NationStates Jolt Archive

Humility, cover me with the ashes of remembrance...

I will learn from this pain...

There is no darkness without light to teach us of ourselves...

Life to lifeless to eternity, life to lifeless the cycle repeats...

Death unfolds itself painfully to unmask how fragile we are...

Death, teacher of sanity...

The pain drags me down...

...I'll rebuild me...

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Garr’s neck cracked as he stretched out his arms. His entire body ached, just as it had for the past twenty years. He was too old, too tired, and in too much pain to get up today. No, he told himself. He would stay in bed. He would get the rest his body so urgently needed. He was still saying this as he walked out the door, dressed, and at least apparently ready to take on the day.

The truth was that it didn’t matter how many men he had tracked down, or whom he tracked them down for, he wasn’t truly over the thrill of it. His office job was highly successful, and it did help fund his rather peculiar hobbies, but fulfillment always seemed far from his grasp, and happiness had left back when the pain had arrived.

He merely dragged himself from day to day, living without excitement or purpose, and it was perhaps that complete worthlessness that fueled the pain itself. Garr’s old life had past, and with it his ability to even do what he once had done effortlessly. No, now as he was in his prime, or so it was called, he could do nothing but think of his younger days.

It was through his dreams that he lived this life. Thoughts of ancient races, powerful men, and horrible demons swirled through his brain at all hours, emerging as soon as he shut his eyes, only serving as a reminder of who he once was.

After the manhunt he had entered the war, and after another near-death experience, he was confined by the military to a desk. There was a shortage of men, and still they would not let him fight, citing permanent physical exhaustion as a reason. Garr knew it to be bullshit, and he had quit as soon as the Rebellion had won.

He was, by instinct, a hunter, and filing papers did little to quench his blood thirst. Frowning as he stared down at the monitor before him, Garr shut his eyes, desperate for demons, powerful men, and ancient races. He needed to feel alive again.

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Rei Warheit shut his eyes, pulled back his hair, and splashed water onto his face. The liquid was brisk and refreshing. Thirsty, Rei let it run down into his mouth. He hadn’t slept or eaten in days, and in all reality he didn’t need to, but water was a requirement. He had been without water for far too long.

Alone, he had meditated. Alone, he had wept. Alone, he had survived, amidst the chaos of an Empire at war. But when the Empire had begun to heal, Rei remained broken, confused, and unsure. There were too many questions to ask, too many paths to take, and Rei was quickly growing tired of it all.

Rei was beginning his conscious descent into apathy. Consummating the downfall of his lack of interest, he strolled through the torn streets of the slums, indifferent to those surrounding and staring at him. Brushing off the young and the elderly alike, Rei scanned his memory for recent bouts of pleasure, unfortunately coming up empty in the process. Training had grown mundane, talking to others unproductive, and even basking in the glory of his heritage, an act he once adored, had become tiresome and even annoying.

Needless to say, it was shocking then when out of nowhere, Rei froze, his body going numb and falling to the ground as his mind left his sanity, stretching out in all directions. Colors flashed before his eyes, patterns flailing about, attacking his senses in stride.

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“Another?”

“You have to ask?” Varin Warheit replied, flashing his beaming smile at the waitress. The young lady blushed, smiling in return, and slid another glass down towards the handsome man seated at the bar.

In a world as dark as it was dreary, Varin’s gleaming silver hair, bright red leather overcoat, and rock star good looks certainly made him stand out in a crowd. He wouldn’t have had it any other way. Of all the women he had enjoyed over the past centuries, this one seemed special. Varin had dealt with queens, models, movie stars, and whores…but this girl stood out for some reason. He had little clue as to why.

“So why are you here?” He asked. The girl paused, as if she was unsure that he was in fact talking to her, before replying.

“I work here,” she responded, her unhappiness obvious in her tone. Varin only grinned.

“I meant here…in this part of the city…”

“Only thing I’ve ever known…” she said, pretending to get back to her work.

“It’s a shame,” Varin said a little louder, causing her to stop what she was doing. “You seem like you could go places.” It was how he said it that made her smile. Countless men had hit her on over the past years, and in their efforts they always managed to say how she looked like she could have been a movie star, or she seemed like she could have been famous. They all already assumed that she was stuck here. They all had already written her off.

“We all have our dreams,” she said, matching his smile.

“And?”

“I…I’d love to sing,” she replied. “I mean…I do love to sing. I’d love to sing for people.”

“But?”

“Nadia! Get your ass back to work, you worthless whore!” a large and sloppily dressed man screamed from across the bar. “I’m not paying you to find a place to stay tonight during work hours. I’m sure there are plenty of street corners that would…”

“But I have to work…” she said, drowning out the screams of her boss, her mood quickly changing.

“Why not quit?” Varin asked, leaning in a whispering to her.

“Family business,” she muttered. Varin could only stare at her boss, her father, in disgust.

Varin finished his drink and slid his hand inside his red leather trench coat. This kind of thing didn’t happen as often as it should, as far as his was concerned. The absolute bliss that surged through his heart was utterly unnatural and completely inappropriate…but the fact that his target couldn’t have been a bigger bastard did nothing but fuel his fire. No, this slob needed to die, and Varin would be more than happy to see to it. Paying his tab, he strolled over towards the fat man and sat down across from him, pulling his pistol out from his coat.

“You got the money?” Varin asked, his glare cutting deep into the man.

“What money?” the guy shrugged. Under the table, Varin shot him in the foot.

“Don’t toy with me, fat boy,” Varin sneered. The man cried out in pain.

“I’m not giving you your goddamn money,” he shrieked, pulling a knife from his pocket and stabbing Varin in the chest with in. “You can go fuck yourself.”

“Sorry,” Varin said, smiling wickedly as he casually pulled the knife from his chest, the wound healing almost as quickly as it had been dealt. He grabbed the fat man’s shirt and pulled him close, Varin’s gun poking him in the gut. “I’ll get your daughter to do it for me.” Varin then smiled and fired two rounds through the man’s oversized midsection.

“So that’s why you’re here?” the daughter screamed, running from the bar towards her felled father. She collapsed at his corpse, leaning over his body in tears. “To murder?!”

“I figured I was doing you a favor,” Varin said, staring at the young lady in confusion. Hadn’t she been so upset about working here? Hadn’t she felt trapped? Hadn’t he insulted her? “But yeah…that’s why I’m here. That’s what I do.”

“You bastard!” she screamed, running for the phone. “People like you are the ones who belong in these slums. I’m calling the cops.”

“You think they’ll show up?” Varin asked. “They could care less. They’re who I work for.”

“Liar!” she shouted, picking up the phone before being pierced through the chest with a blade from behind. The phone dropped to the floor, and she fell beside it.

“Goddamnit, Lucius,” Varin spat, turning away from his brother, who emerged from the shadows. “I liked that one.”

“She called your bluff,” Lucius said, putting his hand on his younger brother’s shoulder. Varin threw it off and backed away.

“They still wouldn’t have come,” Varin said. “The cops could care less about these slums. It’s more dangerous for them to come down here.”

“You made too much of a show, Varin,” Lucius said, shaking his head in disgust. “Look at this…a bloody shoe…shots to the gut…and how many witnesses in this goddamn bar?”

“Oh and I suppose running a young girl through with a sword is being discrete,” Varin shot back.

“I was cleaning up your mess,” Lucius said. “…again.”

“I don’t get why she was so upset,” Varin said. “He had every right to die. He was absolutely horrible to her…and she hated him…but still…”

“Humans don’t make sense,” Lucius replied. “No control of their emotions…no rational thought…”

“It’s what makes them so intriguing,” Varin laughed, shaking his head. “These emotional bonds they form…they make no sense at all.”

“Bullshit,” Lucius said. “You like being a god among insects.”

“You know I don’t think of them that way…”

“It doesn’t matter,” Lucius snapped. “That’s how it is. One of these days you’re going to grow up and realize that these people…this filth…who killed all of our ancestors just because they didn’t understand them…these maggots are not your little play things. They aren’t put here for your stupid pleasure.”

Without another word, the two brothers walked out of the back door into the dark slums, disappearing amidst the monsters of the darkness. It was in the shadows that Lucius and Varin both fell to their knees as a sharp, piercing sound penetrated their minds. At his desk, Garr collapsed onto the floor, grasping his ears as papers flew across the room. Beside the fountain, Rei closed his eyes as the high-pitched wail echoed through his body, his soul slowly transcending past this plane.

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Rei Warheit - Varin Warheit - Lucius Warheit - Garr Ultima

Loki (http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b360/DMG2005/vivi.jpg) sat on a small chair, tending the fire with a stick and resting from his recent journey. Although he had been given an honorary position at court and even a residence in the castle, Loki had decided to return to his home in the cave atop the peek of a high mountain. "Uncle..." he said breaking the silence that only heard the crackling of the fire. Across from him, the old bearded man in a white robe smiled as it was the first time he had called him uncle. "They were nice people... can I see them again?" Loki asked innocently.

The old man stirred slightly before speaking in his reassuring and comforting voice, "Yes... yes, if you would like, I will take you to see them again..."

"When?" Loki asked like the young kid that he was.

"In time..." the old man chuckled. "Have patience... for now, you will have much to do..."

"What do you mean?" Loki asked as he didn't understand what he meant.

Taking a deep breath, he explained, "Many journeys await you, young one. Many places to go and things to do..." He paused momentarily before using his staff to help him get to his feet; though when he stood, he was forced to bend slightly as the roof of the cave was not fit for that of anyone much bigger than Loki. "And now... I must depart," he said as he made his way to the mouth of the cave. "And so shall you..." he added quietly so that Loki could not hear.

Loki followed him out of the cave and the two stood without a word between them for a moment. Finally Loki broke the silence, "Thank you..."

"No, no," the old man interrupted, "It is I who should be thanking you, for everything. For now however, good bye, Loki. Stay out of trouble… and watch where you walk," he said as he turned and proceeded down the narrow path of the mountain.

Loki stood staring at his uncle as they parted ways. He watched him walk, supported by his staff, until he can no longer be seen through the falling snow. "Good bye..." he said quietly as he turned back to his home. As he turned to enter his cave, a bright light seemed to appear out of nowhere and continually grew, "That light...! I have seen it befo-" Loki was cut off mid-sentence as his eyes grew heavy and a piercing noise penetrated his mind, forcing him to slump over into the snow.

*
*
*

Lightning cracked and thunder rolled as darkness fell over the land. The skies opened up and let their heavy burden fall upon the land. The rain splattered on the hard concrete of the streets and bounced harmlessly off the roofs of numerous buildings. A few lights were left on, but for the most part, the people of the city had gone to sleep; the good people that is.

"You got what we came for, Jimmy?" asked a man in a soggy red sweatshirt.

"Yeh, I got what you want, Hardin" came the reply from a man who was leaning against the alley wall with a small black duffle bag at his side.

"Well, let’s see it!" commanded Hardin as he stood getting more soaked every minute. "Damn rain..." he said under his breath as he tried to brush the wetness out of his clothes.

"You first," replied Jimmy as he pushed off the alley wall and stood straight up, "You show me the money... and I will show you the stuff."

A momentary silence in which all that was heard was the sound of rain ringing off the gutters and splashing in the newly formed puddles. Hardin nodded his head, "Show it to him." His acquaintance pulled a briefcase from his side and rested it one arm. Jimmy leaned in close as the briefcase was opened, revealing neatly stacked piles of assorted bills; but just as soon as it opened, Hardin slammed it closed, "Not until we see the stuff..."

Jimmy smiled and tossed the duffle bag to him, "Here it is..."

"Legit?"

"That's what you asked for, and that's what I delivered," Jimmy replied, "Everything is one hundred percent legit." He paused for a moment as Hardin inspected the contents of the bag, "Now, I will be taking my money and going."

A grin appeared on Hardin's face, "No... I think I will be taking your money and leaving." Jimmy's face turned to anger and he was about to jump forward at the two men when the two produced silver handguns. "Good bye, Jimmy..." Hardin said as he cocked back the hammer and put his finger on the trigger. Just as he was about to pull it, a mysterious scraping noise of metal against concrete was heard. "Wh-what's that?" he said nervously. There was no reply except the continuing sound of the metal scraping the ground as it got nearer. "Who's there!" he yelled as he regained some of his machismo, but still there was no reply other than the scraping sound.

