NationStates Jolt Archive

Thunder rumbled through the dark storm clouds as lightning punctuated randomly with the force of thousands of volts of electricity. The wind blew steadily, driving the rain powerfully into the weathered earth far below. Over the mountain peak, clouds began to roll back and allow the sunlight to strike the bare, rain-soaked rocky mountain. A shadow descended slowly and landed with ease upon the mountaintop, kneeling down with one hand touching the ground. The clouds rolled back into place and covered the world in darkness once more, the thunder continuing uninterrupted.

http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0VQDvAqEbP9H3n3gTNPfa1Fo53yVQHdtERNVlg0aep0mhwUArR!16RV0fz4TDHxDGIaBcJbLKyzsV9fnjLIrt2ZmTFy38tIwsIIm lzuhoq8outzbP7MsNUHUeeK1Sj6xb/Celadrinleader.gif

The figure stood and gazed with piercing eyes down the mountainside below the cliff. His blond-white hair blew around his face. His wings were slick with the rain rolling off each feather and pooling at his feet. In his right hand, he held a staff, as long as his height, and made of the fabled white wood of the seventh level of the heavens. Upon one end was an elaborate flowery design wrapped around a navy blue crystal. With a tap of the staff upon the bare rock, a mist emerged from the crystal and began to surround his muscled body and solidified into a navy blue robe secured with a silver colored rope.

With a great pump of his wings the figure leapt off the cliff and pulled them in, accelerating rapidly until the few trees upon the mountain shook with the passing wind. Suddenly the wings spanned out and caught the humid wind and leveled the figure out merely a few feet above the ground. A grin broke out upon the figure’s face as he clearly enjoyed the flight. Faster and faster he flew as he pumped his wings in the direction of the city of Dreban, Tarlachia. There, he would begin his search.

A search for the worthy ones to form the Clan.

Entering the city, he moved higher up in altitude, merely to avoid colliding with the few individuals that moved about on the streets despite the thunderstorm. Swooping with grace and expertise, he settled at last into a park located in the center of the city. Here, he would begin his search.

With a wave of his staff, the figure watched as another mist began to form before him. It swirled in the air, ignoring the driving wind. The mist broke into thousands of smaller parts and circulated around the figure’s body as if they were waiting. His eyes glowed as blue orbs as he spoke with a clear voice:

Stout of heart, body, mind and soul…an invitation I send. In the land of Tarlachia, in the city of Dreban I await your arrival.

The staff rose high in his hand and the crystal began to glow with an intense light as it cast the message unto the world. A powerful aura surround the figure as this was done, before plunging the entire area into darkness once more.

Lightning crackled overhead, followed momentarily by rolling thunder.

After the events of AV3: http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=357294&page=1&pp=15

At the Emerald City Ritz Hotel

A young 15-year-old lass sits on the bed of a luxury suite in the Ritz Hotel of Emerald City. Fair, with blue eyes and long brown hair tied with a ribbon, she wears a little pink dress that at once projected her in an image of innocence, and at the same time called attention to her blossoming body, with a slight swell of her budding breasts in the fabric. And her eyes were deep, full of depth.

Not so long ago, young Aeris was poor, homeless, orphaned by her late mother, left to beg the streets alone. Left alone to face the cruel world, she had been starving to death in a dark alleyway, and was ready to give her life up, to join her dead mother. She was sitting there, selling matchsticks, waiting either for Death, or a fate as yet unknown.

And Death came. But left her alive, as his mortal companion, to wander the world along with him.

The Atrosian vampire. Known only as Zero. It was he, who saw the young girl huddled in a dark corner, selling pitifully inadequate matchsticks for her keep. Without a penny to her name, she would soon die. It was Zero. Who had cradled her in her arms, prepared to give her a painless death, the mercy of the vampires. And then withheld the mercy from her.

Instead, Zero had drained her only of some blood, leaving her weakened, but alive. In the ensuing days, while Zero went out to face the trials that Assington would soon deal him, he still found time to nurse her back to health, give her a pink glow in her cheeks, make her the beautiful girl she always was.

And now Aeris is bound to him. In love with the timeless quality of wisdom Zero seemed to personalise.

The door to the suite opened, and Zero stepped in. Although a vampire who was never supposed to change, Zero seemed tired out by the ordeals Assington has dealt him, all in the name of duty to the King Vampire of Atros, a monarch Aeris has heard Zero speak much of. Aeris was concerned for her master because he was definitely looking fatigued. But now, she was alarmed at the emotion on his face, that also of alarm. And haste.

"Master Zero, are you alright?" Aeris went over to tend to her master. Her immortal lover. Her Death, who gave her her Life.

"My love.......my darling Aeris.......", he was panting, blood sweat on his brow, Aeris tending to him. Finally, he spoke.

"My dear, sweet, Aeris. I am so sorry. So sorry i have neglected you." And he embraced her in his arms, blood tears forming in his eyes. Aeris, being the little slip of a girl that she is, almost disappeared in the embrace of the great immortal, but she held on tightly, almost afraid of his passion. Finally, Zero spoke.

"My love, i have to rush off to another place. Where would you go, my love, where would you go?"

"I will follow you wherever you are, my dear master, to the end of my life, and if you so choose, beyond it, master."

"I am so sorry, Aeris. Would you really come with me, wherever i go, even though i am damned to travel, never to settle down?"

"Yes, master." She sobbed.

They clung on to each other, Zero taking only a small sip of Aeris' blood. Then, they let go, and Zero whispered,

"Then, my love, we will go forth from here."

"Where, my master?"

"To Dreban, Tarlachia. Something awaits us there."

OOC: A little mushy, i know :p, but well, i couldn't think of anything better :p

Droplets of water covered every exposed area in the city. The rain had finally subsided and sunlight was peeking through the clouds once more. Several rays of light shone down into the park where the figure had taken up temporary residence in the storm. The wind had died down to barely a whisper amongst the trees, and the city’s civilization began to venture out onto the streets once again, hurrying to their destinations for fear of another storm to come.

The figure paid no mind to these people, and they did the same to him. He was now perched atop a gazebo, sitting in the direct rays of sunlight that engulfed the area he was in. His wings were spanned out slightly, just enough to dry them out and shake them free of the remaining water droplets. Once completed with this menial task, he looked around once more at the city, before lowering his gaze as he thought to himself of what had transpired in the last couple of days. That was a new concept to him, days that is, for in the heavens, there was no measure of time, of the passing of Ages, beyond the hardly used “week-time” established at the beginning of Creation.

The time has come.

For what?

For the next age of the world to begin.

The next age?

Yes. The Shentavo clan is deteriorating, falling into the ashes of history. Another clan must rise and stand for all that is Good. Another clan must be the defenders of Life. And you, Liam Celadrin will lead them. Seek and you shall find allies to join your cause.

I see…I accept this charge.

I knew you would.

Of course.

Liam stood and surveyed the city once more. It would probably be days until anyone heeded and responded to his call. Picking up his staff that lay on the rooftop of the gazebo, he leapt into the sky, delighting in the wind that filled beneath his wings. Swiftly, he flew above the cityscape and looked down to take in the harsh, yet beautiful contours and colors of the Earth.

Nestled comfortably in the foreseted valley at the foot of eastern side of the Barishu Mountain Range in the northern area of the Golden Simatar sat a house. A man sat on the back porch overlooking a river reading The Fist of God by the light from the house, not caring about what was going on around him. He wore a pair of black pants and a black t-shirt under a navy blue sweater. A buzzer went off and he put the large book down and walked inside.

The floors were hardwood, the same with the walls, the massive main area of the house had a large circular stone stove for heat. He walked past it and opened the oven in the open kitchen. Pulling a beer from the fridge he sat down for dinner.

Roman Cyrus stood at 5'11 and had jet black hair. His skin was a light bronze and his mucles hidden but none the less they were thier. His eyes were what would catch someone's attention. They were emerald green, with one interesting feature. They had cat-like pupils, not rounded like humans, but vertical slits and they were not contacts.

After dinner Roman was walking over to a large couch when he heard something:

Stout of heart, body, mind and soul…an invitation I send. In the land of Tarlachia, in the city of Dreban I await your arrival.

Roman stood there for several seconds. Might as well go see who it is. Picking up his phone he quickly arranged a flight to the airport in Dreban, Tarlachia.

Picking up a duffle bag he placed several changes of clothes, a Walther P99 along with several magizines, and a Samurai sword. He didn't consider walking over to the gun case where 12 old sporting rifles and shotguns sat. I'd never use you in combat. He thought, looking at the weapons. He also put in The Fist of God and an antique firearms book, it had the names of a few Tarlachia antique firearm dealers. Maybe he could get another weapon to add to his collection.

When the door closed on the house a wolf ran through the woods, with Roman's duffel on it's back. At the parking lot of John Matthews International Airport, it was Roman carrying his luggage. He put his bag on the conveyer belt, grabbed his ticket, and put on a pair of black sunglasses so people wouldn't see his eyes. Twenty mintues later, he was on a flight to Tarlachia.

The following night, at the Emerald City International Airport, 8:00 PM.....

A Concorde II was waiting at a lot in the airport. The Concorde II, an Atros-researched and built successor to the famous supersonic airliner Concorde, was not for passenger service. It was a government jet, tasked to the service of the Empire of Atros. A private jet owned by the King of Atros, tasked to his subject, Zero.........

Earlier on, Zero had talked to the King by secure line.

"........therefore, Your Majesty, i request to go to Dreban, Tarlachia. I must go and check out whatever message it was that was so powerful that it reached me."
".......I would have said no, Zero. It was not in your list of objectives, so i wouldn't have allowed it......had not i heard the summons as well."
"You have, Your Majesty? So, are you......."
"You know i cannot. I have a country to manage. So i am sending you in my stead. Check out this call, and find out what it means."
"My prior mission, Your Majesty......?"
"I have other agents now, Zero. I can free you to go on this mission. Go."
"Yes, Your Majesty. This is Agent Zero, signing out."

Now, Zero and Aeris boarded the Concorde II. Zero was dressed as usual, while Aeris had on a pink and white sleeveless dress, matched with hair tied in a pigtail with a pink ribbon, and a scarve on her neck.

"Welcome aboard, Sir Zero and Miss Aeris! Our next destination will be Dreban, Tarlachia. Enjoy your flight." the flight attendant said to Zero, and he replied with a nod, while Aeris said "Thank you" for him.

As they walked down the empty aisle to the specially-made compartment section where there are no windows to let in the sunlight that would hurt Zero, they had to pass a servant loading their luggage.

"Uh.....uh......AAAHHH!!!!!!"

The servant dropped the luggage, and it came crashing down on Aeris, causing her to scream......

She opened her eyes. Stunned for a moment, she saw that the luggage had.......been blown aside. And Zero was looking at her with a sense of worry and astonishment.

Aeris asked, "Master.......did you push that aside?"

The reply shocked her,
"No.....you did. You summoned a white shield......and you blew it aside."

She collapsed on the seat, shaking.

"But.......how? I don't know magic! It can't have been me, Master, i swear i don't know any magic........"

"Hush." Zero sat down besides her. "I know you don't know magic, love. But.......what i do know now, is the reason why, from the time you came to me, i had never felt more.......good."

She raised her eyes. "Good, master?"

"Yes, good. I remembered what it was like to be merciful. I healed faster than i should. I had visions of holiness.......and it started from the time i first tasted your blood."

She shook. "But.........how?"

Zero held Aeris up, and looked at her. Very intensely. "Aeris, you must listen now, and listen well. Now, i know why. Aeris..........you are gifted. You are gifted with the ability to take to white magic instinctively. It's in your blood. You are meant to wield white magic."

"But........I don't know any white magic. I've never had any training, master."

"Exactly. You were but a homeless, orphaned girl in the streets of Assington. Who knew where you came from. For all i know, you could have elven blood in your veins."

"El......Elven?"

"Probably only halfelven, and i'm not even sure of that. Whatever the case, you take to magic easily. It showed in how you created that protective shield around yourself......without prior training whatsoever. All you need, my love, is training, training to fulfil your potential. And it is training i cannot give you, for i am of the shadow, my love."

"But.......what do i do now? I don't wanna leave you, master."

"Silly girl. I'm not asking you to leave me. But one day, after we are done with all this.......i will look for a teacher for you. For you to learn the White Arts."

She smiled. "And then i can assist you, be by your side and assist you in your trials."

"Yes, my love. Be by my side, for real. But for now, let's go into the back section. We have Dreban to deal with first, love. So let's take one step at a time."




The Concorde II lifted off from the airport. Next stop: Dreban.

Still on the Concorde II flight to Dreban, Tarlachia, 1 hour into the flight.....

The back compartment of the Concorde II. Made especially for Nobles like Zero, with no windows that would betray the Noble to lethal sunlight. In there, there was only one, great spacious sofa-like chair, with a desk in front on it. On that chair sat Zero, and he was cuddling Aeris on his lap, as she ate the plate of fruits he could not.

"Master........"
"Yes, love?"
"Master.......when did you know of my.....potential?"
"Hmm......when.......well, love, you might say i only knew it just now. But i've suspected.....because of things......"
"What things, my immortal master, what things?"
"Have you ever wondered why i picked you, of all the homeless in Emerald City, off the streets, to be my companion?"
"I don't know, master........."
"Well, i'll tell you. I knew from the start there was something......different, about you. I didn't know what that is......but i loved it. I loved you at first sight, Aeris, and it was.....because......for some reason, a quality shone through you, something i've never seen in any human."
"And.......this is it?"
"No, love, that's not it at all. Believe me, i've seen many adepts at the White Arts, and none of them had that quality that you embody.......I don't know.......maybe it's your smile........or your innocence.......maybe the way you call me 'master'......"

Aeris smiled, and leaned closer to Zero.

"I love you, dear master"
"I know, dear Aeris....."
"Master.......so about my question........"
"Ah.....yes. After i took you in, things happened. Things i couldn't explain."
"And they are?"
"Well........" Zero caressed Aeris' neck. "You heal better from the vampiree bite than most. Neither the wounds nor the weakness the vampire swoon gives you, stays on you long. You always got the color back into your cheeks, the night after i've drank from you. And every time i drink from you......I get a feeling i never got from any other. I feel much better. I feel more.....good. I heal faster from wounds. That's when i suspected, and that's something i know now, that you're no ordinary human, Aeris. You are special, to me, to the world......."
"Master........"

Aeris started tearing at that, and Zero hugged her close. He kissed her, on the lips, and did so for quite a while. Then, he kissed her neck, gently, gently......then, with the gentlest of kisses, drank. As he drew, Aeris moaned, and swooned. She panted.

Zero broke away from her. With pale lips, Aeris recovered from her swoon, and regarded him.

"Eat, my love. You need your strength."

He fed her a grape, which Aeris weakly accepted, eating it from his fingers. They cuddled.

"Master......?"
"Yes, Aeris, my angel, what is it?"
"Why are we going to Dreban, master?"
"Ah.....i was wondering when you're going to mention that." Swiftly, Zero described the mental summones he got back in Emerald City.
"So.......we go to Dreban because of that?"
"Yes, my angel. We will be there soon. Sleep, my love, sleep. Tomorrow is a new night."

Aeris slept, as Zero hugged her warmly, on the flight to Dreban.........

William Crowe sat in the red leather chair of the café. He stoked his white beard as he stared at Roman. Crowe was getting old at 59 years of age, yet he still jogged five miles a day to keep him fit and he watched what he ate. His head was slowly going bald; hence he usually wore a hat. He ran his hand over his brown business suit before he reached forward and sipped his espresso. The old gun seller was well known to have some of the best examples of Holland and Holland weapons. He had brought one for Roman to see in the back room of the café.

“Well Roman?” He asked. He had sold Roman a Holland and Holland Royal side by side shotgun four years ago. They still kept in contact, and William was pleased when Roman said he wished to meet with him before the other dealers.

“Fine rifle William.” Roman said as he looked at the rifle. He was wearing a pair of blue jeans, dark green t-shirt, and a black trenchcoat hung over the chair. “1883 Royal double bore 4 elephant rifle if I am not mistaken.”

The old man laughed. “Quite correct Roman, as you can see on the stock there is a heavy amount of ivory and silver decoration. The gentleman who owned this weapon used the ivory from the elephant to make the decorations.”

“Indeed.” Roman said as he sipped his coffee. The walnut stock was decorated with silver plates carved with animals from Africa, rhinos, lions, zebras, etc, all shown on a grassy plain. Two ivory African crocodiles were above the trigger, one on either side. Several ivory elephants also decorated the stock. Various silver flora designs dominated the base of the barrel. Roman gave the rifle back to Crowe; it was indeed a fine piece of work. He drained his coffee and smiled at the man.

Thirty minutes later Roman walked outside carrying a large teak wood suitcase, inside the disassembled rifle along with its tools. Walking back to his hotel room he placed the suitcase on his bed and walked out on the roof. His cat-like eyes scanned the city. A stiff, cool wind blew across the sky. His coat flew behind him as he brushed some strands of black hair from his eyes. Guess its about time I find out who sent that message.

A falcon flew off the roof and flew above the street.

Liam strolled down the street, his staff tapping with each footstep upon the cobblestones. At the moment, he looked nothing more out of the ordinary than a young adult with an attractive staff walking down the street. Using an ancient method, he had retracted his wings into his backside and sealed the wounds from the process afterwards. Yet, his presence still commanded attention…and unknown respect.

While awaiting the unknown recipients to arrive in Dreban, he had decided to look around for an appropriate location to claim as their home, and where the Clan would begin its work. After consulting with a few of the locals whom readily gave him the information he sought, he closed a purchase deal for an old building on the outskirts of Dreban. It was an old mansion that was falling into disarray, but upon seeing it, Liam knew that this was what he was looking for.

There’s no place like home… he thought lightheartedly as he made his way through the tall steel gate which was connected to the remainder of the fence, artfully covered by large hedges that grew around the fence.

The mansion had boarded up windows and shutters that hung askew. A few coats of paint would be required to make the mansion appear well cared for once again. The grounds were ill-kept and required a green thumb to bring them back to their former beauty. Skeletons of long dead bushes and small trees were scattered around the twenty acre property, surrounded by dead gardens with a number of stone statues of various origins placed within the gardens.

The front door creaked and groaned against the strong push of Liam’s hand. Inside the floors were covered with a layer of dust and dirt. The wallpaper was peeling in some areas, and the wood creaked in protest of Liam’s weight. Liam walked through each of the empty rooms, smiling more and more.

This would be their home.

Liam walked out of the door once again, locking it behind himself and slinging the key around his neck on a chain. The staff tapped five times upon the door, casting the entire building in a temporary blue envelope of light before fading out of visible sight. The place would be rid of any and all critters that had made themselves at home in the mansion. The entire mansion would also become cleaned and fixed up like new. When he returned, all that the place would need would be the furniture and belongings of the clan and inhabitants.

Liam walked to the gate and looking around whispered a few words of an ancient tongue, watching as the dead plants rapidly spit apart as new shoots sprung from their interiors and blossomed into beautiful bushes and trees. Liam spun his staff with both hands before striking the ground with the crystal end. Immediately a ripple went through the lawn and before him it faded away into the dirt and sprung anew with fresh green grass, neatly trimmed and appearing healthy.

The gate closed behind Liam. It was locked as well with the same key as the mansion’s door.

Liam grinned as the property continued to renew itself behind him. With a tightened smile, he arched his back forward and out came the strong wings. The process always hurt a little, but it was a small price to pay for such a gift. With a powerful thrust he flew upwards and back toward the city once again.

Just as Liam was about to land within the park, he noticed an odd sight. A falcon. Immediately, he knew that someone was near, probably someone with a falcon pet. He landed out of sight and drew his wings into his body once again with rapid speed. His staff issued old clothing and a cloak onto his body. The hood cast dark shadows upon his face. It appeared that Liam was just another beggar, another poor being in the calm park. He walked over to the nearby stream that ran softly through the park, the water creating a soothing song to any ear. He bent down and washed his hands, taking a sip of the water. He continued to “wash” himself.

He knew then that whomever it was that had arrived was nearby. If they were smart enough, they would spot him and approach…

The falcon spotted the man and banked towards the park. The falcon aimed for a shady clump of trees, before it landed something remarkable happened. The wings turned to arms, the falcon legs to human, and the body grew. In a few short seconds Roman stood where the falcon was about to land. He streached slightly. Birds always make me sore.

He put on his sunglasses, hiding his eyes and walked up behind the old man. He knealt and smiled.

"Good day sir. Have you by any chance seen any angels or such creatures in the past few hours?"

Liam didn’t respond right away as he continued to wash the remainder of his arms. Finally, he turned and faced the kneeling man behind him.

“Angels or such creatures you say? I do believe I have, not too long ago in fact…”

Liam studied the man from the dark recesses of the hood that hid his face.

The first has arrived, wonderful.

Liam stood and watched as the man did so as well. Stepping back, he cast the hood back and pulled the cloak away from his body. His staff was picked up from the ground near where he had been kneeling by the stream. With a slight grin followed by a slight grimace, he sprung his wings from his backside, revealing perfectly placed feathers upon strong wing bones. The wings cloaked around him and enclosed his body.

“Aye. I am the one you seek.”

Roman took a few steps back. He removed his glasses revealing to the angel the cat-like emerald colored eyes, to confirm that the begger was the angel. This is something he didn't expect. He had meet various beings in his 300 years, but never an angel.

"Well, indeed....I've been looking for you for a while. I take it you were the one who sent that message?"

Liam nodded, accepting responsibility for the message. He noted silently the unique eyes of this individual.

“I did send that message. My name is Liam Celadrin. I’m sure you are wondering what I have in mind, and why I have sent such a mysterious message. It was merely to weed out the truly intelligent and truly worthy beings for the ultimate purpose. Come, and I shall tell you all you should need to know.”

Liam turned and walked down the soft dirt path, his staff tapping along in concert with his footsteps. The stranger walked alongside him, waiting patiently for Liam to begin his explanation.

“I am not sure if you are aware of the existence of the Shentavo clan and their purpose for their existence in this world. However, just to make sure you understand, I will briefly outline that right now. The Shentavo clan was created to become the protective force of the world, a collection of superior beings of many backgrounds that would stand against the tides of darkness. Ravelyn Shentavo led this clan. Then…not too long ago, the clan began to deteriorate. Members began to disappear. The shadows are stirring once again, strange things have begun to occur once more. Thus the need for a new force, a new clan to be created was determined. And I am the one to lead this clan. You are the first to respond to my summons…”

Liam paused and turned toward the stranger, “Yet, I do not know your name…”

The stranger smiled embarrassingly as he quickly replied, “My apologies, my name is Roman Cyrus.” He received a nod in reply, followed by a brisk handshake.

Liam continued, “Now that you know what the message was about, what capabilities do you have that would convince me to offer you an honorable place in the clan?”

"Indeed I have heard of the Shentavo clan, nothing else though." Roman said.

He pointed behind Liam, when the angel turned around he saw nothing, when he turned back he was face to face with a Bengal Tiger. He stared at it for several seconds before it changed back to Roman.

"Name an animal, bird, mammal, reptilian. Don't go for insects I can't do that, nor dinosaurs. Belive me I've tried."

Liam raised an eyebrow as he watched the display of morphing. He decided to take the suggested test of this one's abilities.

"All right then...then let's see you change to an alligator."

It was an odd request, but logical, considering that Liam had already witnessed a bird and a mammal.

Liam looked around momentarily before turning his attention back to Roman. Both hands moved to grip the staff lightly, providing a leaning to keep his balance. He waited silently...

"Hmm, interesting. Done at at least once." Roman said.

He relaxed and closed his eyes, then if on commanded his legs got smaller and covered in scales, a long repitlian tail began to grow, his face streached out, and his arms also turned into legs as he was soon on the ground. He looked up at Liam, the cat-like eyes staying the same, though his body wasn't.

After a minute Roman morphed back into normal. He streached slightly.

"That felt pretty good. What do you think?"

Liam smiled. Indeed, here was one worthy to join the clan.

“Wonderful. I am convinced that you are worthy. Therefore I offer you a position in the ranks. Based off your abilities, I would like to put you in charge of the Undercover branch, a branch meant for spy-work and the likes. Indeed, our enemies will be many in number and having one with your skills would benefit the clan well.”

"My pleasure to be of service." Roman said as the pair continued to walk down the path. Roman spotted Liam's look at his eyes. Roman only smiled.

"You're not the first to give me that investigative look. Many just believe they are contacts. But I usually wear sunglasses just in case anyone gets supisious. I've known about my powers since I was about 12, you got to imagine the shock of a kid when he notices he can turn into an animal at free will."

Liam chuckled as he imagined a 12 year old suddenly endowed with morphing abilities.

"Come. I have a residence prepared for us all just outside of the city. There we can wait until the others arrive."
_______________________

Liam unlocked the gate to reveal an absolutely stunning sight to behold. Roman's eyes went wide, much to Liam's satisfaction as he was led into the grounds and into the mansion.

"Since you are the first to arrive, you may choose whatever bedroom you wish. All are free for the taking, except for the master suite on the upper floor. Send for the rest of your belongings on your own time. Remain nearby until I call on you."

Roman stood there and moved a strand of black hair from his eyes.

"I must say Liam, you definatly should go into the home repair business. I have some of my stuff in a hotel, I'll fetch that later. The rest of my stuff I'll send for later. On the note of contacting me. I can talk mentally to another person, but at most a sentence or two."

For many years Zeratul had wandered this earth looking for his purpose. Along the way he had met many unique and interesting creatures, but none as great as the angel. These superior beings, having spawned both races of whom he belonged, had always captivated him. Having met one at the tender age of 203, he had been blessed with a gift that only time will reveal. Wanting to learn more about himself, he roamed the world for over 1,000 years in search of another. Yet everywhere he went, troubled followed like a leech. So much death and mystery now came with even a whisper of his name, that he cloaked himself during the day, and stays in the shadows at night.
Finnaly giving up on ever finding his angel, his purpose in this world, he wandered into an Emerald city and slowly drank away his pain. It was the one night standing outside the restaurant where he had last scene "her" that he received the message.
"You are wanted, You are needed for your task now. Seek out the angel in Tarlachia. There things will become clear and your gifts used in their purpose."
Feeling as if this might be his last chance to discover who he truly is, he leaves the city on foot heading towards Dreban, Tarlachia. 500 miles of walking seemed more like a walk in a park to him, having walked the world over dozens of times.
As he passes the outskirts of the city, he notices a mansion, and two men talking. Both of them had something different about them, an aura that. Zeratul sensed about them. Needing to know more, he slips over the gate, uncloaks himself, and sends a message to the group using thought-speech.
I'm in search of that which is pure. An angel who needs use of me, do either of you know where I can find him?"

OCC: abit abrupt but I'm tired. I'll try to do better in my other posts

IC: Arrival at Dreban, Tarlachia. As usual, preparations first. At 9.00PM in Dreban, Zero and Aeris arrived in the Dreban Hilton, where as usual, they found a reservation had been made for them.

As Aeris started unpacking her stuff, Zero stood by, and seemed as if in a trance. Suddenly, he grabbed Aeris' arm.

"Forget the packing, Aeris, I want to go out now, to the streets of Dreban."
"Why, master? Are you thirsting for blood...."
"No, love. I feel a sense of urgency, Aeris. We have to get to the mansion as soon as we can......"

At 12 midnight.....
After wandering through the streets of Dreban for a long time, Zero had finally come upon a fairly deserted park, with mud tracks. Then, they came upon a mansion.

And what a mansion. Flowers everywhere, everything in a good state of repair......no, it looked almost brand new, although it did seem somewhat empty inside......strange. Aeris couldn't fanthom out why they had come to this place, although it did seem rather wholesome and not scary, but Zero seemed......focused. Intense. Whatever it is that drew him to this mansion, he was close to it now..........

