The Cyan Sages: Awakening

[Essence of Elegy]

After half an hour of dull patience, Damien began to scowl and fidget restlessly. The intuition that was the gift of all the Cyan Sages told him Verisophiles would be not be coming to Rhalla. And even if he were, it would take hours. He rose, arms crossed. The best logical option would be to stop Verisophiles before he even departed. And assuming he would be doing so via ship, Damien did not think it would be very difficult.

He reached within his pocket and withdrew a black orb labeled “Valorus”, small enough to fit in his palm, and soft enough to crush. Elrick entrusted a few to each Sage in case a quick transport was needed. Damien crushed it, and immediately his hand went numb, or rather, he could no longer feel the darkness that was now seeping through his fingers in eerie wisps of baleful cloud. The darkness fell toward the ground and converged into a single spot, forming a black void just large enough for him to slip through.

It seemed as though the entire universe was contained in this one rift. Elrick called it Dimensius Parallelum. He could no longer feel his body as he slipped through the void for what seemed like centuries, though he knew it was mere seconds. Then suddenly he felt a sharp tug, and he found himself in a dark alley. Screams rent the air, and he had a sudden fleeting image of Tomie laughing maniacally. Just as well.

Strong winds embraced him, circled him, took him in their relentless cycle of fury, and he rose into the air. Damien felt eyes upon him as he flew toward the docks, but he no longer cared. No arrow could shoot him down.

He soon found himself at the docks, where several ships were anchored, and some were already sailing off. He stood there, suspended in the air and thinking. There’s no way to know which ship he’s on. Oh well. I’ll just have to sink them all. If the rumors are true, he’ll get out alive.

With an almost lazy flick of his arm, he summoned winds worthy of hurricanes. They whipped and circled about the waters by Valorus, violently rocking all the ships there into an almost amusing sort of dance. The giant whirlpool that resulted steadily began to devour the vessels, dragging them into its abyssal maw. Damien lowered himself almost above the water, and kept a sharp eye out for any sign of a harlequin mask.

 

[kingdomkey96]

"We should be out of this crazy place soon," Kanza said aloud to the other acolytes. The overall feeling in the boat was so tense that Kanza felt he should break it. No one made even the slightest sound though. Kanza started to whistle a song, out of tune infact but he stopped when the uncomfortable stares of the other acolytes scared him. "Sheesh tough crowd," he breathed.

The tense air became lighter and lighter to a point where Kanza found it bearable. "Things will be okay," he thought optimistically but he couldn't ignore the ominous feeling in his chest. A feeling he only felt when a Cyan Sage was around. Then out of nowhere the boat began shaking violently. He could hear several gusts of wind outside and the screaming of other people at the docks.

"Sages..." Kanza spat. He unsheathe the flameseeker, ready for a fight.

 

[Ordeith]

Not five minutes had passed before Mephisto was abruptly shaken out of his reverie--in quite a literal sense. The ship had suddenly lurched towards the center of the bay, crushing its lone passenger against the wall of his cabin, and throwing several of the crew members into the water. Every plank and nail of the vessel creaked and moaned as though in pain, and water could be seen gradually leaking through some of the less secure floorboards.

As a Blue Soul himself, Mephisto could sense one of the Cyan Sages out over the water; it could have been either Raylin or Damien, as both could have used their respective powers to generate such a tempest. Being near to the porthole, which had now flown open wildly, he could more clearly sense the electrical impulses being generated by those nearby; he could sense not only his assailant, whom he had now identified as Damien, but the crews of the nearby ships...including his hired double on the Acolytes' battleship. Singling out the source of the impulses, he sent some of his own towards it, wrenching control of the actor's body from him.

Synchronizing the actor's brain impulses with his own, Mephisto emerged from his cabin and onto the upper decks--as did the doppleganger. The two men, having the same attire, same physique and complexion, and the same brain directing their movements, both emerged from their respective ships and leaped onto the half-destroyed docks.

Damien, impatient and arrogant as always, was levitating calmly above the bay as the gale force winds ravaged the Valorus harbor. Hmm...So you wish to play in the storm, do you, Damien? You are missing a key element, Mephisto thought to himself. With enough effort, he was able to separate the part of his mind that was manipulating the actor from the rest of his mind, leaving him free to focus on other goings-on. While that partition continued to mainpulate the actor's body, the remaining partition could not help but feel some amusement. Damien...what is a storm without lightning?

"Sage Damien," both Mephisto and his double called out at once, "is your memory still as finely-honed as it was two years ago? Granted, you are one of the Blue Souls....yet from what I've heard of you, you were never one to devote much mental effort towards anything you didn't think relevant." The two men grinned simultaneously, a cold, calm grin that the imitation was able to display just as well as the true Mephisto.

