Caesar pulled the seeing gem from his pocket. “Show me Issa,” he commanded. The gem lit up, revealing the man in white. He was seated in a small room, holding a letter, and appeared deep in contemplation. Caesar glanced around, then smiled and dimmed the gem. “So he’s in Central City,” he mused. “Well I’ll look into that after visiting Nescala.” He returned the gem to his pocket, then walked to the corrals to check his horse.

/Pierce/Arachni/
Arachni spent some time getting to know the “armies” put under his orders. Army had apparently shrunk in size and meaning since last he’d been here. Carmel was composed of some elite paladins, knights and archers, numbering perhaps three score each. Their leader was Kent, a competent knight with a strong strategic mind. The second one, Castian, contained a score of master swordsmen and healers, as well as a smattering of mages. Their leader was named Felim. Lastly, Virgo was a bunch of weres and other animal peoples, lead by Hawke. Still, he liked a challenge, and was looking forward to the fight.
However, he was dealing with something else now.
He and Hawke faced each other, the latter glowering and the former unbending. Hawke wanted to go looking for Kiari, but as the battle was at hand, Arachni wanted him here.
“Look,” he said, exasperated. “Stick with me fort this battle, then I’ll give you leave. Alright?”
Hawke reluctantly agreed. Arachni was about to leave when one of the scouts, a deep green were cat, rushed over. “Sir!’ he said. “Nescala is marching. They are coming!”
Arachni’s eyes lit up. “Summon the others,” he ordered. “We go to war.”

/Stephen/Ashimatya/
“Actually, from what I hear, you’re just as good at stealth, if not better than I,” Ash said honestly, smiling in a friendly manner at Zare. He looked back at the base, then started. A large force was deploying from the place, headed for Megeiddus valley.
“Look,” he said, pointing to the figure with them. “there’s our serial killer. So he’s with the IFF. Why would they be deploying with such force?” This he pondered. The IFF was taking a neutral stand in most fights. Was that changing?

6 years, 6 Months Ago…
“ I’m getting strong readings of activity here.”
“Ash? Where are you?”
“Standing on Kamikaze Ridge. I’m helping, you dolt.”
Ash waited patiently for the reply he knew was coming. He didn’t have to wait long. “Tell me, who exactly are you helping?”
“You. Anyhow, we have a problem.”
“Only one?”
Ash let that pass. “ Well, the slavers were making camp here, but then a man appeared and talked with them, and now they’re leaving.”
Even through the mental chat, Ash could see Cyrano puzzling over that. “Is he still there?”
“Actually, yes. He appears to be waiting for something.”
“can you try to capture him? I want to learn a little more about this.”
Ash nodded to himself. “On it.” He dove down the mountain. Being swathed in shadow, he arrived at the bottom unharmed. The trees here were thick, and he moved carefully through them, trying not to make noise,. When he reached the edge of the tree line, he pushed aside some branches for a better look.
The man was gone.
Mentally seething, Ash began o back away slowly. “ my apologies, sir, I lost him. He has vanished like a shad-“
He froze as he felt cold steel against his neck. “Well, well, what have we here?”

OOC- ouch, my fingers...

[ClaecElric4God]

/Karissa/Kenji/
Kenji watched as Regal walked away, pretending to be aloof. But he was certain he'd managed to throw him off. He turned back to Artemis, smiling again.
"Ah, such good times we had back in the old days. Brings a tear to my eye! Do you remember that one time..." Kenji went on and on, almost boring himself with his senseless chatter. But as soon as he saw that Regal wasn't paying attention, in fact was walking away, he stopped, letting go of Artemis.
"My apologies, old chap," he said in a British accent. "By the way, I'm Kenji. And you're the Artemis Cordon, eh? I've heard absolutely nothing about you! I'm honored to finally make your acquaintance!" Then he turned away, rushing up behind Regal, who was walking toward the corral. He snuck behind him for awhile, then leapt up, throwing his arms over Regal's neck.
"Hey! Long time no see, you old fart! That wasn't very nice of you, abandoning me like that. I had a nervous breakdown. That poor NPC will never be the same again...Anyways, what's the plan, Mr. Head of the Slavers' Guild?" Kenji laughed. He'd technically meant to keep that a secret, but somehow been too bored to keep it quiet.
"I have to find out as much as I can and take it back to the authorities, like a good Tieran." Kenji smirked. He'd missed Regal so much, even though it'd only been a little while since they'd parted.

/Eric/Zare/
Zare looked at Ash in surprise. This guy had just taken unreadable to a whole new level. Was that...a real, polite smile? Like, not condescending or sadistic or sarcastic? He shook his head and laughed quietly.
"You're weird, you know that?" he said under his breath. Then more directly, "Well, I could try to brag about it, but I doubt I'd be very convincing. Suffice it to say, I've always put extra emphasis on increasing my stealth, so I'd like to think I'm fairly capable. Though I don't know about being better than a guy who has shadows at his beck and call. I'm not sure where you got this info, but I'm flattered." Zare laughed good-naturedly.
Zare followed Ash's gaze. Sure enough, there was the Dark Elf who'd annihilated Zare's allies. Like Ash, he had to wonder what they were planning that required such a huge number of people, and why the famously neutral IFF looked like they were waging war on someone.
"So, is this still a recon mission? Because I'm looking at a guy I'd like to sink my claws into, literally." Zare looked back at Ash. "But ignore me. I'm sticking to whatever flawless plan you've no doubt come up with." Zare resisted the habitual urge to smack Ash on the shoulder. Disregarding the fact that being on a mission together didn't necessarily make them friends, he wasn't sure how safe that was anyway. A guy like Ash probably had involuntary reflexes to being "assaulted".

[FreddyCast]

Sage Blaze, Saint Reave, and Priestess Elian


(The trio take a detour through some ruins and encounter a vicious spider monster, the Aracnasaur, where they are forced to fight the hideous creauture as dozens of smaller Aracnasaurs close in on them from every side)
LINK

Sage: WHY FOR THE LIFE OF ME DID WE HAVE TO COME THIS WAY? (Sage throws fireballs and erects walls of fire to hold back the smaller Aracnasaurs)
Saint: Because the cart tracks ended at fork in the road. (Saint blocks the Big Aracnasaur’s attacks, deflecting each leg that tries to strike at him with his sword, Durendal)
Sage: I KNOW THAT YOU DUNCE! YOU PICKED THIS ROUTE YOURSELF IN A HURRY WITHOUT DISCUSSING IT WITH US. (A few small Aracnasaurs get past the walls of fire, but Sage slams his right hand to the ground, calling forth pillars of fire that sprout from beneath the small aracnasaurs and shooting them up into the sky as they're consumed by the pillars of fire)
Saint: There was no time to think, we had to make a choice. Kiari is in danger and needs our help. (Saint masterfully dodges the incoming attacks and cuts off two of the Big Aracnasaur’s legs)
Sage: WELL THANKS TO YOU, WE’RE THE ONES IN DANGER. HAAAAAAHH...(Sage sprays a constant stream of fire, engulfing everything in its path and consuming the small Aracnasaurs to ashes)
Elian: Stop fighting you two,we need to focus on getting rid of these monsters. “Winds of the Divine, come and blow away our troubles” (Bursts of wind manifest into small whirlwinds, lifting up the remaining small Aracnasaurs and carrying them off into the sky as they’re thrown a far distance away in all directiions)
Saint: I GOT THIS! (After dodging the remaining legs, Saint jumps on top of the Big Aracnasaur’s back and drives Durendal into the monster’s back in order to get a hold of his position as the monster shakes violently, trying to get him off its back. Saint then calls forth Thunderbolt, a golden claymore, and with his free hand he plunges Thunderbolt down into the Aracnasaur’s head as lightning follows the sword and bursts forth at the bottom of the monster’s head, killing it instantly.)
Saint: YESSS! WOOOOHOOOO! We did it. (Saint’s swords dematerialize back into his inventory and he jumps off the monster’s back to reunite with Sage and Elian)
Elian: Wow! That was amazing, Saint! (Saint is caught off guard by Elian’s praise and blushes a little)
Saint: Uh...It wasn’t that good.
Sage: Don’t be so modest, that was a flawless finish. If only your direction skills were as good as your fighting skills. (Saint laughs nervously)
Saint: Hahaha...yeah, sorry about that you guys.
Elian: We can go back the way we came and take the other route.
Sage: Must I remind you two, that we’re doing this because we’re assuming that Kiari might be in some kind of trouble. I bet she just left us cause she now has her dum dragon ruby gem. By the way, aren’t you supposed to be looking for the other dragon gems, Elian?
Elian: Yes, but Kiari is my superior. If she needs our assistance, she takes priority.
Saint: I second that motion, now let’s go already. Less chatting, more moving. (Suddenly a great beam of light shoots up into the sky a far distance away)
Sage: What the heck is that?
Elian: Someone is signaling for help.
Sage: How do you know that? (Suddenly all three have a notice pop up in front of them, telling them that they’ve received a PM. So all three read the PM, “I’m in a spot of trouble, though you might have guessed that by now. Anyways, while I have the time, I’m creating a signal. Look for a large beam in the Extreme Wilderness. I’ll be there. Watch out of the monsters, but I’ll try to take down the force field. ~Kiari”)
Saint: IT’S KIARI. LET’S GO, WE GOTTA MOVE. (Saint quickly equips his “wings of the Fallen” and flies away towards the beam of light)
Sage: WAIT! STOP RUSHING INTO THINGS!...Man, my brother is so stubborn today. I’ll use the Ring of Pheonix to catch up to him. Elian, do you need.....(Elian has already left, using the wind to push her forward up into the air and towards the beam of light.)
Sage: What is up with those two? UGH...whatever. PHEONIX BLAZE. (Sage slides at great speed, leaving a trail of fire behind him as he follows after Elian and Saint)
(After a while they make it to a large building surrounded by monsters)
Sage: So is this where she’s held up?
Elian: I believe so, I can feel that there was once a barrier erected around this building for quite a long distance away. The beam of light must have disrupted the barrier and brought it down.
Saint: Way to go, Kiari. Just hold on, we’re coming for ya.
Sage: Well, go already, your damsel in distress is waiting.
Saint: I don’t think she likes being called that.
Sage: No duh, genius. But what do you think this situation is. Oh right, a damsel in distress situation. Now go, we’ll handle the monsters.
Saint: Alright! (Saint then flies up towards the building, leaving Sage and Elian to deal with the monsters)
Elian whispers: Does Saint have feelings for... (Sage hears Elian mumbling)
Sage: Huh...you say something.
Elian: No...nothing! (Elian feels sad, though she’s not sure why)
Sage: Come on, Elian. My brother is not gonna wait for us. But first, can you give me a rejuvenation potion. The Ring of Pheonix drains a lot of mana, as well as a bit of health.
Elian: Sure, here you go. (Elian hands him the potion and Sage happily drinks it.)
Sage:.....And Elian...
Elian: Yes...
Sage: Thanks, for helping me and my brother...Sorry for being a jerk yesterday.
Elian: It...it’s alright. I’m glad I could help. (Elian looks surprised, but happy that Sage opened up a little, which relieves her slightly from the sadness she felt a while ago.)
Sage: Ok then, let’s go and clean up Kiari’s mess. (Both Sage and Elian face the monsters together)
To be continued....

Random conversation between Sage and Saint

Sage: Brother Reave!
Saint: Watsup, brother.
Sage: Why did you summon small trolls to fight the Aracnasaur at the start of the fight.
Saint: Haha...I...um...not sure why. It sure looked funny though.
Sage: Now I'm starting to question your leadership and strategic skills, not that you had any to begin with.
Saint: Wha...Fine, what about you, huh.
Sage: What about me?
Saint: You had a small Aracnasaur literally bite your butt off.
Sage: THAT WAS.....an oversight. I was being swarmed. How was I supposed to know one was digging up from the ground?
Saint: Elian had to pull that critter off of ya. (Sage seethes with rage)
Sage: NEVER SPEAK OF IT AGAIN.
Saint: And what about this other time when you...
Sage: RAAAHHHH....(Sage extends his arms out and heats the ground to an unbearable temperature, making Saint jump around as he desperately tries to get away from the heated ground)
Saint: OWOWOWOWOWOWOW. Brother, stop, that hurts...