They walked into the mansion, not sure about what is going to happen next......


OOC: Not a good post, but i was kinda distracted. It's all your fault Tarl, giving me undue encouragement in history quizzes :p

OOC: Let's put this into perspective...you were the one who offered the "quizzes" lol

IC:
Just as Liam left Roman by himself, he was startled slightly by the quiet approach of three more figures, one half-elf, one a creature lacking his soul, a vampire actually...and the last...a special one, he could tell.

A being of white magic...

Liam nodded and smiled to the two newcomers.

"Welcome. I assume you have recieved the summons as well? As you might have expected, I will ask each of you to demonstrate your abilities. But first, let me tell you of the nature of my reason for sending that message to all the world..."

Fifteen minutes later, he was finished explaining the purpose of the clan.

"And now, each of you, if you would be so kind, I would like to see your abilities..."

OOC: A quick post, i'm not supposed to be here lol.

IC: The mansion was a place of beauty, and Zero was almost tempted to enjoy the sights himself, seeing Aeris' face light up with pure joy. However, he was interrupted by......an angel, of all things. An angel.

He tensed. An angel, a being of white light, more often then not would try to destroy a vampire such as himself, a being of darkness. Was this a trap? With barely perceptible shifting of muscles, Zero prepared himself for a fight to the death.

But then he felt Aeris clutch at his arm. And then, he knew. She was right. This angel has no intention of harming them........which is strange, considering his status as a dark being, a being opposed to an angel like this one, but she was right. There's no need to fight. He relaxed. Trust is something Aeris is born with, and which he himself has yet to learn. How did she know of the angel's intentions though.........maybe it has something to do with her potential. He would have to ask her.

He listened. After 15 minutes, everything was made clear.

Zero had questions to ask of this......Liam, but he saw that Liam's request came first.

"Very well......", at that, Zero turned and walked out the gate of the mansion. Liam raised his eyebrows, as he and Aeris followed him out to the city park. Zero regarded the trees of the park.

"This one then.....", Zero thought, looking at a particuarly huge tree.

Without any warning, Zero suddenly unsheathed the Dragon Saber, and slashed it in the direction of the large tree. The battle energy of his essence shot out of the Saber, and slashed into the trunk of the tree, before dissipating. As Zero turned his back on the tree and sheathed the Saber, the tree fell. Landing on the ground with a rustle of leaves and a huge crash.

"Now it's my turn to ask questions, Liam Celadrin", Zero said. "Why have I been chosen? I am of darkness, you are of light, are you sure you have not made a mistake? What mandate do you have to replace the Shentavo Clan?"

He drew Aeris closer to himself, hugging her tightly.

OOC: Ok Tarl, i think this can be the point where Liam starts enquiring about Aeris. Or not. Anyway, don't you think some RPers of the Shentavo Clan be notified of this thread as well?

Roman walked through the manision. Definatly bigger than my house in the mountians. He walked down a hallway on the second floor and walked into a room. It was larger than the apartment when he had gone to college, much larger, and more beutiful. This will do.

He walked downstairs into a large room, he guessed it was either a conference room or the dinning hall. He smiled as a interesting thought past through his mind, little surprise for the others who would join the clan. Roman morphed and a panther continued exploring the mansion.

"All right, but afterwards I need questions answered. Stand back, this may shock you."
Closing his eyes and concentrating , his body slowly dissapears. He walks up behind the tree, activating his pysionic blade and with one quick swipe, the tree fell to the earth. Moving silienty, he walks up behind Liam and uncloaks himself.
"Dark templar children have the uncanny gift of being able to cloak themself from the world permantly and these blades that grow from birth. Makes us perfect assasains, but I have left that path long ago. I now am in search of my true purpose and the angel that blessed me so many years ago. I'll be of whatever service to your cause if you help me answer my questions."
He looks from Liam to Zero and then finnaly to the female. He could tell she was special, more over than these others, something pure was nestled inside her soul. He would make sure that whatever it was would not be harmed.

OOC: I don't plan to make this an inter-clan rivalry or anything of the like. I'll contact Ravelyn Shentavo though just to give her the link to the thread to keep her interest and knowledge of the existence of the Celadrins.

IC:
Liam nodded thoughtfully while shifting his staff from one hand to the next. He spun the staff and struck the tree with it. Immediately, the tree began to reverse its fall and repair the damage caused by Zero's blade.

Not even a minute later, the tree stood strong and healthy again.

"You have not been chosen. You have merely answered a summons that apparently fits your ideology, your personality. The Celadrin clan does not hold stance that it is to replace the Shentavo clan, but merely act as a secondary force of strength in this world."

Liam noticed that Aeris was eyeing his staff with particular interest.

"And what of her? I have sensed an untapped strength within this young one, a strength that would do her, and all of us a lot of good should she weild its power. Come child, tell me your name."

Aeris looked up at Zero before replying softly, "Aeris."

Liam smiled gently and held out his hand to her. She shook it.

"And I am Liam Celadrin. Pleased to make your acquaintance. Forgive my pressing haste, but I am very intrigued by your untapped well of the White Arts. Do you realize how much potential you have?"

As if realizing an important issue, Liam turned to Zero once again, "My apologies, I am convinced that your nature is good quality. Therefore, I shall offer both of your a position within the clan. Do you accept?"

IC: Zero looked at the......restoration of the tree, with a lift of his eyebrows.

"I am impressed, Liam Celadrin of the Seraphim, if i am not mistaken. You have great powers."

He watched as Liam made herself acquainted with Aeris. Suddenly the thought came to him, that Liam might just be the mentor in the White Arts he was looking for Aeris. Who else better to teach a young girl with great potential, than an angel, an embodiment of that magic?

Liam: "And what of her? I have sensed an untapped strength within this young one, a strength that would do her, and all of us a lot of good should she weild its power. Come child, tell me your name."

He vaguely heard Aeris introduce herself, but his thoughts were on the possibility of asking Liam to mentor her.

Liam: "And I am Liam Celadrin. Pleased to make your acquaintance. Forgive my pressing haste, but I am very intrigued by your untapped well of the White Arts. Do you realize how much potential you have?"

Suddenly, Aeris let out a gasp, and Zero was struck out of his reverie.

"He knows, Zero, he knows!"

And it was his turn to be startled. This angel knew......"but of course he would know, he's an angel after all", was Zero's rationalization. It just confirmed what he knew all along, that Aeris was gifted. Not only that.......there was also a pureness in her soul that defies all forms of categorization. And Zero knows it well, for he loved it.

Liam: "My apologies, I am convinced that your nature is good quality. Therefore, I shall offer both of your a position within the clan. Do you accept?"

Zero considered this. He had been thinking about it ever since he got the message, and King Louis had given a favourable opinion of him joining the Clan, should the scenerio ever arise, as it is now. He looked down at Aeris, and with a smile, she told him that she would follow him whatever he chooses. It was his choice.

"If you are certain about having an entity that embodies the opposite of yourself in the Clan, then......I accept. I will be a founding member of the Clan. And Aeris shall come with me."

Before Liam could reply though, Zero interrupted.

"Liam......may i call you that then? I see you have knowledge of Aeris' potential, even more knowledge of it than I do. And I also see that you are the perfect one to give my Aeris an education in the White Arts. I retract my words that I will be a member, for I want to strike a deal with you."

He breathed deeply. It felt almost callous, what he was going to do, but he had to do it. For his Aeris.

"Liam. I will join the Clan, and Aeris with me.......on one condition. That you take Aeris in as your disciple, and teach her the ways of the White Art. Will you do that for me?"

In his heart, Zero suspected that Liam was going to ask Aeris to be his disciple anyway, but he wanted to be sure. He will spare no expense for his Aeris. His love. Aeris was pulling at him, and her face was shocked at Zero's rude and blank attitude to Liam, as she could not envision such behaviour towards their gracious host, but Zero didn't care. His love will spare no expense.

Liam listened as Zero spoke to him. One thought floated through his mind, a thought that concerned both Zero and Aeris.

He loves her for who she is and wants nothing but the best for her...

Taking Zero's hand as a sign of this agreement, he shook it firmly. The deal had been made, Aeris would be his apprentice.

"Aeris deserves to learn her strengths. I suspect that she has been in oppression for too long, and was freed by you. Now, the next stage of her life will begin."

Liam turned to Aeris and smiled, "The training will be difficult, and you may feel as if you wish to quit, but I assure you that with persistence, you will learn the White Arts to the fullest potential."

Aeris smiled, obviously excited by this new turn of events.

"Come, it is time to return to the mansion." Liam beckoned as he led the way back out of the city, to their new home.

In Liam's mind, he was actively thinking of the lessons he would teach, of the challenges he would place before Aeris. The mansion loomed up from the horizon as they neared with each step.

The door opened to allow the three into the mansion, and they headed to the conference room, which was currently devoid of any furniture. Liam made a mental note to obtain some furniture for the entire mansion.

From deep within the bowels of hell, a figure sat pondering.

Musing.

Reminiscing.

With steepled fingers, the figure arched the black wings on the blades of his shoulders. They rustled and bent, beating the humid, horrid air.

He could feel them, and knew that at least one of their numbers could feel him.

The figure sat.

And pondered.

IC: Zero and Aeris followed the angel Liam back into the mansion. Aeris, by this time, was starting to regret her decision, as she thought that she might have to leave her lover, but Zero bent his head to her and whispered,

"Fear not, beloved. I will be with you. And you will be with me. Nothing will change that. I will be with you throughout your training. Didn't you want this, gentle Aeris?"

She reflected on his words. Indeed, she did want the apprenticeship Liam offered in the White Arts. She felt an affinity for Liam on first sight, and if anything, she took that to be a sign that she was meant for the White Arts. And it is true indeed that her only reservation was that Zero would leave her. With that fear gone, she could take that commitment faithfully.

As they went into the mansion, both Zero and Aeris admired the decor. Zero realised that he would have to move his and Aeris' luggage from the Hilton to this place. No problem there.

Suddenly, Zero caught sight of a panther. Aeris screamed at the sight, and Zero immediately drew out the Heaven Sword and pointed it at the direction of the panther, ready to hack it if it threatened.

But something was different about this one.....it seemed to be intelligent, almost as if it was human.......Zero's observation was proven correct when he saw what happened next.......

OOC:GS, you can have Roman morph back now :p

The panther looked at the pair, before it did something that Zero slightly expected, but Aeris did not. It took human shape, the man's cat-like eyes looking over both of them. He smiled at Aeris.

"I hope I didn't scare you too much. Then again, it isn't often you find big cats in someone's residence."

He extened his hand to Zero.

"I'm Roman Cyrus."

Liam chuckled as he saw the looks upon Zero's and Aeris's faces when Roman charged right at them, only to stand before them a moment later offering a hand warmly. He looked at each of them standing before him, who suddenly seemed at loss for words, after the greeting pleasantries. He was about to lead them into another room when he saw another figure standing in the room, hidden in the shadows.

“Greetings…I noticed your skills earlier. Forgive me for not addressing your presence. I notice you are of an elven descent, and I find your cloaking ability most intriguing. You are welcome to join this clan as well.”

Finished, Liam turned and beckoned for the others to stand aside. He spoke words that seemed to be part of a song, and watched as his staff began to glow at the tip of a blue light that lit up the room. Slowly, before the group, a large star-shaped table was formed and chairs materialized around it. The table was a large-scale version of what Liam had decided would be the Clan’s symbol: a seven-pointed star with an engraved eye. The wood was made of oak, and stained to a beautiful dark color and smooth as could be. It was truly a masterpiece of wooden art.

“Please, be seated.” Liam beckoned for all of them, seating himself into one chair.

A few moments later, all had seated themselves into their own chairs. Hardly a moment later, an amazing thing began to occur. Names began to inscribe themselves at each of the points of the star table, the names of each member in the newly formed clan, and their ranks:

Liam Celadrin
“Seraphim Supreme Commander”

Zero
“Director of Underworld Forces”

Aeris
“Apprentice of the White Arts”

Roman Cyrus
“Director of Intelligence”

Zeratul
“Director of Public Relations”

Liam watched the surprised looks of each of the other’s faces. He smiled and spoke:

“Welcome to the Celadrin Clan, my fellow comrades. Together we shall be a force to be reckoned with! Now, I have taken the liberty to assign you each honorable positions within the clan…”

Liam turned his attention to Aeris, “As for you, you are now officially my apprentice in the White Arts. If you would follow me, I would like to show you something…”

Liam stood and led the way out of the conference room and down a hall. He opened a door, to reveal an empty room. Aeris walked in after him, glancing around the empty room with puzzled looks.

“Listen carefully. This room will be used for you to learn the basics of the White Arts…”

Liam turned to the center of the room and spoke three words, words that he made sure Aeris would remember and use for her own as well:

Aeloniumia Telarin Exclamus!

Suddenly the room began to swirl as reality began to take shape and change the entire room. Wooden walls gave way to blue mats covering the walls, which were inscribed with runes of an angelic nature. A table rose from the floor and stationed itself in the center of the room. Upon the table, a leather bound book with the clan symbol upon the front cover. Inside were indistinguishable words of an ancient language, a language that only white angels used. It would be a language that would decipher itself in Aeris’s mind whispering their translations as she read over the words. It was a language guaranteed of its security and only cleared individuals would be given the translations…

Liam spoke once again:

“Aeris…what magic weapon would you like to specialize with? Choose and I shall tell you how to create your own, that will tie in with your mind and become one with your magic…such is the creation of my staff.”

Liam held his staff out for Aeris to gaze upon and think carefully of her selection…

OOC: Hope y'all have noticed that only 5 points on the star have been inscribed with names...2 are still blank...have your characters wonder about that if you want...

IC: Zero smiled, and took Roman's hand in a firm shake.

"Greetings. I am Zero, of the Noble Blood."

Moments later, he and Aeris, as well as the shapeshifter Roman and the Dark Elf Zeratul were seated at a star-shaped table that seemed to have magically appeared through Liam's spell. He admired the effects Liam wrought on the table, although he personally felt that the title Liam confered upon him seemed a little......pretentious. Not like him at all. He might have to deal with that, though. He studied the table, marveling the finish of the table, and thinking to himself that whatever Liam may be, he had got taste. He wondered though, about the 2 remaining seats at the table, which had no carvings of name or title, and thought about those who might be coming to fill these seats.

He watched as Liam led Aeris off to......somewhere. Probably starting her education, Zero thought. Out of curiosity, he left Zeratul and Roman at the table, and followed them. All this while, he was thinking of the things he would have to do. Pick up the luggage from the Hilton and cancel his room, check up on his stocks of ammo, report back to King Louis about current events......so it was with a shock that Zero entered the room where Liam took Aeris.

And what a shock. The room seemed....alive, with magic, almost like a living thing. Zero felt a tingle rush up his cold skin, as the living magic wound itself around him.......the furniture in the room looked proper enough for a magic training room, but the magic inherent in the room, unmistakably Liam's......it was nothing like he had ever seen. It was almost as if every feature of the room drew energy from the threads of existence itself.

Liam and Aeris turned at Zero's abrupt entrance, and remembering what he wanted to say to Liam, Zero beckoned him out of the room. As soon as Liam came out to the corridor with Zero, Zero went close to his neck. Interestingly enough, Liam did not flinch, as if knowing Zero meant no harm even though by all appearances, it seemed otherwise.

"This Liam's a good one", thought Zero. Leaning close to Liam's ear, he whispered,

"Liam. I need to ask you to do one thing for me."
"Name it, Zero. I'll do what i can."
"Can you......can you give Aeris a seperate bedroom here, in this mansion? Ever since she came with me, she.......has never seen sunlight, always staying in a darkened room with me because.....well, you know. Anyway, can you give Aeris a room of her own.....where she can see the sun?"

Liam nodded thoughtfully.

"And if you don't mind, take her out to see the sun whenever you can. I can't do that, you know......so, would you do that for me? For my Aeris?"

Liam nodded thoughtfully again.

"Right. I need to go back to my hotel, to pick up the luggage." Drawing away from Liam, he called,

"Aeris! Stay here with Liam. I am going back to pick up the luggage."
"Master Zero?"
"It's okay, love. Liam here will take care of you. I will be back soon." Turning to Liam, he said, "Be back in a few."

With that, he ran out the front door, and took flight..........

Returning to the room, Liam saw Aeris study a rose she had found. He studied her carefully, watched as she carefully tended the flower, and saw again why Aeris struck love in all who saw her........

Aeris turned with a gasp.

"Master Liam! I'm sorry, Master Liam, I just saw this rose, and I......"
"Hush, child, it's alright. Do you like it? You may have it."
"Oh......thank you, Master Liam.........you know, Master Liam, I've been thinking about your question........can I have......something as beautiful as this?"

She held up the rose to Liam, who smiled at her words........

OOC: Boy, what a long post.

Liam smiled gently as he gazed upon the rose that had been sitting amongst others on the table as well, but now was in Aeris’s hand.

“Of course, my young apprentice. This shall be your first lesson to the arcane… Now, follow my instructions carefully…”

Aeris nodded and continued to grasp the rose with her fingers, listening carefully.

“First, you must open your mind to the broad expanses of possibilities. You will find that most possibilities are only limited by the power of your mind’s perception. Now, take the rose, and imagine within your mind what you wish to form it into.”

Aeris interrupted at that moment, “I want a staff, they’re so…beautiful!”

Liam chuckled and responded as he clasp his hands behind his back, his wings folding softly over them.

“If you wish for a staff, pull the stem lightly, and widen your grip around it. It will respond as you see fit.”

Aeris did as she was instructed, and gasped as she watched herself begin her creation. The room began to charge with strong magical forces as Aeris tapped into the improbable and drew out the probable…

As the stem lengthened and grew wider in her magical grip, it changed its properties to become an ash wooden staff that was interlaced with a double helix of gold that rose upwards and blossomed to hold a transparent crystal ball and adorned with red colored metal rose petals. It rose to just about Aeris’s height and upon the base, the golden helix merged to form a smooth metal foot.

The room dimmed in its exertion of power as the staff was completed. Aeris stood before Liam proudly holding her staff in her hands. She cried happily as she leapt toward Liam and clutched him in a rather surprisingly strong hug. Suddenly she froze and drew back quickly, her face full of blush as she stammered to apologize. Liam shook his head as he smiled and placed a finger upon her lips.

“Silence child, you need not to be embarrassed for your joy. I want you to see me more as a friend, than as your instructor. Now…is there anything else you’d like to ask about, or do?”

IC: "Erm......er......I....er......."

Aeris was blushing furiously now, despite Liam's attempts to make her feel at ease with him. Looking downward, and feeling her new staff, she finally said.......

"I think I'll call this my Rose Staff, Master Liam, if that's okay with you."

Liam smiled, "Of course, my child. Now, do you wish to learn more?"

That only elicited more blushing from Aeris, and this time, she is left unable to speak a coherent word, reduced to shy mumblings.

Liam chuckled at Aeris' apparent inability to dare ask a simple thing from anyone. He is liking her sweet, pure temperament more and more. Liam thought momentarily to himself of the lessons that Aeris would need to learn. Perhaps, it was best to start her out in defensive magic...

"Well, my child, it is always best to learn how to defend yourself from attack, before you progress to other, more advanced skills. I think I shall start you out with a basic shield charm, how would you like that?"

Aeris could only nod her appreciation........


_____________________________________


Meanwhile, back at the Dreban Hilton, Zero was in his hotel room, telepathically communicate to King Louis. As is his habit, he spoke out loud the mental messages he passed to Louis.......

"Sir? Yes, me and Aeris are now members of the Celadrin Clan, Louis. No, Louis, the Celadrin Clan will not threaten us, in fact they might help us if we ask for their aid. Yes, Louis, I think they have something to do with the Shentavos. Not sure, but i will ask. Louis? Are you sure about this? Very well then, i will tell him........"

He awoke from his trance, and stood up. He checked his weaponry next. His Uzi and ammo, check. His Dual Elites and ammo, check. His 10 throwing knives, check.

The Heaven Sword and the Dragon Saber. Check.

Picking up everything he brought with him, Zero left the hotel room, and took flight back to the mansion. Liam will be glad to learn that King Louis of Atros will support the Celadrin Clan in their ventures.........

"Pleasure to meet you." Roman said to Zero. He could tell Zero was a vampire at first glance, but he had never heard of "Noble Blood".

Roman walked outside and quickly morphed into a barn owl and flew back to his hotel. Since his hotel was in the center of town he took a bus to the edge of town and walked the rest of the way. I'll send for some more of my things later. Roman liked this house, but his heart would always be with the house he had in the mountains.

Roman placed his duffel in his room and walked back to the conference room with the teakwood suitcase with his newly purchased Holland&Holland. He opened the case and pulled each part indenpendently and looked over them before he began to reassemble it. In the back of his mind he was wondering who would sit in the other two spots.

OOC:Here's a pic of the Heaven Sword and the Dragon Saber:

http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0bADlAggiklQ6onoFkguLZvTy0n8pwHu1QvB2BoNjzxI2ZzSQPf9MmiiWNQLKLO6YDyc22e93WJf3hF0xCmYYJFWmz63Ny2sWZT* YcNU1l!HSRhygsaQ6akFQvmGWK7q09UlChIkUGUy8kRJHGKqf*K2u6DCi7hCr/Heaven%20Sword%20and%20Dragon%20Saber.bmp

The longsword on the top is the Heaven Sword, while the ornately decorated "willow leaf" broadsword on the bottom is the Dragon Saber.

Not wanting to intrude, Zeratul merely cloaked himself and went into deep meditation.

For what is my purpose, For who am I to save, The following of an angel is forever what my lfie has craved, Even in light there is a darkness, Vampires, and shapeshifters, Public Relations. Fate has brought many strange twists, but this one has to be the wierdest.
So many thoughts of what has taken place, weary of this, Zeratul gets up and searches for a room to rest in. Walking through the halls he notices a strange marking on the wall. It is a triangle on top of a circle with one eye closing behind the moon, and the other eye opening in front of the the sun.

Wierd indeed, I must ask Liam about this

Intruiged by this marking, Zeratul goes back to the room and starts to talk to Roman while waiting for Liam to come back.

"What gifts brought you here my friend? I myself am trying to discover who I am and who I am meant to be."
He leaves off, waiting for Roman to respond.

Liam lifted his staff and held it horizontally behind his back and paused as he began the defense lesson.

“There was once a wise one on this Earth who said, ‘The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy.’ A tactic you should always keep in mind, Aeris, for it will keep you alive.”

The staff tapped the ground, and then rose above Liam’s head in an arc in front of his body. A light blue transparent shield in the shape of a half circle, its open cone toward Liam.

“To begin your shield, you must imagine the existence of the possibilities of such a shield that is capable of defending yourself. Now, let’s see what you can conjure up, once you do, I shall commence with an attack to test your durability with the shield.”

--You feel it, don’t you? You feel it coursing through your veins. Every shift. Every change. Everything. I don’t know how you handle it, but I suppose that’s why they chose you for that purpose, and not one of us. I don’t think any of us would be able to cope with it, to be responsible for everything. Not even Lotus has the patience to deal with it. While he is patient he isn’t you. Oh, no he isn’t you.

-Get to your point, Kaos; I am in no mood to play your games. You’ve known I’ve carried this burden, and you already know why I was the one that was chosen.

--That’s true, however it’s just that I’m interested, how you’re able to maintain it. With your source of survival gone, what do you live off of? Don’t give me that shit about living off faith or your love for him, I know that he is gone. Why are you still alive? Why not return back to where you came from. Lotus and I have missed your face.

-I have things on this world worth sticking around for.

--And what would that be? You think your going to cleanse this corrupt world with your essence? You think that there are still people worth saving? You think that there is one person out there, who hasn’t committed a sin, do you?! Why not be where you’re supposed to be, in the throne of a God.

-God? GOD?! You consider any of us Gods? We are servants Kaos, and nothing more! That is our purpose. We are not gods, because gods can not be killed. I have died three times Kaos. Does that sound like the definition of a God to you! Huh?!

--Such reverence a servant has then, for the worms that she serves. You’re beautiful, has anyone ever told you that? Those flushed cheeks, and your lips are trembling with anger as you choke back your words. I know your holding them back. But you didn’t answer my question, how do you live?

-I have not had anything besides that stone for my entire existence besides that of my fiancée. Not till this day…

--You’ll grow weak. You’ve already lost your wings.

-They are not lost from me, they were torn by your hand from me.

--So touchy, aren’t we?

-Take one more step forward and you will find yourself in a lot of pain. You wish to challenge me, go ahead and try. Unlike you, I have nothing to lose.

--So the angel of my nightmare decides that she wants vengeance. Pick a side, for Christ’s sake. Which will you align with? Will you be hell’s angel or heaven’s? Will you live in light or darkness? Will you live up to seraphim or Sephiroth! Choose now!

-I am part of both worlds. That is why they chose me. And it is something you can not understand.

--there are new clans forming, did you know that? More of your friends have come.

-I am quite aware, though it has been millennia from the time I have sat with Lotus, you, and Cougaji, so sorry if I wasn’t informed.

--Well why don’t you go meet them? See what they think of your tainted blood, eh?

-Leave me, Kaos. I do not meet those that I have no reason to be concerned with.

--oh…but you really should. You see…

Roman put the rifle on the table as he turned to Zeratul. Smiling the man turned into an owl and perched himself on the chair. Roman flew off and transformed back to himself before morphing himself into a dingo. Roman once again morphed back to himself.

"I can transform at will to nearly any animal I wish my friend."

The figure sat...

and pondered...

In the distance of the bleak, reddish valley, screams could be heard from the millions of tortured souls.

The Langertromper continued its work, stuffing body after body into its three, cavernous mouths.

The harpiewidows plied their trade with not beautiful looks, but with horrific screams, literally enough to fillet the skin off of any unlucky body.

The Killerkirin simply walked around the vast expanse of Hell, treading on those who felt it proper to throw themselves prostrate across his steaming path.

Still, the figure sat...

He knew that it would soon be time to send the messenger. It would be time to begin the game anew with yet another Clan.

But at least one player remained the same.

He pondered...

IC: Aeris just stared at Liam, dumbfounded at how he seemed to create his spell so easily. She stuttered, "But how....I mean....I can't....."

Liam smiled, and put his hand to Aeris' lips.

"Hush, child. You can do it. You just have to be patient. Open your mind, Aeris. Let yourself do the magic. Don't hinder yourself." He drew back.

She frowned. She didn't want to disappoint Liam, but at the same time........she started thinking of the shield that she had created by instinct, back on the jetliner. Then she recalled Liam's movement with his own staff. Slowly, she raised her staff, and kept the scene of her shield-creation in mind. She concentrated, and tapped her Rose Staff the way Liam did it.......

Nothing happened.

"Relax, Aeris. Let your mind go free."

She frowned again, and then tried to do exactly what Liam said. She concentrated, filtering out all distraction, and tapped the ground again......

This time, the translucent white shield Aeris knew flickered into existence......flickered, died out, flickered again, and then disappeared.

"Very good, my child! That was good work! Now, Aeris, relax a little more.....concentrate, you're almost there......."

She smiled, then frowned again.........she became very quiet, and then tapped the Staff again......

The shield flickered into view.....flickered out......in.......and finally it stabilized. Aeris now had a constant white shield in front of her.

"Very good, Aeris! Now, are you ready?"

She nodded, although she was starting to sweat profusely from the great exertion, it was something she had never done before.........

_______________________________________________________________


At this time, Zero landed back on the verandah of the mansion.

Sheyrena Rhys-Ane was bored. She was sitting on the forest floor watching her faerie friend Amalexia as she flitted about the tree branches looking for berries. Suddenly, Sheyrena heard a squawk and a crow tore out of the woods as though frantically trying to escape. An instant later, the sprite appeared on Sheyrena's lap, face covered in berry juice, an indginant expression on her face. Sheyrena giggled at the sight of her friend.