A flash of lightning suddenly cut through they sky and lit a nearby tree ablaze as it revealed the face of what looked to be a man (http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b360/DMG2005/Sephiroth2.jpg) only a couple meters away. His long silver hair glistened in the light as drops of water clung to the ends. "Wh-who are you!" Hardin screamed as he raised his gun and fired of a pair of rounds at the man.

The mysterious, silver haired man raised his head and stared at Hardin in disbelief. He then moved his gloved hands to the top of his long coat and opened it, revealing two holes in his chest which were leaking blood. He touched his glove to the blood and then to his mouth, though he seemed to not pay any attention to the bullets that had just penetrated his skin. "My name... it's not important," he said in an ominous voice. Without saying another word, he pulled the massive sword from his side and sliced the two men in half.

"Th-thank you!" cried Jimmy from where he sat on the ground, "Thank you so much... they were going to kill me!"

The mysterious man walked over to Jimmy with his immense bloody sword still in hand, and in one swift movement, he cut off his head. "The guilty have been judged..." he said as he walked off down the alley. When he reached where the lightning had struck the tree, the ground was now aflame as the tree's limbs had fallen. He (http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b360/DMG2005/Sephiroth.jpg) turned slightly and looked behind at the three bodies that lay in a pool of their own blood, before walking through the fire and out of sight.

In the next moment he had made his way to the roof of a tall building and walked along the edge, surveying the dark night. Then all of a sudden, a piercing sound reached his ears and he fell nine stories before smashing into the ground.

Valfar Telemmaitë stared at the forest around him. He had travelled for hours away from the city of Dark Haven, he’d just had to get away since he could no longer stand being there. Too many rival necromancers out for his blood for reasons unknown to him, well perhaps he did know but nothing that he would ever admit to. Sometimes he’d take corpses or other possessions from other necromancers and that was what did it. It was a shortcoming of his that he’d never admit, it was just that it was sometimes easier to steal an object from another necromancer then it was to search for it himself.

“Damn you Llaith,” he cursed under his breath.

Only the forest could hear, this area of forest was in fact pretty much dead. The sound of silence filled the air. Darkness surrounded him, he didn’t mind it of course as he embraced darkness. It had taken over his soul years earlier.

Valfar frowned, he couldn’t remember his past, only that he’d been picked up by a necromancer known only as Llaith, back then he had looked like a sixteen year old and he still did, some number of years later. His cold blue eyes stared out into the darkness, but there was nothing but dead trees and bare earth to look at. Everything was dead.

“I shall have my revenge on you Llaith!” Valfar yelled.

The sound of his voice echoed out. Nothing replied, he was alone. The only course of action would be for him to build a small campfire so that he could work out where exactly he was. Having gathered a few dry logs, he placed them in a pile and clicked his fingers. The logs were quickly engulfed by fire, which would at least keep him warm since it was a rather chilly night.

“Now, let’s see,” he said to himself.

The smell of smoke had begun to fill the air, Valfar didn’t care about it as he doubted that there was anyone, or anything for that matter, to attract. Though he knew most of the Dark Forest, the area he had wandered into was unfamiliar. He took out a pouch and placed his hand in it, picking up a handful of necromancer dust.

“Mai 'r sêr atalnoda i maes 'm leoliad,” he said and threw the dust over the flames.

The colour changed to black and he looked toward the cloudless sky. Before the stars would say anything, Valfar heard a high-pitched noise. At first he chose to ignore it, but the noise became more intense and he held his hands over his ears. Even that wasn’t enough and as the high-pitched noise proved too much for him to take, he passed out.

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Somewhere on the Isle of Grantael
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Vraelentor Ki'in Hytraxz stared out at the open ocean. The wind whipped his cloak behind him, tossing it up in the air in the manner of a cape. The rain pelted his clothes, rendering them sopping wet and freezing, but it mattered little to the lithe, strong, angered young man. He had inherited enough from his family not to even feel the elements.

It was one of the few things he had inherited from his family. He breathed out once, expelling the air loudly, though that had not been his original intent. He could easily attribute it to his anger, that writhing ocean of hate and jealously that gripped him in a vise of utter despair and threatened his very inner soul. But it was not that he cared.

He remembered that they, when his mother, the mother he had trusted, had believed in, had loved as any child does to his mother had unequivically announced his imminent departure from the household which had been his for ages. The house he had grown up in, had lived in, had grown to love as his habitat, as animals love and depend on their surroundings.

He remembered his sisters and their cold expression, but he remembered their tear as they stared at him, looking upon, what he hoped, was their outcast brother. He remembered his two younger brothers - how his parents had loved them, while spiting him! - and their faces, engraved as masks of tragedy, tragedy which they felt, even as he felt it.

He remembered his father, whom he had believed to be unshakable as stone, crying as does the baby who gains no love, and yet wishes for it. He remembered his own expression, that expression of utter and total terror at what was the complete destruction of everything that he had ever known, of the place where he had spent the first years of his life.

His mother had had no explanation, none, but the simple "It had to be done, honey." It had to be done? What kind of explanation was that? An explanation that one gives to someone who's life you are systematically breaking, all due to the opinion of your neighbors? "It had to be done?" His reaction then had been the correct reaction - anger and disbelief.

Vraelentor Ki'in Hytraxz spit into the roaring oceans beneath him, dismissing them as he had dismissed his family. It was then that it reached him, a high, piercing, sound which rendered his knees weak and his bones like jelly. He fell, off the cliff, plunging towards the sharply whipping waves, his eyes closed shut by pain, fear, and anger.

Gaohari Lyu Ra Ul Singara leaned against a large tree that had been knocked down in what had to have been a ferocious storm, as it was both a huge tree and it had been pulled up by it's roots. As he tried to catch his breath his angelic half, or rather more accurately, angelic third began yelling at him.

“Why didn’t you just kill the pukes?” The psychological manifestation berated him, as she postured on his should and waved her miniture sword around.
“Because I didn’t want to kill them, I want to live in peace.” He said, and if anyone had been there to see, it would have appeared that he was talking to the air.
“Leave him alone you pompus little bitch.” This was said by as the manifestation of his demonic part appeared on the other shoulder, “Though you could let me out more often.” She added with a scowl at the face that appeared seventeen that was between her and the angel.
“If I let you out more, my chances for a normal life would go even further down the tube.” He groused

Hearing the baying of hounds, he gazed around the root bundle and saw a number of torches waving in the distance. As he took off, he thought of the event that precipitated the flight from this village.

He’d been enjoying his walk down the street, eating an apple he’d purchased from a local merchant at the bazaar when his feminine, demonic aspect decided she’d had enough time on the back burner and came out. The sight of a seventeen-year-old male changing into a rather voluptuous female demon complete with horns, wings and tail was sufficient to cause the men of the village that it was lynch mob time and that they need to get their various farm implements, dogs and torches and to go monster hunting. As he set off about half an hour before the mob could form, he remembered a story he’d heard of the people of this village doing something similar to a monster involving a Frank, a Stein and a windmill.

He’d managed to lose, or at least he thought he’d managed to lose the lynchers by crossing a stream a couple times then hiding in a cave. Here the two personalities re-appeared on his shoulders, thought he was naturally the only one who could see them, and began arguing again.

“Listen you two, I’m sick of your bickering, so you get to fight it out to see who’s in charge for a while.” He growled at the two bickering girls. After a few seconds, in which the angelic and demonic aspects held a ferocious battle in their collective mindscape, he became she and human became demon. As the change was finished, the lynch mob showed up and began waving the various tools of farming as well as yelling and normal mob activities. She cursed as she felt faint and almost sick. As one threw a torch, Gaohari collapsed in a dead faint.

Somewhere in the Galaxy

The cottage sat in absolute darkness, although not a single source of light save one: The tip of a lit cigarette in the bedroom.

Smoke was exhaled by the Man (http://premium1.uploadit.org/BetaVerisonX//r001.jpg) whose mouth the cigarette was in. The man was very good looking, with some feminine qualities, such as a smooth face with no hair on his chin, soft almond shaped eyes, the coronas of which were a shade of green. His eyes matched his hair, which was long and flowed to his mid-back. Moonlight glistened off his hair, glossy and light.

He was topless, showing his near perfectly chiseled chest and stomach, devoid of chest hair. The bed’s sheets covered the lower portion of his body. He exhaled a second plume of smoke, looking at the girl in the bed next to him.

She was dead, although there was no blood, no signs of a struggle. She even had a wide, warm grin on her face, although her eyes were vacant and blank.

Of course, the Man had stolen her life force, using it to maintain his immortality. As with all of his victims, he had stolen it from her as she climaxed.

With one hand, he squeezed the tip of the cigarette, extinguishing it. Being a demon, he had no use for smoking, and had only done it to maintain the current charade he was assuming.

There came a rustling noise, and a small figure came to him from the dark. “Master, may we find another with whom I may play? The children here have bored me quickly.” The small figure said in a unique female voice.

The Doll Maker smirked. He knew well what Shingoto (http://premium1.uploadit.org/BetaVerisonX//1136154279526.JPG), the doll whom spoke to him now, meant when she said the children had bored her. When Shingoto played with something that didn’t amuse her, such things usually did not live long. The fact he never heard the children being killed in just the other room meant she had probably killed them in her magic suitcase.

“We shall find another now. I am finished with this mortal; my appetite is satisfied for now. Fetch your suitcase; clean it if needed.” He spoke the orders calmly, standing to his feet, the bed sheet falling away. The hairless trend from his upper body had indeed continued into his lower body. His legs were smooth and well toned, firm and unyielding, like solid rock.

He dresses loosely, whilst Shingoto returns to the front, coming back a few seconds later with her suitcase. The Doll Maker nods, and leaves with the Doll in tow. They turn to the cottage. It was alone, far from the city’s limit. “Burn it.” He spoke.

Shingoto nodded, releasing the suitcase and raising both hands. A black spark jumped from her hands, igniting into a full-blown flame. The black fire leapt at the cottage, the fire finding the fuel it provided very helpful in expanding, soon engulfing the structure whole. The demonic fire would leave only ashes...


The two continue on the way towards the city. Abruptly, Shingoto calls out. “Ma... Master! Something’s wrong.” She falls forward, covering her ears. The Doll Maker turns around, but he too is over come by a distinct sound, which brings him to his knees. For both, everything goes black and they slip into unconsciousness.

Talbrynn (http://img235.imageshack.us/img235/5889/cloud1sm6rk.jpg) stood outside under a building's second story balcony to avoid the heavy rain. He leaned back against the wall as he watched his friend Jake Larkin (http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/7417/cidnew8nx.jpg) argue with a man in the street. What they were arguing about he didn't know. Probaly the usual quarrel where a man didn't like Jake hanging around his daughter. Talbrynn noted three men gather round the man, one armed with brass knuckles and the others brandishing knives, and he sighed and uncrossed his arms. He adjusted his leather gloves and stepped next to a motorcycle and grabbed Jake's metal baseball bat as Jake stopped spitting insults to light a cigarrette. Jake grinned at Talbrynn as he tucked his lighter away and caught his bat as it was tossed to him.

Talbrynn stepped in beside Jake.

"And who the hell are you? This prick's bitch?!" Spat the man. One of the men with a knife laughed menacingly. The man turned his attention back to Jake. "I warned you not come back here Jake, this is our turf!"

Ah, territory disputes... Guess this is unavoidable.

"I told you jack ass, I ain't with the Triad anymore!" Jake rested the bat on his shoulder and tightened his grip, ready to swing downward when needed.

"Let's make this quick Jake, not in the mood deal with the cops today." Talbrynn slid a foot back and put his fists up.

"And what the fuck are you two goin' to-"

With a resounding crack, Jake's bat made contact with the man's jaw and sent him sprawling to the ground. Talbrynn lunged forward, making a solid punch into the face of one of the men with a knife. He leaned back, avoid the man's blade as he slashed out. Jake swung his bat again, connecting with another man's shoulder, a loud pop sounding. The man swung wildly with his fist in shock as his shoulder was dislocated. The fighting came to a sudden halt as a screeching siren sounded through the rain.

"Shit! The cops!"

Talbrynn and Jake took off for their motorcycles while the others who could run ran off the other way.