Generating an eletrical field around the mimic so as to retain the perfect similarity between them, Mephisto began to draw eletricity from the hostile air--so conveniently enhanced by Damien's winds, which caused particles to rub against one another, generating static. Within the gusts, sudden streaks of blue lightning began to form, quickly gaining in intensity and frequency. Soon, a full-fledged electrical storm was raging from within Damien's wind storm, surrounding the Sage of Air completely. Mephisto had turned his former ally's assault against him, for if Damien eliminated the wind supporting it, the rising electricity would all be released at once--a blast that would scorch any man, Cyan Sage or not.

The most ingenious aspect of the counterattack was that while a storm of that magnitude would have been impossible for one man, two White-Souled men would have found no difficulty in generating such a storm. Verisophiles was still, at best, an Acolyte.

"Unfortunately for you, Cyan Sage, there is very little that I do not consider relevant." Giving his characteristic nod to the Sage, both Mephisto and his double turned to depart, each heading in an opposite direction into the city. The electrical storm would continue to rage for at least half an hour longer, especially with Damien providing continuous static to fuel it. As the actor made his way out of sight, Mephisto released his hold on him, leaving the man in a temporary mental haze--a perfect decoy for any of the other Sages who may have also been nearby.

As Mephisto calmly proceeded towards the stable near the middle of the city, where he would quickly procure a horse, he could only shake his head in disgust. Blinded by the ruse of the Olden Beast, the Cyan Sages had never realized their full potential; the years, combined with their innate arrogance, had whittled away their competence. They've become headless juggernauts; they fling about power without any control or wisdom in its use....Foolish, but perhaps that adds even more to their menace....

 

[kingdomkey96]

Kanza was about to walk out of the boat's cabin, ready to strike when something odd happened. Verisophiles, the one the acolytes were escorting had climbed onto the boat-top. Kanza's curiosity was perked so he slightly poked his head out to see what was going on. To his surprise, on another boat nearby, a man who looked exactly like Verisophiles was also standing on top of his boat.

"Ahh..."Kanza said slowly realising what was going on. He smiled a little as he unraveled the clever plan of Verisophiles in his head. Kanza's eyed opened wide as he saw the men generate a lightning storm. He followed their line of fire to see a glance of the Sage causing this destruction. As Kanza witnessed the earth trembling power of Verisophiles he joked to himself,"He should be escorting us."

 

[Hazen Gregory]

Seru never was amazed at just how reckless and trivial people seemed to be these days, all the destruction made it feel calm, bu there was no real point to go about just destroying everything in sight. From years past it seemed that the long awaited event was nearby, but until Seru was going to indulge itself in some activities that would amplify its feelings for humans and further its own cause toward the race that normally killed one another over and over again.

There was a young man talking to himself, but there was little doubt that as Seru appeared and a pale shine passed by the man, that he would notice Seru, it wasn't until Seru showed up in full that it spoke, a beautiful woman's voice coming from the armor as it floated and the head moved down to look at the man. "Are you feeling alright?? I see that you almost got yourself killed by one the sages earlier. How about I help you and you help me??"

The armor moved closer and cocked its head to the side, vibrating the air around it and waiting for a response of some kind.

 

[nate_shuuya29]

Kato's voice rang as another Acolyte sent him a mental message, saying there were cyan sages attacking and slaughtering people. Kato created a worm hole that wrapped around him, sending him to the ship, where the other acolytes were.. "Hmm, wonder where the battle is at." A loud noise rang through the ship, and the whole ship bucked to the side. Kato ran up the stairs and went out onto the deck.

He saw a bit of movement coming from his right, he saw a fellow acolyte, not sure what his name was but he looked hurt. Moving up to the Young Acolyte was a giant in a suit of armor, he just sort of appeared there, at first as a shade. Kato could not hear what was going on, so he created two small holes, one next to the acolyte, and one next to Kato's ear.

"Are you feeling alright?? I see that you almost got yourself killed by one the sages earlier. How about I help you and you help me??"

Kato wondered what this meant, and wondered if it was something dangerous, Kato was also very intrigued by this, but before he could do anything a gust of wind knocked him off his feet. Kato groaned and pulled out his whip, swinging it around a pole. Kato saw another ship a bit away, and saw that Verisophiles was standing on it. Kato immediately teleported to the other boat, and stood next to Verisophiles as the older man used his powers, the earth shaking.