[Wolfsong]

/Rowan/Caesar/
Caesar suddenly found himself being throttled, with Kenji yelling something that sound like a ‘good to see you again’. But all he really made out was the “head of the Slaver’s Guild” part.
“Where did you learn that?!’ he choked out.
When he started seeing spots, he threw his weight forward, sending the smaller Kenji flying overhead. Before he hit the ground, Caesar grabbed him by the collar using the wind and just held him there while he readjusted his mussed garments. He grinned at Kenji. “Happy to see you too, you old scallywag,” he remarked cheerfully. “Hope you didn’t wear Artemis out too much. He looks pretty riled,” he noted, watching as the man himself walked over.
Artemis gave Kenji a dark look, his hand playing with the hilt of his sword, as he came up to Caesar. “Your horse is ready,” he said, dead-pan. “I certainly hope you’re taking that thing with you.” He gestured at Kenji. “because I’m not sure I could refrain from killing him.”
Caesar’s smile spread into a huge grin, and he clearly was plotting mischief. “Oh, I suggest you learn to get along with him, because, quite soon, you are going to teach him how to sue that katana at its full potential.” Artemis’ eyes widened in absolute horror and he started spluttering. Caesar held up a hand, still grinning widely. “No, that’s a royal command, Artemis. I’m still head of your guild, until Cyrano finally catches up to me. Till then, you’ve still gotta obey.”
“Blast you, you mangy son of a half-troll!” Artemis finally managed to declare. He truly seemd infuriated; veins stood out in his forehead. “I swear Caesar, if Cyrano doesn’t get you, I will!”
He decided he’d pushed Artemis far enough. “My apologies,” he said, bowing, returning to the manners of a gentleman. “We leave now.” He turned again and realized he hadn’t put Kenji down yet. He directed the wind to set Kenji gently on his feet. As he walked past, he said, “Unless you have other plans?” He gave him a sideways grin, then, using wind, tweaked at Kenji’s collar, obviously saying: “You have no other choice. You’re coming along whether you want to or not.” Funny, the light-hearted frame of mind he was in now. “Kenji’s rubbing off on me,” he thought wryly.

/Stephen/Ashimatya/
Ash turned and gave Zare a long, expressionless stare, then he burst out laughing and good naturedly punched Zare’s shoulder. “You’ve got a violent streak, haven’t you?” he said, grinning. “So do I, actually. Come, lets stalk a serial killer and see what’s going on.” And he sprinted across the terrain.
Ash kept his eye on the blue-haired guy, thinking on how familiar this felt. When he saw a patch of shadow on the ground of a ledge below, he turned toward it. As he was about to jump, he froze, memories clicking into place.
“My gosh…no, no, please, not that one!”

6 Years, 6 Months continued…
Ash seethed, furious with himself for getting careless. The blade rested lightly on the back of his neck, but knew one movement on his part would result in it going right through. “Not bad,” he said grudgingly. “Not many can surprise me like that.”
“Oh, I beg to differ,” the oddly familiar voice said mockingly. “I know you well enough, Ashimatya, to know your style.”
Ash sank into the many shadows around him, darted behind the man, and re-manifested, swinging his scythe high.
With an inhuman speed, his attackers turned, again second-guessing him, blocking the attack with his weapon. This brought both men face to face, mere inches apart. Ash audibly gasped.
“PYTHON?!” He leapt back, alighting on a tree branch, eyes wide in shock. “That was a joke in poor taste, man!”
Python had a mocking smirk on his face. “Who says I was joking?” he suddenly leapt at Ash, slashing in a tight pattern at him. Ash weaved through the branches and the leaves, blocking each attack with the staff, backing away. Shortly after, Python forced him out of the shadows of the trees and into the sunlit center of the clearing. Ash, realizing he needed to strike back, flung his scythe at Python to distract him, while in his palm he crafted a sphere of shadows. This he also cast at Python. His opponent sent the scythe spinning across the ground, but wasn’t able to avoid the shadows in time. As it came into contact with him, the sphere erupted in multiple tendrils which wrapped themselves around Python, restraining him. Some of them went directly into him, spearing him through critical joints and nerves, rendering him paralyzed and helpless. Python screamed in rage and pain, but surprisingly didn’t struggle. Instead, he remained still in place, watching Ash who slowly walked toward him.
“Time for some explanations,” Ash said, huffing. “WHAT THE HECK DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?!”
Python started laughing. “I should have known attacking a magnus directly was a bad idea. Oh well, we live and learn, don’t we?”
“Why did you even do it in the first place?” Ash demanded. “And what was the deal with the slavers? Talk Pierce!”
He raised an eyebrow. “Dropping formalities, Ash? Or should I call you Stephen?”
Ash raised a hand. “Just. Talk. Please.”
Python studied him a moment, then nodded slowly. “I suppose I should tell you. Very well. I told the slavers there was about to be a bloody battle here, and to please clear the field.”
“But…are you working with them?” Ash asked.
“Heck no!” Python said venemently. “I despise the loathsome trash. I will take great pleasure in hunting them all down and killing them when I have taken control.”
Relieved as he was that Python wasn’t with the slasvers, that last comment made Ash wonder. “Control over what, Pierce?”
“Haven’t you guessed? Control over Infinite, Stephen! I could be an actual god!”
Ash shook his head. “That’s ridiculous. The mods control Infinite. Are you saying you want to be a mod? That still doesn’t answer-“
“Don’t be so stupid. Or are you purposefully avoiding the answer?” Python sighed. “Very well, here are the bluntest, simplest terms, since your child-like mind can’t comprehend. I am what you call a hacker, and I’m going to dispose of the mods and rule Infinite.” He smirked. “I see you understand that.”
If someone had snuck up on him right now and stabbed him, he couldn’t have been more surprised or horrified. “You’re…joking, right? You have to be…” He chuckled nervously. “A-ayway, you couldn’t successfully rule Infinite. People just wouldn’t come. It would be a meaningless title.”
“Grow up, Stephen. Think about it. All I would have to do is disable the log out option, or mess with their helpless bodies back in the real world." After a moment, he said, "You know, there is an actual battle coming. I don't suppose we could move?"
"Pierce, I-"
He was cut off by a loud scream. He turned to see a man - one of Cyrano's trooops - go flying over the cliff to his death. moments later, men erupted from all sides of the field, attacking the others. The field was soon awash in blood. Ash turned to look at Python, who smiled knowingly. "Its begun," he said quietly. "you can't stop us. neither you, nor Cyrano, or your precious mods."
"Ashimatya! Python!"
Cyrano came running over, dodging several men looking for a fight. "Just what is going on?" he asked. "We were all in position and the next thing we knew..." He paused, fully processing the scene. "What in...Python, Ash, what's going on?"
"Hell itself has come to us," Ash whispered slowly, taking in the horro around him. The forest was ablaze. Men fought all around them, and even the rocks seemed drenched in blood.
Cyrano turned to him. "Ash, what-"
"Master!" Sveral of the enmy, Python's hackers, came running toward them.
Python straightened as best he could, shouting, "Not me, yet! Save out ally from Cyrano's vengeance! Protect Ash!"
Ash was about to speak when a great explosion drowned out all sound. Accompanied with a blinding flash, Ash surrounded his eyes with darkness, succeeding in minimizing the effects, though his vision was still blurry. he saw men coming running toward them, toward Cyrano. Realizing they must be the men Python had called, Ash summoned the darkness aroudn him, for night had descended upon them. The sky itself seemed to drop on the coming soldeirs heads, and he heard them screaming. He heard Python laughing, and beneath that laugher the words of a spell. Instantly his vision cleared, and he saw what he had done. There were Cyrano's men lying dead. he stared, stunned and horrified, as Python's men rushed past him toward Cyrano, who also stood in a daze. howeer, as they came, he snapped out of it and, shouting furiously, he slew them. he turned on Ash then, face twisted in anger.
"What have you done?" he cried. "I thought you...you traitor! Death is too good for you!"
"Cyrano, wait!" Ash tried to say, but the words caught in his throat. He leapt away from Cyrano's attack, catching up his scythe. he tried at first to be defensive and not strike back, trying to communicate with him. But his voice wasn't working. Soon, he found he had to fight back, or he would be slain. Then a man rose up behind him, weapon raised. Reacting instinctively, Ash remanifested behind the man, cutting him in two...and the blade stoppped on the other side of Cyrano's chest.
Both men stared at the blade, then met the other's eyes. Cyrano's were cold and hard. "Astimatya," he choked out. "I'll...get you for this. I promise." and he collapsed.
Ash stumbled bacj, then whirled around as Python laughed. He stared as Python shrugged off the black tendrils and walked toward him, clapping. "Excellent, Ashimatya," he said. "A truly thrilling performance. I was almost in tears."
"You *censored*!" before he could control himself, Ash leapt at Python, his hand stabbing forward. Cloked in shadows sharp as a blade, his hand stabbed through Python before he could stop himself. He stared in horror. Python laughed again.
"I hope you've enjoyed your taste of power, my dear Ashimatya," Python said.
"I...I..." Ash withdrew his hand, staring at it in horror. "What have I done?" he cried.
"Put simply, you have become a monster. You'll either embrace what you've done, or punish yourself for it the rest of your life. Either way..." he smirked. "I've succeeded. Goodbye...brother." and Python died.
Ash threw back his head and howled. Ash flung himself into the shadow realm, still howling. All his pain, all his fear, all his tears, all fled, released by his screaming, as he caged his heart till he had burned all the pain...and everything else away.
Even he knew, when he emerged, that he would never be the same again.

Present
"No..." he whimpered, sinking to his knees, clutching his head. "Not again. Please..." He slowly raised his head, looking over to Zare. His eyes were dark, haunted, and clearly tormented. He smiled wanly.
"Tell you what," he said weakly. "You go on ahead. I'll catch up."
He closed his eyes and lay his head against the rocky earth, willing control over himself. He had buried those memories so deeply...how were they coming back?

/Zara/Kiari/
She raised her head weakly, and saw something flying in the air towards the building. "Is that..."She stood slowly, shading her eyes with her hand for a better look. Slowly, as the figure came closer, she recognized him. "Saint," she breathed, suddenly feeling almost at peace. Saint was here...which meant Sage and Elian had to be close behind. She stood and waved at him frantically, watching one of the monsters rise up. "Saint, watch out!" She cried, as the huge, snake-like horror reared its head back, preparing to strike.
Frantically, though she had promised herself never to use it again, Kiari shouted, "Rival, rise and make your stand! For pity's sake, STOP THAT THING FROM EATING MY FRIEND!"
With a loud howl, a being like none other appeared, blood-red eyes glowing fiercely.

Like a shadow, he darted across the space between him and the monster, hand extended. There was a clap of thunder, and it seemed like a shadow had descended upon the whole world. And then it was gone, leaving only the monster...in pieces. Rival stood before Kiari, who was carefully avoiding looking at the mess. He bowed slightly, then returned to wherever unused spirits went.
Kiari, shuddering for that spell had left her weak, fell back against the roof again. After her earlier usage of the spirits, she was truly exhausted, and this time she did black out.

OOC- Rival in his full glory. Just had to post it for all to see...

[Oddood198]

OOC: Sorry I'm so slow, but I made a huge epic post to make up for it. But, It's super long, so I'll split it into two posts so as not to bore you all too much at once. Here's the first one, and the other will be later.



Jean opened the door of Griff's house and walked out, into the daylight and the fresh air. He squinted slightly as the sunlight filled his eyes, so used to the barely lit room, and raised a hand to cover them. He walked out ti the street in front of the house, opened the passengers door to a small white car sitting there, and slid into the seat.
"I take it it didn't go as planned?" His driver said. Jean looked over to the man, He was shorter than Jean, but it didn't make much difference in the car, he had dark brown hair and a slightly shady looking face.
"Not quite. What gave it away?' Jean replied flatly, reaching into his coat pocket and pulling out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter.
"Well, the first sign was the look on your face." His friend said, glancing down and smirking, "Of course, the blood on your knuckles was a good indication, too."
Jean put a lit cigarette into his mouth and put the pack and lighter back in his pocket, "Just drive, Mitchell." He said.
The driver, Mitchell, grinned, then started the car and drove out of the parking lot.
They rode in silence for a few minutes, Mitchell smoothly driving the car in and out of traffic, barely needing to slow down, and Jean too deep breaths and blew smoke out the window.
"So, did you find out anything?" Mitchell asked after this continued too long for his liking.
"Not much. Garret refused to talk, he actually started crying after I said Aeon's name." Jean replied flatly, looking out his window, watching the building zoom by around them.
Mitchell chuckled, "Well, I can't blame him, really. I probably would too, if I had to choose between him and you."
Jean remained silent, lost in his own thoughts. The rest of the ride continued uneventfully, and soon they were pulling up in front of Jean's apartment building.
"Well here you go. Call me when you find something." Mitchell said, bringing the car to a stop and habitually unlocking the doors.
"Sure thing. Thanks." Jean said as he opened the car door and left it. He walked up the stairs and to his apartment.
"And make sure you wash your hands!" Mitchell shouted to him as he drove off. Jean sighed and opened the door.