As Talbrynn and Jake rounded a curve in the road leading out of town, the wind picked up in speed, making the drops of rain feel like needles against the skin. Talbrynn watched as his friend Jake suddenly lost control of his bike, an odd look on his face, and fall to the ground, he and his bike sliding down the road. Talbrynn turned to check if Jake was alright when a strange sound erupted in his head, and he at first shook it off as a sideaffect of the cold rain, but it grew in volume. Talbrynn slammed his bike to a halt and brought his hands to his head, trying to contend with the screeching sound, then all went black.

The designs of human religious buildings were puzzling. For so long they were built under some unwritten fundamental guidelines for no apparent reason and it was only of recent as the churches realised they must change with the times to survive that the structures have also changed. He didn't ask for places of worship to be built in a specific manner and yet they still did, it was... strange to say the least.

Lightning flashed overhead briefly as Izual (http://groups.msn.com/WeatheredImagination/assingtonspics.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=176) gazed upon the large stone structure before him. This church was older than most he'd encountered and whilst the place didn't appear to be anything of significance, Izual knew better than most. Keeping a grey cloak hugging his form, Izual stepped forward slowly with intent up the stairs and quietly through the large wooden doors.

Darkness filled the church save for the feint glow of a few scarce candles nearing the end of their lives. The absence of light didn't hinder Izual in the slightest, beings of his nature didn't comply to the laws of nature as did the mortals of this plain. Thunder still rattled the building but it held strong, not giving into the forces of the world around it. Some would say it stood as a testament to the faith it represented. Izual imagined it was due to the talent of a few mortal men.

Footstep after footstep echoed throughout the church as Izual approached an elaborate pedestal sitting upon a marble base. It would be considered a thing of beauty but Izual was not here for the view and merely disregarded its appearance. It wasn't until he was a few feet away from the object did the other life form within make his presence known.

A prised draped in a white robe moved from behind a stone pillar, his tanned face calm. He was a large man with a shiny, hairless head, almost appearing like a barbarian than a priest. There was something under his robe, Izual could sense the arcane presence. A weapon.

"What brings you to my church stranger?"

Izual stopped and looked down at the priest, his face completely hidden by a large hood. The man was not hostile, just wary and protective. Izual would attempt to be civil in this interaction.

"I come here seeking a certain item that your church houses. An item of dark nature."

The priest attempted not to show any reaction to such words and to one that had a lower form of perception he would have succeeded. Alas, Izual noted the change in pupils, the heart rate and other small signs. The priest knew very well what he was talking about.

"I'm sorry but there is no such item here. This is a house of God."

Izual merely shook his head, his eyes flashing a dim gold from under his hood as white feathered wings stretched out from under his robe. Whilst only half angel, Izual was still able to take on the appearance of an angelic being and most humans would not be able to tell the difference.

Stopping before he could get any words out, the priest merely stared. Whilst he may have been imbued with some powers of the Light he was not accustomed to seing angelic beings.

"Now that we understand eachother. May I borrow that hammer?"

Surprised that Izual knew about it, he brought the holy weapon from under his robes and handed it to the angel. Nodding in thanks, Izual stepped to the side of the stunned priest and with a single blow shattered the entire marble base before him. Once the dust had settled, Izual placed a single muscled arm into the hole before him and took hold of an old wooden box. The box itself appeared to be barely in one piece and had no obvious lid or lock.

Stepping back from the destroyed base, Izual returned the hammer.

"Thankyou. I'll make sure this doesn't get into the wrong hands."

Resting a hand upon the priest's shoulder, Izual discharged just enough power to rob the man of conciousness, allowing him to collapse upon the thick carpet. With that done, Izual grinned slightly to himself, he finally had it after twenty-five years of searching.

Before he could initiate the opening of such a container, Izual's attention was immediately caught by a high pitched ringing, the noise growing in intensity as each moment passed. Falling to his knees, Izual attempted to discern the source of such a noise as it was now causing him significant pain. Unfortunately for the demon/angel he could do nothing as the agony became too much and he lost his mind to darkness, falling to the ground with the wooden box still clutched within his grasp.

The fire flared and grew steady under his gaze. A cold grin flickered across his face as he turned around to face the sobbing child. She had come from the small town a few miles back. She was merely unlucky, out after dark. He didn’t hate her, he really didn’t care about her in anyway. But she can’t grapse that can she, its personal to her, the sobs irritated him. Quickly he wove the air, gagging her mid sob. Real rope bindings already held her arms and legs as one would a pig.

“No crying,” he said flatly.

He needed her to practice. He reached out and began to probe her essence. In an elemental sense she was woven of the four, but there was a fifth, or possible six if these traits were not two sides of one coin. Life, spirit, death, something. He didn’t really know what, and he did not like that.

“No, he does not like it at all,” he muttered softly to himself. His weaves became harder, probing deeper into the bindings of her body. She struggled, her flailing becoming more and more intensive as her worked upon her. Suddenly, the began to snap under the pressure. Recoiling he pulled back his weaves, but it was to late, a cascade failure. He could practically see the individual weaves breaking as they spread out from the starting point. Like a nuclear reaction her body bloomed and collapsed into itself, leaving only a sagging pile of flesh and rope.

“Third one this month, this annoys him, it does, how can he learn if they keep dying on him,” sighing he began rooting in his bag for something to cook for the evening, when suddenly a harsh sound filled his ears and he collapsed into darkness.

Vrun Dryath
aka: The Blessed Shores; Gholgoth

The Big Thing moved among the forests, with the little ones scattering around, to get out of it's way. The predators left It alone and the prey scurried from It. It moved through a field and up to the bluffs overlooking the seas. Birds looked down on the Big Thing and a vulture circled overhead. The fish swam far below, oblivious to It's presence. The Thing turned and walked back the way It had come. Towards 'civilization'. Towards the humans. Finally It stood on a crag overlooking the city walls. Avalon. Capital of Gholgothian Crimmond and subserviant to the Intercontinental Empire and the Excessivly Armed Empire.

The guards saw him leap from the crag to the ground, thirty feet below, land and keep walking without pause. He came to the gate and it opened. Not one gaurd botehred asking how he had gotton out of the city without their knowing, or why he chose to rub it in their faces by returning through the main gate. You don't ask the right hand man to the Khan such things. And certainly not if he is commonly know as Gar the Executioner.

As Gar walked the streets, people made way. He was in his full armor, with his scythe. He was never seen out of the armor or without the weapon. A small boy had the unfortunate idea to use his appearence to steal an orange from a vendor and tried to make a run across the street. In a few instants, Gar was in front of him. "What are you doing?" he asked, taking the orange from the boy's pocket. "Stealing is not what an Imperial citizen does. You are an Imperialist, yes?" The boy was scared half to death of the Executioner and looked it, nodding furiously as he went pale. "Then take this back to the vendor and see that you act like one. There shall not be crime in my capital." He handed the orange to the boy and the boy tore across the market, threw the fruit at the vendor and kept running. The people on the sidewalks were unsure what to do. The Executioner just turned and walked back to the palace, disturbed. When he was young, no one feared him. Well, no one but his enemies. Back when he and The Beast were fighting glorious battles in the Middle East, sometimes for the Crusaders, sometimes for the Muslims. They didn't care who they fought with, so long as they did battle. Those battles took their toll on Gar. A million battles. A million scars. His armor caused fear, but his face would cause panic.

He did the paperwork he had to do, signed orders, approved promotions, approved a plan for a small festival later in the month and then stood up and stepped outside, into the darkness of his gardens, immaculatly tended. He needed peace. He needed to think. Then her hearned the distinct sound of... a rose being broken off from the plant. He swiveled and brought his scythe down on the intruder... and missed. There was no intruder, but the rose was on the ground. He looked around for who it was that could move so fast and there... a figure in the dark. "Who are you? So I know what name to put on your grave..."

The figure stepped into the light. It was a creature Gar had seen many a time, on battlefields. Taking away the souls of the dead, taking them to Hell.

"Soultaker... why are you in my garden?"

The Soultaker said nothing, but raised his staff, which was topped with a stone containing thousands of screaming souls. A flash of light that really wasn't a flash or light at all emited from it and struck Gar in the chest.

And suddenly Gar was on the roof of a skyscraper and a storm was pouring down on him. This was not Gholgoth. "Soultaker! Where have you sent me Soultaker?! SHOW YOURSELF!" Gar bellowed, his cry echoing through the artificial valleies, until the sounds of the city drowned it out.

No creature of Hell appeared though. It didn't matter. Gar would find his own way back to his Hunting Grounds. Even if he had to slaughter this whole city to do it. Leaping off the edge, Gar began to bounce between two buildings, working his way down, ten floors at a time, until he hit pavement. He smelled the decay here. The death. The despair. And beneath it all... he smelled blood.

http://usera.imagecave.com/Alpha-Zero/executioner1.JPG
Gar the Executioner (http://usera.imagecave.com/Alpha-Zero/executioner.JPG)
Defender and Hunter of the Blessed Shores

Rei’s eyes slowly opened, the world emerging to his entrapped mind, existence gradually fading back into focus. The hot, muggy air leisurely blew threw his flowing hair as the scent of storm agitated his nostrils. Carefully he shifted his hands, each movement aching more than the last as he stared up at the dark skies above.

Forcing himself to his knees, Rei then progressed to his feet. All around him was land, dark clouds rumbling over wispy soil, heading towards a blurry horizon. He could see for miles, and yet at the same time he could see nothing, for ‘there’ seemed no different than ‘here.’

His own breathing echoed in the wind, and aside from his steady heartbeat, they were the only sounds he could hear. Each breath was perfectly blended with each hot breeze and Rei could tell that he had been sweating.

Brushing his hair from his face with his hands, Rei suddenly noticed that he was quite thirsty. Not only that, but the unmistakable taste of blood was alive in his mouth. Quickly he spit, but his saliva was clear, and a quick run through his mouth with his finger produced equally negative results.

The storm clouds parted, the sound of the thunder seemingly shaking the ground, and the rain swiftly rushed to the surface. Rei tilted his head back, closed his eyes, and opened his mouth. The liquid, that Rei no longer considered water, was bitter and vile. As it began to burn his tongue, he coughed, falling to his knees, and vomited. The rain quickly washed it away.

“Rei?” a voice called. Rei’s head rose up to find someone else standing in the rain, someone else right beside him in the infinite vastness that was this place. Rei’s mind was spinning; just moments ago he had looked all around, only to find no one and nothing. How could this person be so close?

“Rei?” the voice called again. Rei could feel his energy deep inside his body, as his ancestors had done for centuries, except Rei recognized this energy, and whoever it was obviously recognized Rei.

“Rei! It’s you!” the man said, now reaching down to help him up.

“Garr?” Rei asked in surprise. Of course the question was pointless. It was, without a doubt, Garr Ultima, Rei’s friend of years ago. It had been quite some time.

“I really hoped this had nothing to do with you…” Garr muttered, but his expressionless face began to force a smile. “But somehow…somehow I just knew it…” Rei stared back speechless. There were so many questions to ask, so many answers to seek, and Rei hadn’t the slightest idea where to begin.

“Where are we?” Rei asked, deciding to begin simple. Garr looked disappointed.

“You mean you don’t know?” he asked, but Rei’s face told him everything he needed to know, crushing any hope that he had at the same time. Rei was as clueless as he was. “Well I don’t know either….I don’t know where we are, how we got here, or why we’re here…” Rei shoot his head and then wiped his mouth out with his finger. The combined taste of vomit and blood still lingered. “You try to drink the rain?”

“Yeah,” Rei managed to reply, still staring at his friend in disbelief. None of this made sense.

“I tried that before,” Garr said. “It’s only natural…you’re going to have to get used to being thirsty though.”

“What are you talking about?” Rei asked. Garr seemed to know more than he was letting on, and Rei was in no mood for games.

“There was someone else with me,” Garr replied, the rain pouring over his head and down his face. “We walked together for some time. He…gave in…gathered the rain in his coat…drank it all…died almost instantly. I’ve been thirsty for so long…but I wanted to find you…to ask you what was going on. I couldn’t drink the rain…because…because I knew you’d have the answer…”

“I’m…sorry, Garr…” Rei replied, choking on his words as they left his mouth. He didn’t know why he was apologizing. Garr had made an assumption and it was false. There was nothing he could do.