To stable himself Kato used his whip and grabbed onto a pole, so he would not be flung away. He pulled out one of his guns, and then began searching for the Cyan Sage, wherever he was. His mind began feeling for the presence of his blue soul, and when he found him, a few miles away, he opened two portals, one behind the Cyan sages head, and one in front of Kato's gun. He pulled the trigger and a bullet shot through the portal, the moment both opened.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~Tarin~~~~~~~~~~
The carpet flew through the air quickly, it was one of Tarin's creations. He had read a book in his past that had a flying carpet, and so he had imagined it. It sped over the earth, visible to very few. "Well, this is fun. I hope things get a little more interesting. I haven't heard anything about the Cyan Sages."

Tarin approached Valorus, and saw over the see. "Wow, that's a hugeee storm. I wonder.." His mind trailed off, thinking about how powerful this storm was. It seemed to focused to be anything but a Cyan Sage. The next thing that Tarin saw was parts of the city burning, and people running everywhere.

Tarin sped up the carpet and approached the storm. He made an impenetrable bubble around him and the carpet as he came closer to the storm. He saw two ships inside of the storm, one was some sort of fireworks ship, not many people were standing on it, just a person with a whip attached to a pole. Also on the boat was some older man Tarin had no idea who they were.

"Man, this is one huge battle." On the other boat, Tarin noticed quite a lot of acolytes. Since that one appeared to be safer, Tarin sped down to it, and dropped onto the deck of the boat. On the boat were a bunch of acolytes staring at him. On the left he saw a suit of armor, who materialised as a phantom next to some young acolyte.

Tarin walked over, not able to hear what the armor said, or if it said anything. "Hey, You seem to be pretty cool of a person. Do you know what's going on here?" He spoke to the suit of armor, mostly because the armor seemed like someone of power who would know what was going on.

 

[Shinra]

By the time people suspected that the cheif's assistant of the Acolytes had been assasinated. Flynn had already dissappeared out of the city and was galloping back to his hometown to get paid by his Client. And his sword was across his back. Flynn felt as if the sound of the Firecrackers were boosting his morale and with that, the speed of his gallop. He truly felt alive when he was on the run. He was so invigorated, and more free than he had ever been.

 

[Essence of Elegy]

"Unfortunately for you, Cyan Sage, there is very little that I do not consider relevant."
Damien grinned, with an apparent lack of concern for the lightning storm that surrounded him. You didn’t need Elrick to determine that this man (one of them at least) had to be Mephisto. It wasn’t even the fact that he could manipulate electricity just as well Mephisto could. More so it was his tone, a tone that suggested a man that held his ideologies above those of others.

Suddenly he sensed something behind him, and it was only instinct that jerked his head to the left, though it wasn’t fast enough. A bullet whizzed out of the portal that had opened behind him, but the fierce gales around him managed to change the path of the projectile so that it only left a deep gash in his shoulder. There was no time to wonder where it had come from. He released the winds that were keeping him afloat, though not the ones that kept the storm stable. As he fell towards the water he closed his eyes, but the impact was not so hard. Then he summoned more winds, and a great tidal wave was brought forth, carrying him back toward the docks, where he landed lightly on his feet. Verisophiles was nowhere to be seen.

 

[A Wicked Dawn]

Mere moments after she rematerialized herself, a great storm seemed to throw the entire ship off balance. "What an inconvenience," Aeora said to no one but the maritime spirits; however she speculated that over the roar of the wind buffeting the dramatically insignificant vessel and splintering wood breaking under the pressure of the ocean's fury she could hear the dull thudding likely to accompany someone making a frantic escape from a doomed ship. Her target, it seemed, was just a few cabins down from the hallway in which Aeora now stood. A great inconvenience of a storm indeed.

Aeora turned her head in the direction of the noise as she calmly and with apparent ease kept her balance in the dying hull. Only when the swirling seawater began to flow over her feet did Aeora choose to take her leave of the dim and utterly doomed vessel. She deconstructed herself once more into particles of light, this time not bothering to alter the brightness she emitted, and so it was at a neatly blinding level.

The molecular Aeora rushed swiftly out of the doomed ship and into the blazing and screaming night sky. Without a doubt any human or even white soul that saw her in this state would be momentarily blinded - their sight gradually albeit painfully returning moments later. By then however Aeora would have returned to her "normal" form, if anything of her nature could in fact be described in such a way, having rematerialized atop the tall mast of the only ship which still remained in tact.

It took her fractions of moments to witness and make sense of the situation outside, which clearly surpassed the level if chaos she had witnessed inside the now entirely shattered boat. She saw the obvious source of the storm, that of course being Damien. She also briefly noticed and then equally as briefly disregarded the presence of the multiple Acolytes she had seen earlier. And of course she saw the raging lightning storm that hung unnaturally in the sky above them all.

