~- Halo -~
Sevastion was still distracted, something that was really starting to irritate him. Even so, by the time that they'd touched down in Halloween Town, he was happy to find that he'd untangled himself from Susanoo and his memories. Even so, he could tell it was going to take a little while still for the two of them to resume their normal relationship; those dragons really had messed with his head.
Which meant he had absolutely no resistance to scoffing when he saw what Halloween Town had to offer him as its choice of wardrobe. What did the World do; reach into his memories and pluck Susanoo's armor from it? He'd had enough of the god at the moment; he didn't want to look like him too!
A dry sense of humor was the only thing that told Savy that Henry had turned to look at him. Looking to the other god soul, Sevastion gave him a quick once over before saying, "And you look like a creepy, dead doll. You're point being...?"
But Sevastion had already lost interest in what Henry had to say next, because something that Andrew had said back in Machinecken, and the memory of lightning and charred earth demanded his full attention. What had Andrew called Susanoo? An Astral? Was that what the gods were called in the blonde's home World? Not only had he been able to see Susanoo, but Andrew had made it sound like he was connected in some way to these Astrals. And if he was, and the Astrals had a similar connection to Andrew that the gods had to their hosts...
A ribbon of frosty gold light stretched before Sevastion, and he didn't even think about it. He ran, following the trail to Andrew.
Sevastion wanted to know just what the hell was going on.
~- Wicked Game -~
They were kind, this boy and this man. For a short while, Leyla just let herself listen as Andrew, Topsy, and even the one named Syn spoke. Even though she wanted in a way to give her own opinion about Summons, Guardian Forces, and Astrals, she kept her peace. Truth be told, even though their auras held no malicious intent, Leyla found herself somewhat afraid of Topsy, something that she was ashamed to admit, but made her reluctant to talk to him. She could sense he was powerful, and he was also a Hybrid. After what had happened with Masquerade...
Leyla forced herself from the memory by focusing on Andrew. He confused her, in some ways. She watched him walking next to Topsy, a gentle, yet unmistakable fierceness to him that made her ache. The boy was a Hybrid too, but for some reason, it didn't bother her nearly as much as Topsy. Andrew seemed to set her at ease, but at the same time, that ease hurt. Everything hurt right now, because all she could think about was Master Anise.
Matt.
"Do you want to see a real monster??"
Leyla froze, unable to remember what had set him off, but fully realizing the Topsy had turned on them. She saw his wings spread behind him, white and skeletal, and her own flared in feathery defiance of his display. A heavy weight appeared in her right hand, and she was surprised when she saw her dagger Archmage in her hand. Wait, these were her wings, and not an ornamental pair created by the World? Wait, now's not the time for that.
Focus on the Hybrid.
"Come on Tops, you've got this. Don't let him control you."
"Yo, Tipsy. What the hell do you think you're doing? I leave you alone for two minutes and you turn on us? Some of us here still need answers, dammit!"
Leyla turned at the voice to see a man with a golden edge to his aura enter the clearing, his eyes focused on the two Hybrids as Andrew stayed close by Topsy. The boy in the kitsune costume didn't seem to pay him any attention to the man, he full attention on Topsy. Leyla tried to radiate as much calm as possible, both for her own nerves and to send as much peace to Topsy and Andrew as possible. She couldn't think... she couldn't act... were there eyes watching them from the treeline...?
She just wanted the threat to be past and her fear to be gone.
~- You're Not Alone -~
Her girl was missing.
The feline sat back on her haunches, watching the night sky. The still pond, which had held her attention so completely mere moments before, was no longer of interest to her now that she had slaked her thirst. She looked to the sky, through the reaching, bare branches of the trees that towered over her, as she listened intently, waiting to hear that sweet, familiar voice. Something to take away this fear within her. Fear of change, of the unknown. Of fire and monsters and darkness.
Her girl was missing.
She wanted to wait longer, to hope that her girl would walk through the trees at any moment. But instinct demanded movement, and she was growing restless. A chuff of air escaped her, and with a final blink of jade green eyes, she rose to her paws, sniffing at the air to decide which direction to go.
A soft crackle of dried leaves and twigs caught her attention, diverting her mind from her missing girl and full into an instinctual need to hunt. She blinked again, her hindquarters wriggling slightly as her ears swiveled to track the path of the noise. Then, she exploded forward, chasing after that which had become her prey.