“Yeah…” Garr responded. “Yeah, me too.” Suddenly, Rei felt uncontrollably grave, as a sharp fear pierced his mind and spread throughout his body.

“Garr…you said you found someone…where is he?” Rei asked, his senses returning, his mind growing alert. Garr didn’t seem to notice.

“I left him…he was in bad shape,” Garr replied. “His stomach got all bloated…and it ruptured…”

“No…I meant…” Rei started, then changed what he was saying. “How did you get here? Here beside me? Moments before you arrived I looked around and saw nothing…and you didn’t know that I drank the rain and threw up, even through you should have been able to see me do it according to the time you arrived.”

“I don’t know, Rei,” Garr said. “In all my time hear…I’ve seen so many things that I can’t explain. I just…I wanted to find you…and here you are…” Rei’s despair only grew.

“Garr…” Rei began, his voice trembling in the storm. “How long have you been here?”

“The sun still rises and falls,” Garr replied, rolling up his left sleeve and looking towards the darkening sky. Nearly thirty cut marks, some scarred over, some with scabs still on them, ran up and down his arm. Pulling out his dagger, Garr slashed his own shoulder, deep enough to break the skin and draw blood, but not deep enough to cause much damage. “I believe today was four weeks…day number twenty-eight.”

“Garr…” Rei said, his mind spinning. He felt sick again. “Humans can’t live that long without food or drink.”

“Yeah…” Garr said, staring at the ground as he rolled down his sleeve and put his dagger away. He simply shook his head; he was without an answer. “Yeah I know…”

http://67.18.37.15/237/117/upload/p694874.png http://67.18.37.15/237/117/upload/p694879.png
Rei Warheit - Garr Ultima

Varin woke up drenched, the rain beating down on his body as he laid on the ground. The soil was soaked, and yet there was no mud on his coat or in his hair. Looking around, he saw his brother Lucius sitting on a rock that was about waist-high. It was the only object, let alone rock, that he could see.

“Lucius?” Varin spoke as he moved towards his brother. Lucius didn’t bother to turn around.

“You’ve been asleep for three days,” Lucius snapped, still staring off into the distance. “I thought you were dead…I thought I’d be alone here…”

“Three days?” Varin asked, contemplating the thought. It didn’t seem right…it couldn’t.

“What do you remember?” Lucius questioned, turning to look at his younger brother. Varin closed his eyes, trying to picture his last thought. He couldn’t.

“I…” Varin muttered. “I don’t know. I mean…I remember a lot…who I am…what we do…what we’ve done…but I…I can’t think of anything recent.”

“Yeah…” Lucius replied. “I can’t either.” Varin stared at his brother through the rain. He was so thirsty.

“You’ve been sitting on that rock for three days?” Varin asked, now standing next to the rock and Lucius.

“We can take turns if you’d like,” Lucius offered. Varin found that odd.

“No…I meant…what have you been doing?” Varin continued.

“Staying in shape,” Lucius replied. “There was a time I thought I’d lost you…I went for a run…and not three minutes into it I looked back and neither you nor this rock were there.”

“What?”

“I searched and searched, running from place to place in an effort to find you, knowing that no one could have taken you because of this damned rock, and in my exaustion I collapsed…only to wake up beside you the next morning,” Lucius said. “That was the second day. Today I did pushups…and sat on this rock.”

“How long has it been raining?” Varin asked, looking at the sky.

“A few hours,” Lucius responded before quickly adding “Don’t drink it.”

“Don’t drink the rain?”

“It’s contaminated or something,” Lucius explained. “It rained the first day too and I was so damn thirsty that I opened my mouth, only to throw up for nearly an hour. It’s not worth it.”

Varin shook his head at his brother. “You have to be shitting me…” he said. “So what the hell are we in? Some sort of other dimension with toxin rain and no hills?”

“Your guess is as good as mine,” Lucius said.

“Well I don’t fucking like it,” Varin concluded.

“You better fucking get used to it,” Lucius shot back. “You’ve been awake for three minutes, I’ve been awake for three days…and unlike you I can’t just sleep to pass time.”

“Well I can’t sit on that goddamn rock all day either,” Varin replied, leaning against the rock as he said that. He shook the hair out of his eyes. “Lets ditch this place…pick a direction and walk in it…see what’s out there.”

“Varin how fucking stupid are you?” Lucius snapped. “Do we have the slightest clue what’s out there? Do we know anything about this place?”

“Yeah,” Varin responded. “Yeah we do. We know that this place has absolutely nothing except for this big-ass rock that you seem so content with. Personally, I want to know where the fuck we are. We’re not going to learn that sitting here…”

“And what makes you think that we’re going to learn it where ever we go?” Lucius asked. The past three days had been terrible on him.

“I don’t know…” Varin said, staring off into the distance as the rain rolled down his body. “I don’t know at all…”

http://67.18.37.15/237/117/upload/p694864.png http://67.18.37.15/237/117/upload/p694865.png
Varin Warheit - Lucius Warheit

Gar stalked through the city, leaping from rooftop to rooftop. He knew by the language that he was in another nation. For hours he appeared and vanished from the streets, grabbing horrified people at random and demanding answers. He couldn't understand what any of them were saying, but it was definantly begging for mercy. That translated universally.

Finally giving up on that, Gar climbed to the tallest building he could and stared at the skies. "Creator..." He murmered. Even the stars were different.

And that was the last thing he knew, except the sensation of falling as he plummeted off the building. Then black.

He awoke in a barren place. At least it is not a city. he thought, standing up and staring at the sky as it rained. It smelled different. Tainted. He ignored it, as it didn't seem to be acidic and looked around. Nothing. Not a thing was around him. Except a thin whisp of dust here and there.

He started to walk and seemed to walk for a long time, before that started to irritate him. And then anger him. That beast of Hell was sentencing him to death in these wastes. Yes, that was it. The soul stealing bastard. Gar would make the Soultaker pay, dead or not, for what was happening to him. He then let out a war cry, which sounded like an enraged beast. Only silence met his ears. It was deafening afterward. He let out another, much more anguished roar, cursing the Soultaker, Lucifer, the Creator and every other mystical being he could think of. At least one of them had done this to him. He was sure.

Valfar felt a wetness, he realised that it was raining and the ground beneath him was soggy. He found himself lying on his stomach and rolled over before sitting up. Looking around, he noticed that there were no objects within viewing distance. Instead the wet ground appeared to stretch on toward the horizon in all directions.

“What is this place,” Valfar wondered to himself.

So far there was no sign of life. The last thing he could remember was being in the Dark Forest, a completely dead area in fact. There had been a high-pitched noise and that was the last thing he could remember before waking up in this place.

“Damn you Llaith,” he cursed as he had before.

He was certain that this was the doing of his old necromantic master. Lord Llaith as he was known had found young Valfar close to death and had brought him back, taking pity on him he took him in and began teaching Valfar the art of necromancy. Valfar exceeded Llaith’s expectations so much that he became a threat to the necromancer’s very existence. Llaith had tried to kill him, but Valfar had survived and fled. That led him deep into the Dark Forest and now to here.

“Where the fuck am I?” he yelled out, frustration beginning to seep into his mind.

Still no sign of life, he muttered a few words and a red ball appeared in his hand. “Go,” he said and the ball shot up like a flare.

Sure it could alert something bad to his location, but he was ready for it. While he felt alone, he felt that maybe there was someone else in his position.

The Doll Maker stirred, feeling woozy in his head. He rose from a prone position. Next to him was his doll, Shingoto. An orb of black fire was erected around them. The Doll Maker was in his base form. "Shingoto, what is the meaning of this?"

Shingoto turned, smiling as she saw her Master. "Master, you are well!"

"I am indeed. Why do you use your Demon Fire in such a manner?" He asked.

"The rain. It doesn't feel right." Shingoto replied.

The Doll Maker groaned, looking down at himself. He hated his base form. He still had the clothes from his previous form. He thought for a second, trying to decide on what form he should take. He decided, and his body began to glow with an inner light.

He became she, as her body adjusted to the new portions, filling out the hoodie and jeans nicely. Hair sprouted from a bare head, long and blonde, barely hiding the extending ears, forming into pointed Elf ears. Her skin tone became a very light tone, eyes a crystal clear blue.

The Doll Maker look upon her new form, and smiled. "This will do." She said, her tone soft and musical. She began to rise.

Immediately, Shingoto exstinguished the Demonic Fire, letting the rain come down. The Doll Maker frowned, then pulled the hoodie up over her head. She looked to Shingoto. "Shingoto, enter your suticase. I wish to explore."

Shingoto did as commanded, opening her suitcase and climbing inside, closing it. With Shingoto safely out of sight, The Doll Maker picked up the suitcase, then looked either way.

All she could see in all directions was nothing but flat terrain. The rain fell from gray clouds overhead, soaking the terrain somewhat. Turning her eyes down, she tried to find tracks in the mud, yet couldn't. It seemed like no one had passed by recently. Sighing, she begins to walk forward, hoping to find someone mortal soon...

The man (http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b360/DMG2005/Sephiroth2.jpg) stirred and slowly raised his body off the damp ground with his weary arms. As he felt the rain pouring down on his long grey hair, he looked up into the sky. "Huh... still raining," he commented in reference to when he had fallen off the building and blacked out. As he raised himself up, he looked down at the ground and noticed two previously fired bullets laying there, though there was no blood on the ground. He brushed his hand over his chest and found that the bullet holes and blood had disappeared.

“How long have I been out?” He wondered as he slowly got to his feet and straightened out his clothes, which had become quite messy and dirty. His armored shoulder guards had clumps of mud on them while the rest of his long black coat had brown stains. He sighed slowly as he looked at his boots and saw that they too had mud on them, even more mud then the rest of him. He stretched out his arms slightly, though it felt unfamiliar like his muscles had not done it in weeks, and cupped his hands together. Gathering enough "water" in his hands from the rain, he splashed it on his water resistant boots and rubbed the mud out.

After finishing polishing his boots, he was about to do the same with his jacket and pants, when he realized that there was no place to sit down and thus he would just get it muddy again. Again he sighed as he began looking around at his environment. For the first time he noticed that he was no longer in the small city which was populated with thousands of people. Quite the opposite. He was in a wasteland that extended beyond his increased eye sight and into the horizon. Angered by his predicament he raged out screaming to the only people who could have put in his current place, God and Lucifer, "Damn you... DAMN YOU BOTH!"

Again and again he shouted at the top of his lungs, but no response came as his voice was dampened by the rain. After expending much of his energy, he slumped down on the ground, no longer caring about the mud that would he would attract onto his coat.

After hours of doing nothing but sitting and contemplating, he again stood up. However this time as he did so, he noticed a small figure lying face down in the ground. "Strange..." he said to himself, "Why didn't I notice him before..."

He decided it must have been his anger and weariness that caused him to overlook the figure, as he proceeded over to him. As he walked, he felt the familiar feeling of his long sword, which hung down past his feet, dragging across the ground and drawing a line behind him.

When he reached the small figure lying face down, he nudged him ever so slightly with his boot to stir him, but no response. Again he tried to stir him with his boot and again no response. Over and over he tried it but the small figure's body, which was covered by an oversized blue coat, just lay limply on the ground. A rarity, but for the third time in a day he sighed and sat down on the ground. Sitting with his back to the figure, he glanced at where he had just come from. "What th-" he said surprised, "Where did that line go...?" Confused and annoyed, he continued to sit in silence and contemplate what to do as he had no idea where he was or to get back to his... "home."


"Huh?" The man heard a voice from behind him after he had been sitting in the same spot for three days. "Where am I?" The voice, which belonged to a young dwarven (in size) mage by the name of Loki (http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b360/DMG2005/vivi.jpg), asked. "And who are yo-" he was about to ask, before cut himself off as the grey haired man turned around and showed his face. Loki made a sharp intake of breath as he gasped, "Yo-you."

"Yes... me," the man replied.

"You-you're..." Loki stammered as ne was quite nervous and afraid.

"Yes..." the man simply replied.

"But, why?" Loki asked still confused and scared, "But... I didn't do anything."

"No... no you didn't," the man said, "Don't worry. I didn't come here for you."