"What in the Beast's name have you wrought this eve, Brother?" she said unto Damien. She spoke as if they were next to each other in a firelit parlor and not a gale laced with the noise of sinking ships and screaming humans, but Aeora's voice seemed to float through the air as if blessed with an undying radiance unto itself.

Without further hesitation Aeora raised her right arm, palm outstretched, to the storm above. It was then that she briefly mentally tasted the magical origins of this storm, and its owner's, and her breath caught in her throat. That essence... Her surprise left her as soon as the thought passed through her mind, and she resumed action.

Aeora's open palm and arm stretched to the lightning, which began to reach back at her. The process was slow at first, since the momentum of the buffeting winds did not wish to release their hold on the electricity within it, but eventually consented to Aeora's mastery. Aeora was in fact pulling the essence of light energy and subsequently the electrical energy out of the storm. The lightning now began to race quickly to Aeora's reach - but not all of it. As the lightning drew out of the statically charging winds and through the still night air, the electricity within it began to lose power until nothing but pure light energy reached Aeora, and rapidly disappearing into Aeora's open palm, subsequently providing her with an extra amount of energy in the unlikely event she would actually need extra help.

Damien stood on the docks to the right of and below Aeora's precarious perch, which was gradually becoming more and more unstable. Aeora stepped off the platform as if it were a two-inch drop and not thirty feet. She landed beside her fellow Sage, a bright flash of light comparable to a white firework created at the point of impact between her feet and the dock.

"Where is the target?" said Aeora. Since she had not paid great attention to the people with the Acolytes, she therefore did not notice the doppleganger, who in any case was facing away from Aeora. Screams were still resonating throughout both the docks and, Aeora briefly noticed, the city. A night of distressed joy and chaos indeed.

 

[kingdomkey96]

Kanza had just gone back into the ship, realising that Verisophiles had things under control. Lightning was still all around, flashing in the dark night sky. "Geez, what a battle,"Kanza thought lazily to himself. He sat down noticing that the acolytes attention was focused on the events outside. Just as Kanza's mind began drifting away a pale shine passed near him. "What's this?" he asked himself.

Out of the shine a suit of armor apppeared. The armor seemed like a man's but when it spoke a woman's enchanting and beautiful voice was what he heard. Therefore Kanza naively assumed it was a woman.
"Are you feeling alright?? I see that you almost got yourself killed by one the sages earlier. How about I help you and you help me??" it asked.
"Huh?! Who are you,what are you?" Kanza asked in surprise of the sudden appearence of this thing."What do you want?"Something told him to trust this woman, to accept her offer. However, at the back of his mind Kanza knew to blindly help her would be foolish.

Kanza wanted to find out some more about this woman before he trusted her but just then a tall man with long blonde hair flew onto the ship on a carpet. The acolytes stared at him cautiously but could sense that he wasn't a sage. "Wow,"Kanza said softly, "a flying carpet." The man walked up to where Kanza and the woman were talking. "Hey, You seem to be pretty cool of a person. Do you know what's going on here?" he asked the woman. Kanza looked at him with a kind of awe.

 

[Ordeith]

The panicked throngs scattered before Mephisto's stolen mount as he tore through the cobblestone streets, some of which had been all but torn asunder by the Sages' mayhem. He was able exert complete control over the mottled gray horse, as he had studied the brain patterns of most common fauna in addition to those of humans, and therefore the animal had no need of reins, signals, or directions; the steed and its rider were practically one. Whipping around corners with greater speed and poise than any normal horse and rider could achieve, Mephisto was hell-bent upon the city gate, which still lay open for carnival guests to enter and exit at their leisure.

With the Cyan Sages already seeking him out, his sole focus was upon reaching Klax as previously intended, in spite of his transport vessel's destruction. He calculated that though it would be more difficult, land travel would still be quite possible: When its full potential is tapped into, the equine beast is an animal capable of unrivaled speed on land, if only for several hours. With an entire countryside full of suitable mounts for the taking, Mephisto could continually replace his current mount with ease once it became fatigued, and reach one of the towns on the caravan's route before it entered the desert.

Weaving a path between the pockets of people who were too panicked to notice anything but each other, Mephisto managed to clear the gate without any hassle from the city guard, who had all been marshalled elsewhere to assist the Acolytes however they could. Gingerly placing his mask within one of the saddlebags, so that it would be blown off in mid-flight, Mephisto pushed the horse onward with continued electrical impulses. With perserverence, he would be able to reach the caravan town within a week, about the amount time that his voyage by sea would have lasted.