Lexie! What happened to you?

The faerie glared at her, obivously unamused. That bird tried to eat me. Me! I have never been so insulted in all my-

Lexie was interrupted as she tumbled out of Sheyrena's lap. The ten-year old was shaking with laughter.

Well! I never! The faerie dusted herself off and flew over to land on Sheyrena's nose. And I suppose you find this all highly entertaining?

Oh Lexie! gasped Sheyrena between laughs He probably- giggles -thought- giggles -you were a bug!

Lexie kicked Sheyrena in the chin and flew off to sulk on a nearby branch.

Much later, Lexie floated above the forest, scouting the territory. Periodically she would call back to Sheyrena when she spotted something interesting. Suddenly, the trees stopped. She was over a clearing and there was a house. A huge house. In the middle of nowhere...

Rena? You better come look at this. Now. called Lexie.

Sheyrena appeared, floating next to Lexi in midair.

What's so import- Sheyrena gaped as she saw the beautiful mansion. Suddenly her concentration faltered and she plummeted toward the earth.

Zero was about to enter the mansion, when he saw something out of the corner of his eye....... he stepped out, and looked up at the sky. It was something falling from the sky......no, make that someone.......a mortal female.......a 10-year-old mortal female?

Dropping his things, Zero jumped, and soared into the air.........

_________________________________________________________


Meanwhile, Sheyrena was trying to regain her concentration. She almost had it......suddenly, she felt something hit her, and she was......floating in the air. But she hadn't regained her concentration yet.......she looked up, and she saw a silver-haired vampire with emerald green eyes, carrying her. He looked scary..........


A shrill voice pierced the night.

Liam noticed the sweat upon Aeris’ brow and caught her attention from her eyes.

“Very good,” he repeated, “Now, since this is your first true lesson, I shall tell you what spells I’m using, rather than having you adapt with no knowledge of the matter. Therefore, you will learn what you are capable of in any field of magic, whether it is a -fire-spell, water-spell and more.”

Liam moved into action, his shield keeping pace with his movements and perfectly surrounding him. The staff was held at the waist, tilted upwards slightly and aggressively toward Aeris. Her eyes would already by be trying to focus on the defenses.

“This will be a fire elemental,…” announced Liam as red-orange flames licked out from the staff and shot toward Aeris and collided into her shield. For a moment, it appeared that Aeris would keep her shield up and defend herself.

The shield disappeared. Aeris was thrown to the ground under the force of the simple spell. Flames licked at Aeris’s feet, causing her to jump up and dance erratically in surprise.

Liam ceased the fire spell. The flames ceased to burn Aeris' feet. “Are you all right?"

Aeris nodded, with a slightly embarrassed look on her face. Her staff lowered in her grip.

"Good. Very nice try. Let’s try that again…” Liam commanded.

Aeris got her shield up after her second try once more, this time, shining a bit brighter than her previous one. Liam cast another fire spell upon it and watched in pride as it surrounded the shield.

And so, the lesson continued, with Aeris getting a basic spell of each elemental to test her skills. Each time, she grew more confident in herself, and each time, her shield shone with a brighter hue…

She was on her way to becoming who she truly was…

"Intruiging, a gift that indeed will come in use for many times. Such a gift should be wisely though, there are many consequences to every action we take. I have learned this lesson more often than I should of. Its always the smallest thing that transforms your destiny, be on awares."

Losing all sence of time and space, Zeratul sat down, leaned back, and feel asleep waiting for Liam to come back from training Aeris.

Sheyrena screamed as the strange creature caught her is his arms. He was going to kill her, she was sure of it. Kill her and eat her. She reached out with her mind, as she struggled to get free. Suddenly she heard a new voice in her mind. It was the vampire.

Be still little one. You are safe. No one is going to harm you.

Sheyrena looked into his eyes, his startling emerald-green eyes, and she knew he spoke the truth. He would not hurt her. She stopped screaming and relaxed as they floated slowly down to earth. Just as they landed, a streak of red zoomed past Zero, cutting his left cheek.

Suddenly, Lexie appeared, hovering in midair in front of Zero's face, screaming in his mind, brandishing her daggers.

LET HER GO!!

Zero set Sheyrena on her feet and grasped the faerie around the waist, between his forefinger and thumb. He looked at Sheyrena as though expecting an explanation.

"A friend of yours?" he asked.

Sheyrena craned her neck to look at the trapped faerie. She put a hand on her hip and shook her index finger at her friend.

Lexie! How could you? He was saving me, silly, and now you've hurt him. Say sorry.

The faerie crossed her arms, scowled and said nothing.

Sheyrena lapsed back into regular speech and adressed Zero.

"I'm sorry Mister Vampire. Lexie was just trying to save me. She didn't mean to hurt you. Really she didn't."

Zero let the faerie go. Lexie zoomed off to sulk. The vampire and the child looked after her.

"She'll be back. Don't worry." Sheyrena smiled and looked up at her saviour, her eyes shone with adoration.

Zero wiped off the blood that spilled on his face. Already his wound has healed. That faerie may be a good guardian, but she didn't know the first thing about vampires.......he wondered whether to tell her to arm herself with silver daggers, then decided that could wait.

"You are okay, I hope?" Zero asked the girl.

"Yes, Master Vampire, it's nothing for worry." replied the girl.

Now Zero had a lot of questions running through his head.

"What's your name, little girl?"
"I'm Rena.....Sheyrena, actually, but Rena is just fine." She looked up at the imposing figure of Zero with a smile.
"Ah, Sheyrena, that's a nice name. Well, Rena, can you tell me how you learned to fly? A little girl like you shouldn't be flying around without guidance, you know? You could hit a plane up there."
"I...I don't know how I learned. I just can."

Zero raised his eyebrows. Rena did look like she wasn't lying.......

Aeris looked up at Liam, now having completed the basic lessons of defense. Liam smiled and congratulated her,

“Very good Aeris. You have adapted and learned faster than many I know. I am beginning to think you may very well be capable of becoming one of the most powerful arcane users in this world…and with my guidance, this will beco---“

Liam was suddenly interrupted by a mind-splitting scream of anger:

LET HER GO!!

Liam grimaced visibly under the screaming voice in his head. What the frell is that?!

The screaming stopped. Liam looked up at Aeris from his kneeling position. He hadn’t realized his movements from the telepathy.

“Something’s wrong…” he reported. With a burst of movement, he unfolded his wings to Aeris to their full span and turned toward the doorway. A powerful gust of wind rocked the room, as Liam lifted off the floor and rocketed into the hallway. The training room ceased its magical scenery and returned the room back to a dusty and completely empty room. Aeris looked around in slight surprise at the rapid changes.

Liam turned the corner into the conference room, flying at a rapid pace and blew with a powerful gust of wind over the conference table, seriously spooking the remaining members in the room, and nearly giving Zeratul a heart attack. Liam continued his flight out the double doors and into the sky. He had gotten a good fix as to where the telepathic scream had come from, as well as having a good memory of its telepathic signature of the owner…

Not far from the mansion…
___________________________

Suddenly over Zero and Rena, a dark shape cast a dark shadow upon them. Both looked up to see what caused such an event, and were surprised to see an angelic being above them, majestic in its flight, and suddenly seeming quite menacing. The angel dove quickly and charged toward the two, his staff in hand and emitting a powerful blue aura down upon the two.

Zero fell to the ground in defense, pulling Rena down with him as well. Rena screamed in fear at the sudden threat.

The angel swooped low over them and then turned quickly about and landed in front of them. They cowered before him…

“Who disturbs the peace of the land?!” demanded Liam as he glared at both of them…

"It's okay Rena, you don't have to explain if you don't know how to. By the way, I am Zero."

Startled out of his conversation by the great flying specter, Zero pulled a screaming Rena down on the ground. Immediately, sensing great power in this unknown enemy, Zero leapt up, and running up to the unknown specter, pulled out his Dragon Saber and slashed it at the specter. His battle energy lanced out from the Saber and struck at the specter, but to his astonishment, a great blue shield appeared in front of the specter, and when Zero's battle energy hit the shield, it......dissipated. Not without the specter stumbling from the force of the impact though.

As he made for a second strike, Zero looked at the figure more closely, and found it familiar.......could it be Liam???!!!

Then he sensed strange energies gathering behind him, and instinctively knew Rena was about to do something.......she's attacking Liam as well!

He turned, but could not stop what was about to happen.............

_______________________________________________________________

Aeris ran out the room, down the way Liam had flew, and was just in time to see her master Zero attack what appeared to be Liam at the other end. She didn't have time to scream a warning...........

.........but Liam actually deflected Zero's energy slash, causing Aeris to stare in surprise. Liam could do that? She's never seen anyone else deflect the powers of Zero..........

For the second time in under an hour, Sheyrena screamed. The specter bore down on her, coming in for what she supposed was the kill. Suddenly Zero was there.

He pulled out a huge sword and advanced toward the spectre and its blue light. What was he doing? He was going to get himself killed. Rena had to do something. She just had to. No-one but Lexie had ever looked at her that way before...like she was just a normal girl instead of a freak.

Unsure of what she was doing, but determined to save her friend, Sheyrena closed her eyes and focused. Reaching out with her mind, she picked up the specter and threw it backwards as hard as she could...

Liam took only a single step back from Zero’s attack, more to stabilize himself, rather than from the true force of the attack.

Suddenly, Liam sensed a change in the flow of the winds of the cosmos. Moments later, he found himself being thrown backwards. Using his momentum to his advantage, Liam spun backwards and spread his wings to slow his momentum and land softly upon the ground. Immediately, he called out,

“Child! I am more powerful than you’ll ever dream to be. I suggest you cease your attacks!”

Liam followed through with his threat and leveled his staff toward the child. A bolt of blue lightning charged and zapped outward at her, leveling her to her backside upon the ground. It was a small attack, one meant to stun, rather than harm. Liam faced Zero with a gleam in his eye, a gleam that warned him to not irk the seraphim any more than he already was…

“Explain yourself. Now.”

Zero stopped in his tracks. "Sorry Liam, the way you shot out of the mansion alarmed me. You can't blame me for reacting the way i did", gesturing at the Saber. "Next time, perhaps you will introduce yourself in a less hasty manner."

Liam merely seethed, "What were you doing with that girl, Zero? You're not supposed to harm her!"

"Am not going to harm her too. I caught her falling out of the sky, stupid as that sounds." Zero turned and looked at Rena. "It's okay, Rena, he's a friend. You explain to him."

Rena stepped forward, still unsure of the intentions of this seraph. "It's true, Mister Angel. I was flying when i lost concentration, and i kinda fell out of the sky, until Mister Zero here caught me before i hit the ground." She looked back up at Zero, with the same shine of adoration in the eyes.

Liam relaxed. Just then, Aeris came running towards them, hindered somewhat by the Rose Staff she wouldn't let go of.

"Master Zero, Master Liam! Are you all right? Is anyone hurt? Oh my, oh my......"

Zero put his finger to Aeris' lips as she came to them. "It's okay, love, just a misunderstanding between Liam and myself."

She nodded, then looked at Sheyrena, wondering where she came from.......

"Oh yes, Aeris. This is Sheyrena here."
"Oh, I see. Hello, Sheyrena. I'm Aeris." She extended a hand to Rena.

Sheyrena looked at Aeris, with a queer look in her eyes........

Liam relaxed his grip on his staff as Zero and Sheyrena explained their situation. The anger and power had ebbed away from Liam, but the memory of only a fraction of his strength remained strong in Zero’s, Sheyrena’s and Aeris’s mind.

Thoughtfully, he listened to Sheyrena, merely a child, explain her reasoning for being in the area. Yet, he didn’t listen fully, for he was searching the child, searching and feeling out her psychic prowress…

This one was strong, unnaturally strong…

Yet, one thing remained in Liam’s mind, a single unanswered question.

“Who is the one that screamed telepathically? I know it is neither of you.”

Sheyrena spoke up, “That was my best friend Lexie…however…she kinda ran away. She’s not happy right now…”

Liam licked his lips in thought, “I see…Very well then, I’m sure Lexie can take care of herself wherever she has gone. For now, let us go back inside, and make sure you are all right, child.”

For the moment, Liam was content to only address Sheyrena by “child.” As for Lexie, Liam had already pinpointed her location. She wasn’t too far away, and it seemed that she was still irritated about something.

Liam gave no indication of his discovery of Lexie to any of the others, as he led the way back to the mansion, his white staff tapping rhythmically upon the cobblestone path. They all entered the mansion and followed Liam to the conference room.

Liam looked around the room, noting the various displaced items that had been moved by his flight earlier. Zeratul looked a little paler for the normal, causing Liam to realize that he had been in the room at the same time as Liam’s suddenly flight.

Poor guy…I must have made him crap his pants…

Liam didn’t say anything to anyone as he stood in the conference room, his eyes wandering from face to face. The others introduced themselves and nodded to Liam. It was such an array of faces, such a diverse background of beings in the same room as he. He turned to Sheyrena and spoke,

“You are welcome to call this your home, child. The same goes for your friend, Lexie.”

Yet, Liam didn’t quite see any reasoning to invite the child into the clan’s inner circle. But this wouldn’t stop his hospitality…

Speaking of hospitality…this place needs its furniture…

“This mansion has many rooms for you to choose to reside in. Choose as you please, except no one is to take my suite on the third floor. Aeris, Sheyrena, there are available rooms for both of you as well.”

Liam turned to face the remainder of the mansion, which consisted of only a small part to be seen, but the majority of the of the building. With a wave of his hand and his staff to follow; but in the opposite direction; the sounds of furniture plunking down in each of the rooms of the mansion. He turned to the room. For the first time a slight weariness could be seen upon Liam’s face. It had been a busy day today…

Zero and the girls walked away to their own choices of location in the mansion. Liam went to the sunroom and seated himself upon the lounge chair. At the least, he would be able to get some sleep with a quick nap…

Zero walked into the mansion behind Liam, stopping to pick up the luggage on the verandah.

“By the way, Liam, where am I supposed to stay?”
“You can choose any room you want, Zero. Or maybe, considering your nature, I’ll make a room just for you.”
“And Aeris?”
“I remember. Just relax here for a while, then you can come up and pack your luggage.”

Zero stopped and watched Liam walk up the stairs, then seated himself at the star-shaped table once more, with Aeris seating herself besides him. As he sat there, he noticed Rena admiring the table, touching and studying the engraved symbol on the table. He sighed. This has been a long night.

“Master Zero?”
“Yes, love?”
“What happened back there?”
“Oh……it is as I said. Little girls really should not be flying about without their parents”, said Zero with a grin.

Just then, Liam came back down.

“Ok Zero, you may come up now. I’ve got both your rooms ready.”

Aeris, listening to him, turned her attention back on Zero.

“Master Zero…..our rooms?”
“Yes, you get your own room. Don’t worry about that, I asked him to give you a room of your own.”
“But Master Zero, you know I don’t mind being in the same room as you, love.”
“I know you don’t, but I do. See, you’ve grown so pale for want of sunlight”, caressing her face, “it’s good for you to get some sun for a change. With your own room, you can now let in the sun…..something I’ve not been able to give you……..”
“Master……”
“Hush, child, it’s okay. You can have your own room.”

30 minutes later

Aeris sat in the bath of the personal toilet attached to her room. Having packed her things out for her, Zero had promptly left, gone to pack out his own things. She was almost submerged in the foam, but was apparently enjoying herself, blowing the bubbles everywhere, like a little girl.

She sank into the bath, and sighed. Such comfort……..not a few months ago, she had never known such comfort, resigning herself that such comforts were for the rich. That was then, before her Death picked her up from the streets, gave her her life back, and took her on a wealthy, but nomadic, trip of his life……......

A knocking sound rang on the door with a loud tap tap

“Who is it?”, Aeris called out, sitting up.
“It’s me, love.”
“Master Zero……oh. Come in, please.” Aeris called back.

The doorknob glowed purple, and Aeris heard the lock snap open. The door opened, and Zero stepped in, closing the door and locking it behind him.

“Master Zero? Is there something wrong?”
“No…….just, well, we’ve not done this for quite a while.” Zero took off his coat, and started stripping off his shirt.
“Master?”
“Well, I need someone to talk to. About tonight. You okay with that?”
“Of course, love. I’ve been wanting to talk about this too……..” Aeris watched as Zero finished stripping himself off, and came towards her, looking every bit like a moving, breathing replica of Michelangelo’s David sculpture………

Zero lowered himself into the bath, sitting himself behind Aeris. With a sigh, Aeris sank into Zero’s body, while Zero started laving her arms. She noticed that Zero was warm, and had a smell of alcohol to him……..

“You’ve drank, love?”
“Yes. I’ve not killed anyone.”
“I know, love, that’s your style. But the alcohol……?”
“Some winos on the street. Drank too much for their own good.” They both laughed at that. Presently, they sobered up again. He laved her neck.

“It’s been a long, strange night, Master.”
“I know, love. We are both members of a Clan now. Isn’t that strange?”
“Yes……..what I wanna know is, what are we doing here, my immortal?”
“What do you mean?”
“I dunno……It’s not like I don’t like it here, but………I’m not sure what I’m supposed to be doing here. Oh, there’s Master Liam, of course, he’s teaching me, but what after that?”
“I don’t know, gentle Aeris. All I’m doing is to take this one step at a time.”
“I see…….I shall follow you then.”
“Yes, sweetheart……” He patted Aeris on the back. “Sit up.”

She obeyed, and Zero started laving her slim, fragile-looking back.

“How long will we be here, love?”
“I don’t know, Aeris. As long as it will take, I expect.”
“Oh……..i’m scared, Zero. There’s been too much change tonight. I don’t understand what’s going on.”
“Me too, love, but that’s why I’m here”, Zero replied, moving on to her small waist. “Let’s just take this one at a time. I’ll protect you, don’t worry.”
“Yes…..Master Zero, my immortal lover……”

Aeris seemed to fall asleep on Zero’s chest, while he started on her legs. Presently, she awoke.

“Zero?”
“Yes, love?”
“Do you think I should continue with the training Master Liam’s been giving me? I don’t know if I wanna go on with it……”
“I’m sorry, am I pushing you to something you don’t want to do…….?”
“No, no, it’s not that at all, I like it very much, I do, being able to do it and all, it’s just……..i don’t know, love. I’m afraid.”
“Afraid? How?”
“It’s like……I’m afraid it will change me, Zero. I’m afraid it will change me so much, that I’m no longer myself. I’m afraid that this……this might make me leave you…….”
“Silly girl. Nothing’s ever gonna break us apart. Don’t worry about that.”
“Yes………”

They continued in the bath…………

Zeratul, all ataken aback by the rapid events taking place took awhile to regain his thoughts. He then moved to Liam and began speaking,
"Is there somewhere we can talk privately?"

"Yes, there is the libary just down the hall. There we can speak for hours without any interuptions."

As Liam led the way, Zeratul took a quick glance at the girl and then turned around and followed Liam.

Strange it is for one so young and small to be here. Indeed there is something different about her, but at such a ripe age, she should be with her parents, not among adults.

As they entered the libary, Zeratul took a seat and began confronting Liam with his inquires.

"As I was making my way through one of the halls in this mansion, I ran across an unusual symbol. It intruiged my mind and I was wondering if you could tell me more about it. And why is it I am here, and you assigned me to such an akward role of public relations. Surely you know of my past, and the destruction I had brought.
What am I doing here?"

Liam stood before Zeratul, leaning against his mahogany desk. His arms were crossed in front of his chest, his eyes were tired, yet his mind was still sharp.
“Well, to get lesser problems out of the way, I assigned you the post of Public Relations, knowing your past history, and your obvious ability to get into strategic positions to complete your task, whether it be assassination; as you once did; or merely establishing important connections for the clan. I believe that despite your history, you are still of good nature, and would still be a benefit for this clan.”

Liam paused for a moment and studied Zeratul’s face.

“As for that unusual symbol, describe it if you would.”

Zeratul cleared his throat before answering making sure to describe the symbol exactly as he had seen it. He further supported this by providing a quick sketch of it upon a piece of paper. Liam picked up the paper and studied it, thinking carefully. His eyes ran over the triangle suspended above the circle, then studied the closed eye behind the moon, and the open eye in front of the sun.

An odd design…yet, I have seen this before…but where?

Silence filled the library.

The triangle, obviously of the triad: God, immortal beings such as I, and the Spirit…

The circle is Earth…

yet, what puzzles me is the moon and sun…

And the eyes…so odd…

Liam looked up from the paper at Zeratul who merely waited for his response. Liam shook his head negatively for a moment, before speaking.

“This is very interesting…I can only decipher part of it. I will need to take this with me tonight. I wish to think about this some more…”

With that, Liam stood and walked toward the door, the paper still in his grasp. He stopped, and turned to Zeratul once more.

“It seems that you do not wish to be here. If that is the case, I hold no right to force you to remain. You are free to leave.”

Liam departed the library, leaving Zeratul alone to himself…

OOC: *questions the wisdom of giving a ten-year-old her own room in a mansion* Oh, well...

IC: In the center of the room to which Sheyrena had been sent was the biggest bed the girl had ever seen. Her eyes bugged out and she squealed with glee as she threw herself onto the center of it and began to jump. After about five minutes of continous jumping, she let herself drop onto the center of the bed.

I'm bored, she thought. I wonder where Lexie is. The girl reached out with her mind, but found nothing. She wasn't surprised. If Lexie didn't want to be found, she wouldn't be.

Left to her own devices, Sheyrena could think of only one thing to do to occupy her time: explore. What she really wanted was to pull a prank, but she'd have to find someone first.

(OOC Bump anyone? I will be joining soon with Kain folks, so I want it to carry on going :P)

The figure sat, and pondered.

He looked out over the Suicide Trees, moaning and wailing about their reasons for ending it all in their past life.

He remembered when it was just a small grove. Now it was a veritable rainforest.

He looked out again over the expanse of hell, and fingered the key that once more graced his throat. It had been ages since he had regained the place from Dumas and Razeal, but then again, it was unlikely that the representatives of the light could have truly resisted his offer...

But that was in the past, and alas, he had nothing really to look forward to since the dissapearance of Mazikeen of the Lilin.

The being clapped his hands twice, razing the air with his worn hands and causing the valley to quiver with pain.

At once, a shapeless, imageless entity appeared beside him. It did not speak, but awaited an order.

"Bring me the Book of Destiny."

The shapeless, imageless entity stayed for a brief moment, as if to acknowledge the order.

The figure knew that the angels would need a test.

And so he pondered, thinking up the plan that would give them one.

Immediately, the shapeless, imageless entity returned with a fraying book, that seemed quite thin and large at the same time.

The figure smiled. He had made a great bargain when he had acquired the book from Destiby of the Endless.

He flipped it open and randomly began to troll the pages.

...
...
...
..?

The shapeless, imageless entity moved closer to the book in the figures lap.

"Her. Bring her to me."

Again, the shapeless, imageless entity stayed for a brief moment before disappearing.

The figure looked out over the Suicide Trees, moaning and wailing again about the injustice of it all...

Zeratul, taken aback by the answers given to him, sits down and wieghs his options.

I could leave, pretend I was never here, and go on about my life. But that would do no good, I will still not know myt purpose.
...
I will stay and bear the burdens given to me, but first I will do a little research on my "friends". Since I'm in a libary, I might as well start looking here.

He picks up the first book he could find on vampires, and begins reading.

OCC: I might be gone a few day, I have alot going, so thats why I left this post so vague. Talk to everyone soon, hopefully.

Satin fabric slid against her legs in an effortless caress on her soft skin in rhythm with the movement of her hips. Her back was exposed by the cut of the dress which tied around her neck. Her lips were a deep red, her eyes; crimson. Her hair was a dark chocolate color that gleamed in natural red undertones. Her skin was pale, but she did not seem weak or unstable. New life breathed beneath her breast, and coursed through her veins. It seemed that her sexuality overcame her modesty, but the Shentavos were a clan of pride. They possessed a LOT of pride, so much so that they would die before it could be taken away.

Liam… her velvet coated voice called out silently.

She walked beneath a tree, and looked up toward a rather large building, but in comparison with her home, it didn’t seem that intimidating. The sun came out from behind the clouds and shown upon her face, illuminating her eyes. She parted her lips only partly in revealing a hint of her fangs. She was the original Shentavo, Ravelyn. People seemed to call her Ravelyn less often than Rave…and Azrael less often than Ravelyn. Azrael was her true name, but she never said herself as such. She had no trouble recalling the times when she, Cougaji, Lotus, and Kaos were together. But that had ended a very long time ago. Cougaji, having recently gained some of that memory back…Lotus appearing, and Kaos speaking with her again…things were about to change very much so.

Liam… she called again, looking up toward a window as she walked toward the building, still a good distance away.

As Liam held the piece of paper in his hand and walked quietly down the hall, he froze when he heard the melodic voice speaking in an angelic language…only another of angelic origins could be capable of this speech.

The angelic language was actually divided into two sub-languages, the Krynia; language of the heavenly hosts, and the Gormesh; language of the rejected hosts. The voice that had echoed in Liam’s mind was speaking in Kyrnia…

Liam pocketed the paper into his robe and moved to the front door. He glanced around and noticed that all the others had gone their way for the night.

Good.

Liam opened the door and stepped out, his staff in hand, the blue crystal remaining dark. The sunlight suddenly shone down upon his face, surprising him.

Odd…I thought it was still nighttime…more time must have slipped away faster than I had expected…nevertheless, no matter… he thought silently to himself.

Liam stepped away softly from the mansion and began to search carefully.

Who calls for my audience? Show yourself!

Liam continued to walk farther from the mansion, and closer to whomever it was that called. He was cautious, for even though Krynia was specifically used by angels of good standing…it was still possible to be used by corrupted souls of the fallen.

It was morning. Zero had gone to his day-sleep. Usually, Aeris would sleep with him in the same bed, but now that she has her own room, Aeris decided that she would do what Zero hoped her to do, that is to see the sun. She watched the sun rise, and felt her heart lift at the sight. It has been long since she had seen the sun.....well, not that true, she has often slipped out to see the sun, but never has she felt safe enough to leave Zero for more than half an hour.

And now, she could sit here and enjoy the warmth of the sun as much as she liked.

As she gazed out the window and felt the rays on her face, she felt happy, even lighthearted. Quite soon, however, she became sad, thinking of how Zero had never enjoyed this for his past 1718 years of existence as a vampire.....and probably never will.

Then she saw 2 figures outside. It was......Liam, and another person......a woman......a vampire? But it can't be......it's broad daylight......not knowing what this could mean, Aeris nevertheless knew that it's probably not polite to intrude. Maybe she'll ask Liam about that later. For now........maybe she'll go train on her own.

Entering the empty training room, Aeris got a shock from finding that it's empty, only to remember that everything disappeared when Liam flew out. Master Liam did tell her the words she should use.......what is it now........

Summoning what breathe she had, she exclaimed,

"Aeloniumia Telarin Exclamus!"

And there it was. The magic training room with all its equipment. She walked into the center of the room, admiring again the stylings of the room, and started practicing her shield charm again.

Soon though, without Liam testing her willpower, she grew bored of merely holding her shield in place, and ended her training by dissolving her shield. Then she cast a second glance on the book of magic, holding place of honor on its stand.

Intrigued, Aeris went over to the open Book for a look, only to be disappointed as she found it intelligible. It was all in a script unknown to her. However......she looked closely, and although the script on the page did not become anymore intelligible, something stirred within her.......it seemed like her sould could read what her eyes could not.........

"Naar cam", Aeris whispered without much comprehension of the true meaning. Unfortunately for her, it was the spell-word for the spell "Burning Hands".

Suddenly her hands caught fire. Although she felt no pain, Aeris shrieked at the surprise, let her Staff fall from her grip, and wrung her hands as if to shake the fire off her hands like she would shake water off.