His apartment was dark and cold, just how he preferred it. Lights raised the electricity bill, and heat raised the utility bill. Dark and cold was cheap.
He walked through his apartment mostly on memory, until he came to the back room. It was designed to be a second bedroom, but Jean had other purposes for it. He flicked on the light, and it flooded into all corners of the room, fully illuminating the breathtaking display it held.

[ClaecElric4God]

/Karissa/Kenji/
Kenji laughed at Regal, falling into step beside him when Regal finally let him down.
"Oh, I have lots of plans," Kenji replied in a sinister tone, rubbing his hands together. "I'm going to infiltrate the Slavers' Guild, getting close to their leader, so I can discover all their deepest darkest secrets, and sell it to Tiera for lots of money! Who knows, maybe I'll even become an info broker! That would be such a fun job!" Kenji flipped through his inventory, equipping a flowing black cloak with a cowl that hid his face. He turned to face Regal, giving his eyes a red glowing illusion that peered out from the darkness.
"Where did I learn about you being the leader, you ask?" Kenji paused for effect, then shoved his hood back, throwing his head back in laughter. "I eavesdropped when you were talking to Cyrano in that inn. I overheard him calling you that."
Kenji turned back to Artemis and waved.
"Thanks for introducing me to this fellow! You won't be needed anymore. By the way, nice katana! I was looking for a guy with a katana once. Ah, those were the days..." Kenji turned back to Regal. "Come to think of it, I bet the rapier is a pretty effective weapon." Kenji grinned from ear to ear.

/Eric/Zare/
Zare broke into a run.
Finally, this is what I'm talking about, he thought excitedly. The idea of snooping around the IFF hadn't excited him in the least bit, and a bit of fast-paced action was far more his style. It'd been awhile since he'd actually done any fighting.
Zare noticed Ash eyeing the shadows, and realized what he was thinking. Reaching for his crystal, he started to focus on his transformation. If Ash was going to start using shadows, he would need more than his human speed to keep up. Besides, he didn't want to be utterly useless if they ran into opposition. But then all of a sudden, Ash stopped short, sinking to the ground. Zare stopped quickly, jogging over to where Ash was sitting. Zare opened his mouth to say something, but then Ash turned to him, and Zare saw the look on his face, and his complexion. Something had seriously happened to him. It reminded Zare of...Zare shook his head, crowding the thoughts out. He crouched down next to Ash, clamping a hand firmly on his shoulder.
"Are you kidding?" Zare said, forcing his voice to stay even, despite how shocked and concerned he was. "I know how it is. You're trying to get me to go ahead and do all the dirty work, so you can swoop in and take the glory at the last second. Either that or you finally got sick of me and you want a chance to stab me in the back." Zare tried to sound light-hearted.
"Something along those lines, right?" Zare asked, knowing full well that it wasn't that at all. He had to snap Ash out of whatever had taken a hold on him, back into reality. Zare waited a moment, with no response from Ash. He sighed, growling under his breath.
"Fine, if you're gonna be like that." Zare moved next to Ash, grabbing his arm and placing it over his shoulder. He slowly stood up, shouldering Ash's weight as best he could. "So, where are we going? Do we keep following, or do I need to get you away from the heat?"
"Either way, you're an idiot if you think for a second that I'm going to leave a friend behind to fend for himself. I've never worked like that, and I never will."

[Wolfsong]

/Stephen/Ashimatya/
Images ran through his head, before his eyes, like he was living it all over again. Once more he felt Cyrano's blood on his hands, then Python's as his hand slid smoothly between the ribs. Trying not to scream, he didn't dare here, though he couldn't remember why. All he could hear were the screams of men around him, Cyrano's last, hateful words, and Python's own laughter.
Suddenly, new words cut across his mind. A new voice...no, he knew this voice.
"Either way, you're an idiot if you think for a second that I'm going to leave a friend behind to fend for himself. I've never worked like that, and I never will."
"Friend," he whispered. Friend. He killed his friends.
With a sudden renewal in strength, he jerked away from Zare, crossing his arms. Shadows drew over them, making double-edged blades from his hands. "Don't call me that!" he hissed, feeling a strange...something inside. "I've killed all my friends, or didn't you know that?" Who didn't know of the "Dark Angel"'s exploits? "Our connection is terminated," he continued, then lunged toward Zare...
and flew past him, into the shadows of the ledge below, where he dispersed.
He didn't move anywhere though, just sat there, still. Here, he was hidden in the shadows, unless that cat had better eyes than he thought. "What have I done?" he thought, horrified. "He saw! He saw me, weak! Helpless! I should have killed him! Why...oh, why..." He began to sob, little quiet things that whispered into the wind. "I swore I'd never trust another man again...why didn't I kill him? Why did I...oh Pierce! Oh Cyrano! Why? WHY?"

/Rowan/Caesar/
"You already have, at least most of them," he replied blandly. "Their most darkest was just who exactly their leader was. Congratulations."
He shook his head, chuckling slightly. "So you had me give Artemis a near-heart attack for nothing? I certainly hope you don't plan for me to teach you. The rapier is a delicate weapon, taking a long time to fully master. I don't think you have the patience for that."
He certainly hoped he could talk Kenji out of that. He didn't quite trust that look in the man's eyes as he said that, and it was slowly beginning to dawn on him he was feeling that same aggravation he had in the beginning when he meant Kenji. "Well, at least some things haven't changed."

OOC- that's certainly interesting, Odd. Looking forward to seeing how it continues.

[Oddood198]

OOC: All right, here's the second part. The long part. For once, I'm actually pretty happy with how this turned out. I hope it's not too mind-numbingly boring for you all.



Strings of all colors and shades hang everywhere, thousands of pins holding them up in specific spots, each next to a paper with a picture or something written on it. most of the strings were a bright shade of color, like orange, bright red, neon green, but may were also darker, plainer colors. The shade of the string was meant to indicate the difference between worlds.
Jean walked through the room to the far wall, where hundreds of strings, bright and dark, were twisted together and lead to one item on the wall: a picture, of a face that was all-to familiar to Jean. It was a screenshot from the game Infinite, of a dark cloaked man with white hair and blue eyes. His in-game avatar, Aeon. Below the picture was a piece of paper, reading:

Target: Aeon.
Infinite status: Aquired.
Real life status: Unknown.
Real name: Unknown.
Last seen: Unknown.
Leads: None.

Below that, sitting on a desk, was a book. A notebook of sorts. Jean picked it up and began flipping through, reading random entries.

Entry 1:
Starting a new case now. Looks simple enough, mugging turned homicide. Won't take long.

Entry 5:
We have a suspect, name of Jake Rogers. I'll be doing the questioning.

Entry 7:
Rogers was useless. Kept rambling a bunch of nonsense. He'll be admitted to a mental hospital. From what we gathered, though, it seems he was working for someone. I'll have to look into it.

Entry 13:
Looks like this is going deeper than we thought. Looks like Rogers was working for someone, but we can't find who.

Entry 20:
Now that we're looking, similar cases keep showing up, from all over, for years now. The guy we're looking for is high up in the underworld.

Entry 27:
No matter how far we dig, we can never find any kind of information on this guy. Not even a name for him. We have nothing.

Entry 42:
Finally, we may have something. Cally says she may have found a lead, and she's looking into it. All the rest of us can do is wait.

Entry 46:
Cally was right. She said she has something useful for us. I don't know how much it'll help, but at this point, we'll take anything we can get.

Entry 48:
Cally said that, through a number of sources, she's somehow brought a new factor into the picture. I don't get how it fits in, but it seems to game 'Infinite' is somehow involved in this.

Entry 51:
This isn't right, this can't be right at all! I've just been removed from the case! Me and the whole team! They said it's a cold case now and we won't be able to find anything. They're pinning it all on Jake Rogers, saying he and his insanity was behind it all. I don't care what they say. I can still pursue this, off the record. I want to catch the mastermind behind this, the real culprit.

Entry 64:
I managed to see Rogers in the mental hospital. He wouldn't say a word, but he did give me a writing with some scribbling and a word written on it. It looks like, '-</Aeon\>-'

Entry 66:
I've just been informed Rogers is dead. Died in his cell from unknown causes.

Entry 73:
Cally has something else for me, she says. But won't tell me over the phone. I'm going to meet with her.

Entry 74:
Cally seemed nervous. She kept looking around, like she was afraid of something. I asked her and she said nothing was wrong. She gave me a slip of paper, but said not to look inside until I got home.

Entry 75:
I don't get it, the paper just has a long line of thirty some random letters, numbers, and symbols. I tried calling Cally to have her explain, but she wouldn't pick up.

Entry 77:
This is nonsense! I've been removed from the force! Me and my whole team! They fired all of us because we were still after the case! Well, if they think that's going to stop me, they're sorely mistaken. Everyone else is with me, too. We're going to get to the bottom of this.

Entry 79:
Cally's dead.

Entry 80:
This is personal. This guy killed Cally, and for that, I'm going to make him pay dearly.

Entry 83:
I'm still trying to decode Cally's last message, the line of gibberish, but I can't get anything from it.

Entry 85:
Brian's in the hospital, critical condition. Hit-and-run accident, the other driver's gone.

Entry 89:
Brian is stabilized, but still asleep. Doctors say he suffered massive head trauma and is now comatose. He may not wake up.

Entry 94:
I'm looking back through everything, but I cant find anything useful. The guy we're after is absolutely perfect at covering his tracks, there's no way to find him. All I have to go on is the Infinite game Cally thought was involved, and the papers she and Rogers gave me before they died.

Entry 95:
So that's it. The papers held the username and password, respectively, to an account in Infinite. It looks like it's really strong, and it's logged over 60000 hours. That's almost seven years. I don't get it, but Cally and Rogers somehow thought this was relevant, so I guess I'll play the game and try to find something.

Entry 99:
The -</Aeon\>- account seems to have belonged to our target. i don't know quite all the details, but I found someone in the game that let slip a few things, but he logged out before I could question him. Ben's trying to trace him now.

Entry 102:
It seems our target has been using this account in the game to carry out his business. This seems to be where he held all his meetings, arrangements, everything. It looks like he also had people using the account when he wasn't, 24/7, getting it stronger. If I keep using this account, I can hunt down his contacts and leads that I couldn't in the real world. Soon, I'll find Aeon, and I'll avenge Cally, and everyone else.

Entry 134:
Brian just died in the hospital. He woke up for a few minutes and talked to his family, then they lost him.

Entry 167:
Someone was following me on my way home today. I managed to evade them, but I should start being more cautious, only going out when necessary.

Entry 170:
I discussed things with the others, and we've decided something. Ana and Ben will help me search in Infinite, while Mitchell and Claire try and get work to support us all. The Infinite team will be spending most of their time in the game, so we can't do much in the real world. It's going to be tough, but that's the quickest way to make progress and keep everyone safe.

Entry 203:
Ana (Rieia) contacted me and said she had something to tell me. I'll have to take a ship, but it sounds important.


There were a couple more entries after that, and Jean added one about his encounter with Griff/Garret. He looked up at the picture of Aeon on his wall. "Soon, you murderous monster. Soon, I'm going to catch you." He said, then walked to his bedroom and logged on to Infinite. Without washing his hands.