~- Unravel -~
He was starving.
He kept his step soft, using what little coverage he could find to keep himself hidden. He was conscious of each paw step, where each of his feet went as he kept his presence suppressed, not allowing his prey to sense him until the very last moment, and then it would be too late. He wasn't sure who it was, just that it was a Hybrid, and one that had monstrous potential. There were others near the Hybrid, others that could be hurt, and badly. It would do this World and all others in the universe a great service to take the Hybrid off the table, and no one would fault him for using the Hybrid's life force to sustain himself.
No one, that is, except for himself.
As much as he didn't want to hunt this way, he knew he had to feed soon, or turn into a mindless monster himself. It was only a matter of time before that was his fate, he knew, but he still had a few things he needed to do, and so he would push himself as far as he could before he would take the life that would sustain his own.
A monstrous way to exist.
He crested the top of the rise, keeping himself to the trees for a moment more of cover as he peered over the rim. He could see his target, the Hybrid with the skeletal wings. Malicious energy was rolling off him in waves, malignant intent rolled around a desperate struggle as the host tried to wrest control from the monster. A feeling the hunter knew all too well; maybe, if he tried to convince himself that this was murder, but a mercy...
For a moment, his eyes flicked across the others as they tried to reason with the Hybrid. A young, blonde boy, another boy that by his stance almost seemed to have caused this reaction from the Hybrid, a dark haired man that had just appeared on the scene, and more that he could sense coming shortly behind this man.
His eyes turned to the final soul in the clearing, and his mind froze. She raised her face, and even though he was certain that she couldn't see him, he still felt her eyes on him. She was safe. She was alive. She... she...
He couldn't be here.
He backed away from the clearing, his eyes unable to turn away from her even as he lost her over the ridge of earth. He didn't know how far he went, backing away; how far he would have gone, if his haunches hadn't bashed into a stone. The spell broken, he turned, fleeing without a care for sound, his mind filled with too much time of bitter loneliness and monstrous measures to survive. Please, don't let her have seen him. Please, don't come looking for him. He didn't want the reality of the present to distort the past. He wanted her memories of him to be pristine.
Perfect.
Sevastion was still distracted, something that was really starting to irritate him. Even so, by the time that they'd touched down in Halloween Town, he was happy to find that he'd untangled himself from Susanoo and his memories. Even so, he could tell it was going to take a little while still for the two of them to resume their normal relationship; those dragons really had messed with his head.
Which meant he had absolutely no resistance to scoffing when he saw what Halloween Town had to offer him as its choice of wardrobe. What did the World do; reach into his memories and pluck Susanoo's armor from it? He'd had enough of the god at the moment; he didn't want to look like him too!
A dry sense of humor was the only thing that told Savy that Henry had turned to look at him. Looking to the other god soul, Sevastion gave him a quick once over before saying, "And you look like a creepy, dead doll. You're point being...?"
But Sevastion had already lost interest in what Henry had to say next, because something that Andrew had said back in Machinecken, and the memory of lightning and charred earth demanded his full attention. What had Andrew called Susanoo? An Astral? Was that what the gods were called in the blonde's home World? Not only had he been able to see Susanoo, but Andrew had made it sound like he was connected in some way to these Astrals. And if he was, and the Astrals had a similar connection to Andrew that the gods had to their hosts...
A ribbon of frosty gold light stretched before Sevastion, and he didn't even think about it. He ran, following the trail to Andrew.
Sevastion wanted to know just what the hell was going on.
~- Wicked Game -~
They were kind, this boy and this man. For a short while, Leyla just let herself listen as Andrew, Topsy, and even the one named Syn spoke. Even though she wanted in a way to give her own opinion about Summons, Guardian Forces, and Astrals, she kept her peace. Truth be told, even though their auras held no malicious intent, Leyla found herself somewhat afraid of Topsy, something that she was ashamed to admit, but made her reluctant to talk to him. She could sense he was powerful, and he was also a Hybrid. After what had happened with Masquerade...
Leyla forced herself from the memory by focusing on Andrew. He confused her, in some ways. She watched him walking next to Topsy, a gentle, yet unmistakable fierceness to him that made her ache. The boy was a Hybrid too, but for some reason, it didn't bother her nearly as much as Topsy. Andrew seemed to set her at ease, but at the same time, that ease hurt. Everything hurt right now, because all she could think about was Master Anise.