Meanwhile, Mephisto's mind whirled and buzzed with activity, the different trains of thought simultaneously running parallel to one another without ever overlapping. Thoughts of the Sages, of the Acolytes, of his prototype towers, and of the not-so-distant future, combined with the weight of his grudge against the Beast, silently filled his as-of-yet uneventful ride. However, aside from pursuit by the Cyan Sages, few worries crossed Mephisto's mind.

Though Elrick--and eventually, the other Sages--had finally learned of his identity as Verisophiles, it would hardly prove to be any trouble; he hadn't even made an attempt to hide it from them, though he didn't reveal it outright. Verisophiles was never intended to decieve his former comrades; he merely wished to escape them so as to work towards his goals more openly.

Verisophiles was intended for the Acolytes, who were both shortsighted and delusionally confident in themselves--more specifically, their records. Even if they were presented with proof so obvious that a child could draw the correct conclusion, they would never admit such an enormous blunder, and would refuse to even countenance the thought.

Like sheep for the slaughter, they would continue to blindly follow where he lead, until the first tower could at last be realized. Then, Mephisto mused, amidst his numerous other thoughts, the pieces will all be in place for a swift and easy checkmate. In Klax, all the necessary materials would be gathered...

 

[Essence of Elegy]

"Where is the target?" Aeora asked him.

Damien looked toward the sky. The ravens Elrick had deployed were shrieking in raucous excitement as they flew off, somewhere in the direction of the city’s outskirts. He grinned.

“Follow the birds.”

He walked up to the doppelganger, which was still in a dazed state of disorientation. It couldn’t have been more obvious that this man was not Mephisto. Gathering the winds about him, he rose once more into the air, this time quite faster, and flew off after the ravens. Below him he could see the city in a state of panic and distress, flames licking at the buildings that began to crumble. Tomie, Tomie, Tomie. Ironically, the fireworks were still going off.
When he had reached the outskirts of the city, he saw the ravens following, at a distance, a single horse that was making its way out of the city. He was currently a few hundred feet in altitude, though his sharp eyes could tell it was Verisophiles, or rather Mephisto. Rather than attack, however, he decided to follow for a while, though no doubt Mephisto would soon feel eyes on his back.

 

[Hazen Gregory]

Seru cocked its head to the side again and moved firther away than it had been, observing another man showing up and then saying northing for several moments before its dultry voice came again. "I want lot of things, "it droned, and chuckled, "But its more about what you want and just how far you are willing to go to get those things." During that time the wind had picked up and there had been a terrible storm of magic and lightning, but nothing that Seru itself was concerned about. It was all games to the armor and for the meantime its only concern, or rather interest were the two men who stood before it.

"Hey, You seem to be pretty cool of a person. Do you know what's going on here?" How absurd were humans these days, the countless inquiries and things that did when everything was right in front of them, Seru hissed...