[ClaecElric4God]

/Eric/Zare/
Zare staggered backward, caught off guard by Ash's aggression. He didn't have time to react when Ash lunged at him, just closed his eyes as a cloud of emotions overpowered him. Time slowed down, and all his thoughts came together in a moment.
Zare, you idiot, he berated himself. What made you think he was any different from the rest? It doesn't matter that he had a rough past, or has trust issues. He's nothing like you. He's not looking for some sort of acceptance, some proof that humanity isn't all that bad. He doesn't want genuine, strong friendships.
He's just like everyone else, he thought bitterly. It's your own fault for deciding to trust people again. You asked for this...
Zare opened his eyes in shock as the wind blew past him, just in time to see Ash retreat into the shadows. Zare took his chance and quickly morphed, standing ready for whatever Ash was planning. His blood pounded hot through his veins. He needed to take his rage out on something. It wasn't Ash's fault, it was nothing personal. Zare just hated people, and he needed to manifest his hatred into violence. Zare peered into the shadows, his cat eyes cutting through the darkness. Nothing...was he gone? Had that coward run away?
Zare waited a moment, then turned away, suddenly feeling very defeated. All the anger and frustration dissipated, and suddenly he was just...lost. Then he heard it. His acute hearing picked up on the subtle sounds. The methodical, rythmic fluctuations in the wind. Was that...breathing? No...more like...weeping. Zare turned back toward the ledge, peering into the shadows once again. He let his eyes focus, and sure enough, he saw the faint outline of Ash's body, shaking gently. Zare felt a prick in his heart, which he viciously suppressed, trying to put up his defensive wall. But it worked it's way back to the surface, and he broke down to it. It wasn't pity. No, it had been a long time since that had ever affected Zare. No, it was something else. Sympathy? Or maybe it was more like...an understanding. Zare had a feeling that, as mysterious and confusing as he was, he finally had a tiny understanding of Ash.
Zare sighed. With whatever issues he had going on, this was probably the one time Zare could totally rip Ash to shreds. But somehow, his bloodlust and hatred were completely gone, and he suddenly found himself drawn back toward the broken shards of the fragile comeraderie he'd been foolish enough to build. There had never been a real friendship, but something had formed. Zare could still see the pieces...they were still salvagable. After all, for some inexplicable reason, the Dark Angel hadn't killed his target. What on earth had stayed his hand? There had to be a reason.
Then Zare made up his mind. Ash could do whatever he wanted. He could get angry, try to chase Zare away or convince him that they were sworn enemies. But Zare wasn't going to quickly forget that Ash had spared his life. And until Ash killed him, he wasn't going to believe it. He didn't know why, but for some reason, this untrustworthy, treacherous, backstabbing fiend...had earned Zare's trust more than any of his so-called friends.
Zare closed his eyes and took a deep breath, feeling his limbs and muscles shift back into that cramped, restrictive form. He laughed to himself, realizing how vulnerable he felt in the form he'd been born with. It was in cat form that he felt like he could control his life, keep bad things from happening - to himself and those he cared about. Now he felt useless, helpless. Zare walked over to the ledge, looked down, and jumped, into a light patch near the shadows. He sank next to the ground with his back against the wall, his arms resting on his knees. He was silent for a long moment, gathering his thoughts.
"Yeah, sorry about that," Zare said, scratching the back of his head. "I don't know what came over me, but you're right. That was pretty stupid and arrogant of me to act like we're all chummy. Must've been the thrill of the hunt or something." Zare laughed, and it was fake and dry. He dropped his arm, looking up at the sky.
"It's just as well we're not friends, right? Since you kill all your friends," Zare observed. "I'm safer this way."
"So you've killed your friends, right? Here in Infinite, where unless you have some mod-like power, you can't actually kill anyone. How did it feel, when you killed them? Was it really that awful? Or did you blow it out of proportion? Did they really die? Are they gone forever?
And was it really your fault they died? Were you the direct, the only cause of their deaths?" Zare put out his hands, looking at his palms. He noted the absence of a scar that was present on his real arm, where a shard of windshield had sliced from his wrist to his elbow. "And what kind of friends were they? Did they raise you from the day you were born, love you more than anything in the world? Did they deserve to die, or were they completely innocent?"
Zare turned to the shadows, tears running down his cheeks.
"Tell me, Ash!" he yelled. "Did you kill an innocent man, the closest, most important person in your life, simply by being careless?! Did you sacrifice a person's one and only life, simply for the thrill of speed?! Are you really that awful of a person?! What kind of a monster are you?! Answer me, Zare!" Zare jerked his head up, realizing what he'd just said. He didn't hate people. He hated himself. More than anything. Zare stood up, shoving his hands in his pockets.
"No, don't answer that," he whispered. "After all, I wasn't even talking to you. I'll leave you alone now. Hopefully you figure out what you want and get that drama act under control. You'll never make any real friends like that. Really, this is just a game; you shouldn't be so hard on yourself, or others. Whatever your friends did to you, not everyone's like them. Well, I can't guarantee it, since I haven't seen it myself. But hey, why do you think I stick around this pontless game? Most sane people would have been bored with it by now. But me, I'm determined to find someone less self-centered than me. So that's why I'm here. Who knows, maybe that's why I asked to join you." Zare shrugged.
"Sorry for weighing you down. I guess we're both just destined to be loners, eh?"
Zare turned away from Ash, trying to figure out what to do next. Should he log out, or find another mission? He didn't know what to do...But he knew one thing, he was drawn to the mystery that lurked in the shadows. He was intrigued, and mystified, and maybe even a little bit hopeful. Though he didn't know why...

/Karissa/Kenji/
Kenji laughed. (OOC: As usual...)
"You know you're problem, Regal? You take everything way too seriously. And I can tell you one thing. Taking me seriously is a sure fire way to get stomach ulcers. You no-nonsense guys are defenseless against me. Muahahahaha!" Kenji threw his head back in maniacal laughter, then stopped, looking pensive.
"Hm, speaking of which, I wonder how Zare's doing? Haven't heard from him in awhile. I should introduce you guys. It'll be twice as fun bugging you both at the same time!"
Kenji sighed contendedly. He was enjoying Regal's horror at the thought of Kenji wielding a rapier. He wasn't about to tell him that he didn't really care for the rapier at all. It seemed like a sissy weapon. But Regal's reaction was priceless, and Kenji wanted to keep him in suspense.
"Except then Zare would probably kill me, and I don't have time for that! You know, I think Zare holds the record for killing me the most times of all my friends! Let's see..." Kenji counted off his fingers. "Eight? Sounds right. Oh wait, that one time he just surprised me and I fell off a cliff, I don't think it was intentional. And the other time he and Gunter ganged up on me, so it wasn't a solo kill. Though, the ten seconds it took them to realize they were fighting an army of illusions was totally worth it!"
Kenji turned back to Regal, out of breath.
"So, what're we doing next? Or did you already tell me? I don't remember, and if you did, I probably wasn't listening..."

[FreddyCast]

Maximius

(Maximius is in a secret meeting with other members from Nescala and Tiera in his office)
Maximius: So that is what we’ll do in the battlefield.
Unknown Nescalan: Lord Maximius, have you informed your new apprentice of the plans. (Maximius takes a serious, yet dark tone)
Maximius: No, he must be kept out of this. This is a different Infinite Powers, one which he no longer belongs in. But he has a certain use that I need from him at the moment. But enough about him, you must return to your highness, the Queen of Nescala. (he grins) Soon, Nescala will celebrate it’s new King.
Unknown Nescalan: Indeed it will. And I will be there to congratulate you, My Future King. (The figure dressed in royal garbs leaves through a portal, returning to his post in the Nescalan hierarchy)
Unknown Tieran: And what of the IFF council members? We’ve heard rumors that Michaelis is joining the battlefield. Is he not under your command? The death of a council member in the battlefield will only fan the flames of war.
Maximius: He has gone rogue and will be dealt with accordingly. For now, you must address your armies of this coming battle in Meggidus Valley, General.
Unknown Tieran: As you wish, Mr. President. (The figure dressed in Heavy Armor leaves through the same portal returning to his camp)
(Maximius is by himself in the room and starts to laugh in a quiet and creepy fashion)
Maximius: Soon, IFF will be mine as well. Arachni, my friend, I’ll let you have your moment, however brief it may be. Speaking of which...(Maximius writes and sends a PM to Arachni)
(“Arachni, I will not be joining you in the battlefield, well at least not in the IFF side. I will be heading to the battlefield among the armies of Nescala. You will notice me soon enough. I’ve heard from sources within your armies that you invited Michaelis to join you in the battlefield. Don’t worry about me spying on you, just know I’m always there watching you. Since this is your task, Michaelis will be under your command. Do you wish to handle him yourself or must I create an unfortunate event in the battlefield? Be advised, the armies that come to face you will be 5 times your size, but I’m sure that will not be a problem with you, oh demi-god.” –Maximius)
Maximius: Now, my armies await. (Maximius logs off and enters back into Infinite Powers as he appears in the army camp of Nescala. A werepyre soldier nearby waiting approaches him.
Nescalan soldier: General Valdus! (Before the soldier stood a tall imposing figure with Dark detailed heavy armor and carrying a terrifying sword and shield)
LINK

Maximius: What is the status of the armies?
Nescalan soldier: They’ve already been deployed as you requested, My General, and will reach they’re destination in a short while.
Maximius: Excellent! Prepare my Dragonwolf! I’ll be arriving fashionably late for this momentus battle. This will be the largest battle Infinite Powers has seen since its creation. But I’m sure it won’t be the last.
Nescalan: Yes, General! (The werepyre soldier goes off to get General Valdus’s Dragonwolf. Maximius waits and looks up at the sky)
Maximius: This will be the largest battle Infinite Powers has seen since its creation. But I’m sure it won’t be the last. (Dark clouds begin to accumulate in the distance) A storm is approaching...as expected. (Then roars and howls can be heard as his Dragonwolf comes into view. General Valdus's eyes glow ever more brightly and malevalently as he takes in the view of his pet)
LINK

To be continued.....

[Wolfsong]

/Stephen/Ashimatya/
5 Years Ago...
Ashimatya walked through the streets of Central City, slipping a small pouch filled with gold into his bad. he'd just led a "friend" down an alley, and watched as the small band cut him down. They'd tossed him his share for helping, and then watched in paralyzed horror as he killed them too. The bodies had good pickings on them, and he'd happily pocketed his catch. People were being quite careless today. Sure, everyone was celebrating the second, grandest defeat of the hackers, led once again by the returned Python, but that was no excuse for being stupid.
He left the more crowded main streets and took to the quieter alleys, purposely radiating an aura of danger so strong that people gave him a wide berth.
Well, except for one.
Out of the blue, Cyrano was standing before him. Ash studied him critically. Supposedly, your avatar aged similar to a regular body, though it did skip getting too old and it was stoppable in the options, but this was certainly true for Cyrano. His face had lost that boyish innocence, instead adopting a more adult look of responsibility, though the hint of mischief was still there. Ash found that strangely comforting. "Ashimatya?" Cyrano said, sounding surprised. "What are you doing here?"
"Pandering," Ash replied blithely, slipping into nonchalance. "I hear you killed my little brother. Or actually, the twit working with you did."
"he was you..." Cyrano stared at him. "Well, that explains a few things. Look, Ash, I need to talk with you."
"Really?" Ash replied, sounding skeptical, then switched to cold. "I don't. I'm not up to having a duel right at this time, Cyrano,. Perhaps later."
"Ash, this is serious. I need to tell you I-"
"SHUT UP!" Suddenly exploding in anger, Ash lashed out at Cyrano, who dodged out of the alley into the street. Ashimatya trembled in his fury, glaring hatefully at Cyrano. "You swallowed Python's words as though our friendship, our trust, meant nothing! You ignored my attempts to explain. you swore to kill me!"
"Ash-"
"Do you know where I've been these last severer months, Cyrano?" Ash spat. "Trapped in Infinite, unable to log out because my own brother had imprisoned me when I tried to stop him. he held me trapped in the northern mountains of snow and ice, encased in a house of glowstone. No shadows, anywhere! Perpetual light everywhere, in a house of unbreakable stone, all communications to the outer world blocked! I only escaped when his spells died with him. FIVE WHOLE MONTHS< CYRANO! I logged out to find myself imprisoned in a house in the alley of a city across the country from home! My mom nearly died of anxiety, and my dad vanished looking for me! CAN YOU IMAGINE THAT, CYRANO?!"
Cyrano didn't even manage a word before Ash started again. "My mom's got the brain of a child now. I have to take care of her. There have been so many people, doctors, companions, even family members who took advantage of her in this time. She was being worked like a slave when I found her,w ith almost nothing left in her name! You wouldn't believe how hard it was..." He shook his head. "People are scum. Both my mother and I have been betrayed by those we trused. I hate the entire human race. I'm done with it!"
"You can't avoid-"
"Even if I can't get away from them, I certainly shan't trust them again. You want to know my promise, Cyrano? I'm going to make the whole world pay for the betrayal of my mother and I."
"Will even the innocent die?" Cyrano asked quickly.
Ash was taken aback by this. "O-of course not. Only the guilty. But then, everyone's betrayed someone they cared about at some point."
"Ash, I'm s-"
"Enough! I tire of your presence!" Ash cast a vast darkness at Cyrano even as he faded into the alley's shadows and left.
Cyrano threw up a shield, and the darkness flew harmlessly past. He stared where Ash used to be. "...I'm sorry..." he whispered. "I was wrong. I wanted...to be friends again." He bowed his head, shoulders shaking from the effort of holding the tears in.