Matt.
"Do you want to see a real monster??"
Leyla froze, unable to remember what had set him off, but fully realizing the Topsy had turned on them. She saw his wings spread behind him, white and skeletal, and her own flared in feathery defiance of his display. A heavy weight appeared in her right hand, and she was surprised when she saw her dagger Archmage in her hand. Wait, these were her wings, and not an ornamental pair created by the World? Wait, now's not the time for that.
Focus on the Hybrid.
"Come on Tops, you've got this. Don't let him control you."
"Yo, Tipsy. What the hell do you think you're doing? I leave you alone for two minutes and you turn on us? Some of us here still need answers, dammit!"
Leyla turned at the voice to see a man with a golden edge to his aura enter the clearing, his eyes focused on the two Hybrids as Andrew stayed close by Topsy. The boy in the kitsune costume didn't seem to pay him any attention to the man, he full attention on Topsy. Leyla tried to radiate as much calm as possible, both for her own nerves and to send as much peace to Topsy and Andrew as possible. She couldn't think... she couldn't act... were there eyes watching them from the treeline...?
She just wanted the threat to be past and her fear to be gone.
~- You're Not Alone -~
Her girl was missing.
The feline sat back on her haunches, watching the night sky. The still pond, which had held her attention so completely mere moments before, was no longer of interest to her now that she had slaked her thirst. She looked to the sky, through the reaching, bare branches of the trees that towered over her, as she listened intently, waiting to hear that sweet, familiar voice. Something to take away this fear within her. Fear of change, of the unknown. Of fire and monsters and darkness.
Her girl was missing.
She wanted to wait longer, to hope that her girl would walk through the trees at any moment. But instinct demanded movement, and she was growing restless. A chuff of air escaped her, and with a final blink of jade green eyes, she rose to her paws, sniffing at the air to decide which direction to go.
A soft crackle of dried leaves and twigs caught her attention, diverting her mind from her missing girl and full into an instinctual need to hunt. She blinked again, her hindquarters wriggling slightly as her ears swiveled to track the path of the noise. Then, she exploded forward, chasing after that which had become her prey.
~- Unravel -~
He was starving.
He kept his step soft, using what little coverage he could find to keep himself hidden. He was conscious of each paw step, where each of his feet went as he kept his presence suppressed, not allowing his prey to sense him until the very last moment, and then it would be too late. He wasn't sure who it was, just that it was a Hybrid, and one that had monstrous potential. There were others near the Hybrid, others that could be hurt, and badly. It would do this World and all others in the universe a great service to take the Hybrid off the table, and no one would fault him for using the Hybrid's life force to sustain himself.
No one, that is, except for himself.
As much as he didn't want to hunt this way, he knew he had to feed soon, or turn into a mindless monster himself. It was only a matter of time before that was his fate, he knew, but he still had a few things he needed to do, and so he would push himself as far as he could before he would take the life that would sustain his own.
A monstrous way to exist.
He crested the top of the rise, keeping himself to the trees for a moment more of cover as he peered over the rim. He could see his target, the Hybrid with the skeletal wings. Malicious energy was rolling off him in waves, malignant intent rolled around a desperate struggle as the host tried to wrest control from the monster. A feeling the hunter knew all too well; maybe, if he tried to convince himself that this was murder, but a mercy...
For a moment, his eyes flicked across the others as they tried to reason with the Hybrid. A young, blonde boy, another boy that by his stance almost seemed to have caused this reaction from the Hybrid, a dark haired man that had just appeared on the scene, and more that he could sense coming shortly behind this man.
His eyes turned to the final soul in the clearing, and his mind froze. She raised her face, and even though he was certain that she couldn't see him, he still felt her eyes on him. She was safe. She was alive. She... she...
He couldn't be here.
He backed away from the clearing, his eyes unable to turn away from her even as he lost her over the ridge of earth. He didn't know how far he went, backing away; how far he would have gone, if his haunches hadn't bashed into a stone. The spell broken, he turned, fleeing without a care for sound, his mind filled with too much time of bitter loneliness and monstrous measures to survive. Please, don't let her have seen him. Please, don't come looking for him. He didn't want the reality of the present to distort the past. He wanted her memories of him to be pristine.
Perfect.