Loki took a deep breath as he realized he wasn't going to die. "Then why are you here?" he asked as he looked around, "I don't see anybody or anything around here."

"I don't know..." he replied quietly. Though he was again angered by his presence here and his inability to figure out why, "I don't even know what here is... besides an empty wasteland of rain."

"Well, why don't we find out..." Loki suggested as he got to his feet and picked up his staff (http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b360/DMG2005/Staff.png). He adjusted his oversized clothes and hat as he often did as he spoke, "Sitting here isn't going to do any good."

"Hmm," the man said almost chuckling as he got to his feet. He looked down at the small mage and said, "You are pretty bright for someone so young, you know that?"

Though it was a slight compliment, Loki instead tried to defend his age. "I am not that young... I'm five!" he protested.

Again the man chuckled as he towered over Loki, "And you think that is pretty old... heh." He crouched down so that he was level with Loki and looked into his face, which was shrouded in a mysterious darkness. This is no ordinary boy... he thought, I can feel his power...

"What?" Loki asked as the grey haired man had been staring at him for an awkwardly long moment.

Loki's comment brought him back from his thoughts. "Hmm? Oh... it's nothing... you just have a little mud on your coat," he said pointing to the brim of his blue coat.

"Oh…hehe," he giggled innocently. He proceeded to extend his gloved hands and cupped them together in order to catch the rain. He then splashed it forward on the top of his coat. "Ahh!" he spat as some of the rain had gotten to his mouth. He continued to spit a few more times to get the disgusting taste and feeling out of his mouth.

"Hmmm...." the grey haired man said as he touched his wet, gloved finger to his mouth. "It isn't normal rain," he said as he tasted no more than a drop, "I wouldn't drink any of it if I were you..."

Loki nodded his understanding before looking around. "Lets go..." he said as he set off in high spirits. The man followed shortly behind as his long strides didn't require him to walk as fast as Loki's short ones. Funny boy... he thought as they walked off...

Talbrynn groaned as his eyes flickered open and immediately shut again in the bright light of the sun. He suddenly jumped to his feet with fists raised, ready for someone to make a swing. He lowered his fists as he realized he wasn't on the highway anymore. He stared around, still squinting in the sun. His gaze stopped on his friend Jake, who was laying flat on his stomach on the dry earth.

"Hey, wake up!" Talbrynn nudged Jake in the ribs with the tip of his boot. Jake rolled over and made a groan similar to Talbrynn's.

"Oh shit, I died didn't I!"

"No, I don't think we did. But we definitely did something to end up here...Where ever here is."

Jake climbed to his feet and looked around. He dropped a hand to his hip and was satisfied to find his SMG. He licked his lips and sighed. "We must've been out for a while. It feels like I haven't had a drink in days."

"Yeah, I noticed that too." Talbrynn stared into the distance. He squinted and put a hand over his eyes. "Am I crazy, or is that one of our bikes out there?"

"Where?!" Jake spun around and looked in the direction Talbrynn was pointing. He took off in a sprint.

"Hey wait!" Talbrynn followed him.

They stopped abruptly, kicking up dry dirt in the process, and Jake balled a hand into a fist.

"Son of a bitch..." muttered Talbrynn as he stared at the trashed bike. "Did we crash off a bridge?"

"I don't see any water dammit!" Jake crouched next to the motorcycle and began searching through it. He pulled out a small case and smiled as he looked up at the cloudless sky. "Thank you Uncle Larry!" He opened the cigarette case and quickly counted eleven. "Mabye we slid off a bridge and into a river that carried us into the Mi'Anlor Badlands. They have that one river that floods like once a year and it floods over a hundred miles for a day before drying up again." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a match before lighting a smoke. "Man I needed that..."

"I doubt it, Jake. We weren't anywhere near Mi'Anlor..."

"Well how do you suppose we got here? The mighty Azura punishing your Mahoran ass for working with the heathen Triad or somethin'?

Talbrynn laughed. "No, I don't think that's it either." Talbrynn licked his lips and looked up at the sky. "I could really use a drink about now."

"Yeah, let's see if we can find an oasis or something around here."

"Sounds like a plan. Anything else on the bike we can salvage?"

Jake nodded. "Your sword." He tossed Talbrynn his weapon. "And my bat's over here, give me a second to grab that..."

Gaohari opened her eyes and immediately hissed at the brightness. She rubbed her forehead as she struggled to her feet. As she stood and swayed on her feet she covered her eyes while her wings deployed a few tendrils to help support her. As she tried to regain her internal balance, she became aware that both of them were clamouring for information.

"What are we doing here?"
"Where are we?"
"Someone's going to pay."
"Shut up, shut up, shut up. I'm trying to figure out where in the blue hells we are." She looked around, "Well we certainly aren't in hell, or at least any parts I'm familiar with."

To make matters worse, at least in her opinion, she'd bent her tail out of shape. The rain was just the icing on the cake of a day gone from bad, to worse, to downright unpleasent.

"Hey, blondie."
"Yes?"
"Want to take over? Maybe you can figure out what if anything there is in this barren wasteland."

The horns shifted into a pair of small wings, her hair extended a couple inches and bleached and her wings went from leatheryish to feathery. Looking around, she set off in a random direction to see what, if anything lay in the distance.

"Wonder what we'll find?" The little human figmant asked as it sat on her shoulder and tried to peek down the shirt of the angel, while the demon nursed her tail on the other shoulder.

Izual awoke long before he opened his eyes. He still knew enough about his surroundings to be content with his current position but for now he had to remember. This land was foreign to him and how he arrived was a mystery but even more worrying was his last memory as it pointed out something in his current predicament.

The hybrid's last memory was that of holding a small wooden box within an old stone church. Besides that there was nothing between then and when he awoke to find the box not within his grasp anymore. Careful examination of his last memories produced no explanation for the present and so Izual opened his eyes, the golden irises gazing upon the sky black with clouds above.

Rising to his feet, Izual ignored the dirt over his cloak as he replaced his hood, masking his face once again. It was always more comfortable to remain in a supernatural form as opposed to a human as it meant his strength was more easily called upon and so Izual wore a dark cloak to hide his attention grabbing appearance.

Looking around for the first time with his eyes, Izual gazed upon nothing of note. Dirt, cracked earth and the occassional pile of sand. This place was certainly desolate, perhaps one of the many deserts Earth? Even with his abnormal ability to see further than most, Izual could spot nothing of significance in any direction.

Turning around to gaze upon his waking postion, Izual's eyes widened as the box sat before him, calming sitting upon the ground as if it had been there all along. Stunned but pleased, Izual willed the box into his hands and inspected it physically and in an arcane manner. It was the box from his memory and it was intact. Quite puzzled about this place, Izual placed the box within his cloak and decided it was time to leave.

Calling upon the powers common to those of his nature, Izual attempted to transport himself out of this desert and back into familiar territory. Nothing happened. At that point it began raining, pouring down as if the ocean were the sky.

Puzzled about his failure, Izual reasoned there was nothing wrong with his abilities but there was certainly something preventing him from leaving. Sighing to himself, the angel/demon pulled his cloak more tightly around his person as he noted the rain was not mere water, something ill sat within it and would be harmful to those that ingested it.

Without a clue as to where he was or how he'd arrived, Izual chose a direction and began to walk in the hope of finding something. There was no shaking the feeling that this place was unnatural, a place unaffected by the natural forces of most mortal realms.

The horrid sounds of an animal roaring echoed through the barren fields. The beast, wherever it was, was definitely angry. Rei shook his head. There was no animal, no beast, anywhere near them. He and Garr walked alone, across the expanse, heading nowhere.

“What have you been doing?” Rei asked, awkwardly trying to break the ice. It was odd. Usually he was the silent one, pressing on without interaction while someone else talked behind him, someone else asking the questions.

“Walking,” Garr replied, not turning around to look. Yes, Rei decided, their roles certainly had been reversed.

“I meant before you came here,” Rei responded. Garr stopped and sighed deeply.

“A lot less than I’ve been doing here,” he muttered, shaking his head. Rei walked up beside him and put his hand on Garr’s shoulder.

“You said you’ve seen a lot here,” Rei began. “But frankly, Garr, I don’t see anything. Am I missing something?”

“Maybe you’re not looking hard enough,” Garr said. Rei chuckled but quickly stopped when he noticed that Garr was completely serious.

“You remember who you’re talking to don’t you?” Rei asked. Obviously his fine-tuned Aural senses could pick up on something far before any human could.

“I’ve seen shit here, Rei,” Garr said. “Shit that simply doesn’t make sense. Images, things, people…flash before me and disappear…appear out of nowhere, walk a few steps, then vanish. I hear things, Rei…I smell things, and I feel things too…but none of it’s there. It’s like they’re all ghosts.” Rei stared at him in pity, and Garr turned his head. He probably thinks I’m crazy… “I haven’t eaten or drank anything for a month, Rei,” Garr continued. “But while I’m hungry and thirsty…I’m not fatigued…or dead. How does that make sense? Even if I was one some alien planet, I’d still be hungry. I’d still die if I didn’t drink.”

“So what are you saying?” Rei asked, a chill running down his back. Rei physically squirmed. Chills didn’t run down his back. “Do you think we’re dead?”

“I don’t think it matters,” Garr replied. Rei lifted an eyebrow. “Do you feel alive, Rei? If everything around you is wrong, if you can get away with things that should be necessary for living, if nothing follows life’s rules…it makes sense to think that you’re no longer alive.”

“Did it hurt?” Rei asked.

“Did what hurt?”

“Your arm,” Rei continued. “Each time you cut it…did it hurt?”

“No…” Garr whispered, his voice weak, as if all his strength had suddenly left him. “Not once. I’ve felt pain since I came…random times…random places…but when I cut my arm I feel nothing. It doesn’t make sense, Rei, because I feel the dagger in my hand…I feel it press against my skin…but I don’t feel the incision…I don’t feel the blood running out. Still, when you drank that water, you felt sick, didn’t you?”

“Yes…”

“Now how can you explain that?” Garr asked. Rei shrugged and shook his head. Their roles had seemingly returned to normal, with Garr asking the questions, however Rei still didn’t have the answers.

“I don’t know…” Rei replied. “I really don’t know what the hell to do. I don’t know if there’s a way out of here or not…and I don’t know of any way to find out if there is or not. I’m just…”

“Confused?” Garr asked.

“Yeah…”

“I’ve been confused since I got here…it doesn’t get better,” Garr said. “The more you think about, it the more ridiculous it seems.”

“Garr,” Rei said after some time. “Do you remember what you were doing before you came here.”

“What?”

“Do you remember what you were doing before you woke up here?”

“I was…” Garr said, looking up at the sky as he thought. “I was sitting in front of a computer...doing work…I closed my eyes and woke up here. What about you?”

“I was taking a walk in the slums,” Rei paused, taking in Garr’s odd expression. “To clear my head,” he explained. “The thing is…I don’t remember what I was clearing my head from, or, in fact, anything I was thinking about at all.”

“You…” Garr said, rubbing his eyes with his dirty hands, thinking again. “You’re right. I have no clue what I was thinking about. I mean…I could guess to what it was about…but I have no clue. I guess…I honestly don’t know.” He began to walk again but Rei stopped him.

“Garr…where exactly do you plan on going?” he asked. Garr paused.

“I never really thought about that…” Garr replied honestly. “I guess I always assumed that…”

“We need to think,” Rei said, sitting down in the dirt. “We need to think about why we can’t remember what we were thinking last…and everything else…and piece it all together...”

“Don’t you think I’ve done that?” Garr shouted, before retreating after he realized the tone of his voice. “Damnit, Rei, I don’t see how that’s going to accomplish more than walking around. We don’t know a way out, and we don’t know how to even look for a way out…if there even is one.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Rei said, calmly.

“What?”

“That’s not what we need to think about,” Rei explained, trying to convince himself as much as his friend. “We need to think about how we got here. We need to think about the way in. Maybe then we’ll understand what we’re dealing with.”

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Rei Warheit - Garr Ultima

“Varin!” Lucius Warheit exclaimed, stopping dead in his tracks as a shocked expression quickly spread across his face. “Varin? Where are you?”