Present
Ash raised his head, staring listlessly at Zare. He listened with half an ear while he contemplated the werecat before him. So this man had dark secrets too. How wonderful. This one sounded like he had been the betrayer of someone's trust, just like Pierce. But he felt no hardness toward Zare. No, his sounded like an accident, of something fun gone horribly wrong. At least his hadn't been deliberate.
"Well, save for the fact yours sounds like an accident, we're both awfully similar there. No, I've deliberately killed real people too." He closed his eyes, remembering the night he'd come home. His two aunts and the uncles on his father's side were there, working his mother to death, using up the money of his family for their own selfish pleasures. They'd tried to do the same to him too. But he, he had taken a darker route. Taking his mother, he'd left the place...after burning it down with his relatives inside. He'd made sure to block all the escape routes too, before taking the car and driving away, their screams behind him.
"I wasn't just betrayed by friends. it was my own brother, my own family." He shook his head. "And now we've both hints of the other's dark secrets. What does that elave us now..." he stood and walked toward Zare, who's back was turned to him. He laid a hand in understanding on his shoulder.
"Tell you what," he said simply. "We're both currently undergoing some emotional stress. How about we go vent on our serial killer, and then we can decide whether or not to kill each other."

/Rowan/Caesar/
"Perhaps my seriusness is the result of my career choice. After all, if you know a lot of people would love nothing more than to tear your heart out, you either become mad as a march hare or deadly serious. either way, you'd better learn to be diplomatic, or it doesn't matter which you are."
Zare sounded like someone Caesar could sympathize with. He was surprised he hadn't attempted to kill Kenji, diplomacy or not.
As Kenji asked his question, they reached the corrals. After speaking with the man in charge, Caesar's mare was brought out to him, and a rather high-spirited stallion was brought to Kenji.
"It fits, rather," Caesar thought, grinning as he mounted. Then he said to Kenji, "Now we're going to Keroma, the capital of Nescala, to spy on Noriko Nescala. That's a teleportal hop and a couple miles from here." He grinned. "But the teleportal is just outside the marshes. Come on!" and he urged his horse forward, almost flying out perhaps the only truly safe path of the marsh. "Time for round 2," he thought.

/Pierce/Arachni/
Hawke had arrived to tell him Tiera had finally joined the party and was emerging into the valley, as was Nescala. Most of Carmel's paladins and knights were standing in the open between the westside forest and the eastside brush. The rest were in the forest, and the archers were scattered between forest and brush. The swordsmen and a couple of weres waited on the back wall to take the enemy from behind. The mages and healers were scattered as needed. Arachni had directed hawke to direct the rest as he willed, wearing down the enemy from wherever. Everything was set up perfectly.
Then he encountered a bit of a setback.
He was standing with Virgo atop the cliffs, watching Tiera and Nescala enter the valley, when Hawke suddenly gasped. "Kiari!" he said. "Sorry sir - I gotta go!" and he kleapt up, taking two seconds flat to transform and vanish from view.
Arachni almost swore. Blast that bird-brained...
"My apologies sir, Hawke's a little...addled when it comes to Kiari. Sometimes I think he's in love with the girl."
Arachni turned to face the green cat who'd delivered the news of Nescala's coming earlier. "Do you think you could lead this group?" he asked hopefully.
The werecat shrugged. "Its just hit and run tactics, right? I could manage."
Arachni nodded. "What's your name?"
"CreedoftheAngels."
Both Arachni's eyebrows shot up. Now that was ostentatious. "I'll just call you Creed. Very well, you're in charge." A shadow began to fall over them. He looked up to see the storm clouds he;d summoned earlier that day rolling in. He smiled. "Its time." he ran to the ledge and jumped.
The feeling of the wind rushing past him was wonderful. As the ground neared, he transitioned to an upright position. Shadows leapt from the ground, caught him, and brought him down gently. He alighted with the small group in the valley.
"I hope you know what you're doing," Kent said, coming up beside him. "There'll be a lot of casualties here."
"You're all players, right?" Arachni asked. Kent nodded hesitantly. "Then what are you worried about? Just be sure to come back."
"So use us up and spit us out?" Kent said, giving me a side-long glance.
Arachni gave him a long look. "You have a sordid mind."
"I've been told that."
The two men stared at each other, then Kent started chuckling. Arachni shook his head. "I intend to keep as many of us alive as possible." he nodded forward. "here they come."
Kent uttered a startled exclamation. A massive wave of cavalrymen came thundering toward them, lances down. The mounted Tieran bowmen followed up behind, bows drawn. Apparently they'd agreed to a truce till this was done. "I think our career's over," Kent murmured.
"Will you put a little faith in me?" Arachni asked in exasperation. he waited a few moments, then thrust up his hands. One of the clouds literally dropped from the sky, falling over the Nescalans. "Archers!" Now arrows flew through the air, vanishing into the cloud.
"What's to stop them from riding straight out?" kent asked.
Arachni put his fingers together, then pulled them apart like he was holding a string. There were suddenly loud cries and horses' whinnies. It sounded like mayhem. "That'll slow them a bit," he said.
Kent nodded slowly. "Alright," he said. "I put my faith in you. YOu better pull us through this."
Arachni nodded and held out his hand. "Attack!"
As his group surged forward, he received Maximius' message. He replied, "I am pleased to note that my god of Infinite is watching over me. No, leave Michaelis to me. I want to enjoy this. See you on the battlefield. And with that, he leapt right in.

[ClaecElric4God]

/Eric/Zare/
Zare was more skeptical than shocked as he listened to Ash. Was he telling the truth, or was he messing with Zare again? But the way he said it...Zare had no doubt, Ash was telling the truth. He couldn't help but be a bit uncomfortable, but he didn't move, just stood with his back to Ash, listening. Somehow, despite knowing he was keeping company with a murderer, Zare wasnt horrified, upset, angry, or shocked. He didn't really know what to think, but he couldn't bring himself to think ill of Ash.
Zare flinched when he felt the hand clamp down on his shoulder, and he instinctively reached a hand to grasp his crystal. But he took a deep breath, taking in Ash's proposal. Zare smiled wistfully.
"Similar, huh?" He mused. "Somehow, I don't feel any better. Because here's how I see it. You actually killed people, right? Because they deserved it, because you deemed it necessary. You made that decision, because they betrayed you. It sounds like you got the short end of that stick, and acted accordingly. But me, I wasted a life, the life of someone I cared deeply about, and had no reason to kill. I envy you, because you got the chance to make that choice. Killing someone by accident is much worse, I believe." Zare looked down at his hand. "Besides, I've never been in that situation, but I can't say I wouldn't have done the same thing as you. Like you said, I've got a violent streak."
Zare shook his head, shutting the door on his past. He could punch himself for revealing so much. What was he doing? He couldn't let strangers go traipsing around his memories. That was somewhere even he didn't venture. And he'd looked like a weak, immature child.
"That said, you're right. I need to kill something." Zare gently brushed Ash's hand off his shoulder, then shifted into cat form. He stretched comfortably, then shifted on his paws, warming up for a long sprint. "But we really should decide who's killing who now, so neither of us is worrying about it during the fight. Personally, I don't hold any animosity toward you, so I'd just as soon forget it. But if you've got your heart set on a fight, I can promise you I won't hold back. So if you don't like losing, I suggest you hit me when I'm not looking." Zare turned to Ash, a mixture between a grin and a snarl growing on his feline muzzle.
"But either way, you really should stop trying to get me to hate you. It's getting old. If you're that worried about it, I promise I won't try to befriend you. This is strictly a temporary partnership, nothing more."

/Karissa/Kenji/
Kenji yelped as his horse sprang forward, eager to keep up with Regal's mare. Kenji swung his arms wildly, barely managing to grasp a few strands of mane as he lurched backwards. Despite feeling like he was about to rip it out of the horse's neck, Kenji wasn't about to let go.
"Hey, horse!" He yelled angrily. "Get over it, this isn't a race! What's wrong with you? We all know you could beat that old nag, so you don't have to prove anything! Slow down already!" True to Kenji's expectations, the longer-legged stallion quickly closed the gap; but to Kenji's horror, he didn't show any signs of slowing, even after he passed the mare. After a desperate struggle, Kenji finally managed to right himself so he wasn't hanging backwards off the horse, but he couldn't get the horse to slow down for the life of him. After yelling a myriad of angry insults, Kenji finally lost his temper and grabbed one rein with both hands, jerking with all his might so the horse was forced to slow it's pace and veer to the side. It took all his effort, but Kenji finally got the horse to match the pace of Regal's mare, falling into step beside her.
"Ha!" Kenji trumpeted. "Human beats horse! Now listen hear, you pile of junk! I'll have you know, I am the great Nagakura Kenji, master of illusion and semi-master of the katana! Hear my name and tremble! That's right, you'd better flick your ears at that! I bet you're scared out of your mind right now! Just be glad I decided to spare your miserable hide!"
Kenji grinned triumphantly at Regal, flaunting his victory over his unruly steed. Chances were Regal had done this on purpose to make Kenji look stupid. Ha! He'd showed him...
Next thing Kenji knew, he was falling backwards again as the stallion screeched to a stop and reared, pawing at the air. It neighed piercingly, then slammed back into the ground, springing back into motion a second later. Passing Regal again, the horse shook it's head, as if mocking Kenji, who was once again hanging on for dear life. The cycle began anew, Kenji regaining his balance and muscling the horse back under control. But this time, instead of gloating, he simply hissed through clenched teeth,
"I hate you, horse."

[FreddyCast]

Saint Reave, Sage Blaze, and Priestess Elian

(Saint could see a blue figure standing on the roof of the building waving at him. He could tell immediately that it was Kiari and with a sense of relief, he smiles waving back)
Saint: HEY, KIARI!.....huh.....(he almost reached the top of the building until a gigantic snake-like monster came between him and Kiari)
link

Saint: Man, it’s huge....That doesn’t matter.... YOU’RE NOT GETTING IN MY WAY. “THUNEDRBOLT, COME TO....” (Suddenly a dark shadowy figure with black wings appears in the middle of Saint and the monster, and the whole sky became like night)
Saint: What’s going on? Who is this guy? I can’t see anything. (Then the sky cleared up, like a veil had been lifted from the sky and all that’s left of the monster is a pile of torn flesh) Woah, did that weird guy do that? (From the distance Saint can see Kiari collapse on the roof.)
Saint: NO, KIARI, I’M COMING. (He finally lands on the roof and gets down to his knees next to Kiari) Kiari, I’m here. (He grabs her by the shoulders and gently shakes her from side to side) Come on, Kiari, wake up. (He realizes that she’s unconscious) She looks exhausted. Did she summon that dark angel guy? You didn’t have to do that for me, Kiari....Ahh, what am I doing, she can’t hear. I gotta get her outta here. (He slides his arms under Kiari’s neck and legs and picks her up) You’re safe now, Kiari. (He then flies away, carrying an unconscious Kiari in his arms) I got to get back to my brother and Elian. Then we can get out of this place for good.

(Elsewhere, Sage Blaze and Priestess Elian are fighting off the monsters. They look exhausted from the fighting.)
Elian: We can’t keep this up, Sage. There’s too many of them.
Sage: It’s nothing we haven’t encountered before.
Elian: It’s more than that, these monsters are higher leveled. It’s like a swarm of Boss monsters.
Sage: Whoever put these monsters here really wanted to keep us away from this place. Hah, they can have it, the fools. (Saint comes into view) Look, Brother Reave’s back.
Elian: And she’s got Kiari with her.
Sage: Now we can get out of this hell hole. Let’s go, Elian. It’s time to fall back.
Elian: Right! (Sage and Elian retreat as the monsters try to keep up with them. Saint finally reaches a retreating Sage and Elian as he flies a few feet above them)
Sage: How’d it go? Is Kiari alright? (Saint flies down to Sage ‘s level)
Saint: Yeah, she’s unconscious at the moment.
Sage: So you saved your sleeping beauty. Good job, oh Knight in shining armor. (Saint wants to laugh, but Elian is nearby, who heard Sage blurt it out)
Saint whispers: Now is not the time, brother.
Sage: Huh...(He looks over to Elian’s side, looking like she’s not paying attention, and he realizes what he’s done) Anyways, we gotta focus on outrunning these monsters. But the question is, where do we go? Elian, you know where we’re supposed to go? (Elian is still in deep thought. “I still haven’t apologized to him, and yet...he’s moved on...Found another...I was too late.....”, she ponders)
Sage: Elian.....Elian........ELIAN. (The last loud call to her name, snaps her out of her deep thought)
Elian: Huh...yes, Sage?
Sage: I said, do you know where we’re supposed to go?
Elian: We go back to the town. From there we can use the portal to leave this place. (“Yes, leave this place, back to the real world, and never come back”, she thinks to herself)
(The trio finally outrun the monsters and Saint stops flying, landing on his feet gently and walking side by side with his brother, while Elian keeps her distance from them. Saint looks over at Elian and back at Kiari, who lays unconscious in his arms. His eyebrows scrunch down as he closes his eyes for a moment in thought, feeling confused and conflicted. He opens his eyes and tries to put the thought out of his mind, looking straight ahead. Sage looks over at Elian without moving his head. He sees her looking dejected and dispirited. “Eilis, I’m sorry...” He thinks to himself as his brows and eyelids drop slightly in sadness. The rest of the travel back to the town is spent in silence.)