It had been a dumb question and pretty much anybody could have answered it, so Seru chose not to, instead asking a question itself. "Hmm, that is an interesting notion. Do YOU know what is going on here?? I see war acts and lies, magic and pain, yet I also see that you do nothing. What would compel you to act?? The death of your existence brought to you, or maybe something else?? Love maybe??"

~~~~~

Tomie wasn't doing much of anything at the moment, rather disobeying orders that she didn't really plan to follow anyway. There were just times when she grew bored of the slaughter, but this night things were picking up faster than they ever had before an this pleased her, but she left the searching to the others. It was easy enough to get a lock on anyone nearby and so if she decided to do so, it was nothing for her to show up and act upon her whims and keep everything going...

 

[nate_shuuya29]

"Hmm, that is an interesting notion. Do YOU know what is going on here?? I see war acts and lies, magic and pain, yet I also see that you do nothing. What would compel you to act?? The death of your existence brought to you, or maybe something else?? Love maybe??"

Tarin's smile sort of disappeared, and he thought about it for a few seconds. "Well, first off, i do see what is going on, but the details of who is causing it, and matters like that have not been presented to me, therefore, my knowledge of the situation is lacking. That is why i asked what is going on. You seemed like you knew what was going on. And i did not know how to counter the situation, my magic cannot really do much in this situation." He tried to make himself seem really cool, since he always liked feeling cool. "Now, if i may ask, who are you? You are not an acolyte, and you appeared out of thin air. And you don't feel like a Blue Soul, so what is it you are? And you are asking why i fight? Well, if it's any of your business i fight to live."

Tarin's smile shined as he looked at the kid standing next to the guy in armor, he was a young B class acolyte. He appeared a mainly offensive one, more suitable for being a knight then an acolyte, or so it seemed to Tarin who didn't say anything because he did not wish to hurt someones feelings. 'Man i am really soft.' Tarin said to himself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Kato~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The wind began to slow, or so it seemed, the bright light from the other ship gone. Kato was still connected to the pole with the use of his whip. Kato looked around for Verisopholes, but could not find him at all. Kato stood straight, and unwound his whip, placing his whip and gun in their holsters. "Hey, anyone here?" He yelled inside the cabin, but no one answered. Kato sighed, thinking everyone was dead. He turned to the bay and walked through a portal landing at the docks, by the man who had been calling up the storm, "Why hello there Mr. Cyan Sage." Kato said to himself as he watched The Cyan sage walk away, following him slowly.

 

[kingdomkey96]

The armor Kanza was talking to seemed annoyed at the blonde man's question. She proceeded to ask him a question, one that Kanza found rather confusing- something about existence and love. The smile on the man's faced disappeared as he gave his response or rather his defense of himself. Apparentlt satisfied with what he said, the tall man looked at Kanza and smiled. "I am so soft", he said to himself. Kanza didn't have a clue what he meant but nonetheless he became somewhat angry at the way the man watched him. To Kanza it felt similar to all the piercing glares he got from a few older acolytes who thought he wasn't good enough to join them. "You have something you want to tell me?" Kanza asked the man staring angrily at him.

This little discussion was so distracting that Kanza barely realised that the storm seemed to be getting weaker as if the battle was over...

 

[Ordeith]

Little more than a quarter of an hour had passed before Mephisto began to sense that he was being watched from somewhere above, which indicated Damien's presence. His electrical impulses were very faint, most likely due to the great amount of distance between them, yet Mephisto had also felt an uncomfortable....prickling sensation in the recesses of his mind, a sensation often felt by two Blue Souls who are near one another.

Inwardly, he detested the intrusion, though he gave no outward indication of being aware of it; so long as he remained quiet, Damien would as well. While he had expected the Sages to locate him before the night was over, he had hoped for at least several hours more solitude than he had had. At the same time, however, this granted him that much more time to devise a suitable method of diversion to remove the Sages' watchful gaze until his work in Klax was completed. Mephisto focused his previously meandering thoughts to work at finding a means of accomplishing exactly that....

After a few minutes, the solution came to him: Having studied dangerous and exotic flora and fauna before, though not exclusively, Mephisto would be presented with few troubles within Leafmane Forest, which he could pass through as an alternative route to the one he had initially mapped out. In spite of its darkness and density, the forest was still passable ground for a horse--especially one being directly controlled by its rider. Damien, whose mind was ever-preoccupied with his useless eccentricities, would never be able to properly distinguish any of the forest's deadly snares; he would either die, lose sight of his target, or not enter at all.

With the electrical equivalent of a crack of the whip, Mephisto spurred his mount onwards.

 

[A Wicked Dawn]

"Follow the birds."

Aeora followed Damien's gaze, and was met with the sight of a multitude of ravens. Elrick's, without a doubt. With a smile Damien sped off to follow their dark flight; Aeora herself staying behind for a moment. She looked towards the boat of Acolytes she had only briefly glanced at before. She was of course surprised at their inaction up to this point. All the better for their health, considering the fact that they could not possibly survive an encounter with she, Lux Aeterna, let alone both she and Damien. Other than that simple curiousity, something else caught Aeora's attention. What appeared to be a suit of armor was standing amidst the Acolytes. Of course it was not unheard of for Acolytes to wear armor of their own volition, not to mention the possibility that someone had hired a knight or mercenary to assist their mission, but there was something curious about this particular suit.