Varin Warheit turned around in confusion to look at his brother. Other than Lucius’ shouting, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Staring down at his hands and then the rest of his body, Varin found that once again, everything looked as it should. Instinctively he touched his face, but he felt no blood or bruises. Puzzled, Varin stepped towards his brother.

“What’s wrong with you?” Varin asked, sweeping his hair out of his eyes with his hand.

“You…you…damnit, what did you do?” Lucius stammered, his eyes as wide as saucers.

“What are you talking about?” Varin laughed awkwardly. “Chill out, Lu.”

“You disappeared!” Lucius shouted, his expression growing angry.

“What the hell, Lucius?” Varin asked, looking into the eyes of his brother. “I didn’t go…”

“Yes you did, damnit,” Lucius accused, pointing his finger at Varin. “You went…in there…and disappeared.” Varin followed where his brother was pointing and stepped in that direction. “Varin!”

“What?” Varin said, returning to his brother’s side, aggravated. By now, Lucius was beginning to understand. Varin, however, was still completely lost. “Lucius, what the hell is going on?”

“There’s something…” Lucius began as he walked past his brother to where Varin had come from. As expected, Varin lost sight of him, but Lucius could still be heard. “…wrong with this.” His voice sounded muted…far off…

“Woah…” Varin muttered, finally realizing what Lucius had been dealing with. Lucius, as far as Varin was concerned, was invisible. However, with a look of understanding replacing that of shock, Lucius stepped from nowhere and back into Varin’s view. “Well this is interesting…”

“I can think of a few more things to call it…” Lucius muttered in reply.

“Frankly,” Varin said, leaping back and forth between the invisible barrier. “I can’t think of a single purpose this would serve. It’s not like it’s another dimension or anything…no portal…no doorway. Just a…shroud of sorts…”

“Perhaps that’s exactly what it’s for…” Lucius replied, sticking his arm through the barrier, watching it disappear. “Perhaps it’s a way to keep you…hidden in plain sight…”

“Well if that’s the case,” Varin said, stopping in the middle of the barrier so that half of his body would be covered. “It wasn’t meant to keep me hidden…or you hidden…”

“So whom was it meant to hide?” Lucius asked no one in particular.

“Or what?”

“Excuse me?”

“Or ‘what,’” Varin said. “It could be here to keep something hidden.”

Lucius just stared at his brother and shook his head. “I’m trying to be serious here.”

“You don’t think the idea of some weapon…or some generator…held behind this invisible wall is serious?” Varin asked.

“I don’t think we know enough to be speculating,” Lucius responded.

“Well then,” Varin concluded, stepping entirely beyond the barrier. “I say we try to find something…or someone…”

“How will we know if we leave the barrier though?” Lucius pondered. “I mean…we can see out…so if one of us leaves the barrier the other one would just follow the first out.”

“Your voice,” Varin replied. “Or my voice. Don’t I sound much quieter?” Varin was right of course, but Lucius wasn’t about to allow his brother’s wittiness to warrant congratulations. He merely nodded his head in reply and joined Varin beyond the invisible wall. “Lucius?”

“What?” Lucius asked, walking only a few paces behind his brother.

“I told you that if we kept walking we’d find something,” Varin said, chuckling to himself. Lucius was unusually quiet.

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Varin Warheit - Lucius Warheit

Talbrynn stalked quietly through the night, following the sound that he had been following for what seemed like hours to him. The little girl's laugh echoed through the night again, this time it seemed to come from behind. Talbrynn spun on his heel and stood stockstill for a moment. There was a mansion of a house before him, a house that seemed so familiar. A hundred thoughts raced through Talbrynn's mind, each an attempt at explaining how he had somehow missed the house. He took a breath and silently pushed open the iron gate leading into the courtyard, luckily unlocked. He crept to the front door, unsure of why he was trying to be so quiet. He reached over his shoulder and gripped the hilt of his sword and held it before him as he grabbed his pistol from his hip. Talbrynn edged the door open quietly and was bathed in the light of a ballroom chandelier.

He stopped as he heard the little girl's laugh again from a room up the curved stairway, and man walking across the landing above the stairs caught sight of him. Talbrynn held the man's stare for a moment, and then the man pulled out an SMG. Talbrynn fired first, and the man lurched forward, firing his submachine gun as he broke through the balcony and onto the floor before Talbrynn. The little girl's laugh turned into a piercing scream and Talbrynn turned as a door opened to his right. He swung his sword in an arch, sending a white line across the room to rip open the chest of a man rushing out of a kitchen. There was a shout, something about the Triad being in the house.

This is so familiar, thought Talbrynn. I've been here, I've done this... Talbrynn turned and walked up the stairs, feeling as if he had a mission to complete. Another gunman appeared on the landing and fired a burst of lead just above Talbrynn's shoulder. Talbrynn fired two rounds from his pistol and dropped the gunmen. He moved through the hall and kicked open a door. He stared at a man standing over a desk, stuffing money into a suitcase, while cowering in a corner was little girl tightly hugging a doll. Talbrynn raised his pistol level with the man and pulled the trigger, putting a bullet through the man's head. As the man's body slid down the wall to the floor, Talbrynn turned and faced the little girl.

A Triad gunman appeared behind Talbrynn and whispered, "She saw everything, you know what to do," and Talbrynn just stared, memories flashing through his mind.

"I've seen this before," he said to himself. "I've done this, I've walked these steps..." He looked around the room. The Triad gunman seemed to have vanished. "Is this just a dream?!" He said loudly, as if shouting at the house. The little girl whimpered and turned her head. Talbrynn pointed the pistol at her and stared for a moment. A memory appeared in his head like a movie, and he watched himself pull the trigger and walk away, leaving a tiny corpse behind in another mission complete. Talbrynn closed his eyes tightly a moment and took a couple deep breaths. "Is that really me?" he whispered. "Could I really do such a thing?"

He opened his eyes again, and found himself in the night again, surrounded by a barren wasteland. He stared at his pistol a moment before slowly sliding it back into his holster. He put his sword back into it's sling over his back and turned to find himself back at the little camp he and Jake had made. Jake stirred and rolled over and blinked.

"What's up man?"

"I dunna Jake, I could swear-" Talbrynn paused and shook his head. "Just a crazy ass dream."

"Yeah, well, just get some sleep man, you should keep what energy you have until we find some water..." Jake rolled over and thunder rolled across the sky and rain began to pour in torrents. Jake looked up as Talbrynn laughed. "Aw fuck..."

Valfar had continued walking in the pouring rain. So far he had yet to see any sign of life, it was apparent that he was alone. He was drenched from the rain as he continued his search for other signs of life. Though he had thought of it, he had decided against creating a shelter just yet as he was immune to the effects of pneumonia and he could easily dry his clothes later.

He knew his current location had to be down to Llaith, there was no other explanation. At least he couldn’t think of one and so he was doing the only thing he could do. The only question he now had was where was he? The location was very unfamiliar, but he did know he was no longer in Dark Valley.

As he carried on walking he began to feel other presences. Perhaps he was not alone after all. Valfar readied his magic, prepared to take on whatever he may have to fight against. If there were other people out there then maybe they could tell him where he was.

“Hey I know someone is out there,” he yelled into the pouring rain. “Show yourself.”

It was gone. Not a single trace or shred of evidence to indicate it was even there in the first place. Anyone else would have thought it simply didn't exist and yet Izual knew it was there, but not anymore. The demon/angel couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of despair at the loss of his item, it meant quite a bit to him for some reason. Some unknown reason.

Memories existed of obtaining from an old church, yet there was no reason behind these memories. They simply were, they existed without a motivation. Nevertheless, that wasn't the problem at hand. The box was gone now and this could be best described as tragic.

Unable to remain still due to the built up tension of losing his prized possession, Izual began to walk at pace towards nothing in particular as he attempted to calm himself. Normally such an event wouldn't distress him, displease maybe yet he wasn't one to get upset over things, even if they were significant to him in one way or another.

Rain continued to flow forth fromt he skies, unrelenting in its downpour onto the wasteland that surrounded Izual. As he continued to walk the thought of his box began to leave his mind, allowing it to be filled with idle thoughts of no particular consequence. He noted the place before him seemed quite barren considering it was enduring a literal drowning. Of course it could be a one off event, yet that seemed less likely.

Puddles began to accumlate around him and yet Izual avoided them, the water here was strange. During times like this he couldn't help but be thankful to be an immortal, drinking and eating were not necessary for his survival. Once they had been, back in his human days, even his lower demon days. Yet that didn't matter now.

The walk continued, the rain continued and yet the box was forgotten now. Izual would have continued to walk hadn't it been for a single lightning strike, plunging into the earth directly before his feet. Shaking off his brief blindness, the first thing Izual pondered was the lack of force behind the lightning. There was no sound or electrical property to it.

Eyes wide open, Izual found himself within a place he'd once been a regular visitor many centuries ago. It was different for every being as only the highest saw this place in pure form, Izual had never been the highest. He now stood within a vast marble hall, no limit to its walls. Roman style pillars were common yet appeared to support nothing but whiteness.

"Why am I here?"

"Why does anyone ever come here?"

Quick to temper, Izual snapped in reply.

"Don't give me that! I have more important matters than playing word games..."

"Says you. It's been some time."

"Yes, I'm not dead?"

"It's hard to say."

"How? I'm either dead or not."

Finally the formless voice decided to take shape, Tyreal now stood before him.

"Most refuse to call you a brother these days."

"Most did back then anyway..."

"I remember the day I imbued you with the gift. Now look where you are. He allows this, he blesses you with free will."

Izual remained silent for a moment, as if he was reluctant to reply.

"I...... know."

Closing his eyes, Izual couldn't bare to look into the face of the one that empowered him. Several minutes passed before he opened them again to be greeted by an entirely different sight.

"You lowly piece of shit... I will have your head!"

Now standing before him was the somewhat familiar human form of Lord Arithon himself. The creature that had taken Izual so many thousands of years ago when he was a mere human and changed him, transformed him into one of the first demonic/human hybrids. There was a period when Izual served his master without question. Alas one mission ended with the failure to kill Kain Shentavo and what the Roanian Inquisition would call a 'cleansing'.

"You've yet to have it..."

Despite Arithon being able to destroy Izual in a manner of seconds, they had never met once Izual had turned to the light and he went to great efforts to keep it that way. A very real fist struck Izual across the jaw, blood spraying from his mouth as the pain of contact seared through his very core.

"I'll take it when I see fit, abomination!"

"You bastard, you had no right..."

"Are you going to stop me, angel?"

Another fist connected with Izual's chin and sent him sprawling into the air and landing with a wet thud and splash. Still reeling from the pain, Izual opened his eyes somewhat to see himself back in this strange place. Sighing to himself he continued to lay there and turned his head to the side.

The box was there.

“Hey I know someone is out there! Show yourself.”

Talbrynn spun around and squinted through the rain but saw nothing. After a moment of trying to catch a sign of movement through the night rain, he glanced over to Jake. "You hear that man?"

Jake was already at his feet, holding his bat ready. "Yeah, I heard it. I don't think we're alone out here after all." Jake made a few practice swings in the air then looked at his friend. "Hey, give me your pistol Tal, just in case my bat ain't enough."

Talbrynn nodded and leaned over to hand off the pistol. Talbrynn held his sword before him and took breath. If this is some other jacked up hallucination, I really am going to kill someone... He stepped forward into the darkness in search of the source of the voice. Jake followed just behind and almost walking backwards as he watched their backs.

"Alright, I'm gonna answer back," Talbrynn whispered over his shoulder. He then yelled, "Hey! If you're still out there, you come to us!"

Valfar heard the reply drift in, it was just clear enough to make out but he wasn’t sure about which direction it had come from. Though it did sound like it had come from in front of him. The driving rain had made visibility almost zero, he had to use his other senses to find them.

“Alright I’m coming,” he yelled back, placing his hand on his katana.

‘Us’ was a worrying thought. Valfar wondered how many there were since he only heard one person speak. To be safe he readied a couple of spell for quick casting alongside his katana should he need it. Afterall he couldn’t tell if they were friend or foe, there was just no telling in this place. Perhaps these people knew where this place was and as he neared them, he asked.

“Do you know where this is?”

He could see just two people, which felt like some relief as it meant he wasn’t greatly outnumbered. It was only two on one should they turn out to be foe.