OOC- Wolfy, you have to put the link to where you got that pic of rival. Sorry I didn't tell you sooner. I got in trouble last time for not posting the link to one of the pics I used. I'll be doing Maximius's part soon.

[Wolfsong]

/Pierce/Arachni/
The battle was going well. All three groups were deep in the thick of it, and Arachni decided now was the time. Smiling darkly, he went in search of Michaelis.
The spirit was doing well. His weapon, a massive scythe with a blade red as blood itself, took out multiple warriors with wide sweeps. Michaelis held the ebony handle with both hands, spinning and taking out another dozen fighters. As he stood over the fallen, he licked his lips reflectively. Then he held out a hand over them, in-canting, though Arachni couldn't make out the words. The blood of the fallen was sucked into Michaelis, who was obviously rejuvenated and strengthened by it. "Not pure energy," he said aloud. "But acceptable." Then he saw Arachni.
The two men stared at each other a long time before breaking the silence. "Exactly what are you a spirit of?" Arachni asked quietly.
Michaelis smiled, a thin, taut line. "I am the Spirit of Blood and Tears," he answered.
Arachni stared at him a long moment, then started laughing, a bitter ironic laugh. "Blood and tears. This is the perfect place for you. You have more blood on your hands than I do, and I've been around longer than you."
Michaelis stared at him quizzically. Arachni shook his head and smiled. He noticed out of the corner of his eyes some soldiers watching, though he couldn't tell what faction. ignoring them, he said, "Honestly Michaelis, someone with such abilities as you do should have been exterminated a long time ago."
Michaelis' gaze hardened, even as he smiled. "I see. I knew Maxi had it out for me." He swung his scythe around, and beckoned with his left hand. "Come on, boy. lets dance."
Arachni held out his hands. "Minions of Darkness, I desire a weapon," he encanted. "Sword of the Fallen Souls, arise!" In his hands formed a longsword, its dark blade glittering in the shadow surrounding it.
"When did you reach that high a level?" MIchaels swung his scythe in a wide circled. Arachni moved into it, left hand grabbing the staff while the right thrust the sword forward. Michaels sidestepped and swung the staff around again, breaking Arachni's grip and scoring his arm slightly.
"Good you are, but I've the better skills," Michaelis said, smirking as Arachni studied his bleeding forearm. "Give and go. I'll forgive and forget."
Arachni smiled, laying a hand over the wound. Veins reconnected, and flesh formed over the cut, as it healed. now Michaelis did stare. "But-you-" he stammered. Then his gaze hardened. "You're more than an upstart newb," he said slowly, teeth clenched. "What kind of monster are you?"
"The ideal kind," arachni replied. he raised his sword again, the tip of the blade pointed directly at Michaelis' heart. "The one who rules."
Michaelis put everything he had into the fight then. His eyes never left Arachni, as though he was seeing him in a whole new way. However, he could not break Arachni's defense. Arachni, on the other hand, got closer to striking him every time.
Michaelis feinted a wide arc and instead swung a tight circle. Arachni leapt overhead, using his control of wind to hover there. Undaunted, Michaelis swung a high arch, one hand on the staff while the other gestured wildly at Arachni.
"Hark to me, sons of death and fear! Come to me, and sustain me! Feed me with thy substance and warm me with thy fire. Blood Call!"
Arachni stumbled in the air as he felt something lurch inside him. Michaels, seizing his chance, pivoted around again, this time cutting his leg. Arachni watched dispassionately as the blood flowed freely from the wound, then raised his left hand, while the right holding the sword held off the scythe. he could feel his strength draining from him, and he knew he had to act quickly.
"Come, offspring of shadows and gloom. Come, descendants of darkness and despair. Come, fulfill thy dark desires. Feast upon his soul! Shattering Darkness!"
The clouds above flashed from some deep energy. Around MIchaelis rose beings of evil which, howling, fell upon him. Michaelis swung his scythe wildly around overhead, striking most of the tall creatures and destroying them. unfortunately for him, they just kept coming, until he vanished from sight.
"Its only a matter of time now," Arachni thought triumphantly.
Suddenly, Michaelis leapt from the writhing shadows, landing exactly before Arachnmi.
"The lies over," he said. "Its time for truth." and he smashed into Arachni, grappling for the mask. He knocked it aside, and then gasped and recoiled. "What on earth..."
arachni quietly replaced the mask, keeping his face low until it was once more in position. he suddenly lunged forward, impaling MIchaelsi on the blade of his sword.
Michaelis stared into the eyes centimeters from his own, the vibrant blue and the one hidden in the shadow of the mask. "You...you..." He stumbled back. "You...you really are a monster, aren't you..." He straightened, opened his mouth to say something, then collapsed.
Arachni quietly turned away and faced the watchers, a mixture of Nescala, Tiera, and IFF. he smiled softly. "No room for wagging tongues,;' he said, and suddenly lunged forward. As he stood over their corpses, he said, "Some secrets must be kept a while longer." and he walked off.
Michaelis suddenly sat up. "Our poor IFF," he said sadly. "No, you have more blood on your hands than I ever will, I reckon." He rose to his feet, swaying weakly. "I need some immediate recovery." he sighed. "And there's only one way to regain my strength and my power." Sighing again, he walked off.

/Stephen/Ashimatya/
"You may have a point." Ashimatya met Zare's eyes and slowly let his own harden. He'd told this man, who he didn't even have an inkling of who he was, that he was a deliberate killer, which he still believed was worse than an accident. But he wasn;'t here to argue who's crime was worse. Zare knew, and that was enough. And, in a sense, he was like Pierce was. A betrayer of trust. The sort of person Ash had sworn to kill.
Thin tendrils of shadows played in his hand as he flexed his fingers, Cats were good, but he was Faster. It would be so easy. A quick forward thrust, faster than the eye can blink, and he would be dead. Ash could already feel the warmth of blood gushing between his fingers. He raised his hand...and then brushed his hari from his face, letting the tendrils escape through it.
"I like you Zare,' he said. "And when I say that, even to myself, that's when I get scared. The only person close to me who I haven't killed would be my own mother...and thank to my brother, I very nearly did that. You remind me a little of him, actually, except you haven't that cruel sense of humor and are actually sorry for your actions. But I digress. you...you will carry a scar all your life, more likely than not, but you'll find something to fill in the gaps. but a murder in direct, cold blood....you lose something inside. Yo don't just scar up. You quite literally kill something in you, one of the few things that makes you human. I burned my own family. Alive." He smirked coldly. "Tell me you just thought differently of me, right then. Its one thing to kill a man in cold blood, but to make your own family suffer... Judging from your outburst, you killed someone in a car accident, your father perhaps? Tell me, did he scream? Did you listen to those screams, and close off his last escape route? Did you turn your back on them, enjoying their screams of agony? Did you drive away hoping they suffered as much as a human being can suffer?" He dropped his gaze, staring at the ground. "Zare...if you desire to kill me, I shan't attempt to stop you. My choice is...your life. I spare you your life, Zare, and I will pray your path leads to healing."
For the first time in years, Ash...no, Stephen himself dropped all of his guard, having layed out his thoughts and privates torments open to this one man's exploration. He now stood the most vulnerable he'd been in years...and he waited for the judgement he knew was coming, for no man alive can forgive a murderer.

/Rowan/Caesar/
He couldn't help it, he broke down laughing hysterically at the sight of Kenji. "That guy's gonna kill me," he thought. "Sorry about that," he gasped though his laughter. "I didn't think they'd give you such a spirited mount. Guess Artemis has the last laugh, huh."
deciding it was time to intervene, Caesar caught the horse with reins of wind and jerked back. It skidded to a stop, a befuddled look on its face. When it tried to prance again, he jerked it down slightly, forcing it to go flatfooted. After a series of attempts, in which Caesar tried to match his controls to Kenji's movements, it finally gave in and settled down, though it had a tendency to toss its mane in annoyance.
"i see you conquered your horse," he said with a straight face. "Let us ride."
The teleportal station was rather empty, surprisingly. Caesar paid it no mind and selected to go straight to Keroma.
As the scene registered, he thought the place was on fire. Then he realized it was the sunlight glinting off the marble palace. The main of the city was a market place, full of bright colors and intriguing merchandise. There were also a lot of armed guards, and many of them seemed to be looking directly at the two riding in.
Their scrutiny was making Caesar quite uncomfortable, yet he rode through with a carefree smile, as though it mattered little. "By the way," he mentioned quietly to Kenji. "My name here is Antoine Powers. Try not to forget."

/Zara/Kiari/
She was at first aware of the motion of movement, like being rocked. This triggered a memory, back when she was little. There was a storm outside, a hurricane moving past them. The power was out, and it was extremely dark. She had crouched down by her dad, quite scared. He picked her up, and held her, telling her it would be okay, that he would protect her. She'd asked if he promised to always do so. He promised to always be there for her.
"You lied..." Kiari thought slowly. "You lied to me. YOU LIED TO ME!!!"
She suddenly realized she'd spoken aloud...she was in the Wilderness...and Saint was holding her. With a loud shriek she literally leapt from his arms and scrambled back in haste. Slowly, she began taking deep breaths, taking stock of her situation. Slowly, she straightened.
"Sorry about that. I was...afraid that was...someone else, with me." Her face was a little warm, and she realized what she was doing. "Sorry. Thanks for helping me out of that...trap."

[ClaecElric4God]