And interestingly enough, the fire fell from her hands like water, and the flames dropped onto the floor, burning itself out without seeming to harm the floor whatsoever. Aeris looked at this with interest, and remembered what Liam had told her, "Remember, child, magic is dangerous if not used properly. You must always keep that in mind."

Chagrined at her forgetfulness, Aeris turned to pick up her Staff.......only to find a rose on the floor. Confused, she picked up the rose, thought of the Staff in her mind's eye........and the next thing she knew, the Staff was in her hands again.

Cocking her head at this, she reminded herself not to try magic without Liam's guidance again. She walked out of the room, hungry from her efforts and looking for something to eat.......the room became a plain room again.

OOC: Just passing the time here...kinda waiting on Ravelyn to respond...

IC: A pair of slit eyes watched the human's feet walk away from herself, the feet slapping lightly on the wooden floor. With silent movements the cat followed the teen, making sure to keep her within sight.

Aeris walked into the mansion's large kitchen and opened the fridge, looking inside at a vast array of foods and drinks. She reached in to pull out a number of various foods, ranging from fruits to sweets. Aeris kicked the door shut with one foot and turned.

"Meeoooow!"

The food held in Aeris's hands were suddenly launched vertically as Aeris screamed in surprise. Strangely, she instantly went defensive and a shield appeared before her. The food began its descent back down and clattered onto the floor, and bounced off the shield, causing little ripples to show in the design of the shield.

The cat fled to the other end of the room in fear, and stared back at Aeris with large, fearful eyes.

Aeris deactivated the shield, and held out her hand, kneeling to the ground.

"I'm sorry kitty! You scared me. I scared you. I won't hurt you..."

Aeris picked up one of the sandwich meats she had been planning to eat and held it out for the cat's curiosity.

For several moments, the cat didn't move, but merely looked at Aeris. Then the meat. Then Aeris again. Finally, she slinked forward, each step tentative, her tail low and flicking lightly.

With a deft paw, the tabby cat swiped the meat out of Aeris's grasp and pulled it closer, attacking it with ravenous hunger. Aeris watched with happiness, and gently reached out to stroke the cat's fur. Naturally, the cat shed away from her, but soon returned.

Aeris picked up the cat and smiled, "You are a beautiful kitty! Your fur, so beautiful!"

Aeris began to stroke the cat's fur, and soon enough, the cat relaxed and began to purr contentedly.

OOC: Feel free to have anyone come runnning at Aeris's screaming. Liam won't hear it, cuz he's outside...

Ravelyn’s fingertips brushed across his neck, but she was not there when he turned around. Her eyes narrowed from a new position. She was a few feet from him, her eyes aglow in the light. She looked at Liam with an infamous smile.

“Hello Liam,” she said softly, a genuine smile passing over her lips. She observed him carefully. “You know I usually don’t meet any who descend to earth that live for more than a day. It seems that the world’s impurities affect them so, and their heart is attempted toward the worst of sides almost instantly. I am pleased that your journey was a safe one…” She smiled a little wider, her fangs showing only briefly. Her lineage was ancient, and she had come a very long time ago to this world. If he had heard of her, it would only be held in the texts of the seventh heaven, and possibly in rumors. Her name was often held with mentions of Kaos, Lotus, or Cougaji.

She held out her hand in greeting, she still held some old fashioned customs. “My name is Ravelyn, but if you have heard of me before, I am the seraphim Azrael. “

Roman stood in the shower, allowing the hot water to relax his mucles. After a half an hour he stepped out and wrapped a towel around his waist. Most of his personal things would be arriving in the next few days. He put on a pair of blue jeans and a green t-shirt.

Roman walked down the hallway toward the kitchen to make himself a cup of coffee. He was walking when he heard Aeris scream, Roman picked up the pace to a quick sprint when he opened the door expecting something. Instead she was petting a cat.

He noticed some of the food laying on the ground and smiled at the young girl when she saw him. His green cat-like eyes drifted to the tabby she was petting.

"At least it wasn't me who spooked you, I would have gone for a lion or tiger." He said with a laugh.

"Come on, Aeris. Lets clean up before Liam shows up."

At the mention of the words clean up, Aeris started.

"Oh, yes......i should. Well.......let's see now......."

Not having any knowledge of any magics that might help her in her task, she started clearing the dropped food on the floor. As she did so, she noticed that the little tabby cat was doing its part.......by dutifully snatching up the sandwich meats and eating, as well as lapping up the spilt milk.

On the other hand, Roman seemed to be hesistating in helping her clean up......

"Is he going to change himself into a cat and tuck in too?", Aeris thought irreverently, as she continued cleaning up.

Lexie flew back towards the mansion with a purpose. Once there, she slipped in under the front door and set about looking for Sheyrena. She crept through the corridors, peeking in each room as she passed. Most were empty, but she did find the library. There was a purple-eyed elf sitting in a corner reading a large book, but he did not interest her in the slightest.

Finally, half an hour later, she found Sheyrena, bouncing on a bed in a medium-sized chamber on the top floor of the mansion. She watched the girl silently for a moment. Then, convined the child was safe, she began to search for a different target.

This time, the search did not take nearly as long. She found the silver-haired, green-eyed vampire who had caught the plummeting Sheyrena asleep in a pitch-dark chamber. It was unfortunate that he was asleep; he would have to wake up. Lexie was determined that he should tell her his intentions towards Sheyrena.

Lexie was afraid that this creature did not realize how impressionable a young girl like Rena could be...

She flew silently into the room and landed lightly on his chest. She pulled a dagger and poked him in the ribs as she sent a thought into his mind.

Wake up! We need to talk. Now.

The vampire stirred...

......and Zero started, and in a flash, Lexie was struggling between his fingers, as he looked quizically at the little thing that had bothered him twice in 24 hours now.

"You know, I may be an Ancient, but I'm not so thick-skinned that I would require being poked with a dagger to wake me up", Zero admonished with reciprocal telepathy, then let go of Lexie. The fairy looked quite a sight, huffy and dishevelled at Zero's rough handling of her.

Ignoring the curses that Zero knew the fairy would be hurling at him in her mind, Zero switched on the lights to drive away the darkness caused by the opaque curtains, then continued, "Well, what is it? Speak."

Janine Forsyth was not a woman who was scared easily. As a high-power prosecution lawyer, she often had to face the worst criminals society had to offer: the pedophiles, the rapists, the murderers. Truly a motley crew of societys ills.

Yet, she was not scared. She was never scared.

Only one thing scared her: a simple childhood memory. When she was but five, she accidentally locked herself in her walk-in closet. It had taken her parents over an hour to find her.

She could remember the darkness, the oppresing black that threatened to crush her if she closed her eyes.

Strange. She did not cry during that time.

...
...

She cried now.

"NO WAIT! WHO ARE YOU???"

Janine stood on top of her bed in her condo at the Pallazio Delta in New York and cried, cried wet, burning tears. In front of her stood a woman, but... not a woman. She was dressed as a Victorian woman, but her dress was in tatters, and her face was darkened and sunken. That was not the scary thing though: where her stomach should have been was a hole to... who knew where. It moved as if it breathed independantly of the woman.

"STAY AWAY FROM ME!"

Janine didn't know why she was reacting so. She liked to think that she was a rational woman. Rational woman didn't jump on top of beds and screamed at the top of her lungs.

But this... this wasn't rational.

The woman stepped forward, and in an iron, cold grip, grabbed Janine's throat. In a raspy voice, the woman spoke.

"I... I am... the Hollower..."

And then Janine was shoved into the hole head first.

She was glad in a way. She hated it when she cried.

She didn't cry anymore.

Roman bent down and started helping Aeris clean up the mess. He also grabbed a mop from a closet and used it on the floor, much to the anger of the cat, who was trying to lick the last bit of food off the ground. When they finished Roman started a coffee maker that sat in the corner. In a few minutes it was finished and he poured himself a cup.

He grabbed some eggs, bacon, and sausage and started making himself some breakfast. He took a sip of coffee.

"Would you like anything?"

Liam lowered his staff to a resting position. His eyes ran over her features, taking in the details carefully, and noted the fangs with interest.

“Indeed, I have heard of you, Azrael. You have been a hard one to keep track of, but we have managed to do so with some success. Recently, I was dispatched to come to the Earth to assist you. I have proven to be extraordinarily resilient seraphim against the impurities. It has been noted that your clan has deteriorated, and the strength of old has waned. I have brought together a number of individuals, each with their own strengths unique to themselves that will benefit the clan and make a powerful alliance.”

Liam paused for a moment and shifted his stance. His wings twitched behind his back momentarily and settled once again. His eyes briefly looked over Azrael’s fangs once more. It intrigued him that such a powerful seraphim also held traits of dark beings.

“Since you are here, I would like to propose an official alliance between your remaining clan and mine. Together we shall stand fast against the rising tide of darkness that threatens all that is good in the world and worlds beyond. What do you say?”

Zeratul had spent the whole night reading up on vampires, shapeshifters, and what little he could find on angel's. He must of drifted off to sleep somewhere after 3 and stirred around 10.

After waking up abit and collecting his thoughts he goes into the lounge and begins to eat. He notices the shapeshifter, Roman, and the girl of pureness. He thinks bitterly to himself that one of such purity should not be alone with anyone here. Anybody could be a spy, an enemy, an unloyal member to the clan. After eating two raw eggs, he pretended to leave the room, but instead in the hallway he cloaked himself and started following the girl.

Ravelyn's reaction to the remark of her clan dwindling *which was true only in one sence, was one of distaste...however, the strong prevail and the weak perish. She and her son as well as his daughter, was still alive. It seemed that the only clan members possible of surviving had a direct link back to her.

"There will be four others to accompany me in representation of my clan. One should be here soon, though I do wonder why he isnt' here already..." she trailed off a bit, then regained her focus. "An alliance seems to be in order, for you see, the other seraphics that had traveled with me are dead. All of them." There was a shadow in her tone. Something must have went wrong, but she never spoke of it, and this was no different.

She walked past him toward the building. "My clan is not deteriorating...of that you have been misinformed." Her crimson eyes looked back to him. "We are very much alive...but perfer not to be tracked."

IC:
"Why, thank you, Master Roman." Aeris said sweetly, and in spite of herself, blushed. Soon Roman had a nice hot breakfast made just ready for her, and he did it by himself, despite Aeris' offers to help.

Through their breakfast, Aeris saw the Dark Elf Zeratul came in, and got a little wide-eyed when she saw the Drow swallow two raw eggs whole (OOC: I'm assuming that's what Zeratul did), before proceeding to disappear down a hallway. The tabby purred on her lap, and turned away Aeris' offers of food, having eaten enough, apparently.

After breakfast, Aeris said,
"Thank you, Master Roman, for your breakfast. Do allow me to cook for you next time." Roman smiled at her sweet request.

Then Aeris felt a bit of a chill. Is something looking at her without her knowing........? Although only human, her time spent with Zero the past few months had seemed to confer upon her greater instinct, and although her senses are still human, she noticed a lot more nowadays.

"Is someone following me?", Aeris thought.

(OOC Rave, would Kain be one of these people? I doubted that it was, but I plan on making him appear in this thread. Should Kain be contacted about this, as an oppertunity for him to get closer to the clan as such? Or should I make Kain appear out of the message reason, and wonder why he was not informed.)

Roman smiled at Aeris.

"You don't need to call me 'Master Roman' Aeris, Roman will do just as well."

Aeris looked at Roman and nodded, he quickly noticed her all of sudden get very nervous. Roman looked around, he didn't see anything, but he could smell someone over his meal.

"Something wrong?"

Roman looked around, he didn't see anything, but he could smell someone over his meal.

OOC: Whoo-eee! Somebody needs a shower! lol.

Velmora, enter as you wish. We'll all adapt to it.

IC:

Liam kept pace with Azrael until they were both at the front door. Then, he stepped forward and opened the door, allowing her to enter first. Liam led her into the conference room and offered her a seat at the star table. Voices could be heard from the kitchen. Obviously, some were hungry and had decided to fix themselves some food.

Good, now they're getting used to this place... Liam thought to himself.

"I think I shall introduce you to the rest of this clan." Liam suggested to Rave, before taking his staff and tapping it onto the ground. Strangely, a loud echo came from the tapping, and seemed like a summons to all in the clan.

Liam searched with his mind to find out where the rest were, and was surprised to discover two minds that were new.

Lexie and the cat...

Liam shrugged the thought away, the two weren't any threat at the moment.

"I'll be right back, Ravelyn."

Liam left Ravelyn to the decorative room, and entered the kitchen. Suddenly he froze and scowled. With a deft movement, he swung his staff sideways to the left and felt the crystal end connect surely with the cloaked individual's forehead. A cry was heard as Zeratul was instantly decloaked and thrown back from the force of the blow.

Liam stood over Zeratul, "Cloaking in our own mansion isn't necessary, Zeratul...I will speak to you about this later."

Liam turned to the rest of the startled group, "There is a meeting in the conference room. You will come immediately."

Liam turned and left the kitchen, noting some bits of food in the corner of the room with slight concern.

Liam made his way back to the conference room and seated himself at his position.

"They're coming."

OOC: Erm, problem here Tarl, Zero can't leave his darkened room, cause he's not Ravelyn, he will still get burned by the sun. What do you suggest? Another thing, Liam shouldn't have seen any food on the floor, Aeris and Roman's taken care of that already :p

IC:
"I don't know, Mas..... Roman. It seems like someone's watching me or something."

Just then, they heard the front door open, and soon after Liam came striding into the kitchen. With a scowl, Aeris saw Liam suddenly swing his staff at nothing......and hit a hiding Zeratul out of his cloak, startling her.

"So that was him.....but why would he do that?", Aeris wondered of Zeratul.

"There is a meeting in the conference room. You will come immediately.", Liam said, and as he left the kitchen, Aeris looked at Roman, before getting up and following.

As she entered the ceremonial room, Aeris saw.......a woman.......but how strange. She seemed almost like Zero, but different.....then with a light gasp, Aeris realised that this woman IS a vampire, or rather a vampiric being.......

"But she walks in the sun", Aeris thought. This confused her, and as the woman turned to face her, Aeris could think of nothing to say, and merely bowed cermonially towards her.......

_________________________________________________________________


At the same time, Zero felt the vibrations from Liam, and he knew it was a summons. Yet, he could not answer the summons, for it was light, and going out of his room is certain death by the sun.

Composing a telepathic message to Liam, Zero fired it off.

"Liam, I cannot come, the sun will hurt me if i step out."

OOC: Forgot it was daytime lol, I'll address that in this post.

IC:
Liam listened to Zero's comment and sighed before looking at each of the windows. Instantly, they went pitch black and allowed no sunlight through. The candles overhead lit and illuminated the room in their soft glow.

You may come now, Zero. And find the little one and her fairy, if you would.

As Liam sent the telepathic message, he began to think of something that might help ease Zero's troubles, and then expanded his thoughts to the rest of the clan. Perhaps he would be able to do something that would benefit all...

Liam remained silent as he thought carefully. Finally, he looked up at Ravelyn and smiled courteously.

"While we are waiting for the remainder to arrive, why don't you tell me who in your clan is expected to arrive? After all, I've apparently been misinformed about your clan..."

Kain walked outside of Velmora, he was within the still ruined outskirts of Velmora. Velmora had not been entirely repaired and restored, it was a long process. But it was a process that was indeed occouring, and Kain was neither king nor peasant, which he enjoyed highly. He did not like the responcibility of being complete monarch as a mortal. With his new guidance, he had made the goverment split into many specialist groups, a far better method of doing things. Kain's branch of goverment looked over all other sides, correcting and making ajustments.

But Kain left his affairs with other members, as there was something that Kain had become interested deeply in. A message had been picked up in the early hours of Velmora's morning, when there were very few mages littered about the communication room. The communication room was in fact, a small tower like structure, with a hole in the roof, with a brass device very slightly poking out cheekily, the metal surface shining a dim blue, as it was humming with sublime arcane energy which allowed it to recieve messages.

And receve and message it did.

It was a distant one, but one none the less. The mages flocked around the display screen, working on improving the quality.

Kain was informed later on, when it was fully deciefered.

Once hearing the message, Kain asked for his leave for personal affairs, and departed for where the message had originated, leaving his responcibilities to the other members, which gladly let Kain to take this break. He had been a workaholic on the repairing of Velmora, not sleeping for many nights and suffering from irritation from the daylight which he had to work and plan in.

He walked away, using magic and various methods of transportation to get where he wanted to. Wrapped up in his large blue cloak which had the symbol of the brightblade upon it, a proud symbol of Velmora, he went away.

---

"Damn sun....why am I being affected? Maybe it is the trauma of such events recently..." Kain muttered to himself while he walked through the streets, wrapped in his dark blue robes. It hid his green leathery skin, and he made sure his cloven hands were tucked in so that no-one could see. Sure, this place was vampire freindly, but he did not want to take the risk. A green skinned vamprie with more resemblance to a demon than a vampire would tned to shock people and cause too much attention.

Kain always did like a low profile, but was always refused by his apperance.

He walked through the streets, thinking about if he should have come or not. Wheter things would be fine at home. Wheter if it was irresponbible of him going out. Then he reminded himself of Ravelyn's activities...and that he had left the tasks in capable hands.

And one of the hands was the spirit of the Cloak that Kain had once worn, the magical spirit now had taken a more physical and humane form, that of a construct, a humonide creature made of metal, wood, and pure magic. They were mighty, and Shar was the first and only at the point. Research was going into how to make more Constructs, for they were legend.

And Kain had made legend into reality. In fact, Kain Brightblade Shentavo was considered by many to be a legend. When told this, Kain simply chuckled to himself and acted if it was not said.

"Ah....here we are." Kain said to himself, looking up with squinting eyes towards the mansion. His eyes felt horrible in this sunlight, his vampiric nature kicking in with a vengence. He was not entirely vampire anymore, he had been influenced by demonic energies from many sources. But that was in the past, and he rather liked the advantages it gave him. The ability to walk within the sunlight and immunity from vampire weaknesses, although sure, they cause great disconfort. And the ability to multitask in spell casting, an awesome ability within the field of combat casting both defence and offence. It was awe inspiring to see him teach magic within the acadamy of the arcane when he could. He would show classes great examples of what the mind could achieve.

But, with this, came weaknesses. Kain, with a demonic nature, could be prone to entering a battle rage when deeply in combat, becoming a whirlwind of combat which often was mindless. And also, he was affected by anti-demonic energies, making him be affected by the spell.

It was a double edged sword, not that Kain could honestly do anything about it, nor wanted to.


He walked up to the mansion, slowly, absorbing the sights and smells. He did not like the damned sunlight, but it was still appreciated for the affect it had on the view as he walked up. It did look very nice indeed, the sun casting down upon the town.

Approaching the door, he rapped loudly with his cloven knuckles, a most distinct noise. It could be mistaken for someone beating upon the door with a cane or tapping it with a shoe.

He took off the cowl which was wrapped around his head, exposing his green face and white-silver hair. His eyes were swinted, not fully ajusted to the sunlight. They never would. Also, his skin felt as though it was crawling with small insects just beneath the surface. It was slightly maddening, so Kain seemed agitated when someone answered the door.

"Hello there. I believe I was summoned?" Kain said deeply yet pleasantly.

http://echidnoyle.org/lair/lok/images/Kainopening.jpg

(OOC He is wearing a large blue robe remember, and a light blue cloak, just to clarify his appearance. If you really want to know what Kain looks like in full swing, and how he sounds go here and select the third one (http://www.eidosinteractive.com/downloads/search.html?gmid=85#) or here and select the second one (http://www.eidosinteractive.com/downloads/search.html?gmid=9). But bear in mind, he is not like that in personality. :) )

Roman picked up the plates and put then in the sink, he would clean them after the meeting. When he walked in he spotted the most beautiful woman he had ever layed his eyes on. He smiled at her and bowed. At that time he heard rapping on the door.

"Should I go see who it is Liam?"

Just as she began her investigations, Sheyrena heard a lound knocking on the front door, and felt an unfamiliar and strange presence. Intrigued, she made her way to the front door and opened it. She froze, like a deer caught in the headlights of a Mack truck. This was, by far, the oddest looking creature she had ever seen.

"Hello there. I believe I was summoned?"

Sheyrena just stared, mouth open, eyes wide.

Kain looked at the little girl, and wodnered what in the hell he was going to do. here he was, made to feel like some sick dirty adult had just asked a poor innocent child to do something horrible for him. It made Kain feel terrible, and was at a lost to what to do. He always did find it difficult with children in this situation, even though the Velmora children at home had grown used to his features and liked him because Kain played with them sometimes, throwing the odd snowball out of his study.

The wind blew slightly from Kain's back, making Kain's strands of fine white hair stream a little towards the little girl, making him appear eerie, a creature from the night exotic and frightening, his green skin was unnatural in this daylight. His eyes were the deepest brown, great orbs that absorbed the mind and soul with thier intensity. Great oceans of light browns crashed against beaches of dark browns, becoming one in the ocean scene in his eyes.

Kain spoke softly, and rather ineffectively. It was like a small child trying to tell a great bulldog which was cornering him with those drooling teeth which seemed so sharp and nasty bearing down upon him, "Nice doggy, good doggy."

"Please, don't be frightened, it's ok, please." Kain said softly, while he spoke he wondered if his fangs would be noticed, a sign of his vampiric nature. He got upon one knee, putting his cloven hand upon his knee, so that they were level in eye contact.

That was a mistake, putting his cloven hand on his knee, in full view.

She just saw the cloven talons of his. He had no fleshy fingers of normal people, but rather two fingers and a thumb on each hand made clover, with a sharp tip. Kain had the same thing upon his feet, allowing him to use his feet effectively as hands, allowing him to climb walls or sprint on all fours.

Kain, realising his error of action, however innocent, put the hand away within the folds of his blue robe, and tried to repair the situation further...

Liam excused himself from the council table and approached the door. Gently placing a hand upon Sheyrena’s shoulder, he surveyed the white haired, green skinned vampire that knelt before them.

Odd…two vampires have arrived…

“Summoned you say? Very well then. You may enter. Sheyrena, please, compose yourself. You will come to meet many different beings like…”

Liam looked toward Kain, “My apologies, I am Liam Celadrin. And you are?”

Kain stood and faced Liam, “Kain.”

OOC: I’ll just let the whole Shentavo idea just be a surprise when Rave and Kain see each other.

IC:

“Like Kain, Sheyrena.”

Liam smiled, and stepped aside, pulling Sheyrena close to allow Kain admittance.

“Right this way.” Liam beckoned as he opened the door to the council room and led the way inside. He looked over at Ravelyn who merely watched him enter, and then turn her eyes to the door…

IC: Zero heard the reply message Liam sent, and for a while, he had his doubts. Then, figuring Liam would not have said so if he had not taken care of the sunlight, he looked at the fairy Lexie.

"We'll speak later. For now, let's go meet our new guests", Zero "said" to Lexie.

Stepping out of his room, he noticed that all the windows were blacked out, with no sunlight coming through. Not deigning to see if Lexie was following him, he made his way to the ceremonial room where the star table was, and saw Aeris looking at something. He looked.

And what a strange sight. Whatever the woman was, she seemed like a vampire, yet not a vampire, and she also seemed an angel, yet not an angel. Zero was confused at this dichotomy, and yet was also impressed by the sense of raw power that he could feel from her.

Then, he thought about the mission briefings he had undergone before his mission to Assington, which had outlined for him personalities in the underworld, such as the Lady Skadi who he had only recently fought by the side of. There were also others he hadn't met.....could it be?

Stepping up, he greeted the woman.

"Forgive me for my presumption, but would you be by any chance the Lady Ravelyn Shentavo?"

OOC: I'll have Zero meet Kain later.

(OOC Can we say that Kain has neither seen Zero or Ravelyn? Sure, Rave might have detected him, but Rave has to finish what she is saying, plus I want it a surprise for Kain. Adds more interest. So, shall I wait outside the council door, speaking to Liam, ok? That way, the two people are divided and people can talk to Ravelyn. She has not really had a chance to breath yet! :) )



Kain introduced himself fully, giving his full name, revealing his heritage.

"Kain Brightblade Shentavo. I am sorry for alarming her..." Kain said as he walked in. He took off his large blue cloak, which had the symbol of the brightblade upon it proudly, and hung it around his left arm, as one might do with a coat. Within this place, Kain felt his old familar self again, something...nostalgic about it. There was something here which felt so familar, yet Kain could still not place what it was. He was recovering from the sunlight still, and it did indeed trickle through windows like any mortal home.

It was not something which was nostalgic.
It was someone


"I heard the call which someone had sent out...by your reaction I can guess that a fair number of exotic people have come, and that you are no stranger to the vampiric kind. You yourself, are hardly ordinary, I can tell.", Kain said, his words being spoken with the same elequence and politeness which he had in his mortal years. Although Kain's appearance was rather alien and monsterish with his talons, his well spoken voice and manners seemed to make him seem something strange indeed. It was a high contrast, although, he thought to himself many times before, there were creature more magical and ancient in nature than himself.

Kain was hardly a powerful vampire due to his age. Quite the opposite. He was extrodinarily young, a Fledgling if you went by his actual age upon the earth. Many mortals did indeed, were older than himself. But it was the experiances this vampire had endured and overcome which was made him powerful. The knowledge which he had aqquired through otherworldly sources, and his new imbued demonic abilities. Kain was not what he appeared, an enigma of history which few actually knew the truth.

Ravelyn was one of them, and Kain did not know she was within the building. But he was aware of a power here, greater than his own. There were many, Kain had no pretence of being all powerful. He used to be much more powerful than he was, but that was due to powers which he had been lended by creatures now banished.

Banished by Ravelyn, no less.

And for that, Kain was highly in her debt still, for that action and all of her generosities of her clan. Thier clan.

Well, one person...one person within the clan, he hated with a passion still, for what he did....what he did to her...

"Why have I been summoned here?", Kain asked Liam, as he stood outside the council door.

Rave leaned against the wall, getting rather impatient, but she said nothing. She looked around the room at the decorum. It reminded her of the academy in a way. Kaos you’re late… she said to herself. She leaned back against the wall, closing her scarlet eyes. There was no ring around her finger anymore, but there was one on a chain around her neck. She raised her hand to clasp around the ring, and pulled it back and forth on the chain gently in contemplation. In her mind she saw flashes of the past. The woman on the bench; the one who had saved her, and her words saying that he had to take a different path. His father’s path. She remembered the night at the academy…in the darkness he told her not to follow. But she did anyway… My eternal love for you won’t let me die, Ravelyn. I will always be here……You have a daughter, Michael. Her name is Sarah… gone. She’s gone. Flashes of him walking up the stairs, and with a smile…he’d always say

“Hello beautiful.”

“Vaughn?” Ravelyn’s eyes snapped open, and felt an arm around her shoulders. She turned her head quickly, and her face expressed her dissatisfaction.

“Vaughn? Where has your mind been as of late, Azrael?” A young strong man with black hair and black eyes looked at her. His skin was sun-kissed and clear. There was a scar running across his left eye. He was garbed in a black suit…black tie, black shirt…which wasn’t out of the ordinary for him.

“Hello Kaos…” she said softly, and removed his arm from around her shoulders. He chuckled at this. She sat down in one of the chairs at the table, leaned back and closed her eyes as she had against the wall. Kaos shook his head, and paced a bit. He noticed the presence at the door, and called out.

“Liiiiii-ammm,” he said with a smile. “She’s getting impatient.”

Please behave, Kaos. I could not afford you to mess this up.

Yes, ma’am. he said with the same playfulness.

Liam watched Kain's face for a moment, noticing the subtle muscle movements that indicated one to be thinking to themself.

Sheyrena backed away, still not taking her eyes off Kain. She turned into the council room and froze yet again.

Her eyes were glued to Ravelyn's entire...being.