Wicked laughter echoed through the halls as a small child panted in fear, exhausted from running through the damp corridor. The sound was not the stereotypical evil laugh, but the child knew it, as all children did, and feared it all the same.

“Hello, child,” Rei menaced, although it was not his voice. The child stood to run but Rei reached out, grabbing the child by his shirt, and throwing him onto the ground. “You still haven’t learned, have you?” Rei said in another man’s voice. The same sardonic chuckle escaped his lips. “You’ve been quite naughty.”

“P-please,” the child begged, seemingly too afraid to cry. “I…I didn’t mean to…I didn’t do…”

“Oh come now,” The voice spoke from Rei’s mouth. “You know the rules.”

“But I…I…” The child stammered, his eyes darting throughout the dreary tunnel. As quick as he could, the young boy, who was no older than ten, pulled out a small dagger that had been hidden under the back of his shirt. Thrusting it at Rei, Rei caught the boy’s arm effortlessly with a hand that was not his own, and to both Rei and the boy’s horror, Rei began bending the knife back towards the boy.

It wasn’t enough that this man, this person who Rei apparently was, intended to stab the kid though, yet slowly but surely the dagger closed in on the boy’s stomach, gradually piercing through the shirt and the skin as the child’s eyes gaped open in pain. Rei pulled him close, holding the trembling and bleeding boy in someone else’s arms, and whispered in his young ears.

“Murder is a terrible thing…” Rei then released the dying child, held him on the ground with his foot on the boy’s chest, and shot him in the forehead with a pistol.

Rei jolted awake, drenched in sweat, and quickly sat up. Garr turned from where he was kneeling and shot Rei a questioning look but was obviously far more concerned with what he was working on. They were in a shelter of sorts that they had apparently appeared the day before, and one quick look out the open door told Rei that it still had not stopped raining.

The dream, as Rei considered it, was still very fresh in his mind, not fading as dreams often do. Of course, as an Aural, Rei put far more emphasis on dreams than most people did, and for good reason. Aural dreams always meant something, and Rei had little doubt in his mind that whoever he “was” in his dream had killed that child.

The idea sickened Rei, however, as odd as it was, he was much more intrigued than disgusted at the concept. Why was the boy being chased? What was it that he still hadn’t learned? What rule had he broken? Why did he pull the knife? Why did the man stab him? What did the man shoot him? Who was that man?

“Just what I need,” Rei muttered to himself, standing. “More questions…”

“Come here,” Garr said, beckoning Rei with his hand, his eyes remaining on whatever it was that he was doing. Garr pointed down at a pot of liquid expecting Rei to jump back in amazement. Rei simply stared at him blankly. “It’s water!” Garr exclaimed.

“…it’s been raining since…”

“No, no, no,” Garr interrupted. “It’s real water.”

“Where did you find it?” Rei asked, his voice slowly becoming more animated. He was so thirsty.

“The rain,” Garr said, shaking his head. “It’s real water.”

“What?”

“I ran some field tests on it to try and find out what it was,” Garr explained. “Turns out it’s the same H-two-O that we get everywhere else.”

“Pretty sure we don’t throw up when we drink it everywhere else,” Rei shot back sarcastically. This “discovery” was hard to believe, although for all intents and purposes, Garr seemed as if he was telling the truth. “Do you think there’s just something wrong with this place that we can’t drink it?”

“I think it’s more along the lines of something wrong with us that we can’t drink it,” Garr responded. “It’s like we were drugged or something.”

“I guess it makes sense,” Rei said, pushing his long silver hair back out of his face with his black glove. “That could explain how we don’t have to eat or drink either. We could have something in our system so that we don’t have to.”

“Kinda makes you sick doesn’t it?” Garr said, shaking his head and looking down at the water. “If we’re really drugged…so we don’t have to eat and all…it almost makes it seem like we’re in some sort of experiment…like we’re here for someone else.” Garr reached into his pocket and pulled out his dagger. Another day had passed by. The slight trickle of blood slowly crept down his arm and spilled into the water canteen.

“Test your blood,” Rei said as the idea popped into his head.

“Hmm…” Garr mumbled, dumping out his canteen. “I don’t really know how I’d be able to test…”

“Your blood has iron in it,” Rei replied. “And you could probably do red or white blood cell counts.”

“I’ll try I guess,” Garr said, holding his canteen up to his shoulder and flexing so that the blood would spill out.

The dream was still far too vivid in Rei’s mind, even for Aural standards. It was as if it had just happened, as if Rei himself had killed that child mere seconds before he talked with Garr. Still, Rei knew that he was asleep, and he knew that Garr had been kneeling beside him testing the water. The man in Rei’s dream was neither he nor Garr, and there were no tunnels or children around…only wasteland.

“You’re not going to believe this,” Garr said, and from the tone of his voice, it seemed as if Garr was having trouble believing it himself.

“Were we drugged?” Rei asked, half expecting Garr’s answer to be “no” because of his expression. Rei had learned to stop trying to predict what the answer should be in this place to any particular question. So much of this place made little sense.

“If we were I couldn’t tell you,” Garr said. “This isn’t even my blood.”

“What?”

“I mean…this isn’t even human blood…if it really is blood at all,” Garr said.

“Honestly Garr, I’m sure that…”

“No,” Garr said, stamping his foot on the ground. “I swear it.”

Rei closed his eyes, escaping back into the tunnels of his dream. There was the kid as he pulled out the knife. There was the arm and hand that weren’t his slowly stabbing the kid in the stomach. There were the poor child’s eyes, frozen open in pain and fear. Rei knew nothing about that place; he knew nothing about that dream, but he felt as if he yearned to be there, there where things made sense. If you get stabbed it hurts. If you get shot you die. That was how the universe was supposed to work.

He rubbed his eyes, opening them to look out the door at the rain, which apparently was water, rushing down on them. Garr said it hadn’t always been raining, but it hadn’t stopped since Rei had “woken up” and he was more than tired of it. He felt powerless in this place, weak, small, and he hated it.

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Rei Warheit - Garr Ultima

Talbrynn stared through the rain, trying to make out what had come just close enough to make out a shape in the heavy rain. He tensed as he saw a katana held in the hands of what appeared to be a human with long hair. As the person came closer, it asked,

“Do you know where this is?”

Talbrynn eyed the man a moment then said over his right shoulder, "It's one man, armed."

"I hear ya," replied Jake.

Talbrynn turned to his left to see Jake had already turned around to face the stranger. The man's question crossed through Talbrynn's mind again and shot down any hopes of finding out where they were.

"No, I have no idea where we are. I'd ask what you're doing wandering this desolate place in a night storm, but I guess you're in the same lost situation as us." Talbrynn did not lower his own sword, still suspicious of the man.

Days, or even weeks had gone by. The Doll Maker walked, Shingoto in her magic suitcase, carried by the handle in one hand.

The Doll Maker was still in her female form, although over the time, she had sinced changed her appearance from a beautiful Elven woman to a simple human woman, one who easily be a street urchin. The guise more matched her attire of loose jeans and a cotton hoodie.

Not once did it stop raining. Although the Doll Maker was not one who would complain about such a trival per se, it was even starting to get to her. It's not natural. Not natural at all. She thought to herself.

Is this Purgatory? Finally the thought came to her. In all this time, she had seen no one else, her only companoin being Shingoto. Even her other dolls didn't come at her command. It was beginning to feel like Purgatory. For eons I have lived trapped in that state... Neither alive nor dead, unfeeling, unseeing... Have I once again been sealed away?

I feel, that perhaps this time... I will not be so lucky as to be released by a blundering mortal... She continued to walk, lost in her thoughts...

Gaohari stretched out her wings in position to take off, had she an inkling to fly in the rain. As it was she simply wished to stretch before relaxing her backmuscles and set off walking.

"I wonder why we're here and if there is anyone else who's been brought to the miserable landscape." He commented miserably from his perch on hisself's shoulder.
"With luck we'll be able to find someone who knows what's going on and shake the answer out of them." She commented as she continued walking.
"Try calling out, maybe someone will hear you blondie." The demon commented in an annoyed tone as she wrapped her unkinked tail around her leg.
"Bite me bitch." The angel snapped, though she called out, "Is there anyone out here?"

As the words echo'd, she took a seat on a rock and ran a hand over her head 'wings to brush off the water that had been collecting in the fur there.

“That isn’t good,” Valfar sighed. “I’d hope to meet someone who could at least tell me where I was.”

Deciding there were unlikely to be a threat since they appeared to be in the same predicament as he was and so he lifted his hand from his katana. For now he would not class them as foe, but nor would he class them as friend just yet. With his now free hand he brushed his soaking wet hair away from his eyes.

“I’ve lost count how many hours I have been wondering, just walking in this rain.” Valfar’s eyes took on a seemingly angry. “You wouldn’t happen to know a necromancer by the name of Llaith would you?”

Talbrynn watched the stranger for a moment, then sheathed his sword over his shoulder. He nodded to Jake, who reluctantly lowered his pistol while muttering something about being too trusting. Talbrynn chuckled then shook his head as he said,

"No, I don't know anyone by that name." He moved his hair, clinging to his face because of the rain, from in front of his eyes. He looked up at the sky a moment before looking back at the man.

"My name is Talbrynn by the way, and my friend here is Jake."

Jake just grunted and shifted the baseball bat he was holding at his side.

"We've been wondering this wet hell for what seems like days now, but the last time I saw the sun was....well, when I woke up in the dirt."

"You wouldn't happen to have any idea of how we came to this shithole would ya?" asked Jake, obviously still in the mood to shoot first and ask questions later.

“Honestly, Varin…” Lucius Warheit begged. Varin had been ranting for nearly and hour now in his usual hot-tempered manner, and even Lucius, who had grown accustomed to Varin’s anger-fueled tirades, was starting to tire from them.

“No, damnit,” Varin continued, physically shoving his brother aside as he continued to walk forward. “I’m sick of it. I’m sick of this goddamn prison or purgatory or whatever the hell it is. I’m sick of not knowing how to get out; I’m sick of not knowing how or why we got in, and I’m sick of fucking walking only to find nothing.”

“…and of course whining about it will make a giant doorway open up,” Lucius said, catching up to his brother and shoving him back. “And we’ll both be able to just jump out of here.”

“Fuck you,” Varin swore, lunging at Lucius. Lucius sidestepped him and threw him onto the ground. It is his biggest weakness, Lucius told himself of Varin. He had absolutely no control of his emotions.

“Look at yourself,” Lucius spat, shaking his head in disgust, but Varin now seemed focused on something else. He was looking right at Lucius, however his eyes betrayed him. It was almost as if Varin, wide-eyed and frightened looking, was staring right through him. Lucius wondered if he had disappeared again.

Varin remained on the ground, even as Lucius approached and spoke to him. Leaning over his brother, Lucius nudged Varin, yet Varin remained immobile, his eyes still staring off into the distance. He was not dead. No, not dead, Varin knew thanks to his Aural senses, but although his brother’s mind was racing, Lucius could not help but feel that something was terribly wrong. As usual, his senses didn’t let him down.

“No!” Varin heard himself scream, albeit not in his own voice. He saw his arms extend in front of his body as an enormous blade sliced through the air towards his head. With the hands that were not his own, he haphazardly deflected the blade, knocking it aside just enough for it to miss his body. His hands, however, were not so lucky.

The sword had sliced both of his palms, and for the first time in days, Varin felt pain, true pain, shoot through his arms. He winced, letting out a small cry, and yet this was no time for self-consolation. The body leaping to its feet, Varin quickly tried to examine his sudden enemy.

“Traitor!” the man screamed in a voice not as gruff as Varin had expected from his appearance. The man was of average height but considerable girth, and the layer of body fat he carried around with him only served to mask the muscle deep within. Varin had deflected blades in that manner many times in the past, but from his appearance and his utter lack of control over his body, it was somewhat obvious that he was not himself.

It was then that another emotion surged through his body: fear. Ever a confident man, Varin realized that if he was not himself, he was no longer sure that he could win this fight he now found himself in. To be honest, he wasn’t sure of anything.