/Eric/Zare/
One of Eric's biggest flaws was misdirection of anger. It didn't matter who he was angry with, he always directed it at those around him. If he was angry because his employer had cheated him, he chewed out the cashier at the grocery store for short-changing him. If he was angry at the mower for refusing to start, he yelled at the neighbor's dog for barking.
So now, as he inwardly loathed himself for everything, for his naivety, for being so weak, for looking so stupid and immature; he sank his claws into the ground, snarling at Ash. Somehow, he wanted to rip Ash to shreds. But it wasn't because of anything Ash said, it was because of all the inward turmoil. It was a simple thought: Zare was angry at Ash for talking. If he'd been commenting on the weather, Zare would have been just as angry.
Zare stood silent for what felt like and probably was a long, long time after Ash finished talking.
What should I do? he thought desperately. It wasn't that he pitied Ash. After all, whatever his intentions or motives, however he may have felt afterwards, even if he'd been repentant, Ash had murdered multiple people. And having never murdered anyone, Zare couldn't sympathize. And yet...he still felt no malice toward Ash. Why? What was wrong with him?
Then it hit Zare. Regardless of what Ash had done in the past, he'd just made a huge sacrifice. He'd allowed Zare to see his weakness, and placed himself in a precarious position. And not only that, but he'd chosen to spare Zare's life. With his heightened senses, Zare hadn't missed the shadows on Ash's fingers, or the coldness of his eyes. He'd been more than ready to dodge, but he'd heard enough about Magnus' to know that he hadn't stood a chance. For the second time that day, and for no apparent reason, Ash had spared him. And so, it all boiled down to one, simple fact. Ash had chosen to trust Zare. Zare hadn't given him any reason at all to trust him; all he'd done was talk about his miserable life and arrogantly tried to force his friendship on Ash. And yet, for no explicable reason, Ash trusted him. And regardless of his past, regardless of what kind of person he truly was under all the layers of facade, he'd managed to do the one thing no human being in existence, outside of Eric's father, had accomplished. Ash had gained his respect. Respect, because he'd done what Zare had striven for so long to do, but had never been able to. And in return, Zare decided to trust him, too.
"Don't patronize me," Zare snarled, a bit of his anger returning to the surface, mixing with the relief at finally knowing what he wanted to do. "I have no scars. Don't assume it's that easy to get over something like that. I live every single, miserable day, with the fresh, painful memory of what I've done. Like you, I thought it would heal. But it's been 18 months, and not a day goes by that I don't see his face, remember his words and how much he loved me. I've moved on, settled into a monotonous routine, life goes on. But I have never healed, and don't think it's so trivial that anything will ever fill the gap left by my father. Maybe you're worse, maybe you've suffered more, but don't downplay the pain I've gone through, or what I've put my loved ones through." Zare paused for breath, forcing himself to cool down. He couldn't afford to lose his head right now.
"You're right, I do think differently of you now. I'll be honest, I'm a little afraid of you. That's what you wanted to hear, right? But I know what you really want. You want me to hate you. You want me to look at you in horror, to look at you and see a monster. I don't know if it's because you want punishment, or because you're trying to push me away so you don't have to deal with people. I don't know. You're too stinking confusing. But either way, I'll have to deal with you. After all, from the sound of it, you're one messed up guy..."
Zare crouched down, snarled, and reared up on his hind legs. He drew a paw back, claws unsheathed, armslength from Ash. Then, in a second, he transformed and placed his hands on Ash's shoulders, locking his gaze.
"...But aren't we all?" Zare's golden eyes pierced into Ash's. He stood there a moment, but then stepped back, awkwardly shoving his hands in his pockets. He'd surprised himself with that one. Obviously, he'd had no intention of killing Ash, but he hadn't expected to be so open. Zare looked away from Ash, toward the horizon.
"Since we've both laid our cards on the table and had our little pity parties, it's time to face the issue. So here's the deal. Don't worry about me. I made a dumb mistake, and it hurt a lot of people. But that's my problem, and it's got nothing to do with you. I'm the only one who has to shoulder my burdens, and I don't expect anyone else to care, or "pray for my healing". Don't do me any favors, because I don't plan to return them. I'm not gonna stress over your problems. You need to face your past. If you thought you could get out of it by getting me to pass judgment on you, you're dead wrong. I'm not gonna take responsibility for your actions. Own your guilt, and move past it already! Sounds like you're stuck in this state of trying to block everything out, but at the same time constantly dwelling on it. That nice little personality you've made for yourself fits real nice, but it's not doing you any good. Just be yourself already, you idiot. Like I said earlier, your heartless traitor act is getting old. I already told you, it won't work.
So yeah...I don't hate you and I'm not going to kill you. Quit being such a coward. I am irritated with you for making me talk so much. That's not my style at all."
Zare turned back to Ash and grinned, a genuine happiness dancing in his eyes.
"Truth is, it feels good to actually trust someone again. Probably a dumb decision; but what can I say? I've never felt so strongly like I could trust someone. If I pass up this opportunity, I'll never get a chance to see if people are still worth trusting."
Then, as a last thought, Zare threw in, "But don't worry, we're still not friends. Just...acquaintances."
Zare stuck out a hand, knowing that if Ash accepted this hand shake, things would never be the same, regardless of the outcome. He felt nervous and excited, afraid and hopeful, all at once. But above all of that was that deep respect, the biggest reason Zare was willing to go out on this limb.
Oh please, don't let me be wrong.

OOC: Okay, wow. That was long and drawn out. Sorry, Wolf. (Not to mention I combed through it sixteen times trying to make it shorter)
I'll post Kenji's later. Bed calls.

[Banana Lobster]

Sage Shade

Nodding her thanks, Shade tucked the coins into her moneybag before walking down the streets of the small town, ignoring the rain pouring down, creating large puddles in the middle of the streets. Shade hardly noticed as she splashed through a number of these, making her way out to the river that connected to the harbor a little ways out of town.

Sitting down on a large rock jutting out where the river met the sea, Shade closed her eyes and lay back on the rock. Pursing her lips, she thought over the past few hours, when she had helped bring the ship into harbor. That group of sea monsters seemed more organized then usual, now that she thought about it. And what that last one had said, something about a 'Master' coming to take over, and how he would kill all who would not 'bow before him'.

Shade sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. If what the monster had said was true, then there would soon be trouble between her and this 'Master'. She meant what she said before. She would protect the harbor town, even if she had to fight against this 'Master' guy. Though if she was going to be fighting him, it would probably do to attack him before he showed up, before he gained all the momentum.

Sitting up, Shade frowned at the mountains in the distance. If she was going to attack this guy, she would first have to find him, and to do that, she would need to look for other people to help. She wasn't looking forwards to that. Sighing, she stood up and turned back to the harbor town. Maybe she could try contacting Lydia, she could be helpful, or maybe that guy from the ship.... She groaned.

[Oddood198]

Lydia opened her eyes slowly, feeling oddly relaxed and drowsy. She looked around, seeing the familiar green meadow she had laid down in the last time she was logged on. Aaahhh, so peaceful... She thought, smiling as a warm breeze brushed over her face.

She stayed there, enjoying the warm feeling, like a nice spring day, for a few minutes before she noticed an icon blinking at the corner of her vision, She looked at it and saw she had an unread message. She opened it and looked at the sender, and then blinked in surprise. From the IFF... She thought, scrolling down to the message.

Members of the Independent Flight Force, this is an important public announcement...

She skimmed over the parts about meetings, much deliberation, leader, vote, blah blah blah...

It has been decided we will begin actively participating in the war--

She stopped reading right there. She closed out the message, scrolled through her menus, and opened the Guild window. Without hesitating a moment, she clicked on a small button in the upper right corner, and a small window opened up next, saying:

Are you sure you wish to leave your Guild,
'Independent Flight Force'?
[Yes] [No]

Without hesitating, Lydia pressed the "Yes" button, and the window closed and the Guild icon disappeared from her.
There, She thought, Now I'm not a member of the IFF. Feels kinda good. A bit of a freeing experience.
Lydia had already decided when she joined the IFF that, if they got caught up in the war, she would just leave without hesitation. She was here to play a game, not fight a war. And besides, being in the IFF didn't really have any great benifits for her anyway, so there was really no reason for her NOT to leave.
Well, I quit my guild... But that doesn't give me any ideas what to do next... Maybe I should go check on that search for the Dragon Gems... Oh, I can steal Kiari's now, too, without being punished. I may need to look into that...
But for the moment, she decided to enjoy the green grass and pleasant breeze a bit more.


OOC: Well, there's some Lydia. Yep, she's still alive. And still doing nothing. Woohoo.

[ClaecElric4God]

/Karissa/Kenji/
Kenji surveyed their surroundings in the town. A lot of angry-looking guards filled the town, and for whatever reason they appeared to be paying extra attention to him and Regal.
"Hey, Antoine," Kenji muttered. "Um, did you do something mean to these people? Because...they don't seem to like us, at all. If I didn't know better, I'd say they don't trust us. I have no idea what would give them that impression of us."
Kenji mentally ran through his list of events, trying to remember if he'd somehow managed to get on these people's bad side. Chances were he had, but he couldn't remember anything off hand. Whatever the case, they were making Kenji very uncomfortable.
Kenji turned to Regal with wide, innocent eyes.
"Protect me, big brother!" He whispered.

[Wolfsong]

OOC- Claec, I love long posts. Don't stop...

/Stephen/Ashimatya/
Ash watched the conflicted emotions play on Zare’s face, listening to what was said. When Zare rose up, cat-form, claws extended, he felt a rush of emotion inside. Finally…it was his turn to pay, his turn to suffer. Retribution at last. He braced himself for the pain…and was paralyzed with shock as a peaceful hand rested on his shoulder.
"...But aren't we all?" Zare asked.
Ash hardly heard the rest of what was said. He was…spared? He was not to be…punished for his sins? Then what Zare was saying came through, like a light in the fog. “You need to face your past. If you thought you could get out of it by getting me to pass judgment on you, you're dead wrong. I'm not gonna take responsibility for your actions. Own your guilt, and move past it already! Sounds like you're stuck in this state of trying to block everything out, but at the same time constantly dwelling on it. That nice little personality you've made for yourself fits real nice, but it's not doing you any good. Just be yourself already, you idiot.”
Unbidden tears rose to his eyes, as Zare held out his hand, and Ask stared almost as though he didn’t quite know what it was. Mercy and forgiveness were what he saw in that gesture, a chance to try again. Slowly, he smiled, the first warm, genuine smile Ash had worn for the past five years.
“You are…an unusual man, Zare,” he said softly, dropping the act, the personality or lack thereof the Dark Angel. “You’re right. I cannot downplay your pain, and perhaps I should not have hidden behind the person that is the Dark Angel. Yes, I probably was a coward, and I let it take me. If you do not mind, as between…acquaintances…I would suggest you do not let your pride do the same. Accept the prayers offered by those you…trust…we all need them, after all.
“But all that aside…yes, acquaintances does have a nice ring to it. I would be honored to be considered that by you.” Almost fearful, but with hope burning in his eyes, he took the extended hand. “I have been the Dark Angel so long, I do not know if I can lose him entirely, but…I think I will try. I shall enjoy being myself again.”
His ears suddenly perked up, as far-off sounds now registered in his undistracted hearing. “Anyways, we’re a little late for the party, I think.” Smiling, he tapped his ear. He could hear fighting in the valley. He looked about, noting the steep climb up and the drop down. His smile turned into a grin. “Hold on,” he cautioned as he weaved the spell. The shadow they stood in suddenly rose up like a fountain, depositing them gently on the upper ledge. Ash smiled again, feeling a strange elation within. He smile especially at Zare. “Lets go.” And he shot off towards the battlefield once more. There were plenty of shadows now due to the storm clouds that moved in, but he only used them to boost his speed, choosing to remain where his new…acquaintance…could see him. When he reached the end of the cliff, he glanced over it to see what was going on.
It was a battle royal.
Nescala, Tiera, and the IFF were locked in combat. And oddly enough, despite their minuscule size, IFF’s team was wining. Ash puzzled this until he realized the tactic employed, and saw his target.
The blue-haired dark elf was a terror to behold. With ease he tore his competition apart, in ways more spectacular than had been witnessed before. Then came an impressive fight with a spirit, who came out second-best. Then the serial killer had slain those watching, including those even on his own side. He started off to a quieter place on the edge of the ending brawl. Ash nodded towards the retreating figure. “You ready?”

/Rowan/Caesar/
That last comment left Caesar absolutely stunned. “Big what?” he repeated incredulously. Before he could pursue the issue, the guards were upon them.
“Antoine Powers?” one of them asked. He was an older man, a likely NPC, with a crest on his armor, the leader.
Caesar inclined his head briefly. “May I help you, gentlemen?”
“If you would be so good as to dismount and follow us? No worries, your mounts will be taken care of.”
Caesar gave him a long, debating internally. He could just blow them away, but then he’d really be in trouble. Had Tiera alerted Nescala that someone was on to…whatever they were doing? After a moment, he decided to go with the ride.
Smiling in acquiescence, he dismounted. One of the guards took his horse and vanished into the crowd. Caesar wondered if he’d see her again.
“Stay within our formation,” the leader warned. “If you should attempt to leave, things may get unpleasant.”
Caesar nodded. “I understand.” The guard nodded and began leading them away, toward the palace of Noriko Nescala. Caesar wondered at this, but remained silent, thinking really hard.