"You have been summoned to join me and others in a new clan; or to alliance yourself with us. It will be known as a clan that is a defender of all that is good. I have to admit, I have gotten quite the variety of individuals that have answered the call. I was told that the Shentavo clan was deteriorating, but my information is mistaken, apparently."

Liam heard the voice of another from behind, calling to him and telling of Ravelyn's impatience.

She was telling the truth...her clan still is strong enough in numbers... he thought to himself.

"As I was saying, another Shentavo is here." Liam said as he opened the door and revealed the other occupants of the council room.

Ravelyn did not open her eyes to Sheyrena, nor did she change her position. “My clan consists of only those who have my blood in them, so forming a new clan is out of the question.” Her eyes opened, and she slowly turned her sight toward Sheyrena. “Forming an alliance, on the other hand, is a different story.” Kaos stood behind her, his hand on the back of her seat, gazing at Sheyrena with a smile.

Ravelyn placed her arms on the table, and Liam opened the door. She inhaled as she saw him. Rising almost instantly, and nearly pushing Kaos off balance with the back of the chair if he hadn’t moved aside, her eyes singled upon him. “Kain.”

If the woman was indeed the founder of the Shentavo Clan of legend, she probably was so proud of her status that she didn't even bother to turn her attention to either Zero or Aeris. Zero thought to himself, "Another being with a heart of ice, just like the Lady Skadi. Why do i always get such characters?"

Then the door opened, revealing......Zero started at the appearance of the manner of being that walked in, spooked by the unspeakably horrid appearance of the hooded figure that for a moment, Aeris let out a suppressed scream, while Zero's hands went halfway to his Dual Elites. But then, Zero caught himself, and heard the woman said from behind him, "Kain".

"Could it be?", Zero suddenly thought, "My briefings also told of a Kain Brightblade Shentavo, and the pictures....it IS Kain Shentavo! Well, if Rave's not gonna bother with me, guess i have to try talking to Kain then."

He turned to Kain, and greeted him. "Kain Brightblade Shentavo?"

""Kain Brightblade Shentavo?"

The words were distant. Kain's eyes were centered upon Ravelyn completely, his mind still wondering what the hell to say. He seemed completely out of touch with the world, ignoring the question completely for long seconds.

He snapped back into reality, although he still looked at Rave. He said softly, "That is I. And the person I see before me, I do not believe is there. So rare I see you my sire, I forget where and what is going on with you anymore. There always seems to be something occouring, something you must attend..." Kain said softly to Rave, maybe pointing out the fact that she was never there very subtly.

He was speaking honestly here, he had no idea what had happened to his sire. He had never been contacted by her, Kain had always been left to fend for himself. A fact which had hardened Kain. He felt that he was very much alone in the clan, that is was a formality of the past. That Rave was never there for him to go to. Kain had grown to rely upon his own freind for councilling as a result. Despite this, Kain still respected and still was loyal to Ravelyn, just disillusioned.

Kain stil stood in the doorway, awaiting her reply.

Kain seemed....different from when Rave last saw him. His eyes seemed more experianced, and more at peace than his troubled old self. And he no longer had the bloodstone hanged around his green neck, which Rave herself had given to him. Unknown to Ravelyn, Kain was now back in power, Velmora had risen from the ashes once more.

Ooc: Bold: Kaos’ silent comments

IC
Her eyes sparkled. She pushed the chair out of the way, and took a path directly to him. Instead of a slight nod given, and a handshake in greeting, she wrapped her arms around his neck, and placed her head on his shoulder (for he was taller than her). You know I have always been here for you to reach me when I am physically able to. If you call, I am there. But you haven’t called, so I haven’t been able to find you, Kain…

Kaos chuckled. When a soul dies, and is resurrected through forbidden means, that soul’s mental ties and connections with ones they love are broken. She couldn’t have found him if she tried. The ones that you love are the ones that the tie is severed with. Find everyone…but ones you care for… until they find you. The bloodstone which once hung around Kain’s neck was the last one in existence. Qui had taken it into himself, and Ravelyn’s had been lost when she was.

As she pulled herself closer to him, by chance could he have caught the sensation…that her heart had beat? On her back there were no wings, but he could feel only two scars. I pulled them from her back myself, but the aura remains there. Going through hell for your daughter takes a lot out of you, and can damage your wings severely…but you manage to keep their essence.

A tear rolled down her cheek, but was not of water, but of blood. It seemed that there was a luminescent gleam in the shape of wings which flashed behind her, however it was only for a minute. And its only when you find them that you can feel them again.

(OOC Rave, I totally don't understand your last post. What is Rave doing? Please make it slightly clearer...)

All Rave did was hug you. :-D

Kain did not say anything, but recripocrated the hug, the warmth of it. Once more, he was reminded her power and...otherworldlyness it seemed. It was like hero worship of sorts, but Kain knew she was not perfect.

He noticed the scars upon her back...where her once elegent wings had been. It saddened him to see such a scar upon her, to realise that things had occoured that he had not been able to help or assist.

"I missed you.", Kain said softly, speaking from his own vampiric heart.

For had indeed, longed for her advice, her council, her tutorship.

Her presence.

"And I you," she said, her face shielded by Kain's shoulder from the others. For the first time in their relationship of sire to fledgling, a glimpse of role reversal was expressed. For the first time, Rave was comforted by Kain's presence rather than the other way around. He could tell by the touch of her skin that while his sire put on a convincing demeanor, she was not in her strongest of states as she had been in the past.

Her hair smelt of lotus flowers, and her eyes looked up into his. She smiled, the faint streak of crimson from her tear slowly fading. And in this, he would be able to tell what had changed. There was no ring on her finger, but one that hung around her neck. And the heart that was once so strong had a gaping hole within it.

Kain smiled comfortingly, his smile more of reassurance than happiness. He felt an inner peace which he had not felt in a long while...

"What happened Wise One?", Kain asked softly, brushing her fine long hair with his cloven hand, his touch soft and gentle despite what hands he had been given. He used the name which he used to call her in his mortal years, and in his earlier vampire years.

Ravelyn looked down for a moment. "I married Vaughn. A few days later, my daughter, Sarah, was taken and killed by a woman named Cecilia. Genesis, Seth and Vaughn were killed in trying to save her.” She looked up to him. She was calm and serene. “But Vaughn left me something I was very not aware of until now…” I am weak Kain because I refuse to live off of human blood. Without a bloodstone… He keeps me alive in a way…

She took his hand, and placed it upon her stomach. He could feel that there was a heart beating faintly…though, it was not of her own. “But you couldn’t have expected that nothing happened after the wedding,” she said with a faint smile, trying to lighten her own spirits.

Kain did not know what to think. Rave was pregnant? He thought that vampries could nto be pregnant...then again, Kain thought, are we not much more than vampires now?

Or less.

Kain felt sorrow for the whole situation. It seemed like a story gone wrong, horribly wrong. He knew of how much they cared for one another, Vaughn and Rave, even if he had never really met Vaughn, or known him too much. He knew of him, but him himself.

I'm sorry Rave...I'm sorry I was not there. Is there anything I can do now?

He suddenly appreciated his people even more, for they allowed him to feed off thier blood, thier donations kept him alive and well, due to thier own generousity and care for one of their leaders.

Kain had a thought, which seemed like a parental reflex than a decision.

"Drink from me Rave, become sustained, as you have done for me. Feed...", Kain said, placing his neck closer to her, allowing her easy access to his lifeblood.

There was more than vampiric blood flowing through his viens....there was demonic energies flowing through it, faint yet noticable.

Rave withdrew from Kain, and shook her head. "I can't Kain..." she said softly. Not here....not now. She smiled softly. I can't explain it myself, just as I can not explain Qui. Angels can not decend in body because we have none, we have to find one, then it will mold to fit our soul. Vampires are similar in that their body molds to their soul, just like yours Kain.

Things can happen when emotions are strong enough to allow them.

I understand all things about spells apparently, yet not the nature of what we are...funny no? I wish there was something I could do. Kain spoke mentally again. It was the first time that he had used mental communication in some time.

OOC: Kain, Rave: loved your posts. Very touching. Very nice.

And Tarl, Lucifer will reveal himself as soon as I have time to... post more :D

Don't worry about it Kain...your here now, and that's all that matters. she withdrew from him, taking her former seat and motioning with just the look in her eyes for Kain to sit at her left. Kaos was already making himself rather comfortable to her right.

Kaos smiled. "Well, after a family renunion what could be better than talk of alliances?" Ravelyn shook her head at him. His mind only worked one way, and she knew that.

Ravelyn had regained her composure. "Indeed, an alliance between covens would be a beneficial thing for both clans. Though I have never sided with another clan, I believe that this is somehow different."

Roman sat in his chair quiet. He watched and absorbed everything. The cat-like eyes never missed any details. But it was obvious to him there was more to Kaos, Kain, and Rave then meets the eye.

Kain took his own place by Rave's left, at her side. Kain observed the proceedings with a watchful eye, looking over those arranged here. He held his two cloven hands out, interlocked together to form a triangle, Kain in thought over the entire thing.

"Indeed. No man is an island...and I would presume the same applies for clans.", Kain said quietly, more of an after-comment than a statement, quoting John Donne.

Zeratul feeling the full brunt of the force from the staff remained quiet on the floor. Ignoring much of what Liam what was saying, but he couldn't ingore the fact they had a meeting. Walkly slowly and quite embarresedly to the confrence anymore. While waiting inside the room, he senced others had entered the mansion. He could not pinpoint where or of what race, but thier blood smelt of the same origion.

So it seems we have another clan inside the mansion. I wonder what Liam is up to. No matter, I have my own matters to attend to. Such as asking forgiveness from Roman and the girl.

OCC: How dare you say Zeratul stinks, I shall get you back for that cheap shot :p. Anyways, I wont be active as much due to family issues, but I'll still try to keep up. If I start falling behind, anyone can use Zeratul till I get back. Adios

Zero looked impassively, as the legends of Kain and Ravelyn Shentavo had their emotional reunion. Well. However thorough his briefings had been, they missed out on one aspect; the emotional aspect of the relationships between the legends. Aeris walked up to him, and took his arm.

Aeris (whispers): "Love, what's going on? I don't understand."
Zero (whispers): "Hmm....? Oh. Aeris, my love, look carefully. You are seeing 2 of the greatest legends of the underworld, so remember their faces carefully. That woman there, she is the seraphim-vampire Ravelyn Shentavo, reputedly the oldest living vampire left in the world. And the other one, that demonic one there, that's one of the most famous of them all, Kain Brightblade Shentavo. Respect them, Aeris, my love. They deserve it."
Aeris: (whispers): "But......they don't seem......really like vampires. Not totally, anyway....."
Zero: (whispers): "You're right about that. They are more than vampires......but i'll tell you about that another time."

OOC: Yay! Finally back and able to post!!

As she felt an all too familiar presence touch her mind, Sheyrena pulled her eyes away from Rave and wandered away from where the adults were conversing. She looked around the room as she called out in her mind.

Lexie? Lexie? Where are you?

Suddenly she spotted the faerie, hovering near one of the blacked-out windows.

Lexie! There you are! Why did you stay away so long? I was worried. I missed you.

Lexie floated over to Sheyrena and brushed her wings against the girl's cheek in a gesture of affection.

I'm sorry I made you worry, Rena, honey. I won't leave again, I promise.

The faerie took up her familiar perch on the little girl's shoulder.

Hmmm...Rena? Do you have any idea what's going on here?

The girl shrugged.Nope

What do you say we find out? Lexie grinned. Freeze them, Rena

Having done this before, Rena knew exactly what to do. She quickly focused her mind and sent out a wave of energy. Everyone in the room froze, immobilized by the little girl's mind. Including Lexie.

Oops. thought Sheyrena. What now? Oh well.

"Umm...excuse me everybody?" she asked shyly in her little girl's voice. "But, could someone tell us what's going on here?"

OOC: For those who don't know, Sheyrena has extensive mental capabilites. Characters with strong mental powers will probably be able to break free of this.

Zero felt a wave of energy blast through his mind, and instantly reacted by meeting the force with his own telekinetic powers. In a second, he was free of the mind control of Sheyrena, although Aeris could do nothing about it, and glared at her.

"I don't appreciate being manipulated, Rena. Cut it out", Zero said coldly. However, his mind began wandering on her powers.

"Such great mental powers in one so young.......make her a vampire, and she'll probably be powerful beyond belief.....", he thought.

Tommy Hermann hated fish.

Halibut, cod, shark, squid: Tommy Hermann hated fish.

If he was out at a restaurant, he would never order fish. The 10-year-old usually chose something with a little more substance in it like a cheeseburger, or spaghetti. If Tommy's parents dragged him to a seafood restaurant, he wouldn't eat. Simple enough to him. He would rather starve than eat it.

No matter which way his mother would prepare it, Tommy hated fish. It was icky and disgusting.

The way it gristled in his teeth. The times when stray bones would dig into his cheeks and throat. He hated the taste - even hated the way it looked.

Tommy hated the smell. Mostly, he hated the smell. It made him gag, and want to throw up.

Well, Tommy wanted to throw up now. Partly because of the smell that surrounded him and nearly overwhelmed his nostrils, but partly from sheer horror.

Tommy sat in his outdoor sandbox in the evening twilight, and fumbled to the edge of the rectangle. Behind him but a few feet, was a sharply dressed figure, snazzed to the nines in a navy blue suit.

Tommy strained to yell out. For help, for mercy.

But the smell. The smell of fish. It was intoxicating. It was too much.

Tommy turned over and saw as a hand, dotted with tentacle suckers reached for his face. He looked past it to the man's face, but there was no face, Not in a general sense.

The man had the head of a squid. Tommy managed to mouth a single word before the hand closed over his face: "Who?"

The man responded similarly with one word: "Cthulhu."

And then the hand began to feed.


OOC: One more, and then I begin with Lucifer.

Liam promptly disengaged the strong telekinetic hold from himself that Sheyrena had planted upon everyone. He turned to her, a slight disapproving look upon his face.

"Child, this is a meeting between two clans, the Shentavos," he waved his hand to the members of the Shentavo clan, "and ourselves, the Celadrin. It has been decided that an alliance is in the best interests of both clans. Now it would be good for you to keep your peace until we have finished."

Liam turned back to Ravelyn, who was still facing Kain.

"It's good to see you all, all right. And I'm glad that you agree to this alliance. Together, we shall provide a unified front against our enemies. Together, we shall define redefine 'justice'."

Liam walked over to the wall, upon which a symbol of the Celadrin clan was imbedded into a wooden piece. Taking his staff, he tapped the piece once and instantly, the symbol of the Shentavos appeared upon the wood and burned itself into the wood.

"We are now officially in alliance." Liam reported, a glad tone in his voice.

As he looked around to the others in the room, observing their faces, Liam suddenly winced and collapsed to the floor. His staff clattered out of his grasp as he lay there motionless...

.....to the horror of Zero, who immediately rushed over to the fallen Liam. However, he was at a loss as to what to do.......he turned, and with a blast of mental energy, freed the mental hold of Aeris, and she proceeded to run over to Liam as well.

Everyone else came running to Liam as well, but Zero could only kneel there, helpless as to how to help Liam. He was a slayer, not a healer......as he turned to Aeris, she shook her head at him, also at a loss......what is to be done?

Kain sat there, a being who viewed everything through those brown orbs of his which seemed to absorb all things within those oceanic depths. They crashed within themselves, each eye having thier own situation and dilemma. Kain's right orb was rather calm at the moment, the ebbing and the flowing of those chestnut waves rather relaxing. In contrast to the complex whirlpool which absorbed a small ship in his left orb.

Kain, this is Magnus.

Kain heard one of the head's of the research into Constructs echo within his skull, the voice inescapable.

Kain, I have broken the first forumula, you know, the one which did not allow the armour to fully meld for extended periods of time. It was a long process, but we can now melt the body parts.

Magnus's voice was similar to Kain's own. Deep, commanding, and one which you knew had intellegence behind. However, Magnus was more sullen and serious...with some cynicism behind him. Kain knew however, despite some of his unpleasant traits, he was a genius in finding solutions to the Construct problem.

Thank you Magnus. Soon, we will begin the creation of the Constructs. Keep up the good work, your vital to this team.

Kain focused his attention back on the conversation, when he felt a tingle, a great and warm form of energy. It was potent, but it was still...unrefined and lacked finesse about it. It was just a thought with a great deal of power behind it, like a huge hammer being brought down upon someone. It could be sidestepped with little difficulty if you knew how to move your feet.

And Kain's natural abilities kicked in.

His green skin glew a dark blue, as if within his body there was a glowing ball of light, and his skin only half prevetned the light from going out. It was rather impressive, although not really noticable.

As a part demon, his natural defences were to absorb magic. His skin could absorb to a certain extent, the raw possibilities of the magic that had been used against him. Kain felt energised by this, and he reminded himsel fthat he needed to research into how his own skin and natural defence systems actually worked, on what premise did they fit into his own theories, and those theories of his people, most of which he had written himself.

This vampire who had a great and rich past, might not have been the greatest fighter or mage, indeed, he had lost many battles and gotten many scars, but he was the one person who's knowledge of the arcane was immense, due to where he had learned his abilities from.

As the proceedings played out, Kain watched....and saw as Liam made his fall to the ground, only to be picked up by that vampire. He did not know his name....something he would have to ask. Sure, he could read his mind very subtly, but that was against Kain's morals. One's mind should be a sancturary, not open to all. Some people don't have the mental disiciplines as we do, Kain thought.

"What is the matter with the man?", Kain asked Zero as he got up to try and help. He walked rather calmly, too calmly, around the table towards Liam. His movements were fluid, and otherworldly. It was most strange indeed....his white long strands of hair seemed to be like water within the infinity of space, all gravity nonsense now.

A thought flowered in the Shentavo's mind, and he placed his palm upon the being's forehead, trying to find the problem....

Roman sat there in his chair immoblized. Lacking the ablitity to free himself he sat there and watched helplessly as Liam collasped to the ground. He felt better when Zero and Kain were next to Liam. Being able only to send a brief message mentally before almost exhausting himself he gathered what strength he could and sent a quick one to Sheyrena.

Little girl, unfreeze everyone right now, unless you like being chased by lions and tigers.

Joe and Tidus Patterson loved to go camping. The twin men did so when they were children, out in the wilderness of the Okanogan Valley in beautiful British Columbia, Canada. Their father often took them, on weekends, vacations, even during the winter time when the ground was cold and iced-sheathed. It was all fun. Still fun.

The air was clear and crisp. The forest was alive with the sounds and movements of the wild animals. Everything was just perfect when Joe and Tidus were outside, away from the stresses of everyday life.

Now the two men, with families to call their own and jobs that demanded often never had enough time to indulge in their love of the outdoors. They managed to slip away for a couple of days once in a blue moon, but it never seemed to be enough.

...
...

But this time... this time was enough.

"RUN! Oh god, RUN!!!"

Tidus pushed his brother forward through the underbrush, branches cutting their faces and snagging their clothes.

He strained his body forward. Away. Away from... it. But his foot got caught by a root of an Oak tree, and he slipped and fell with an ominous thud.

Joe stopped and turned back towards his brother. He reached out a hand and tried to pull his brother up.

"C'mon. C'mon! C'm..."

Suddenly, a loud, moan reverbrated in the small clearing. Joe looked up as the leaves in the area began to swirl and sweel up. The afternoon light began to be blotted out by... It.

It was a massive Black Form, shapeless, meaningless, hopeless. The only thing that could be seen through the dark void were mouths. Mouths with mis-formed lips and rows and orows of sharp teeth.

It shimmered and waved over to the two men. Joe screamed once, as the being touched Tidus's leg.

Joe screamed again as he saw Tidus begin to... age and decay before his eyes. He turned from a robust 30-year-old to a 50 to 70 and then... ageless. In his arms, Tidus decayed, and crumbled back to the dust from which he came.

Joe looked up, and screamed once more as the form enveloped him.

Then the forest was alive again with only the sounds and movements of the wild animals.

********

Shortly after, the being reappeared into the vast expanse of hell. In the middle of the plains of tears stood the Hollower, Cthulhu and one more figure.

The figure stood forward and beated his wings once. He no longer looked like he was pondering.

He looked ready. With a purpose.

The figure spoke, and spoke with a power that seemed to shake the skies.

"Choronzon,lord of Chaos and Despair. I am glad to see you once more. With your job finished, the true battle of the light and the dark can begin once more."

The black void spoke with all of its mouths.

"Yes, Lord Morningstar. Let the time come again when the guardians of hevean learn to never disregard the desciples of the hell."

The hollower and the Cthlhu kneeled before the figure. Chronzon would if he had knees.

The figure only smiled, and clapped his hands again. Out of the sky flew a terrible beast. A Mithrilkor dragon, replete with battle armor made of the bones of a thousand emperor throughout history, flew down to the man. It leaned down, and nuzzled the hand of the figure.

"Mithrilkor. Please give this message to Liam of the Celadrin. He will understand that this is from the Lord of Hell, Lucifer Morningstar..."

With that, the man attached a simple scroll to the neck brace of the dragon. With a shrill scream, the dragon soared away, to the abode of the angelic clan.

Rave rose from her seat as she saw Liam collapse to the ground. Zero and Kain were the first to his side. She walked towards him, and knelt by his side. She touched Liam's hand gently, Kaos placed a hand on her shoulder. You know you can't help him right now...

Ravelyn withdrew her hand, and closed her eyes. Damn it all...

You'll regain your strength soon, if you would just accept my offer.

Sorry...that is not in my current agenda. Ravelyn gave him a hardened glance. Go find out what is taking Cougaji and Lotus so long...now.

If that is your will, Kaos said, and slowly backed away from the group. he exited, and vanished into the shadows of the next room.

She knew that she could connect with him if she tried...but she hadn't the strength to perform it right now. She could attempt to send him a guide, but even that was strenuous.
Liam, can you hear me?

Little girl, unfreeze everyone right now, unless you like being chased by lions and tigers. Sheyrena giggled as she heard Roman's voice in her mind. She had been bored to tears all day. Finally she saw an opportunity to practice her favourite pasttime: messing with people.

Slowly she lifted herself off the ground and floated over towards Roman. When she was directly in front of him, she stopped short and hovered. She smiled angelically at him. Then, sticking out her tongue at the shapeshifter, she relaxed her mind and freed everyone. Everyone, that is, except Roman.

Keeping him pinned to his chair, Sheyrena remained sitting crosslegged in the air just in front of Roman, taunting him silently, enjoying every bit of frustration in his eyes.

Roman took a deep breath and stared back at her. He couldn't move, this fustrated him. He sighed and decided to at least ask her to fetch him his book.

Would you mind getting my paperback of The Fist of God in my room. I mean, if I'm sitting here, might as well read.

Mmm...I don't think so. Sheyrena replied. This was getting a bit boring and she had no intention of fetching Roman's stuff. However...

Maybe I'll let you go instead. Then you can get it yourself.

*giggles*

But...what will you give me if I do?

Roman closed his eyes. His mind hurt. He had never used his mental ablity to this extend. He rested for a few mintues.

How about a chance to ride a Bengal Tiger?

Startled, Sheyrena dropped to the ground. She hadn't really expected him to offer her anything. Everyone else she'd played with had ruined the game by waiting quietly till she got bored. She looked at Roman. He didn't look like he would lie to her.

Ok... she said as she released him from her hold. A little tired, she reverted to normal speech as she looked up at the strange-eyed man.

"But...what's a Bengal tiger?"

Roman smiled. There was a slight flicker behind the cat-like pupils. Before Sheyrena's eyes white and black hair began to grow from Roman, his body began to change. She stepped back as she was faced with the massive tiger. After nearly a minute it changed back to Roman.

"I'll take you for a ride later. Lets see how Liam is."

Sheyrena gaped. The huge cat was so pretty. And she was going to get to ride it!

"All right." she replied. She slipped her tiny hand into Roman's and followed him over to where Liam lay.

OOC: Just a note for everyone to know that Val had edited his last post...
IC:

Liam remained completely still upon the floor, the kneeling friends encircled around him. Kain had his cloven hand upon Liam's forehead, only to sharply retract it as Kain's own mind was filled with the brightness of purity. Never before had Kain witnessed such a raw display of defense of the mind...

Liam let out a slight moan as Ravelyn attempted her own procedures.

Liam, can you hear me?

Liam...

Liam...

Finally, deep within Liam's mind a response came:

Azrael...evil is near...his name, you may know...the Original Sin...

And suddenly, with explosive movements, Liam leapt deftly to his feet, shocking all those around him. His face was filled with fury, filled with holistic rage as he bellowed with a ferocious voice:

"LUCIFER!!"

The staff leapt to Liam's grasp, and the crystal embedded suddenly shot out a bright light, so bright that it caused all who were not used to such power to close their eyes in fear and wonder.

Then, strangely, Liam calmed himself and began to slow his breathing. He looked at Ravelyn, and she saw the immenent rage that was held inside, rage reserved for only for one...

And she understood.

Strangely, as this occurred, a roar was heard outside the mansion. Liam turned his head sharply as he sensed the evilness of the monstrosity outside. Looking to the others, he made for the doorway, armed with his staff.

Liam made sure that Zero was out of harm's way before opening the door and allowing the sunlight to cascade in through the doorway.

Liam laid his eyes upon the monstrous dragon. It looked toward Liam and seemed to want his attention specifically. Liam stepped forward and challenged the beast.

"How dare you appear here! I command you to leave or your life is forfeit!"

Liam filled the air with his wings and lifted quickly from the ground. His staff began to let out a blue aura, growing in intensity until it glowed pearly white and blinding to the eyes.

Yet, Liam held himself back. The beast would get one chance to save itself...

Roman pushed Sheyrena behind him to shield her with his body. He looked at the great beast. A little time and pratice, I bet I could turn myself into one. Roman looked down at Sheyrena who peaked around his leg at the creature.

"You alright Sheyrena?"

Sheyrena stared, her eyes wide and fixed on the dragon. She clung tightly to Roman, trembling in fear.

"Y-y-yes. I-I'm ok. Just please don't leave me alone."

Unseen, Lexie streaked out of the window and into the forest. She was done. Absolutely done. She had tried her best to protect Rena, but the girl insisted on getting herself mixed up in all of this mess. A dragon of all things! A faerie could only take so much, after all. With a flutter of red wings, Lexie disappeared.

Roman smiled at her and brushed her hair from her eyes.

"I won't leave you. If things get dangerous, I'll get you out of here. You're safe with me and everyone else."

Suddenly, Liam jumped up, much to the shock of Zero, and the bright light that emitted from his staff......ah, it hurt about as much as the sun......Zero shielded his eyes, but it almost felt to him like ants were under his skin, giving him an irritation he could not forget.

However, he was intrigued by what Liam had shouted. Lucifer? That's the proper name of the Lord of Hell......but it couldn't be, could it? Then, something roared outside, and Liam glanced at him.

Zero nodded to show he understood. He nodded to Aeris to indicate she should stay clear as much as possible, and then he rushed to find himself a dark, enclosed closet, which he quickly climbed into.

Inside, he waited, and heard the dragon. He seethed. A danger outside, probably to his Aeris, and he could do shit all to help!

He seethed. This was not the position he expected to find himself in.

The Mithrilkor dragon seethed and raged and pawed at the blue aura. not out of anger or hatred, but rather, out of a curiousity.

It could feel a heat, an energy force that it could not go into. This made it a tad annoyed, not unlike when a cat is teased by a ball of string.

It roared, sending each of the thousand of individual bones on it's large body rattling and groaning. The trees on the estate swayed to the dark music. The windows on the mansion swayed too, to the point of shattering.

But they did not shatter. Nor did the Mithrilkor Dragon attempt to attack Liam. Instead, it shifted its weight, and flew down to the ground, landing at the feet of the gathered members of the Celadrin.