Aeora's steady gaze hung a moment longer over the suit, before Aeora turned back to the ravens in mid-flight. Without warning Aeora disintegrated into blinding light and began traveling at the speed of such towards her target that both the ravens and Damien were following. Soon enough she left the confines of the city walls and entered the open countryside; part of her sped just above the ground so as to feel vibrations emitted by it, whilst the rest of her remained in the clouds to see in all directions.

As soon as Damien's essence came into Aeora's perception she slowed. Beyond where Damien flew she could see the man whose identity she knew could only be the rebel Sage Mephisto, riding atop a steed galloping through the open territory. Aeora could feel Damien's purposeful hesitation, though after a split second of consideration Aeora decided to act on her absence of such hesitation.

The airborne particles of Aeora descended to the rest of her flying just above the dusty earth. She sped forward to Mephisto and his mount, her ethereal eyes having no trouble seeing through the clouds of dust rapidly kicked up by the latter. Aeora now began to act swiftly as always; her instincts forever merged with deep thought to produce a foe who, to a third party, would appear very lucky in combat. And although Aeora's following actions were deadly simple, if one were to witness her in rapid combat they would she that it was not luck, but instinctive and therefore deadly calculation which drove even her simplest of movements.

Aeora's torso appeared to rise out of the ground as she reformed herself, her body itself not entirely solidified and therefore appearing to be laced with orbiting streams of visible light particles both on her flesh and around her form. Both of her arms drew themselves, along with one of her fatally sharp and aesthetically mirrored scimitars grasped in each palm even as she was just behind her target. With fluid motion she moved and extended herself slightly to the side of the running horse, effectively keeping herself only slightly above its pace so as to gradually move up behind it like a predator stalking its helpless prey. No doubt the more than helpless Mephisto could sense Aeora's brain's electrical impulses and therefore her presence, but in truth she couldn't have cared any less.

In one movement she flew in front of the steed, and swinging both of her blades in a wide arc Aeora effectively dismembered the horse from its knees down. She did this with the intent of sending Mephisto over the front of his now-crippled mount and into the barren earth at Aeora's feet, since after her attack she rushed forward out of the ground, fully reforming herself at the calculated spot where Mephisto would land if he did in fact fall victim to her simple act of violence.

Swirling streams of light continued to orbit slowly around her, strongest and most concentrated at her feet where in fact you couldn't see Aeora's lower legs at all. The light spiraled and twisted over her as if a white cosmos; periodically it merged with her flesh, appearing as star matter. Her eyes glowed with a white light which cast trails of its bright shadow on the atmosphere whenever she moved. Truly Aeora looked like a celestial goddess, deceptively beautiful, as she stood calmly awaiting whatever reaction would soon befall her.

 

[Ordeith]

Mephisto rode on without giving any indication of noticing either of the presences behind him, believing that neither of them would be so brash as to break their unspoken contract of quietude. That assumption, apparently, was far too much to ask of vain Aeora.

The waves of agony that surged through the horse's brain immediately severed Mephisto's connection with the animal, wrenching any salvageable control from his hands. Before he could make any movement whatsoever, the crippled beast collapsed in a heap onto the road, the momentum catapulting the ex-Sage out of his stolen saddle. Not even a carnival strongman could have avoided collapsing onto his knees due to the force of the impact, yet by nullifying his nerves' reaction, Mephisto was able to recover from the fall with little trouble.

He scowled at the thought of the trouble the damage would prove to be later, but set those thoughts aside for a more relevant time; as of the current moment, Aeora had sufficiently earned her place as his primary concern. Brushing the dust from the front of his pants, he quickly silenced the suffering horse--which was making an abominable racket--and retrieved his harlequin's mask before turning to address the Sage of Light, who stood transfigured several feet away.

When Mephisto spoke, his tone was exactly as he preferred to keep it, calm and controlled, even in spite of having just been thrown from a speeding horse. "I would have expected such brashness from Tomie, but never you; you disappoint me, Aeora. Of all the other Sages, I always felt that you possessed the strongest grasp on subtlety."

He calmly donned his mask with a resentment-tinged laugh. "It appears that my time away from you has caused a marked degeneration in your thinking. I hope, however, that you've all retained enough of what few wits you had to treat with me, seeing as you are apparently bent upon it." Mephisto paused, and scrutinized the brilliantly lit figure of Aeora, indicating neither awe nor scorn with his gaze.

He continued with a similarly neutral tone, "I will make it clear from the very beginning, however, that I am obstinate; I will not sacrifice my ideals for yours, nor can you coerce me to. I can instantly stop my heart at any time, and considering the implications that would cause for your awakening ceremony, I suggest you refrain from any behavior that would entice me to do so. Am I speaking clearly enough for you to comprehend?"

All the while, the electrical impulses Mephisto emitted grew gradually more intense, with the intent of muddling the Sages' thought processes while he spoke. If they had grown as weak-minded as they appeared to be, the "negotiations" could prove quite lucrative; if not, he would still be able to twist their intent to fit his agenda.

(OOC: Ugh...This was definitely not one of my better posts, but I suppose it suffices in moving the story onwards.)

 

[A Wicked Dawn]