/Pierce/Arachni/
He was pleased to find a quiet spot away from the fighting. Nescala and Tiera were reatreating, and apparently their truce had died somewhere on the field, for the two factions turned on each other, firing parting shots as the disheveled armies fled. Slowly, a cheer arose from IFF, growing as more voice joined. The archers and several weres nipped at the heels of the forces, keeping them running. He eard his own name cried, as his soldiers hailed their commander for their victory. Arachni smiled, pleased, for he had routed the opposing forces and kept most of his own alive.
He closed his eyes, accessing his new skills. He could certainly pass as a demi-god now, having claimed almost all the skills and abilities there were. Once he had everything and had maxed his levels, then he could claim superiority as a god.
"Arachni? Are you there?"
He blinked, then sighed and entered the mental chat. "Issa, I told you to contact me when the battle was over."
"Isn't it?"
"The enemy hasn't quite left the field yet."
After a few moments, he heard a low sigh. "I have some news for you."
"Have you located Oracle?"
"Locate, yes, capture, no. She is somewhere in Tanmul, believe it or not. We've netted the range so she can't leave without our knowing, but so far she has eluded us." After a moment, he added, "She did almost get a transmission through, but we caught most of it."
"And the other mods? Where are they?"
"I'm pleased to report I don't know. We sent them in the direction of a random continent. They're off to see if the world is round or not. Master Arachni, I mist speak with you."
"Isn't that what you're doing?"
"...smartalec...I was bored, so I hacked into Maximius' database and account with the intention of pulling a...joke, and as I was messing around in there, I could hear him talking, and...Arachni,. he means to kill you!"
"That's not exactly a surprise, Issa, I'd already kinda guessed. He reminds me too much of Reysa sometimes..."
"Sir, this isn't safe. Shall I send you backup or some sort of protection?"
Arachni sighed. Issalidor was loyal, he'd give him that. "No, Mother, I can take care of myself. Does he know about your...messing around?"
"...I'm not sure he knows its me, per say, but yes, I've played jokes on him before. Beyond the jokes, I don't think he knows I can overhear things." Issa began to laugh. "He's so fun to mess with. I think my best prank was when I dyed all his stuff a bright ugly neon pink, just before a "critical" meeting with the IFF council. He was totally oblivious until Michaelis took one look at him and collapsed, hysterical with laughter. You should have seen his face!"
Arachni looked surprised. "Is that still you, Issa? I could have sworn you were the polite, serious type."
"Unfortunately, I can't always contain my real self behind the stiff facade. Maximius makes such a wonderful outlit..."
Arachni shook his head, amused. "You did remove any signs of your messing around?"
"Yes sir. I do have some brains,after all."
"My thanks for the news. keep me updated."
"Be careful sir." and Issa was gone.
Arachni sat, closed his eyes, and focused. He was going to contemplate his next move before rejoining the IFF.

OOC- Sorry about that, Freddy. Hope you don't mind, but as Issa said, he made a good outlit...

[ClaecElric4God]

OOC: I somehow missed that Ash is 6" taller. So now Zare seems so short... He might have to stay in 8-foot cat form more often to protect his ego.

/Eric/Zare/
Zare froze, completely and utterly shocked. Of course, this was what he'd asked for, but still...Ash's transformation had been so sudden and entire. Zare was entirely caught off guard and just stood there for a moment, dumbfounded. More than anything, he was incredibly surprised that he'd actually been right. He'd managed to figure Ash out, and not been deceived, as usual.
"Um...yeah..." Zare stammered. Then he finally managed to gather his thoughts and smiled back at Ash, a bit sadly at first but then with elation. "You're right, and thank you. I appreciate your concern. I'll try not to shut others out. Anyways, I'm intrigued to see this new Ashimatya! Seems like he might be an okay guy."
"Hold on" barely registered before they were suddenly airborne. Needless to say, Zare wasn't holding onto anything, and he almost lost his balance.
Wow, he got enthusiastic all of a sudden, Zare thought. He was as excited as a little kid. Then Zare realized it was rubbing off. It was that same feeling as when Lydia had offered to help find that snake. I need to spend more time with this kind of person, he realized.
When Ash finally set them down, Zare was ready to go, and no sooner had he transformed than he was sprinting across the terrain, suddenly feeling very competitive.
"I bet I rip that guy's throat out before you even get there!"
Funny, Zare couldn't even remember the last time he'd been this happy. How had this game, a fake environment, managed to do that?
"People are still real here, though," Zare said quietly to himself. "And they're still worth believing in." And with that, he put on another burst of speed, tearing past everything, his worries and sorrows and troubles, with nothing staying in focus but the wind and a strange character in a scarlet robe.

[Wolfsong]

OOC- wait - how tall is Zare? Did I just read your character post wrong or something?

/Stephen/Ashimatya/
Ash grinned at Zare. "You're on," he said. "Here's how we'll play. I'll place you on one side, and I'll be on the other. First person to land a blow on him gets to question him, or whatever. I'll put us both down there. You start running the second you touch solid ground, alright? Good luck."
Ash sank into the shadows, dragging Zare down as well. He positioned them to be as even as possible, then remanifested them both.
He could just see Zare as he rushed through the brush. Ash ran as well, a blur in his realm of shadows.
Arachni, his senses attuned in the state of focus, heard the bet, and heard them coming. He waited, listening. One was a were of some sort, for the rhythm of footfalls was a foursome. The other was at least humanoid, but...something similar to himself. Now what could it be...
Ash leapt forward as Zare pounced, both flying toward Arachni...
...who caught them both by the throat.
He rose, holding them both dangling from his hand. Opening his eyes, he turned his head slightly to study Zare, then Ashimatya. His eyes widened when he saw Ash, who struggled against the unbelievably powerful grip and his own surprise, and smiled deeply.
"I have nothing against kitties or their masters, but couldn't you have gone through the formal introductions first?" He sighed and continued, "Anyways, the first blow is technically mine, so I get to do the interrogations first." He glanced at the plant life around them, then nodded slightly. The plants suddenly mutated and grew, coiling around Zare and Ash in tense, tight coils around their arms, chest and legs. Arachni released his death grip, rolling his shoulders slightly. Advanced abilities or not, they were still rather heavy. "I won't need introductions. You are, obviously, the Dark Angel, and well, other than being a Nescalan pawn, I really shouldn't need much more of you," he said of Zare. "So lets move on to more important things."
"You may know us, but we know nothing of you," Ash replied. "Who on earth are you, murderer?"
Arachni raised an eyebrow. "Murder? I've done no such thing. All I have done is for...the good of our world. Besides," he added with a cruel glint in his eye. "Who are you to condemn me, Dark Angel, who slays those nearest him?"
Ashimatya hissed, a low, hateful sound from between clenched teeth. He knew he personally could escape the vines, and he was certain Zare had the ability. He raised his head, meeting Zare's eyes. "Zare, would you like to show him what we think of his claims?"

/Zara/Kiari/
Kiari knew Sage was trying to come up with something hateful to say, and was trying to figure out how to cut him off when the air around her began to shimmer. Startled, she stepped quickly from it, watching as the figure took form. Michaelis stood there, but he was pale, obviously having just been on the losing side of a fight, and clearly struggling to stay upright.
"MIchaelis?!" she gasped. "What on earth happened?"
"Kiari? Oh thank Infinite's divided and speculated upon gods. The Locate spell worked." He grimaced, clutching his side where blood stained his clothes. "Kiari, I"m here to take up your challenge. Its become necessary," he added, grinning ruefully at the look on her face.
"But...you...what?"
"Better stick to the formal script, just in case. I'll explain afterwards. You start."
Kiari looked dazed, but she started, faltering only slightly. "Spirit of the Bloodstone, I desire a pact between us."
"Formal but shortwinded. Thank you." he laughed at the look on her face. "Only they who best me in battle may claim my stone," he replied, his face and tone deadly serious. Then he snorted. "Man, who writes these sloppy scripts?"
"Michaelis!" Kiari protested, rolling her eyes. "I challenge thee to a duel for ownership of thy stone."
"Accepted."
Kiari stepped back quickly, about to go for her weapon, when she realized he remained standing quietly. "Um, Michaelis?"
"Punch my arm."
"What?"
"Punch my arm. Is that not clear enough for you?"
She did as instructed with an angry enthusiasm. Michaelis winced, but his eyes were laughing. "Thou has bested me. I bestow upon thee the Bloodstone." As his form shimmered again, he said hurriedly, "Summon me, and I'll explain." His entire body broke into what looked like small pieces of red glass, which came together to form the Bloodstone. Kiari extended her hand, and when she touched it, the gem flashed, On her index finger now rested the gem, set in a silver band.
Kiari stared at it a long moment, then said, "Arise, Michaelis, I would speak with you."
The gem glowed, and MIchaelis took form before her, though he was certainly in better shape. "Actually," he remarked. "That didn't hurt near as much as I thought it would. Sure, I'm at your beck and call, but I still have freedom of movement. Helps that I'm a player, I suppose." He grinned. "And, having also reserved the right to win back my freedom whenever I'm ready, I think I'm in pretty good shape as it goes."
"Michaelis, what is going on? What was this all about?" Kiari demanded.
He breathed deeply, teeth clenched, so it whistled as he inhaled and exhaled. "I think what the IFF originally stood for is naught but a memory now," he said softly. "Our neutrality is broken."
"What do you mean? What has happened MIchaelis!"
"Yesterday, Nescala and Tiera met and fought on a field in our territory. However, it was a place on the very edge, which as you know we normally ignore. However...Maximius chose differently. He brought an unknown warrior, a new player of Infinite, and set him to eliminate the forces. Even back at the IFF's base, we saw the darkness descend from the sky, and heard their screams."
Kiari's eyes widened. "Darkness powers, and that strong? Has he uncovered a willing Magnus?"
Michaelis shook his head and continued. "No...I think he is simply a dark elf, though he does claim to be a demi-god. But to continue. Nathanial was all for condemning the two, especially Maximius, and I think Ryfia and Amica were with him, but Maximius' propositions carried, won by majority vote. I think you were sorely missed, Kiari."
"You supported Maximius?"
"As I always have..." Michaelis looked beyond her, his expression sorrowful. "I was intrigued...the rewards seemed so great...it never occurred to me he would kill me, though it really should have."
"What rewards? Michaelis, will you just-"
Loud shrieking cries filled the skies. Kiari looked up to see wyvern/vulture like creatures circling overhead, beady eyes fixated upon their prey below.
"How about we discuss this elsewhere?" Michaelis suggested.
"Weairns," Kiari murmured. Mithos had several scouts who mastered and rode those almost dragon-like creatures. If they were here already..."You're right," she said. "Lets get away from here!"

OOC- pronunciation for weairns will be found in the OOC thread. Just so you know.

[ClaecElric4God]

OOC: Well, in human form he's 6 ft, in cat form 8 ft (long). Sorry if I gave the impression that he's 8 feet tall. He's only like...3 1/2 feet at the shoulder.

/Kenji/Karissa/
Kenji looked at the guards uncomfortably, then for good measure arched an eyebrow at one of them disdainfully. He wasn't sure what was going on, but he really didn't care. I anything, it was fun to see Regal thrown into a situation he wasn't expecting. Kenji loved improv more than anything, and he couldn't wait to see what Regal would do next. And he was still inwardly triumphing over having caught Regal off guard with his big brother comment.

/Eric/Zare/
Zare looked at the dark elf hatefully. He narrowed his eyes and curled his lips, showing his fangs in a gesture of disgust and disdain. This was the kind of person Zare hated. Someone who acted like he knew everything, had the whole world in the palm of his hand, and everyone was expected to meekly lick his boots. And what he hated more than anything was that "I can do no wrong", ends-justifies-the-means attitude. Zare realized, he may have just met his new least favorite person. Which would be saying a lot, considering that annoying little brat...
Zare tested the strength of the vines while the elf spoke, deciding that he could definitely tear loose from them. This guy was going to be sorry for underestimating him.
At that last comment, all of Zare's most violent emotions boiled to the surface. This sorry excuse for an antagonist had ruined their attack, made fools of both of them, mocked and disrespected them, made shallow excuses for his actions, and now he was trying to send Ash on a guilt trip. That was the last straw for Zare.
I put all that effort into getting Ash out of that stupid mindset; there's no way I'm going to let this guy destroy all of that with a bunch of ignorant words. He doesn't know anything about Ash, he has no right to throw accusations like that...
Zare instinctively glanced at Ash, looking for his reaction. But when all he saw in Ash's eyes was his own anger reflected, Zare turned back and glared at the elf, ignoring Ash's words. He shut out all his other senses and surroundings, and all he could hear was the blood pumping in his ears, all he could see was that vile, wretched man. He didn't care what the objective was, he didn't care what the best plan of action was; he was going to rip that guy's throat out, after he made him take back everything he'd just said.
"For the record, I'm nobody's pawn, and nobody's pet," Zare snarled. "My name is Zareshtyvojikunemstyx, I've played Infinite for the last 6 1/2 years for one reason: because I wanted to. Choosing a loyalty doesn't make me weak, and it doesn't make me anyone's plaything."
"Another thing," Zare tensed his muscles, extending his claws. "No one bad-mouths my acquaintance!" Zare released the speed attack he'd been building up in his muscles, channeling it into strength that made tearing through the plants relatively easy. In the same motion he swiped at Arachni, though his attack was considerably slowed by the resistance of the vines.
I'm going to destroy him! That was the only thought that came through, drowning out any caution or logical thought. A small, intelligent part of him knew that his current actions probably wouldn't provide desirable results, but the rest of him didn't care.

OOC: Heh, hope that wasn't too awful. I didn't realize what a loose cannon Zare is when he's angry (or how easy it is to make him angry, for that matter)