It pawed the ground, and lowered its head to the ground. Rave approacehed warily, but calmly.

"Liam. I think there is a scroll on its neck. I think it is meant for you."

Liam continued to hover. "Please remove it for me, Rave."

Rave carefully slid it out of its bone sheath, grasping it in its hand.

With its mission accomplished, the dragon reared back, and flapped its giant wings once more. With a last, mournful roar, the dragon flew away, back to the depths of hell from which it was summoned.

Liam put down his staff and slowly lowered himself to the ground. Without a word, Rave handed the scroll over.

When Liam grabbed the simple paper, his hand felt simultaneously searing hot and frigid. Gingerly, he unrolled it.

It was blank at first, but slowly words began to form. They appeared to be made of blood.

Liam Celadrin, Angel of White Arcane, Seraphim Supreme Commander.

Lucifer Morningstar wishes to inform you, Liam Celadrin, Angel of White Arcane, Seraphim Supreme Commander, of hell's renewed assault on Heaven's Silver City, with the souls of all of mankind as the vessels of vengeance.

He also wishes to extend to you a congratulations.

"It has been too long, Liam of Celadrin. I look forward to remaking you acquaintance."

Liam’s face twisted in anger as he clenched the paper. With a disgusted grunt, he crumbled the paper into a ball and tossed it angrily to the ground.

Damn him…yanking the souls of innocents to his evil will…he will be stopped, he must be stopped!

Liam stood there, seeming very quiet now, but those that could read his thoughts were in awe of the passion and anger that gripped his mind.
He turned to the others, a pained look upon his face.

“Many souls are about to be forcefully used against their will, to fulfill Lucifer’s war against the heavens. I must stop him. I ask you to join me…”

Then, noticing that Zero was not among them, he sent the same message telepathically to him.

Liam looked up at the clouds above, noticing their slow movements across the sky. Grey clouds rolled in front of the sun, casting the land into shadow. He lowered his gaze to the others once again…

Zero heard Liam's call, and answered in kind,

"I will follow you, Liam Celadrin. Although I am of darkness, I do not ally with the Prince of Darkness. My place is by your side."

Then, as an afterthought, he answered telepathically again,

"But, first, this closet is rather cramped and stuffy. You mind closing the door so i can get out of here?"

(Please don't NPC my characters without asking. It really bugs me. I'm disregarding some things, because my character would not go about it that way.)

Ic:

Rave watched as the the door opened. Her eyes mirrored Liam's flurry. Hello Mephisto... (just a note, mephisto or mephistopheles is another name for lucifer, original before he fell in case anyone is confused.)

Your alive Azrael? I heard a wicked cackle in my mind.

"I suppose you just didn't have the strength to kill my soul last time..." she shook her head. "and still sending pawns to do you work... There will however, be a time where you will need to face both Liam and I directly." There was no response.


Liam continued to hover. "Please remove it for me, Rave."

"I can't..." I am physically unable to do so...

The scroll around the neck of the dragon intrigued her. She muttered something under her breath. Kaos returned from the other room. A silent conversation passed between the two.

"Yes, m'lady." He slowly walked through the door, and looked up at the dragon. I wish I had one of these... he noted to himself, and took the scroll from its neck.

He returned to hand it to Liam with an emotionless face. He returned to Rave's side. "Let me kill the dragon..."

"Your fun will come later Kaos, behave." Rave replied, her eyes fixiated on the dragon, who's smile seemed to mock her. Where is Cougaji?

oh, he's here somewhere. He got held up a bit at the academy....Skadi.

I see...

Rave looks at Liam. "Of course I join you...but I know that I am not in a physical state right now to fight. Kaos, Lotus, and Cougaji, however...will prove much to your service."

Just a heads up Liam, Kaos and Cougaji are aggressive. They won't turn on you, but they may get in over their heads...and will have fun in doing so. Lotus, on the other hand...is very quiet and serene. He will help you with any mental obstacles. I...will be with you in spirit.

Liam chuckled silently when he heard of Cougaji’s mentioning.

Cougaji eh? Your rebellious son still remains? As for Lotus…I am afraid I do not know much about him. It seems that the heavenly intelligence boys are incompetent… Nevertheless, I will gladly accept all of your assistance.

Liam turned to the mansion once he heard Zero’s message.

I’m going to have to remedy this for you somehow Zero. He replied as he led everyone back inside. The note remained upon the ground, slightly moving in the light breeze.

Liam spoke the announcement to the others as they all continued indoors:

“We leave tonight, for all who will join me. Lucifer will move quickly, and we must move even quicker.”

The door closed behind the last of them, finally casting the interior back into the soft glow of the candles, which now left a pleasant odor in the mansion, but strangely unidentifiable.

Liam walked into the council room, and glanced back to the others, before taking his staff and inserting it and speaking words of Krynia. A moment later, the outline of a door was engulfed in blue traces of light, before sliding open to reveal its interior.

For those who cared to notice, it seemed that the entire room revealed was physically impossible to fit in only the 5 inches of wall that Liam had pulled the room from! Yet, there it sat before them, defying all laws of logic and basic probability!

“You are welcome to remain with what you have, but for those without any weapons, I suggest you take something.”

A blue aura in the room flickered on and cast the interior in a blue hue, and outlined the various weaponry and protection items that lay neatly inside upon the shelves.

IC: Zero, sensing that the sunlight is now shut off, climbed out of his closet. He glanced at everyone, then smiled sheepishly. "Can't stand the sunlight, you know. Rather irritating, to say the least."

Then, he wondered what to do next. Wasn't the fairy Lexie going to say something to him before that dragon came up and spoilt everyone's plans......?

OOC: Ok, Gorgamin, your cue. You want Lexie to talk to Zero, this is your chance.

(OOC I will say Kain observed and watched this all, and is now in current position.)

Typical.

The story of his life.

And the story of his unlife.

This sight was too familar. All to unreal. Things seemed like a dream, that played out, again and again.

Kain was feeling rather....used to this whole situation.

"Wonderful." Kain simple said sardonically, rather unusual for one of his character. He had a frown upon his green brow, a few strands of that fine white hair draping over his face, which he occasionally put back with a gentle touch of his cloven hands.

He walked curiously into the weapon room, inspecting and picking the odd interesting device of war with a strange eye. His hands were in a strange knot behind his back, holding the other. Kain took his time, lesiurely. He was more involved in his thoughts.

Shar, I will be a little while alright? I am sorry, buisness turned up, you know how my life is.

A little pause as Shar thought about the responce, mentally sending a message back. She sounded a little shakey, concerned about him.

Alright Kain...just...be careful out there. Did you want me to come out and help? I could test-

No no Shar. It is alright, I will be fine. And beside, your current form is still under.... Kain trailed, looking for the right word.

Yes I know Kain. I am still being observed, anaylised like some geniue pig. Grrr, this is so frustrating! I just want to test these new abilities, these new legs and eyes and sensations which I did not have when I was within the cloak! Sure, I have lost a world in the astral planes...but I have gained independance in another! Kain....I just wish.....nevermind. I...I understand what is going on.

Shar, thanks for understanding.

The conversation ended, and Kain did not like the mages in Velmora having to study her for long periods of time, looking at the rune structures on her metal and wood form, study what reactions she would have to certain wave patterns of magic. It was intensely complicated stuff. The project leader was one Magnus Red, a hard-working and intensely blunt and to the point individual. He was a genius which had already broken new ground...but Kain was concerned about how he treated Shar....it was not cruelity or anything like that, Kain would have ended that immediately...

It was more of....reverance. Magnus was in awe of Shar....and as such, viewed her a godlike creature of perfection. It was indeed, worrying....and Kain knew that Shar hated such attentions.

But it was a nessicery evil, in order to create great warriors and defenders of Velmora, and these would be the people who would cause the greatest deeds to occour within Velmora.

But onto current situations, not future plans and dreams.

Kain held a short sword within his cloven hand, and used it playfully within the air. The metal sang rather lowly, but rather pleasantly. Kain whirled the blade, testing balance.

"Impressive.", Kain said to himself, and no other. He had come to expect such quality...and he did wonder how some people aquired such an array of high quality weapons for such rooms. Kain had himself very few artifacts which he could call upon, and he did not like to. His plate mail for instance, he had used very infrequently, and it was more useless now due to the Brightblade's taint being purged. It was a black, spiked armour, which did give the opponent and the common man the wrong impression about his character.

And Kain needed the right impression for his people.

kain walked from weapon to weapon, taking the odd small weapon and putting it on his person. A small knife in his bracer. A short sword on his side. Nothing much, just something to compliment his own natural arament.

And his magical abilities which were much more potent than his ability upon the field of combat where physical abilities were called upon. But, being gifted as Kain was with his inheritance...he could become rather the monster in such a situation...

(
Shar, I will be a little while alright? I am sorry, buisness turned up, you know how my life is.

A little pause as Shar thought about the responce, mentally sending a message back. She sounded a little shakey, concerned about him.

Alright Kain...just...be careful out there. Did you want me to come out and help? I could test-

No no Shar. It is alright, I will be fine. And beside, your current form is still under.... Kain trailed, looking for the right word.

Yes I know Kain. I am still being observed, anaylised like some geniue pig. Grrr, this is so frustrating! I just want to test these new abilities, these new legs and eyes and sensations which I did not have when I was within the cloak! Sure, I have lost a world in the astral planes...but I have gained independance in another! Kain....I just wish.....nevermind. I...I understand what is going on.


A voice came from nowhere, and everywhere at once. It spoke directly to Shar, in her mind, through her soul. It spoke with spiders, and dug needles into her eyes. It danced a macabre waltz on her heart as it thundered through her soul. Try as she might, she could do nothing but listen, and weep.

"You MUST kill Kain. The Destiny must not come to pass. KILL HIM NOW."

(OOC Vampirum Illustrus, are you even allowed in this thread?)

OOC: Um...GU? Read my last post. Lexie's gone for the moment...that convo isn't going to happen. And what's up with your MSN anyway?

(OOC Is Vampirum Illustrus allowed in this thread out of the blue? I don't know what you are planning...)

Roman looked at Liam.

"I'll come with you Liam."

He left the room for a few moments and returned with his samurai sword and automatic. He kept the Walther around if he needed it, but most of his fighting was done with a sword. He looked at the weapons and chose several wonderfully crafted knives and daggers, along with a spare samurai sword.

He finished grathering his weapons before turning to Sheyrena. He walked up to her and knealt down to look her in the face.

"Sheyrena, its going to be alright. Nothing is going to hurt you. This Lucifer is nothing to be afraid of. We'll take care of him. Will you be alright?"

Kain shook his head as he heard the words that the stranger who was called Roman. He slammed a dagger securily into his left bracer, making it a useful side arm for whatever situation, not that Kain honestly needed a blade when he had his cloven claws.

Such ignorance Kain thought. Lucifer cannot be stopped, he can only be quelled, and nor should evil be completely destroyed. It was ignorance that was going to get people killed here, and Kain did not particulary want to fight with strangers.

He walked by Roman and looked at him. Eventually, he spoke, his calm and deep words seeming strange from such a being with such a an alien appearance.

"What are your names? I don't particulary like fighting with strangers...I am Kain." he said simply, standing like a pillar of unmovable green rock.

Don’t worry…I have full faith that Lotus will keep both Cougaji and Kaos in check, as will I. They make quite the team… And soon *Sadacca would be inducted as well. Kaos looked back to the room which he had left from.

“Well I have my weapon,” a rather deep voice said from the doorway. The figure slammed his right fist into his left palm, brass knuckles underneath the black cut off gloves. His right eye was red, his left eye was blue. His skin and hair was purely white. The man seemed young, around 28 it would seem, and he had quite a strong build. He smiled exposing vicious fangs. There was one wing upon his back, and the other one had been severed. There was a chain piecing through some of the bone and feathers forming a loop. Hell of a place to get a piercing. He wore a black trench coat and black pants. There was a long chain around his neck with a red stone embedded in a dark metal at the end of it. Those who knew of the four addressed him as Cougaji, but those who met him was introduced as Qui.

Another was by his side. This man was just as tall as Qui, but possessed less of a build. He was quite lean with very light blond hair that was gelled past the point of being immovable. He had sun kissed skin and gleaming pale grey eyes. He wore a white shirt with pale grey pants. He smiled lightly, and possessed an overall pleasant demeanor. He held a metal staff within his hand, grips of leather. He looked very clean cut and content. This was Lotus. By looking, it was unclear how he could keep both Kaos and Cougaji in “check”, but he held up his end. When he smiled, there were no fangs.

Kaos turned toward Qui and smiled, gripping his hand tightly. “It took you long enough.”

“Well you know how it is,” Qui replied with a smile. Qui’s eyes however, singled out one in the room. Kain. He merely smiled at him, and said absolutely nothing to him. This was not a time to quarrel. Ravelyn looked toward Qui, and he smiled at her. She shook her head gently.

“I’m taking it you already know what you have to do,” she said to the two at the doorway.

“Yes, Ma’am.” Lotus replied in a melodic voice. Ravelyn nodded in approval of his answer, and turned back to Liam. [i]I’ll have my own way of being there…I don’t have the strength to journey right now given the circumstances…but don’t forget I will be with you, as will my blood.

Sheyrena looked at Roman. He was nicer to her than anyone else here. And he had said he would protect her. Did he think she was staying behind?

"I'm going too!" she replied with determination. "And if you try to make me stay here, I'll just run away and follow you! I will!"

Suddenly, Sheyrena stopped. She looked down at the floor and then up at Roman again, her eyes full of innocence and adoration.

"Please? I want to go with you."

"I seriously doubt the wisdom or responicibility of bringing a child so young and inexperianced to see the horrors of combat and the forces that we shall face." Kain said quietly, looking at Roman.

When he saw Qui, he said nothing, but he was obviously not pleased or happy with Qui's presance. His face darkened, and he seemed more moody due to Qui's presance. Kain did not look at him anymore, knowing that he was there, but obviously trying ignore him.

Roman looked at Sheyrena and smiled before he turned to Kain.

"My name is Roman Cyrus, pleasure to meet you. Wouldn't it be better if at least she came with us so we could have an eye on her? If she runs off and follows us, she could get into trouble and great danger."

Roman turned at looked at everyone, he did not know the new person and would have to introduce himself later. At the moment everyone seemed to be staring at him.

"She will be my responsiblity for this trip. But, I leave the final word to you Liam."

OOC: Sorry RV, read your post before I orginally posted this but forgot to introduce Roman.

OOC: Vampirum Illustrus, GET OUT. I never agreed to allow you in this thread, nor did you even give me the courtesy of TGing me to ask if you could join. To which, I would have said "No", because this thread is full.

IC:
"Everyone, get to know each other. It's going to be a few hours before we're ready to go." commanded Liam.

Azrael, I will meet with your clan more personally in time, for now, I must do something that my clan needs. Keep an eye on them will you?

Liam disappeared from the room, eventually secluding himself into a secondary magic room, one for his personal use. In the center, stood two stone pillars slightly pointed. Suspended in the middle of the two pillars was a strange orb that currently looked like it was a cooled stone. But rather, it was inactive magic that had created a shell around itself.

http://www.janerosen.com/sculpture/sunmoon/sunmooninst.jpg

Liam set his staff aside carefully, which it stood on its end, defying gravity. Concentration upon the orb, he moved his hands around it barely above its surface. Fissures began to glow on the orb and break apart the surface. Soon, it grew in size and turned to a bright yellow color.

Words of cryptic origin issued from his mouth, as blue electricity flowed from his fingers into the orb, separating, shaping, fulfilling the item that was being created.

Time blurred into reality as Liam continued to work, creating the artifacts with the vast magical source he drew from. The room shifted in its reflection of the colors and seemed to vibrate with power unseen by the majority of the world.

The colors died down to the wall's original color of white as Liam completed the first artifact.

He held it in his hand, admiring his skill and carefully inspecting it. He summoned a table to appear next to his staff, and laid the first artifact down upon it.

Liam turned back to the orb, cracked his knuckles and took a deep breath. This was seriously difficult work that required his every bit of attention and skill.

The orb began to glow once again...

OOC: I guess Vampirum Illustrus = blacklisted, huh? lol. And oh, btw, Gorg, didn't you say Rena was gonna stick to Zero, or have you changed to Roman or something?

IC: Zero sat down at his table, watching the conversation. Presently, Aeris came up and sat besides him, watching her love.

"Master Zero.....?"
"Yes, what is it?"
"I'll follow you anywhere you go."

That turned his head.

"No, Aeris. You don't have what it takes."
"But......Liam's gonna teach me. And you said one day i'll stand besides you. Well, this is it, isn't it?"

Zero sighed.

"Very well. Try not to get into harm's way. Stick with me when it gets tough, okay?"

HWOOAarrrr...

Lucifer Morningstar, the original sin, ruler and protector of the Domain of Hell, farthest point from Heaven's silver city, looked above into the arid skies of Hell as the Mithrilkor Dragon made a final pas above, and then landed at his feet.

Its armor clanked and jangled as it stalked forward, and then stopped before the former heavenly host. It pawed the ground, and looked as if for some sort of acknowledgement.

The Hollower, Cthulhu and Choronzon moved forward beside their lord and watched as Lucifer stroked the nose of the giant beast. They saw that the scroll was no longer on its neck.

"My generals. Please leave me. I have much... much to do, now that it has begun."

The three figures dissappeared into the air like wraiths, leaving with an image of the iconic demon of evil stroking the nose of a Mithrilkor Dragon...

Liam worked feverishly, yet carefully as he constructed each relic with immense concentration and effort. Sweat poured freely down his muscled body and dripped to the floor. His hair became matted with sweat and his breathing ragged. It was as if he were running a marathon, such was his physical exertion.

The orb repeatedly completed each artifact with similar processes, yet each time, there was a different exertion of energy that specialized in the artifact’s power. Each was laid gently upon the table, lined up neatly. Each looked almost the same as any other, except they held a slight difference that told of their differing states.

Finally, Liam laid the last artifact down. Eight relics had been created. Each had drawn heavily upon his strength and skills, and yet they were completed.

The orb cooled as he did this and returned to its shelled state.

Liam didn’t feel his balance change as he collapsed backwards. He only vaguely felt the wooden floor below his backside, his wings splaying awkwardly to the sides. The sweat soaked floor splashed slightly upon the impact of his body, sending a spray of misty sweat into the air, before settling once more.

His eyes rolled about in their sockets, before finally giving up and rolling backwards, exposing the white of his eyes.

His eyelids closed slowly as he passed into unconsciousness.

.......
.....
...
.
...
.....
.......

The task is done.

I know. You’ve made the heavens shudder with your work.

Do you think they are worth the trouble of receiving the relics?

You have already decided that. Thus you created the relics. An impressive display of your skills, I must add, however taxing it has been upon you.

I’m not God, you know.

I know, yet still, I stand by my compliment.

Thank you.

Keep in close contact with Azrael. She will benefit you well, and you, her. Never underestimate her clan’s skills. They are strong, yet they have their weaknesses.

I will do so. Why is Lucifer doing this?

That, we cannot determine. He has encased himself into the deepest regions of Hell, thus successfully keeping himself off our direct monitoring. You will have to confront him again.

The first time is the last time I want to confront him. He is beyond help. He has been seduced by his own Sin beyond recall.

You must remain strong. Do not become so full of yourself Liam. Trust in your clan. Trust the Shentavos. Remember that although you are seraphim, you still have your limits.

I know, I know…

<<<The conversation continues, yet fades away to merely incoherent sounds>>>

.......
.....
...
.
...
.....
.......

As Liam lay unconscious upon the floor of his personal magic study room, the others continued their interactions with one another, oblivious to Liam’s situation. Yet, Liam did not require help, just rest…

OOC: GU, Rena is gonna cling to Roman. You just stick with Aeris, it'll be better this way...

Kain went off with his own buisness in his usual manner. He slipped out of the views of people for privacy. There was need for him to do some things before he would set out. Although it was hardly what most people would be doing right now.

The vampire was sat, alone, smoking a blood cigar, one of his own creations. A rather clever item, and pleasurable too. It had crystalised blood within it, and when lit, the blood entered the mouth as a vapour. When it hanged in the mouth for a few seconds, it would condensate around the mouth.

A rather pleasurable experiance for the vampire, who was thoughtful right now. Not to his own situation, but to that of Shar's. He considered communicating to her, but....he thought better of it. It might sound like he was being like a parent to her, which he was far from. Hell, Shar was centuries old.

Kain took a deep breath of the blood within his mouth, the red gas flowing and dancing around within, before flowing down onto his tongue and being swallowed.

That was another thing Kain thought of.

Qui.

But he did not have the same rage that he had before for him. Just an underlying animosity and hatred of the person. Not overflowing from the cup, but noticable, bubbling away but not spilling.

Does this make me feel that it was alright for Qui to do what he did? Is he even sorry for what he did? By me being...less angry about it, wanting justice less due to what Rave said...does that make me betray her in a way? God....this is so confusing.

Another breath of the blood within his mouth from the smoldering cigar.

So many questions.

Kain was stood, leaning against a random wall of the mansion, but he was alone. He was stood in a corridor of one of the places, but he did not bother going to a window. The blood from his cigar would not escape. No...he enjoyed the sweet shade and darkness which was allowed by some areas of this place.

(OOC Feel free to get a character to walk into Kain and introduce themselves and whatever, so we can become more "close" as a combat group.)

With a light kiss, Zero sent Aeris on her way, and then stayed around. Watching the various people in the mansion, his gaze focused on one he had been interested in for a long time.

Kain Shentavo. A legend in the underworld. And he was......smoking? No vampire smokes, as far as Zero knew......but then he caught a very slight whiff of.....blood. From the cigar.

"Interesting", Zero thought. He went to Kain, and extended his hand for a shake.

"Greetings, Master Shentavo. May i ask what is that you are smoking?"

Sheyrena was ecstatic. An adventure! She was gonna get to go on an adventure! She couldn't wait to tell Lexie! But...where was Lexie anyway? Sheyrena realized she hadn't seen her tiny friend in awhile.

Lexie! she called Lexie? Where are you? Lexie?

That was odd..usually the faerie responded right away. The little girl concentrated, searching with her mind for the familiar presence of her friend. Nothing. There was nothing there. Sheyrena looked frantically around the room. Lexie was gone!

Sheyrena began to tremble. Lexie had been with her for as long as she could remember. She didn't know what she was going to do without her. The little girl collapsed on the floor, sobbing hysterically.

Roman turned and knealt down next to Sheyrena. He picked up the crying girl and cradled her in his arms. He spoke quietly, trying to calm her down.

"Hey...hey. Its alright, its okay, no need to cry, everything is going to be fine."

Roman looked down at her. He smiled, trying to comfort her as she continued to cry.

"Sheyrena, what is wrong?"

Qui was muttering something under his breath to Lotus, apparently about Nikita. He playfully punched him, and Lotus blocked, but he could see there was something behind his eyes. Your feeling can not change mine this time, Qui. Deal. Qui let out a soft growl, and backed down. Qui backed down! Kaos laughed, and Qui just gave him a look.

“Boys…” Ravelyn said. They seemed to shift instantly to her attention. “Don’t have too much fun. Remember…Mephisto succeeded in killing me once, but I took him down with me. He has only grown stronger from then. And remember…last time many lives were lost, so don’t get cocky.”

“Says the one with the infamous pride and arrogance,” Lotus said with a smile. Ravelyn chuckled, and dismissed it with her hand. She closed her eyes. “Even lefty over here,” he noted Qui’s one wing.

“I hold you indirectly responsible for the loss of that wing, Lotus.” Ravelyn ignored them.

“Be prepared, all of you. It will not be easy. I say this from experience, don’t leave till you know he’s been sent back. Stabbing, decapitating, maiming, biting, scratching, et cetera will not kill him, you can only send him back. So when you hit him, hit him again. I’m sure Liam knows the ritual. And if that fails, so do you Qui.” You have angelic blood within your veins until that last wing is severed.

Kain regarded the vampire with a curious look about the way this stranger spoke to him calling him Master, but it was not a scrutising one, just an observant one which much cyrpic nature about it. Kain did find it good when people did call him that...it was respectful, but he prefered people to call him Kain. But it was noted that this vampire had respect, although for what reason Kain could only guess. His name and saga Kain thought as he spoke.

"A cigar. More specifically, a blood cigar, one of my own creation. And as much as I appreciate the standard offer of greating, I do tend to bloody my newly found aquantenses hand most fouly. Not the best of greetings I am sure you will understand. But I do greet you to my presence and company, if that is what I understand by the gesture of shaking hands." Kain said slowly and pleasantly addressing the fact that he had cloven and taloned hands.He blew out a small breath of vapourised blood, the blood hanging in the air tantalisingly, before Kain drew it back in his mouth with practiced ease.

He reached within his pocket, making for a small box with gently glowing runes upon it and opened it, revealing three more of the wonderful things to the vampire Zero, and offering one to him in a silent gesture

"What is your name, I seem to find my reputations preceedes me time and time again, by those who I would know nothing of, espcially in this circumstance. And please, call me Kain, I have no want or need for titles, I find them too high for what I am.", Kain said, his fine and deep voice speaking elequently and with sophisticaion lacking in the modern world. It was like listening to Shakespeare, not prattling, but beautiful in the way that he said and put forward his point. Kain looked to find his answer, his brown eyes looking wantingly for infomation from this vampire, not hungrily or greedily, just wanting to be sated.

"Thank you very much indeed.", Zero spoke, and took the cigar, lighting it from Kain's lighter. He took a puff, and sighed. "Ahhh........it's been long since i smoked.......this is good stuff, very good. Very much like my own blood wine......"

Then he remembered Kain was speaking to him. "Ah, sorry, Ma...erm, Kain, this was so good i was dreaming away. Anyway......I am Zero, of the Noble Brood of Atros. Your reputation precedes you everywhere, Kain Shentavo, and even in a place like Atros, where the Noble Brood have secluded themselves from the rest of the world, you are still very much known amongst our kind."

Zero noted the elegance of very word Kain spoke, and it came as a shock to him, every word he said, for his elegance in words more than made up of what he lacked in looks. Zero thought that Kain has more of the air of the undead aristocracy than many born to the name. And that's not such a bad thing, isn't it?

"And what am I known for? What makes me so reputable within the vampire communities? I wonder what you have been told of me..." Kain said softly, more of a question to himself, but still addressing Zero.

There was indeed the sense of aristocracy to Kain, but no sense of the arrogance. Quite the opposite, humility and wanting to be treated like any other vampire. Indeed, Kain was a ruler of a nation now, and the way of Velmora, the way of the Psi was to lead by example and not keep oneself upon a pedastal.

Kain found his repuation a hinderance often, people would crowd him and adore him for something that he was not. Also, it raised more attention within vampire hunting groups, not that Kain could not handle them anymore. He had grown experianced in evading them.

But there was a positive side too. Other vampires did not grow alarmed by his appearance, and people did not try and test him, test his skills so much.

And for that, Kain did not really know if it was a good or bad thing having the reputation he did. He was aware of what people said in his nation, of his great deeds. It made him want to retch when he thought that such tales were undeserved of him.

"You humble yourself, Kain Shentavo. Your exploits are known almost everywhere. Even in Atros, I have personally seen intelligence briefings where you are the subject, and so I know somewhat of your history. But I will not even bother to tell you what I know, for it would take months just to finish, and I don't think your cigar here can last me that long", Zero chuckled. He took another puff, marvelling at the ingenuity of the cigar. It seems like vampires in this day and age are starting to rediscover their human past.......

Kain mulled over the infomation, as if he was tasting it like a fine wine, absorbing all the various flavors that were contain within the wine and they were slowly revealing themself to his tongue.