Aeora remained silent throughout what she interpreted as shallow insults and hasty assumptions, speaking none of the likewise shallow accusations that came to her mind poisoned by the adrenaline of the kill. She would not fall victim to it, just as she wouldn't fall victim to Mephisto's attempts to muddle her thoughts. Her meditations gave her full awareness of the condition of her mind, and the ability to clear it of interference, as she did now. It would likely feel to the rebel Sage as if Aeora was radiating crisp waves, casting out old and troubled brainwaves and electrical impulses in what was similar to a rapid mental conveyor belt; for that was precisely what she was doing. Aeora had created this process in a state of awareness she modeled after the cycle of life itself.

"I am sorry for your horse, Mephisto." Aeora's words radiated as they did after the harbor incident, as if a wave of light themselves. Truth be told, there was a slight tone of disappointment in her voice similar to the subtle one Aeora detected in the man's face. She had expected more than essential dirt thrown in the eyes, though she spoke none of this, instead continuing to say, "However, it seems you have become the type to require displays of brash action from others who simply wish to talk."

Aeora sheathed her blades, her bright, albeit near soulless gaze never straying from him. "And please, do not think that the subtle philosopher you once knew has perished in the wake of such brashness. She has simply become open to more ways of thinking." Aeora looked down now, and saw that a fairly large amount of the horse's blood had stained her clothes, though none of it gad stayed on her flesh. With a quick motion of her hand a wave of light carried the blood off of her and onto the dirt without a trace remaining.

She continued. "I am reminded of those days and nights we would spend contemplating all of this -" she motioned now, not a wide motion as if to regard all of life and its inhabitants, but instead only the ground, as if regarding something deep within it. "I believe that amidst those discussions of philosophy and purpose you first mentioned those rebellious ideals you spoke of. I never told you at the time, but those ideas had occurred to me as well. While they likely came to you during your dark experiments, I felt them during my lengthy meditations." Aeora now deemed it best to dissipate the cosmos surrounding her, which gradually darkened and then left her completely. As such, her voice returned to its normal soothing state and her eyes to their violet hue. Those eyes held something else within them as well that she did not care to hide. It was not a look of contempt, anger, or even sadness; it counted itself amidst those abstract and complex emotions for which no language held an accurate word. The closest English could come was solemnity.

"It should be obvious to you by now that my intent is not to harm you or threaten you, so there is no need for talk of suicide. My intent," said Aeora in a tone of voice matching the look in her eyes, "is to ask you a simple question." for a moment she paused, remembering the presence of Damien. Now was the time; she knew that she could not wait for a moment when she and Mephisto were alone, so it seemed fate would decree that Damien play the part of witness thus dark eve.

She continued once more with measured breath and an almost melodic feel to her words though no rhymes were spoken. "I gathered it was your belief that we Sages are pawns for the Beast; instilled in us is His will and His will alone, leaving no room for us to decide our ultimate fate. You clearly proved otherwise, and while although destiny may decree this rebellion futile in the end, today I would like to let you know that, for what it's worth, I believe you are right."

A stillness hung in the air between them, broken only by Aeora's near speech. She normally would prefer to keep her words few though meaningful, but tonight was a different matter all-together for all who were gathered at this unexpected crossroads of fate.

Aeora breathed deeply, still displeased with Damien's presence but currently not entirely caring. "My inquiry is this, then. I have no doubt that you have many pieces of your ultimate intention lined up, but even you should not be able to honestly deny the fact that you will experience great resistance from Elrick and the other Sages. You cannot deny the fact that you will need help, whether it be now or later. Despite my personal debt to the Beast," (before saying this Aeora considered the fact that neither Mephisto nor the other Sages save Elrick knew of this particular debt, but in the end deemed it irrelevant,) "I refuse to be reduced to a mere puppet. I see my best chance at breaking free is with you. Will you accept my assistance?"

Unknown to anyone else gathered, Aeora was hearing a nearly deafening roar from the recesses of her subconscious, and was experiencing a sharp pain from her shoulder atop which sat her strange mask. She ignored both, mentally silencing the angry cries of betrayal from the Beast. She had a debt to repay, oh yes, and it would be repaid - and more.

"I should warn you that were you to deny this offer, I would ensure that none of us -" she motioned with a curt nod at Damien - "would leave this place alive. For I have nothing to lose, considering Damien has played witness and will no doubt return to his master posthaste." Aeora placed a hand on the hilt of one of her blades, falling silent, wishing to say no more until a response came to her.

 

[Jozi]

A dim sphere of light appeared on the docks, the light started to shrink. But as it shrunk it had also started to glow brighter, it soon was condensed in the form of a ball of energy.

The ball of energy then quickly expanded, and retracted. It did this twice more before it had completely exploded. A tall man with brown hair, & wearing armor stood in the lights place: "Damn it, I'm too late." Wotan looked upon the vanquished city before him; rage, anger, frustration, sadness, occurred within himself.

Wotan looked up to see a discussion between the Sages, and Acolyte "What are you up to?"

"Behemoth Come Forth!" With a great slash of his right hand a large thick sword appeared in his hand. This sword was incapable of cutting, but had the ability of boosting Wotan's elemental powers.

Wotan had decided to see was was being discussed....

[OOC: Any Sage can stop my character in his tracks, or do something]