He moved his cigar around in his mouth, inhaled slowly and took it out, holding it within his left hand, those cloven talons acting so dexeriously. Kain was obviously used to what he had for hands, he could perform most task without damage. But to Kain's frustration, he couldn't play the piano ever again, not that he was ever much good at it. Two cloven fingers and one cloven thumb doesn't really help when you have to play such an instrument. But, he was content playing the musical instuments of his people, the Psi, who used magic to make strange and wonderful noises. Still, he did love the simplicity of a piano, and the emotions it could raise. Perhaps one day he would figure out a way to play again, Kain thought absant mindedly.

"Zero, how long have you been a vampire? As I am sure you know, am only twenty seven in combined mortal and immortal years", Kain said calmly and casually, possibly shocking Zero by revealing his age. Most people were when the found out the legend of Kain Shentavo was only twenty seven! It had obvious amazement to most vampires, who judged power by the age of the vampire. Hell, Kain did not have huge amounts of vampiric abilities, his main ability being able to form into mist. Of course he had the abilites of having increased speed, regeneration and eyesight, as did every other vampire.

Kain was not powerful due to his age, but he was powerful due to his experainces and the wealth of knowledge that he had obtained from all kinds of sources.

And also...the demonic sword, now purged; did age him strangely....

Zero's eyes widened, when Kain told him his real age. "But then, that would explain why the file on Kain Shentavo goes back only a few years", Zero mused to himself. "Good ol' King Louis is gonna be shocked by this. Besides, his experiences MUST have given him some power. Someone is gonna want to look into this."

"Well, Kain, I am an Ancient, 1718 years, in fact. I do not remember anything from my mortal years, so......to be honest, I don't know my real time of existence here. All i know is i've spent 1718 years as a vampire, and much of time isolated in Atros."

________________________________________________________________

Aeris, left to herself, decided she needed more training, and besides, Zero seemed busy talking to Kain. So, she went up to the door where she last saw Liam enter, not knowing what had transpired.

She knocked on the door. "Hello, Master Liam? Are you in there?"

Qui chuckled as he listened to the conversation between Kain and Zero. “So you call yourself an ancient?” He said softly. Lotus shook his head. Ravelyn, however, snapped at him.

“Qui, it does not concern you. Different clans have different ways. None of which are you own. I could be saying that exact same thing to you,” Ravelyn sighed heavily. Qui simply smiled. Ravelyn turned to Zero and Kain, and approached them. “It does not matter how old you are. You do get stronger with age, don’t get me wrong…but what really matters and sets the limit for your possible power is what kind of blood runs through your veins. There are other types of vampires that would show different results. If a neonate turns a fledgling, then the fledgling will be inexperienced, and weak. If an elder or an ancient turns that same person, you will get a stronger being.” Ravelyn’s eyes flickered. She knew it wouldn’t be much longer. That’s why she had to stay behind. Her cloak remained wrapped around her.

Liam... Ravelyn tried again. We need you here...

"Really?", Zero turned to Ravelyn, "In that case, I'll be really interested as to what kind of blood runs through you, Kain, for it surely must be something special.", he observed, with a glittering eye.

Liam opened his eyes slowly, the sound of a knock seemingly far away, as if it were merely a figment of his mind. Looking around the room, he observed the entire room's contents and sighed. The knock sounded once again, this time a little more clearer to himself.

He sat up and looked over to the door briefly before turning his hand in the air, watching as the lock disengaged and opened the door slightly. He got to his knees and finally to his feet.

Aeris walked in through the door, and immediately focused her attention on the strange stones that sat in the center of the room. The table was beyond the stones, but Liam immediately waved his hand toward the table and a cloth draped over its contents quickly, obscuring it from her view.

"Yes? What is it?"

Just then, Liam heard a call from Ravelyn, in telepathy. He responded.

I'll be there shortly Azrael.

Aeris looked at Liam, and took a deep breath, moreso to clear her lungs than for any other reason.

"I think that if we are to go fight, I need to learn offensive spells."

Liam nodded agreeingly, "That is true. Well, let's get started then."

The door closed and latched itself magically once again. Liam stepped back from Aeris and looked toward her.

"All right, the first thing to remember is who or what your target is. You must bring to mind the image of the attack that you wish to send toward that target, and then twist reality to make the impossible possible. Now, I'll set up a defense, and I want you to try anything that comes to mind."

Liam looked over at his staff, and was about to summon it closer, when he thought better of it. He would show Aeris his raw power alone...

Liam stood still and nothing happened as he waited for Aeris to attack.

"What? He must be joking......I don't know anything......", Aeris thought, as she watched Liam prepare himself for her attack. "I don't know any.....oh wait, I do. Naar cam."

She thought of the accident that she caused earlier. "Can I handle it?", she questioned herself. Still......nothing to do about it except try, she thought. She envisioned herself, instead of flicking the flames onto the floor, throwing these flames at Liam instead........a wind blew through the room, blowing through Aeris' dress, and instead of the innocent girl, Liam beheld a being of pureness, and yet of power. Power not close to matching his, but power nonetheless. Aeris was unconscious of how she looked, as suddenly she raised her palm at Liam, and shouted, "Naar Cam!!!"

Flames burst forth from her palm, stronger than a Burning Hand spell had any right to be.........

OOC: Tarl, Aeris is using an abnormally powerful spell, but it won't be that powerful compared to what Liam can cook up, and besides, Aeris will not know just how she looked.

Qui simply smiled. Ravelyn turned to Zero and Kain, and approached them. “It does not matter how old you are. You do get stronger with age, don’t get me wrong…but what really matters and sets the limit for your possible power is what kind of blood runs through your veins. There are other types of vampires that would show different results. If a neonate turns a fledgling, then the fledgling will be inexperienced, and weak. If an elder or an ancient turns that same person, you will get a stronger being.” Ravelyn’s eyes flickered. She knew it wouldn’t be much longer. That’s why she had to stay behind. Her cloak remained wrapped around her.

Kain nodded slowly in agreement, knowing this lesson. He was simply curious, although it did remind him of this fact. It was strange how other clans purely judged power upon age. That is what made himself quite the attracter of attention. But the last part...it reminded him why Daniella...well...there were exceptions to every situation.

"Indeed Wise One."

"Really?", Zero turned to Ravelyn, "In that case, I'll be really interested as to what kind of blood runs through you, Kain, for it surely must be something special.", he observed, with a glittering eye.

Kain chuckled darkly to himself, a rather strange laugh which was not entirely apparent what he meant by it.

"Well, my sire certainly is unique indeed.", Kain said with a smile, and looked over to Rave with a glint in his eye, a rather strange action for Kain.

He had changed somewhat since they had last seen each other, Kains seemed less stone like and more....


Happy?

Liam's eyes widened slightly as he noticed the change in the room. Aeris appeared to be almost holistic in her attack as flames leapt from her hands toward him.

The flames rapidly approached, swirling in their deadly dance toward Liam.

Yet, he stood completely still.

The flames completely engulfed Liam's entire body, even his wings. Aeris let out a slight gasp as she saw this.

From within the fiery chaos, Liam was busy working, his thoughts concentrating on the flames, preparing them for his counter-attack.

Suddenly, The flames around Liam did the impossible.

Fire became water, and was suddenly hurled back toward Aeris with powerful force...

Liam stood there, completely unscathed, and only his hair slightly ruffled to show any effect of the flames...

"Yikes!", was all Aeris could think of, when she suddenly saw her flames turn into water and rush back at her. She didn't even have time to comprehend what exactly she just did, before she had to try to bring up a defense against the wall of water rushing at her.

She failed. Or to be precise, she managed to bring up her shield, but it wasn't enough to hold up against the wall of water, which broke her shield and swept her off her feet, slamming her against a wall.

The water parted, and Liam beheld a wet, and very unhappy Aeris, pouting at him, in a way which he found very cute indeed.......

Roman put Sheyrena in his chair, he took off his coat and covered her up. Sheyrena was still crying, though not as much now. Roman felt sorry for her. Through her sobs he found out that Lexie, the one person Sheyrena knew the longest was gone.

"Its going to be alright. Lexie is going to be back, don't you worry. Just rest, I'll take you for a ride a little later."

He got a small smile from the girl. Roman had made up his mind to look after Sheyrena the best he could. While Sheyrena rested Roman remembered he had not yet introduced himself to Qui. He walked up to him and held out his hand.

"I haven't been able to introduce myself yet. I'm Roman."

“Is she now…care to tell me of her?” Ravelyn said returning Kain’s look. It wasn’t really a question. She laughed to herself. No one really knew the connection between them it would seem. Rumors often are distorted, and get more so along the way.

She felt a wave pass through her, and an uneasy expression came over her face. As if timing could be any more the off… she shifted, and looked at Kain. “If you will excuse me…” she nodded to Zero, and with hesitation, turned around. If caught by just a glance, it seemed that there could have been a link of a metal chain exposed underneath her cloak.

She then spoke in a language indistinguishable of those who did not know enoch. “Kaos, merenze na sook. Basta ni langoqa.”

Kaos’ eyes lit up, and as she left, he followed her out of the room. Lotus stepped in front of the door.

“what does she mean by that?” Qui asked Lotus.

“She didn’t tell you?”

“No.”

“Well, then you weren’t meant to know. Your task is Lucifer, and no other, do you understand.”

“Yes.”

Qui. Taking orders from someone else. The apocalypse is coming, isn’t it?

Roman looked back at Sheyrena who was still on the chair, his trenchcoat covering her. He knew she had powerful mental ablities, though she might need to wield a blade. He would have to teach her. Walking into the armory he scanned the swords and picked a short samurai sword. He studied it closly and knew it would due for her.

Taking it with him he walked over to Sheyrena who looked up at him through tear choked eyes. He knealt down and smiled.

"Sheyrena, remember how I promised you I would take you for a ride as a Bengal Tiger?"

He got a nod from her.

"Since everyone else is busy, how about we go for that ride and I'll teach you a few things about handling a sword?"

Sheyrena looked tearfully up at Roman and sniffled.

"O-ok..." she replied tremblingly. She wiped the tears from her eyes and smiled a little as she stood up and handed Roman back his coat. She slipped her tiny hand into his.

"Will I really get to hold a sword? I never held one before!"

"Yes." Roman replied, chuckling at the child's enthusiasm.

Suddenly Sheyrena stopped cold and looked up at Roman. Her eyes were deadly serious.

"The tiger? It won't hurt me, will it?"

Roman slipped on his coat as he lead Sheyrena outside. When they were out he knealt next to her and smiled.

"Why would I hurt you?"

Roman then transformed before Sheyrena's eyes into a black and white Bengal tiger. His emerald green catlike eyes looked at the little girl. Sheyrena reached out with her hand and gently stroked the soft fur.

Climb on.

Even in animal form, Roman could still communicate with his mind. The tiger form of Roman knealt and Sheyrena climbed on, grasping onto some of the hair. Roman started off slow before picking up the pace to a quick trot, gaining speed as they neared the woods. He would go easy on the speed, not wanting the girl to fall. He moved quickly through the forest, jumping over branches and logs.

Roman made his way to a small clearing and allowed Sheyrena to climb off him. From leaving the house to ending up here was a full 25 mintues, and Sheyrena looked as though she throughly enjoyed it.

"How did you like that?"

Sheyrena giggled and threw her arms around Roman's neck.

"That was so much fun! Can we do it again later? Please? I really want to! And we could go faster this time! I'll hold on real real tight so I don't fall off! oh, please can we? Can I ride different animals too? Oh, Mr. Roman can I?!"

Sheyrena was now jumping up and down in her excitement. Suddenly she stopped jumping and looked up at Roman eagerly.

"But first...we get to play swords now, right?"

Roman couldn't help but laugh at the little girl's joy. He smiled at her.

"Of course you can Sheyrena."

He pulled out the sword he had chosen for Sheyrena. The girl's eyes went wide as she stared at the shiny black sheath. She stared into Roman's eyes which were now very serious.

"Sheyrena, swords are not meant to be played with. They have one purpose, to kill others. If used properly, they will save your life. If not, you yourself will be injured. Before I teach you anything, or give you this sword; I want to promise me that you will not under any circumstances treat your sword like a toy, you will only use it when your life is seriously threatened. Is that clear?"

Sheyrena stared breathlessly at the little sword in the shiny black sheath. She couldn't believe it was going to be hers.

"Ok. I promise. I will only use it if I am in danger." she whispered. She reached out towards it slowly with one hand...

OCC: I'm immencely sorry for my long delay in posting, but I have had alot of rl and family problems pop up unexpectedly. And please forgive me if this post is abit abrupt, but I am immencely tired but this is the only chance I know I'll be able to post something. Thank you in advance.

IC: While everybody had rushed off to help Liam, Zeratul had remainded seated and cloaked himself. He had senced the multiple beings enter the mansion and using his phyce, probed around on thier conversations.

Interesting lot we seem to have gathered. Each so special in thier own right, powerful enough to cause mayhem, yet as a whole, oh the more deadly and powerful. And those Shentavos, must be ever wary of them. They are so different, something else flows in thier veins besides blood. or other spiritual domains. As such, it is good that I am the only one at the full awareness of my powers. Even Liam knows nothing of the extent of abilities.

Deciding it is time to present himself to these new "guests" he slowly walks up to where they are conversing, uncloaks himself and speaks.

"Hello my friends, I am Zeratul of the Angelotic house. Who might you be?"

1100 Hrs

Just north of Ontario and Quebec, Canada's Hudson Bay turned red, a sickening shade of red that was reminscient of blood. From the first time one skinned a knee, to the first time one made love. It was blood, bitter iron texture and smell, sticky and sweet.

1105 Hrs

Over 30 million souls in Canada, every single last person from Vancouver Island to the Bay of Fundy, vanished off the map.

...
...
...



30 million.

Liam laughed lightheartedly as Aeris frowned at him, obviously distraught as to the result of this lesson.

"You should probably learn to use your own physical being as a source of your offensive attacks. For example, you may find yourself fighting multiple enemies on your own. Even magic, at times, can become overwhelmed by sheer numbers. Therefore, learning to enhance your physical capabilities is a truly valuable skill."

Liam beckoned for Aeris to approach once more, and smiled as she looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Come on, child. I won't hurt you." he continued to beckon. Aeris took a few hesitant steps forward, warily watching Liam's every move.

Excellent, she is learning the value of caution and wariness.. Liam thought proudly to himself.

Teaching Aeris was like being a father teaching his son how to play ball. It was simply that fulfilling, that life-giving meaning that fulfilled the heart.

"Now, take what I said to heart, as I will multiply myself and attack. I want you to counter-attack instead of defending..."

Liam merely blinked and suddenly twenty "Liam's"stood encircling Aeris. She spun about in surprise and gasped aloud.

In sync with one another, the Liams spoke:

"Now attack!"

All of the Liams raised their staffs and shone the crystals directly into Aeris's face, causing her to shield her sight.

It was sly maneuver to cause Aeris to be forced to use other senses besides sight, to use her other natural senses, as well as magical...

Aeris spun once again, attempting to locate the real Liam, but failed every time.

Which one of the Liams was the real one??

Aeris spun round and round, but the light was blinding her so badly, she couldn't for the life of her see where Liam is. Of course the real Liam was making some movement noises, you can't disguise the backdraft from moving fast, but Aeris was not trained in distinguishing the position from the backdraft alone.

She was helpless as a mouse.

From the ring of Liams, a Liam-figure shot out, and tapped Aeris on her back with his staff. It was just a tap, nothing more, but Aeris swung around clumsily, and the Liam-figure was gone before she could retaliate. Another Liam-figure did the same thing, effecting the same result from Aeris, and this went on for a few more times.

"Arrgh!" Aeris screamed in frustration. Suddenly, shouting a few somewhat imcomprehensible words of Elvish, Aeris smote the foot of her Rose Staff into the ground. The effect was astounding, as a draft of force radiated out from a point, with her as the center, and blew like a wind through the room outwards. Liam, taken aback by this, staggered back due to the force, and his Liam-figures disappeared due to his being robbed of his concentration.

Swiftly, Aeris turned. She was still somewhat blinded, but no one can mistake footsteps on wooden flooring. She swung her Rose Staff wildly, and felt it make contact with......something, which let out an "ooph".

Aeris tripped and fell on the floor. Regaining her bearings and her sight, she turned to Liam, and saw he was clutching his.......

"Oops", Aeris thought. She ran over to Liam.

"Master Liam, I am so sorry! Are you okay?"

_______________________________________________________________

Zero, hearing Aeris' scream, overturned his chair, and rushed to where he though Aeris is, Dual Elites out at the ready........

Liam lay on the ground, clutching his groin as Aeris rushed over to him.

"I...I'm fine!" he replied with a slightly high pitched voice.

Now Liam understood why mortals said this kind of impact hurt...

Liam stood slowly to his feet and looked down at Aeris, who suddenly seemed afraid that Liam would become angry.

"That wasn't exactly what I had in my in accordance to using your physical capabilities to defend and attack. But...it works."

Suddenly, a loud thump was heard as the door shook violently. Yet it stood still, closed and locked with magic. Liam yanked his staff closer and pulled Aeris behind him as he faced the door.

The door slowly swung open, immediately causing Liam to swipe upwards with the bottom of his staff to connect with the chin of whomever, or whatever was trying to disturb them...

Roman let Sheyrena take hold of the sword. She stared at it through her large eyes. He remembered when he got his first sword, the same on he had on him now.

"Sheyrena, I'm going to teach you the basics right now. When we do a practice fight it will be with fake weapons, but that is for later. We'll go at the pace you wish too. If you feel like you wanna take it slow, we will, if you wanna go at faster pace we will."

He smiled at Sheyrena as he stood. Drawing his own samurai sword, which was covered with runes and markings of Ancient Simatarian. He had found this in a small shop, the owner didn't know what a fortune he was sitting on, Roman had bought it for only $500 and restored it to it's orginial beauty.

"Now Sheyrena, stand a few meters away so I won't hit you. Now stance is important. Place your right foot firmly behind you, not so much you're doing the splits, but enough to give you balance and able you to rock back and forth. Take your left hand hand, place it beneath the guard and your right below it. Got that?"

Sheyrena loved holding the little sword. It was all shiny and sparkly in the sunlight. She kept turning the blade over and over to watch it glitter.

Finally, she grinned up at Roman and assumed the stance as he had instructed her.

"Like this?" she asked. Roman nodded. She pointed the sword straight out in front of her and took a few experimental swipes with it.

With a laugh, she began to prance about the clearing fighting an imaginary enemy for all that she was worth. All of a sudden she tripped over a tree root and fell to the ground at Roman's feet.

She looked up at him, her face smuged liberally with dirt, and giggled.

Roman looked at her her stance and nodded.

"Good."

When she tripped he looked down at her and couldn't help but laugh, there was a sparkle behind the cat-like pupil as he knealt down and wiped her face clean with a rag. Then his face turned serious again, his voice was calm but there was a tone of great seriousness in his voice.

"That little stunt you pulled wasn't smart. You were acting like battle is a game, it isn't. You might actually have to kill the person if they try to assault you with a deadly weapons and noone else is around. Now, normally I would take that sword away and call the lessons off until you start acting more mature. Plenty of people have been injured and killed when they act like that. This is a warning Sheyrena. Next time you pull a stunt like that, I won't teach you any more."

Roman looked into her eyes as they started to tear.

"Its okay, I'm not angry at you, but I do care about your safety. Now, shall we continue?"

Sheyrena sniffled and wiped the tears from her eyes. This wasn't nearly as much fun as she thought it was going to be.

Well! thought Sheyrena If he's gonna be a meanie about it, I will just play with my sword later when he isn't here! Hmph!

Rena briefly considered refusing to continue the lesson, but thought better of it. She sat on the ground for a moment arms crossed. expression indignant.


Then she stood up and waited silently for Roman to begin.

"Okay, then lets begin again."

Roman stood and took his stance again.

"Now, unlike some swords you may see, this blade is meant to slash down in a clean arc, not stab. Slashing across your oppent's chest I find it the easiest place to go for when you are starting. I've had over 250 years of expericance with this sword and can hit the my foe in smaller places. For you, I suggest going to the legs or lower stomach or abdomen. Watch."

He closed his eyes for a while before opening them and visualizing his advasary. Roman stepped forward as he made an angled arc with the blade, slashing down an imaginary oppent's shoulder to waist. He turned back to Sheyrena.

"Now you try. Close your eyes and visualize an human body, clear your mind of all thoughts. Open your eyes and preform the move I just did, it is very simple, and very effective. Clear your mind of all other thoughts, and visualize your opponet. Go."

He stepped back and gave her room.

Taking a deep breath, Sheyrena closed her eyes tightly and envisioned her opponent.

Her mind's eye created a huge, hairy man with giant biceps and a huge sword. He bore down on her, breathing heavily, rage in his eyes.

It was all so real. Sheyrena screamed and swung her sword in a wide arc...

Roman jumped back as the girl swung several long graceful arcs and cuts in the air. Man, never thought she'd be like this. When Sheyrena stopped she looked at him and Roman smiled.

"Very good, I've taught many people over my years that trick, and you have done the best in my opinion. Also, tone down on the screaming you'll make someone go deaf."

He rubbed his ear as both of them chuckled.

"Sheyrena, what I need to teach you will require us to return to the mansion. I have some practice wooden swords back there. So, it is time to head back. Would you like to ride a tiger or something else back?"

Sheyrena shrieked and jumped up and down.

"Yes! I want to ride a...a...something cool. Something I've never seen before! Please!"

She stopped jumping in midair and floated, waiting for Roman to change.

Roman smiled and thought. What would she like to ride? He thought of many animals the little girl would find interesting. He looked at her expectant face. Sheyrena stared back at him as he put his sword back and made sure Sheyrena's blade was secure on her.

Two long horns began to grow from Roman's head as his body once again began to change into an Arabian Oryx. The emerald green cat-like eyes stayed the same, otherwise he looked exactly like another oryx.

Well? Hop on.

1110 Hrs

Anchorage, Alaska; Bellingham, Washington; Houston Texas and parts of New York State report blood raining down from the sky, accompanied by the mysterious sounds of a baby crying off in the distance.

1115 Hrs

Nearly 300 million souls disappear from the Continental United States and Outlying states.

...
...
...



330 million.

The staff swung.......

And hit Zero hard on the chin, who never saw it coming. It lofted him straight into the wall of the corridor, with a sickening thump.

Aeris winced, and it was....."Master Zero! Are you okay?", as she ran to tend him. Zero rubbed his jaw, which, although bloody, was already healing.

"That's the second time you attacked me already, Liam, and it's not even a full day yet", complained Zero. "And just what were you thinking, Aeris, screaming out so loud I could've heard you all the way from Assington?"

"I'm sorry, Master Zero.....I was.....I was....."
"She was training in hand-to-hand combat with me, Zero", Liam said, stepping up to offer a hand."

"Ah, thanks", Zero took Liam's hand, and stood up. "I see. No wonder she screamed. Take it easy on her, Liam, she has no prior experience of fighting whatsoever. You want to train her in weapons fighting, do it from the basics first, huh? And speaking of which, you mind if I gave her some melee combat training of my own?"

OOC: Tarl, have Liam answer, then have Zero leave so that Liam may do what he wishes.

Liam thought deeply for a moment. Suddenly a light could be seen in his eyes as he thought of something.

"Actually, I have a better idea...give me a moment and I'll get something together here, and then have everyone meet in the council room. I'll be there in a few minutes. Aeris, go with Zero for now."

Liam turned and reentered his room, making sure to close the door behind him. He approached the table where the artifacts sat covered by the cloth. His fingers grasped the cloth gently and pulled it away.

Liam admired each one of the artifacts, notable slightly in their differences from one another.

"Ailionanomina botexria." he spoke in his native language, and immediately elegant, yet small gift boxes appeared next to each of the artifacts. Each were inscribed in flowing handwriting with each recipient's name. Liam carefully placed each artifact in their boxes, then closed them.

Liam left the room, sealing the door behind him, and made his way to the council room.

He looked around, and noted that several were missing still. He would wait, until they arrived...

"Very well Liam. Here, Aeris, let's go."

Taking Aeris' hand, Zero led her to the council room. He stole a glance back at Aeris' new Rose Staff.......where in hell did she get that? Wherever it came from, it certainly was of very good make.......

They came to the council room, and sat themselves down.

"Master Zero?"
"Yes, what is it?"
"Why is Master Liam acting so strange?"
"Hmm? Oh......you'll have to ask him that yourself. All i can say is, he's an angel, you'll have to allow him his quirks", Zero replied, with a grin.

Aeris pouted, and hit him lightly. "You're so bad."

Zero merely grinned.

Kain left what company he was in, and headed towards the council room. He looked at Liam without much thought or indication of emotion, and sat down, awaiting what was to be said.

(OOC Short but shit reply. Sorry)

Roman dashed across the plain, Sheyrena was on his back, her arms wrapped around his neck. He had taken the long way back and had run full blast across the field back to the mansion. When they reached the door, the little girl climbed off him and Roman transformed back into his normal self.

The pair walked into the conference room and found that everyone else appeared to be there. He turned to Liam.

"Whats up?"

Liam watched as everyone gathered together quietly in the council room. Finally he cleared his throat, immediately silencing all those that were speaking amongst themselves. They listened carefully, for they could tell that he was about to tell them something important.

And indeed, it was very important…

“My friends, I have asked you all to come here now, for I have something I feel would bring us closer together as a clan,” he looked over to Ravelyn and her clan, “or as allies.”

Closing his eyes, Liam opened them once more, causing a sudden change in the room. The air grew cooler, and mists filled the air, surrounding each of them. Slowly, the mist rose and left all staring at eight small elegant boxes in the center of the table. Each were inscribed to the recipient’s name.

“I will start with the youngest, Sheyrena.”

Her box slid silently to her and halted in front of her on top of the table. She picked it up gingerly, and looked to Liam with an excited look. Quickly, her fingers tore open the box and revealed the relic within. It was a necklace, with the Celadrin clan symbol upon chain. In the center at the bottom of the symbol sat a small raised emblem of a closed eye.

“This relic will not only claim you as part of this clan, but it has been endowed with the gift of astral projection. You may use it to project yourself as your spirit to any location within ten miles of your body.”

Liam waved his hand and watched as the next box slid toward Aeris. She picked it up carefully and opened it, revealing a very similar relic, except this one had a heart at the bottom.

“This relic also claims you as part of this clan. Your relic gives you the ability to heal others, or yourself. It derives its power from your humanitarian capabilities.”

Liam waved his hand and another box slid toward Zeratul. It revealed yet another similar relic, this time with a open hand, palm outwards on the bottom of the relic.

“This relic claims you as part of the clan as well. It gives you the ability to manipulate others around you; usually your enemies; to serve your purposes. It is ineffective against either of these clans, but will be useful against anyone else, based on their own level of mental resistance.”

Roman watched as his box slid closer, before picking it up. It held a similar relic as the others, but had a double face portrait on the bottom. He looked up quizzically at Liam.

“This relic, like the others claims you as Celadrin. It gives you the ability to duplicate yourself, a useful skill to use against enemies.”

A box slid toward Zero. It also was a replication of the others, with a moon at the bottom.

“Zero, this relic also claims you as part of this clan. It gives you the ability to move in daylight, by encircling ‘night-shade’ around your body. It draws its power from your essence as a vampire, but it has its limits. It will only be capable of being used for up to six hours at any length of time. Then it must recharge for at least twelve hours.”

A box slid this time toward no one but Liam. He opened it to reveal the Celadrin clan relic with a raised emblem of his staff. He put it on, but did not tell of its purpose. He wouldn’t tell anyone, lest they try to abuse his relic.

“I will take unto myself this one. It’s purpose will remain unknown to you all, but should the day ever arrive when it is needed, it will be used, and then you shall see.”

Liam looked about the room and looked into each one’s eyes. He finalized his gaze upon Kain. His box slid to within Kain’s grasp. Kain opened it to reveal a star shaped symbol with a heart and sword in front of it. At the bottom, there was a depiction of Brightblade.

“This relic bears the mark of both clans. Your relic will gift you with the ability to transfer yourself, your soul, into your own blade, which I know is commonly called ‘Brightblade’.”

Liam turned his head to Ravelyn, smiling slightly as the last box moved to her hands. It revealed a similar relic as Kain’s, but instead of the Brightblade, it held a set of angelic wings, spread wide.

“To finalize our alliance, I have made this as well. Your relic holds a powerful ability with which only beings such as you or I can summon. It summons a thousand hosts of heaven to your aid. It can be used only three times unfortunately, for this is a powerful spell.”

Use it carefully, my friend, and it may save your life, or others.

Liam faced the entire room once again. He smiled as each admired their respective relics.

“I will have you all know that it has been my pleasure to create these for you. I know that each will come into valuable use at some time or another. Use them wisely, lest you find yourselves wishing you hadn’t used them at foolhardy times.”

Roman looked at his necklace, his fingers running over every detail. He couldn't believe what he was holding. He looked up at Liam, it was hard for him to express his graditude to the angel, but he think he found the words.

"Thank you very much Liam, I'll keep this with me always."

ooc: i'll say this happened before Ravelyn left the room.

Ic:

Ravelyn smiled, and took it close to her heart. "Thank you," she said softly. I called them to your aide before Vaughn...if this could amplify it... She shook her head, and stood from her chair.

"i have not come empty handed, Liam...and Kain..." Her glistening eyes fell upon both of them. She reached within her cloak, and pulled out a stone on a chain. It was of a clear stone prismatic in color. She placed it within Liams hands. "My wings..." she said softly. "Fly swiftly."

She turned to Qui, and gave him a brilliant sword which was known to many as the Shentavo sword of light. Qui caught it within his strong hands, and smiled. "My sword. Give them hell."

She finally turned to Kain. She took out a red prism unlike any other. Around it was black onyx. She took her own chain off, and put this on it. She clasped it around Kain's neck. She leaned close, so he was the only one to hear. "And my heart. Within which, my eternal love is bound."

She stepped away from them, and Kaos trailed behind her. "Nothing for me?" he said. Ravelyn turned around with a rather sadistic grin. In seconds Kaos was on the floor, dropped by a punch. Qui started laughing and Lotus snickered.

Ravelyn passed through the doorway into another room, vanishing within the shadows. Kaos got up and shook his head. "That was a light tap..."

"Whatever you say," Qui chuckled. Kaos stood up and laughed a bit to himself. "Somethings never change..."

You think she will be alright? You saw the energy drain out of her expression after that hit...

She'll be fine. She did this before...

Yea, but then she was healthy...

Lotus' face hardened. "Don't worry about her. She's the same Azrael we all grew up with. Stubborn, prideful, and strong to the last second. If anything she doesn't want your help. Your only concern is the task set before you."

Both quieted, and waited. Qui's new weapon held tightly in his right hand.

Zero picked up his box, and opening it, studied the relic closely. Most interesting......he put it around his neck, and instinctively willed the amulet the work. His essence went into it......

Suddenly, for him, the world turned black.

"Wha-what?", he exclaimed, standing up and knocking his chair over, alarming everyone, who saw a strange, amoebic black figure suddenly appear in place of the immortal. The strange black figure stumbled about, nearly knocking things over.

"Nightshade, Zero! Use your brain!" Liam barked at him, annoyed.

The black figure went still. Then, Zero's voice enamated from it.

"Ah. Alright, now i understand how this works", Zero's voice said. Gradually, everyone in the room noticed a high-pitched voice coming from the figure that seemed somewhat annoying, and increasingly went higher in pitch, until it suddenly stopped.......Zero was using ultrasound to get his bearings, and apart from those who can hear ultrasound like Roman, and probably the Shentavos, or so he thought, no one else could have heard it. The black figure turned its head towards Liam.

"Ah, now I 'see' you", the black figure said with Zero's voice. Then, the nightshade dissolved, to reveal a grinning Zero.

"Thanks a lot for this, Liam. This may well prove to be invaluable. I shall claim it as my own." With that, Zero tucked his relic under his shirt.

Meanwhile, Aeris looked at all this with quite a bit of interest. She studied her own relic, and then put it on as well. However......nothing happened, although Aeris did get a vague sense of being able to do something new.......but what? She shook her head. She didn't understand......well, there's nothing to be done about it. Liam did say it was for healing, or something like that, and probably it'll come into use only when someone dear to her is hurt, or something like that.

"Thank you very much, Master Liam", Aeris said. "It's beautiful. I like it."

1120 Hrs

Reports filter through the various international media outlets about growing riots in Mexico City, Mexico, followed shortly thereafter of government fighting with rebels in parts of Colombia, Venezuela and Chile. Reporters in the area are clueless as to what reasons there may be to the flareup in in action, but soon find themselves involved in the battles, throwing their cameras and stones against the armored government troops.

1125 Hrs

Nearly 700 million souls vanish from the rest of the Americas.
...
...
...



1.3 billion.

Liam looked around at all the pleased faces, smiling as he did so. How he enjoyed their faces, their joy to recieve such wonderful gifts!

"All right, it's time to get ready to leave. We've got a meeting to get to with some guys desperately in need of punishment..."

Liam strode over to the armory and walked inside, turning to his left. He raised his hand and suddenly a wall panel opened upon confirmation of his magic signature. He reached inside and retrieved the items that hung there.

He pulled out an impressive armor, one fitted for only a seraphim. It was made of a non-earthly metal, one that shone as if with the lights of ten suns.

He reached in and pulled out the second item of interest.

He held it up to the light and smiled.

"Hello there old friend," he spoke as he swung the seraphim sword gracefully, before pulling out a sheath and attaching it to his body.

Liam stepped out of the armory and glanced around, noting the looks of awe with amusement.

"What? Never seen a seraphim in full detail before have you?"

Liam glanced over to Ravelyn, winking as he did so.

ooc: Ravelyn gave you something and left the room. :-P

Sheyrena held her new amulet in one tiny hand. She stared at it, her face a picture of confusion. After a moment, she walked over to Roman and tugged on the sleeve of his jacket. He looked down at her with a smile. She held up the amulet.

"I don't get it..." she said. "It's just a necklace. It isn't even very pretty. I don't think it does what that man with the wings says it does. And it's really heavy. I don't want it."

She put the amulet down on the table. And looked up at her fprotector expectantly.

"Can we play more swords now Mr. Roman? Please?"

Roman had put his own necklace and felt proud to wear it. Roman looked nervously at Liam who seemed to be occupied with something else. He picked up Sheyrena's necklace and put it on her. He spoke in a quiet voice so only she could hear him.

"Sheyrena, Liam went through a lot of trouble making these to help us. Now, it doesn't matter what it looks like on the outside it is what it can do that counts. I truly believe in what Liam said, why would he say it if he didn't mean it?"

Roman pulled out his sword and let Sheyrena examine the blade.

"When I was a young man, only in my fourties, I did not believe in using force to defend myself. I purchased and restored this ancient sword, as a part of my nation's history. I was walking down the street one night and was attacked by several men, I sensed them too late and was beaten and cut multiple times by one of them who had a short machete.
"Ever since then I have carried this or a knife with me. 'It is better to have a weapon, and not use it; than not have a weapon and need one'. So wear it and we can see if it actually works."

Roman looked into her eyes and smiled.

"Now what have I told you about swords? They are meant to be...?"

"Weapons are only for if someone is trying to hurt you or someone else."
Sheyrena grumbled a little bit and shuffled her feet. "And they aren't toys."

She stopped and looked up at Roman with a big smile. "Now can we play?"

Roman smiled.

"Alright, we'll do a few things quickly before we have to go with Liam."

He lead her to a room with a hard wooden floor and looked like a Japanese Samuriai school fighting room. Man, Liam has sure thought things through. He knew they didn't have much time to place on the full armour, so Roman settled for a pair of padded vest, one for him, and one smaller one for Sheyrena.

He also put on a fencing like helmet over her head, placed some padding on her and his legs and handed her a bamboo sword. He placed a helmet on his own head and twirled the bamboo sword he held.

"I'm going to go easy on you Sheyrena. Now, I want you to block my attack and try and strike me. Bamboo hurts a lot when it strikes the body with enough strength, so if I swing too hard tell me."

Roman fiented an attack to Sheyrena's right, before making his actual swing to the right.

Sheyrena managed to block Roman's first swing...barely. She turned and made an attack, which Roman blocked easily. He swung again, and Rena parried more easily this time.

She swung again and narrowly missed bashing Roman's amulet. He stopped to make sure that the relic hadn't been damaged and as he held it in his hand, he accidently triggered its power. Instantly, another Roman appeared out of thin air. The real Roman froze, surprised and confused.

Unfortunately, Sheyrena hadn't noticed any of this. I'm so cool! she thought as she paced stealthily around Roman. She raised her bamboo stick and swung as hard as she could. She connected solidly, hitting Roman square in the crotch.

Sheyrena gasped and dropped the stick. She was gonna be in big trouble this time...

The second Roman disappeared as soon as Roman felt Sheyrena's sword hit. Crumpling to the ground he tried to catch his breath, his cat-like pupils grew till they were almost round. He lay there for several mintues, letting the pain slip away before taking off his helmet. He sat on a chair, his voice was stern as he spoke.

"Sheyrena, come here."

The little girl walked forward, her eyes on the floor. Roman picked her up and looked at her. His eyes brightened as he smiled. She looked at him in confusion.

"You have great strength for a girl your age. If trying to hit your foe doesn't work, if he is a man, go for the family jewels."

Sheyrena smiled slightly.

"If you don't mind, I need a breather."

Sheyrena perched herself on Roman's knee. She looked up at him and asked, "Mr. Roman? What's 'Family Jewels'? I don't understand..."

Roman looked at her. He could understand she would ask this question, but he didn't know how to really answer it. He smiled at the young girl on his knee.

"Well, Sheyrena. It is another term we men use to......" His voice drifted off. Right now he felt like a father telling his kids about STDs and human reproduction. "The place you hit me is....well."

He looked at her, she leaned in close, her big eyes staring into him. He decided to change the subject.

"Sheyrena, what I've seen so far is pretty good. You are able to handle yourself and keep you foes at bay if you get into trouble. I'm quiet proud of you, you pick up much more quickly than the dozens of people I've taught. I'm also very impressed you are doing so well in a tight time scheduale we have. Now, we need to practice some more."

Zeratul took his necklace and studied it to the core. He could feel the essence flowing from it, the magic that it held inside. He could see the flames of energy flowing out of it with such detail and wonder.
In his mind Liam whispered,
Use this only when such a situation arises that your own natural abilities can't help you accomplish your goal.
He then put it on and expressed his gratitude,
"Thank you my friend, I am in your gratitude. For whatever fate has in store for us, know that I am ready and willing to follow you to the end."

With that he parted his companions and went back to the libary to do abit of liesure reading.

OOC: I've gotten permission for this from Tarlachia.
IC:
A new figure approached the home of the Celadrin. He was not yet in sight, and few even among the ranks of the mages of the world could detect his presence when he did not want to be found, but the group he approached was decidedly unusual. It was quite possible, he knew, that one or more of them would notice him.

Any with the skills to detect him at all would be sure to recognise his nature. The newcomer controlled a great deal of power; it was an odd mix of at least a dozen varieties, but every element of it was clearly on the side of good.

The newcomer is a somewhat strange looking figure, though not so much so as to draw more attention than a few curious glances. Most unusual are his arms and legs, somewhat longer than the limbs of a human; the simple illusion he was using could not disguise that. He wore gray-brown pants, a gray-green shirt, and a blue-gray cloak that went down to slightly below his knees; his boots, belt, and round-brimmed hat were all black. In his right hand he carried a large, closed umbrella, which would have gone slightly above the waist of the average man if stood on its point. He appeared to be unarmed, though something about him made it clear that he was far from helpless.

It had been difficult to negotiate his passage with the wizards of Devar (the Portal was new, and the Wizards' Council wanted to make up for the expenses of its creation as quickly as possible), and the journey from the Portal's contact on this world was long, but Jermod Shil-Garen of the Torendari was coming.

OOC: Feel free to notice his approach, if you wish.

As Liam completed his preparations, he raised his hand to the item that Ravelyn had given him. Truly a special gift, he knew, to bestow upon another their own seraphim wings to be used in times of necessity. He would have to clarify his appreciation of the gift, the next time he saw her.

Upon recieving Zeratul's message, he replied, Your loyalty will not be forgotten, if your word holds true. Do not be gone for too long my friend, we depart soon.

"Everyone ready?"

Liam looked around the room then scowled ever so slightly as he noticed that two were missing.

"Where the hell is Roman and Sheyrena?"

"I won't be too long, and even if I am abit late of coming, I shall merely cloak myself and catch up.
Also, we have another visiter, mage it seems is to be apporaching. It is clear he works for the side of good, based on the elements he carries inside of him."

OCC: I'm going to be busy next 3 days and not able to post.

Roman sensed Liam's slight fustration when he and Sheyrena weren't there. He took Sheyrena off his knee and helped her take off her padding. He took off his own padding and got his sword, pistol, and trenchcoat. He turned to Sheyrena.

"Got your actual sword?"

She smiled and held it out to him, before securing it to herself. Roman smiled back and the pair headed back to the conference room. As Roman walked past a window, he saw a figure approach the door of the mansion. Liam turned to look at them as they walked into the conference room.

"Sorry if we're holding anything up Liam. Just tried to teach Sheyrena a few things about using a sword. There is also someone at the door."

Sheyrena couldn't believe it! He thought she was doing good! He was proud of her! The little girl was glowing with happiness as they walked into the conference room. Suddenly, on an impulse, she tugged on Roman's jacket.

"Mr. Roman?"

He knelt down to her. "Yes, Sheyrena? What is it?"

"A-are you really proud of me like you said?"

Roman grinned. "Yes."

Sheyrena threw her arms around his neck and hugged him.

"I love you, Mr. Roman." she whispered.

Roman was a bit surprised by Sheyrena hugging him. He was motionless for a few seconds before hugging her. He like her a lot, but never expected her to do this. He never had been a big-brother figure nor a father figure to anyone and he really didn't know how to react to this.

"I love you too Sheyrena." He whispered into her ear.

Zero and Aeris, who had been sitting quietly in one corner, stood up.

"We're ready, Liam."

Then Zero looked around. Something was not quite right......

"There's something.....powerful, coming this way."

(OOC I am back from my retreat, and I am left withouta clue how to start up again. I am terrible at these sorts of rps with lots of people in them, I always get confused and out of place. :( )

Liam looked toward the door before any others told him of the new arrival. Opening it with a wave of his hand, the door swung open to allow entrance to the figure that stood outside.

Liam's voice called out from the darkened mansion, but not far from the door.

"Enter stranger. State your name and purpose, lest you be slayed..."

Liam positioned himself to be ready should this new one provide any threat to his clan or the Shentavos.

Kain had been making preparations alone, as he always did before a fight. Although rather warm to his closer freinds, he did prefer the solitude of his own thoughts.

He had no armour to check, no weapon to sharpen, no spell to recall. All were in check, all were ready. They always were. Kain had no armour but for his trousers, prefering the agility that he possessed. Kain had his Brightblade, and that weapon never grew dull. Kain had his spells all pernamently within his mind, a gift from the demon and experiance.

No he was here for a different purpose.

To meditate. To reflect upon events past.

To summon the purpose which kept him going.

To remember those who had fallen.

To remember who had come before him and shown him the way.

A sigh from the young vampire, and he got up from his knelt position. Ready to move ahead. Ready to fight again. As he always seemed to do.


---

Kain appeared outside, wrapped up in dark blue robes, hiding most of his features. The Brightblade symbol was upon his back, which shone in what light was around. He held no weapon, the Brightblade would be summoned when needed, not before.

Sheyrena smiled as she continued to hold onto Roman. Suddenly she gripped him very tightly. Someone was coming. Someone tremendously powerful. Someone who could crush Sheyrena like a bug. The little girl began to tremble violently. Afraid to speak, she mind-whispered to Roman

There's s-someone out there. S-someone dangerous.

Roman held her close as he looked at the figure in the doorway. He stood and made sure Sheyrena was behind him. He stared at the figure unsure of what to make of him. He could feel Sheyrena grip his hand tightly as she peaked around him before ducking back. Roman smiled down at her.

"Don't worry Sheyrena, nothing is going to happen to you."

Liam looked toward the door before any others told him of the new arrival. Opening it with a wave of his hand, the door swung open to allow entrance to the figure that stood outside.

Liam's voice called out from the darkened mansion, but not far from the door.

"Enter stranger. State your name and purpose, lest you be slayed..."

Liam positioned himself to be ready should this new one provide any threat to his clan or the Shentavos.

The newcomer took one step past the doorway, then stopped, leaning on his umbrella like a walking stick.
"My name is Jermod Shil-Garen. I am here as an... ambassador, you might way... to your organization. I represent the Torendari. May I proceed?"

The entrance of Jermod Shil-Garen caused quite a bit of commotion in the newly formed Celadrin Clan, almost all of whom are less than sure about what to make of this newcomer, who bespoke real power.

Aeris herself was confused, as was Zero. Although she could somehow tell that this being was not evil, he was powerful enough that his very presence seemed a passive threat. She ducked behind Zero, whose right hand was stretched over his shoulder, lightly touching the handle of the Dragon Saber.....he, too, was unsure of how to proceed.

Is this friend or foe......?

Liam's voice called out after a moment of silence. The silence seemed like a sharp knife being held at the throat.

"An ambassador you say? Alliances are always welcome."

Liam stepped forward from the shadows of the room, his form filling the doorway to the council room, his wings seeming to make him appear larger than he really was.

"I am Liam Celadrin. I lead this clan."

Liam beckoned for the stranger to enter the council room. At least here, the stranger would face the entire clan and the Shentavos. He would be that much less inclined to cause any damage with so many potential enemies to counterattack...

Jermod strode into the council room, leaning his umbrella against the wall near the door as he entered. He bowed to Liam.

"Greetings, wise one. I am honored to meet you. Oh- forgive me for the illusion. I know that you" (a sweeping gesture indicated the assembled gathering) "are not beings to be alarmed by appearances, but I wished to minimize the attention I attracted on my journey."

Moving one hand in a subtle, intricate gesture, the Torendar undid the illusion that made him look human. The form now revealed had pale blue skin, long, slender fingers with darker blue nails, large eyes, with "whites" the same deep indigo of their irises, a nose that was little more than two slits, and long, deep blue hair.

"I am glad that we heard about you at this time."

OOC: Sorry about the delay... Internet difficulties combined with lots of homework.

OCC: I'm majorly swamped with work and school, and I'm grounded, so I wont be able to post at least if not two. Sorry

"What exactly are you?" Kain asked plainly and quietly, not insulting but nor too friendly. It was just inuqisitve, as Kain observed from leaning on the wall. Kain's green vampiric face was covered with shadows from the place, making his appear rather eerie indeed, although he would hardly be frightening to this person.

Sheyrena quietly obsevered the newcomer from her hiding place behind Roman. She had her hands on his waist, and she was craning her neck around him so that she could see without compromising the security of her position.

When Jermod began to change form, Sheyrena gasped and clung tightly to Roman in fear and fascination. Once the transformation was complete however, she relaxed and began to get bored.

There has got to be something fun to do around here Sheyrena thought. She began to look around the room. She wandered away from Roman and climbed up on top of the big council table. She sat on the edge and dangled her feet off, swinging them back and forth.

As her eyes traveled around the room, her gaze settled on Roman's sword, tucked safely in it's scabbard.

I wonder if he'd notice... the little girl wondered. She focused her mind on the sword and began to gently lift it out of the scabbard. It was working! Slowly and deliberately she used her powers to float Roman's sword across the room toward her.

Liam lifted his chin slightly as Jermod undid his illusion. He had suspected a difference about this one long before this moment, and as always his intuition was correct. Burning his image into his mind, Liam spoke, shifting his white staff from one hand to the other:

"A representative of the Torendari. So strange that even I have not heard of them. Yet, I sense your being, and no dark will is seen. Now tell me, why have you come? How did you come to know of our existence? How do you expect to be any benefit to this clan?"

Liam saw Jermod finally catch sight of Liam's relic that hung around his neck and then looking toward the others, eyeing their own relics, noting that they appeared to be the same. He looked to Liam questionably.

"These relics represent my clan. The others (gestures toward the Shentavos) are of the Shentavo clan (holds up his own gift from Ravelyn)."

((OOC: Hope you don't mind what I did about the relic issue, just wanted to have your guy notice them, but do me a favor and just have him not detect the magics within them. Thanks.))

Roman looked down where his sword should be and didn't see it. He sighed and turned around to find it floating into Sheyrena's hands. Smiling he walked up to her as her tiny hands wrapped around the sword, barely keeping it steady. Roman gently took it and slide it back into it's scabbard. He smiled at her.

"Sheyrena, you're quiet the person, a little more practice and you could skewer guards with thier own weapons using that trick."

Kain reajusted his own relic when he heard of thier mention. He had altered the relic to make it into a single gauntlet which formed around his right hand, the hand which he claled the Brightblade up with. The amulet and the Brightblade were now inextricably bound, both bound by magic. The nature of the relic was powerful indeed, and if used correctly Kain reminded himself, someone could be in for a very powerful tempory present indeed.

The gauntlet was bronze but it moved as if it was made of a more flexible matieral. It seemed to flow around Kain's right cloven hand and arm, it went up a few inches above his wrist. In essance what he had now was both a buckler and a device for implimenting his new found ability.

Zero merely kept quiet, and Aeris followed his lead. He had many questions to ask of this......Torendari, but he'll keep them with him for now. He can sense there was no malice.......but it's still wait and see.......

"What exactly are you?" Kain asked plainly and quietly, not insulting but nor too friendly.

Bowing slightly to him, Jermod replied "My people are known as the Weavers. We live on a very distant world; I would be delighted to tell you about it, and us, in detail if you wish. But first..." He turned back to Liam as the Angel spoke.

"A representative of the Torendari. So strange that even I have not heard of them. Yet, I sense your being, and no dark will is seen. Now tell me, why have you come? How did you come to know of our existence? How do you expect to be any benefit to this clan?"

Liam saw Jermod finally catch sight of Liam's relic that hung around his neck and then looking toward the others, eyeing their own relics, noting that they appeared to be the same. He looked to Liam questionably.

"These relics represent my clan. The others (gestures toward the Shentavos) are of the Shentavo clan (holds up his own gift from Ravelyn)."

"Interesting... I shall remember those images. It is no surprise that you have not heard of the Torendari; we only came to this world, and this setting, quite recently. We are an organization founded by a great hero, our namesake Torendar, to fight evil where ever we can. Most of us are trained in both magic and physical combat, as was Torendar himself, and we have outposts in a number of... perhaps Universes is the best word to use?

"Anyway, when the Devaryn wizards opened a portal to this world we immediately began negotiating with them to form an outpost here. Almost the first thing we heard about upon arrival was your message seeking members. A bit of research discovered something of your nature; the formation of your clan is already having an impact on the world. I was sent to introduce us to you, and give you what aid I can.

"As to how I can be of use to you... I can defeat the average swordsman with this (he tapped the handle of his umbrella), and I can have have better weapons with a few moments notice. I am a reasonably skilled mage, and our styles of magic are probably different. I am a competent healer, though no expert. All Torendari are trained to be able to sense the honesty of a speaker, and to read someone's nature; I can tell if one I speak with is lying, and recognize good and evil, unless the mind is very well shielded indeed. Finally, I can bring messages from you to the other Torendari. We have access to a very wide range of skills, and can find someone with the knowledge to help in most situations if we have time enough.

"One other thing you should know about is the Torendari knives."
Reaching behind his back, Jermod slowly produced a large, sheathed dagger, then drew it carefully. The handle was intricately worked steel (like the handles on these) (http://www.atlantacutlery.com/imagelib/0500046_D_000.jpg); the blade was a swirl of color (http://www.atlantacutlery.com/imagelib/0400664_D_000.jpg), and glowed as he held it.

"To the best of our knowledge, we are the only ones with the ability to make these daggers. Each is bonded to its owner at the time it is forged; it cannot be broken while the owner lives, but melts at the time of his or her death. Only the owner can make the blade light up this way. If you see someone with one of these, and its blade is glowing, that person is almost certainly a Torendar."

Flipping the weapon around to hold it gently by the blade, he added, "Would anyone like a closer look at it?"

((OOC: No problem with the thing about the relics. If you'd rather have the formation of the Celadrin be more subtle, the Torendari merely knew that a new force of good had been organized here and I'll remove any mention of the name from before you mention it to him.))

~A bird drifts quietly through the area.~
(<Tag> for watching.)

(OOC Just one request The Devaryn Portal, can you make your paragraphs more spaced out? So there is a clean line between each paragraph? It makes it so much easier to read. Thanks)

OOC: First of all, I vehemently apologize for the wait for me to post, I've been busy lately, and I was also having a writer's block. I'm gonna break it now... TDP, if you change your guy's knowledge about the clan to learning about it upon arrival, that'd be great, esp. considering that the clan was only just started. News of its existence hasn't traveled yet. And also, please do space your paragraphs, it's easier to read, and more organized. Thanks.

IC:

Liam glanced around the room and with an air of commanding tone, he spoke.

"It is time for us to go. The longer we wait, the longer our foe has to prepare for our arrival."

Liam paused momentarily, a slight scowl upon his face. His face seemed to darken with the hidden rage, but it quickly passed. He continued,

"Jermod, you may travel with us if you wish. You'll get a first hand account of this clan's capabilities and may pass it back to your friends back home."

With that, Liam walked past Jermod and out the door. He glanced at the setting sun before turning back to the others.

"Zero, you'll have to wait about a half hour, then it'll be safe for you to come along. I'm sure you can catch up as soon as you can. Aeris will travel with me. I wish to speak to her some more about her skills."

Liam led the way out the door and down the path to the road. In his mind, he worked out his plans to what they might have to do along their journey.

"Very well", Zero said. Aeris looked at him.

"Go with him, Aeris. I will be just fine. Go on", he said.

She nodded, and went over to Liam's side, while Zero made himself comfortable in his own chair. Time to wait out the sun........

Roman turned to Sheyrena, before he could speak the little girl had climbed down and walked next to him as they left. Roman turned and smiled at Zero.

"See you in a little bit."

As he and Sheyrena walked behind Liam and the others he looked at the little girl.

"If you ever get tired, you're welcome to ride on my back. Okay?"

Sheyrena giggled and slipped her tiny hand into Roman's. She looked up at him impishly.

"Can I ride you even if I'm not tired?"

Roman laughed. He patted Sheyrena on the head.

"Of course you can. What would it be? Tiger? Lion? Name your animal."

(OOC Just one request The Devaryn Portal, can you make your paragraphs more spaced out? So there is a clean line between each paragraph? It makes it so much easier to read. Thanks)

OOC: Oh, right. I see what you mean. Sorry about that. Will do, and will fix. I've been spending too much time writing essays...
I'll fix his knowledge, as well.

IC:
"I would be honored." Jermod replied, following Liam. "If you wish, I will do what I can to help you. I can be ready for battle in just a few moments."

OOC: The Torendari have access to future tech as well as fantasy items. Should I leave that out here, or are a few items acceptable? Their policy is to fit in as well as possible to the setting they are in, so either one can make sense IC.

Sheyrena's eyes lit up. "The tiger! I want to ride the tiger!" She began jumping up and down with excitement and clapping her hands.

Roman smiled at the girl's excitment. He kept walking until he changed into the white tiger, he paused and let Sheyrena climb on. Roman usually prefered traveling as an animal, it was so much more relaxing to him. He purred slightly as Sheyrena scratched behind his ear. As he walked Roman wondered what Liam was planning to do.

"Liam, what is the plan?"