“You’ve ruined everything!” the squat man shouted, lunging at Varin with his sword. Without thinking, Varin moved slightly left so that the blade would push past his abdomen to the right. He felt his elbow jam down onto the man’s wrist, and the clank of the sword on the ground told him that his man was now disarmed, and that whoever Varin was at this moment was at least somewhat skilled with fighting. Nevertheless, as the large man’s fist connected squarely with the body’s, and therefore Varin’s, jaw, a blow that Varin knew he could have easily avoided, Varin’s hopes dropped considerably.

Staggering back as the body rubbed its jaw, Varin was screaming for it to raise its hands and prepare for another blow. As if it heard him, Varin felt the arms rise and he began to run towards the huge man. The man sidestepped him, quicker than he should have been able to, and threw Varin onto the ground. Varin could only watch in horror as the large man reached down for his sword, picked it up, and slowly walked towards Varin’s location on the ground.

“GET UP!” Varin screamed at the top of his lungs, but he heard no sound. “GODDAMNIT, GET UP!”

Then, out of nowhere, two men who appeared to be soldiers leapt over his body and ran the squat man through his enlarged abdomen. The large man gagged, blood running out the corner of his mouth, as both soldiers slowly carved their swords up through the man towards his chest before both pulled them out simultaneously. The man collapsed where he stood, dropping the sword for his last time.

The two men quickly rushed over towards Varin and lifted him up.

“Captain,” one said, throwing Varin’s arm over his shoulder. “Are you alright?”

“Varin!” Lucius shouted, nearly in tears. The rain poured down off his hair and into his eyes but Lucius seemed not to notice. His brother still had that horrid look on his face. “Varin…Varin, please…”

It was gradual, but Varin eventually came to.

“Varin!” Lucius shouted once more. “Varin, what the hell happened? Goddamnit, I was worried about you!”

Varin could only stare up at his brother in shock and utter confusion.

http://67.18.37.15/237/117/upload/p694864.png http://67.18.37.15/237/117/upload/p694865.png
Varin Warheit - Lucius Warheit

Valfar scowled, had this been the work of Llaith then it might have been easier to get out of this wasteland. Instead he was back at square one with no suspect, that could be bad and was certainly frustrating.

"I am Valfar," he announced to the two men.

He kept a keen eye on the man with the baseball bat since he seemed eager to use it. Talbrynn seemed more trustworthy.

"No I have been wondering how I came here myself, I do remember wandering the forests of Dark Valley before this noise caused me to pass out. Then I woke up here."

Jake considered Valfar's statement and seemed to relax a little. Perhaps this stranger really is stuck in the same shit as us, but then, he could be playin us...

"I remember that annoyin' ass screech," said Jake. "It's all fuzzy after that, I just found myself on my back a few yards from Talbrynn's trashed bike."

Talbrynn nodded. "We did have a sort of camp, a couple jackets on the ground for beds really, but it's useless in this rain. I suggest we keep moving, hopefully we will find some sign of other people..."

As he said it, the solemn feeling of being lost without hopes of getting a hint of where he was washed over him. He sighed and looked back at the direction he and Jake had walked from. Mabye towns come and go like that house did...

"Well, since your comin' from over that way, I'm assumin' there ain't nothin over there," Jake said to Valfar. "And there ain't shit back behind us, so I say if we're gonna keep walkin', let's go that way." He pointed to his right and shrugged.

Valfar nodded. This place was really starting to piss him off with it’s endless nothing. Miles upon miles of absolute nothing, there was no place like this where he came from, but then he’d hardly ventured outside Dark Valley.

“Law of averages says that we’ll come across something eventually,” he said rather coldly. “I just hope it isn’t bad, a clue to where we are would be nice.”

He looked to where Jake had pointed. Certainly there was no point in going back the way he had come nor was the way they had come. For a moment he pondered the opposite direction.

“That’s the way we shall go then.”

Valfar then dispelled the spells he had on standby, he wouldn’t be needing to use any for now.

<Snipu!>
"Bite me bitch." The angel snapped, though she called out, "Is there anyone out here?"

((OOC: Guess I'll bite. :P))

In all directions all the Doll Maker could see flat rain-soaked terrain. Still she walked, merely because she had nothing else to do. By her reckoning, three months had already passed since her 'awakening' in this pugratory.

A normal mortal would have gone insane by now. The Doll Maker had simply gotten annoyed. At least the last time I was Sealed, they were kind enough to contain me in a book...

Her thoughts were interupted by a sudden voice carried over the winds, "Is there anyone out here?" The voice said, distictively female.

The Doll Maker blinked. She was such a being that she would not doubt her own senses, but a part of her almost wanted to. No. I heard correctly. Someone else is here...

She looks down to the suitcase she carries. "Shingoto, ready yourself." She whispered, knowing that Shingoto heard her.

Squinting her eyes and focusing her human-looking ears, she tries to pinpoint the source of the voice, and then sets her path for it. "I'm here!" She calls out, loud enough to be heard.

She arrives at where she thinks the voice came from, but there was nothing here. "Did I imagine it?" She asks aloudly, looking around.


((OOC2: I'm kinda leaning towards what SB did, where Lucius stepped into a kinda 'Invisible' spot. Gaohari is sitting in one of those 'invisible' spots, and can probably see the Doll Maker, but the DM can't see her. :D Also, please remember that the Doll Maker currently looks like a blonde human female, wearing a dark purple hoodie and blue demin jeans.))

Gaohari heard someone else call out and began looking around for the source of the voice. Halfway along the circle, she spotted a blonde.

"Let me out." He demanded as he got a good look at the girl.
"Bite me space boy." She commented as she began walking toward the human in purple and blue, a combination she found ugly. "We don't know who or what that is and I'm the most capable of pounding the shit out of it if necessary."
"If necessary you can take over, but I'm taking charge." Something easier said than done, especially as without consent, or a source of distraction, it was quite difficult for one of the three personalities to take over.
"Why would you want that bitch when you could have me?" The demonic third asked as she inhaled deeply. The fact that this was all happening in Gaohari's mindscape didn't change the fact that the presently dominate portion found it funny and made the fact known to the general public.

As she stepped forward and stumbled as she kicked a formerly hidden large rock, he grabbed the oppertunity. Both sets of wings shrunk into the head and back, the hair shortened and blackened, the eyes greened. "Hello, who might you be?" He asked

Valfar looked up at the sky as he walked with the two men he had only just met. The rain came down upon his face hard, he couldn’t remember if at all in the time he had been in this unknown place that it hadn’t rained. No, he was certain that it had been raining non-stop for who knows how long. The silence between the three was somewhat unnerving.

“So where do you two come from?” he asked them.

He could tell they were not from the same place as him. It would be interesting to find out where they had been before ending up here.

Talbrynn shrugged and simply answered, "From Valdeunia." He thought a moment as he realized that this man might not realize what Valdeunia is. "Er, it's an Imperial Republic ruled by Emperor Aidyn O Feargaill and the Senate. Huge country actually, beautiful too, even if it's still recovering from the civil war."

Jake laughed. "Don't tell him everything Tal, there's still a chance he's with them..." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a cigarette and a pack of matches. He paused as he judged whether or not it was raining too hard for a match. After a few tries, he finally lit his smoke and tucked the matches away. After inhaling deeply and holding his smoke so that it was sheltered under his hand, he blew a smoke a ring and chuckled.

"But anyway, where you from Valfar?" asked Talbrynn as he futilely tried to shake some water from his hair.

Them... Valfar thought to himself. It's always them.

He noticed that Jake didn't trust him, he guessed that he couldn't be blamed for that since Valfar himself didn't know if they were fully trustworthy yet. For all he knew, they could be Llaiths goons, ones he had never met before.

"I come from a kingdom by the name of Draconis Nightcrawlis," he replied. "Though I have never ventured outside the county of Dark Haven." He thought for a moment. "I guess you could say that is no longer true, this is certainly not Dark Haven."

"Is there anyone out here?"

Izual's arcane ears picked up the slight sound of a voice in the distance, a voice of another living, sentient creature. Taking to the air immediately, Izual's black wings bashed against the stagnant air as he directed himself towards the source of sound and began moving at high speeds towards what would hopefully be the source.

It was hard to tell the true nature of anything in this place. Izual had lost all sense of time and even space. He wasn't sure if he'd remained within the same radius for however long he'd been here or if he'd simply kept moving in one direction. Nothing seemed different, the rain continued most of the time yet he barely noticed it anymore.

Continuing his flight, Izual picked up a few more words, there appeared to be more than one voice. It was yet to be determined whether this was a good sign or net, yet anything different seemed goo in Izual's mind. With his box clutched tightly in both hands, Izual could now barely see at least one of them and decided to land. There was no sense in giving away his identity.

Within minutes Izual found himself within plain sight of what appeared to be a human female, carrying a briefcase. Ignoring his initial questions, Izual continued to move foward and picked up yet another voice, yet couldn't see the origin.

Now within easy speaking range, Izual approached the girl, his cloak masking the upper half of his face.

"What's going on here?"

OOC: This is assuming Gaohari is in that invisible thingy...

Gaohari heard someone else call out and began looking around for the source of the voice. Halfway along the circle, she spotted a blonde.

"Let me out." He demanded as he got a good look at the girl.
"Bite me space boy." She commented as she began walking toward the human in purple and blue, a combination she found ugly. "We don't know who or what that is and I'm the most capable of pounding the shit out of it if necessary."
"If necessary you can take over, but I'm taking charge." Something easier said than done, especially as without consent, or a source of distraction, it was quite difficult for one of the three personalities to take over.
"Why would you want that bitch when you could have me?" The demonic third asked as she inhaled deeply. The fact that this was all happening in Gaohari's mindscape didn't change the fact that the presently dominate portion found it funny and made the fact known to the general public.

As she stepped forward and stumbled as she kicked a formerly hidden large rock, he grabbed the oppertunity. Both sets of wings shrunk into the head and back, the hair shortened and blackened, the eyes greened. "Hello, who might you be?" He asked


As the male emerged from the invisible spot, the Doll Maker took a step back in surprise. I heard a female voice... And yet a male appears? Better be careful, there is obviously more then one, and they can make themsleves invisible at will... Then why can I only sense this one?

"Hello, who might you be?" The man asked, his eyes green and hair black.

However, before she could respond, they were joined by a third, another man cloaked in such a manner that it obsucred his identity. "What's going on here?" He asked.

The blonde girl turned to the newcomer. Unexpected. For months nothing, and now, more then two in as many minutes.

Outwardly, she keep up appearances, flashing a friendly, reassuring smile. "I was hoping you could tell me. Last thing I remember was falling asleep in a dumpster, and then waking up here..." A chuckle escapes her lips, "I thought I was in purgatory for a long time! It's good to see other people!"

She turned to the first, "Hello. You can call me... Marle. All my friends do." She motions to the third, "You can too."

Shingoto remained motionless inside her suitcase, appearing for all intents and purposes to just be a doll. Although that didn't mean she wasn't ready. In the instant her Master needed her, she would be ready to fight...

"Hello Merle." Gaohari said as he took in both the other man and the attractive blonde who called herself Merle. Hereing her talk of her last memories, and her musing on where they were he commented, "I'm pretty sure it's neither purgatory, hell nor heaven either."

His two female portions were squabbling with each other. One wished for a chance to bash both of the unknown people, but especially Merle, while the other wished to smash Merle, but leave the guy alone as he was interesting.

"You may call me Gaohari, and if you don't mind the question, what do you have in the suitcase?" He asked as he decided to ignore the man since he wasn't what was interesting.

The Excecutioner, once the imposing legendary dealer of death, protector of Gholgoth, now trudged across the wastes, not caring which way he went. His scythe, as old as he, almost, was still carried. His armor, covered in seaweed and moss, was still worn, plant materials doing well in the odd rain.

After a time he wasn't sure of, he came within fifty feet of the two Warheits, but didn't even notice them until he had already walked past. He was too caught up in his own thoughts, his own inner rage. He had twice figured out he was walking in circles, but didn't care about that either. On the surface, he had resigned himself to living in this place a long while. Inside, he was plotting about how to get back at the powers that be.

He heavy steps stopped as a scent met his nose. Humans. His heavy, battered helm swung around towards the two brothers. For a moment, he eyed them both, then he turned his head back and started to walk on. If they followed him, so be it. He could allways eat one of them if he needed to. If they didn't, he was fine with his own thoughts. Being alone didn't drive him mad, as it would some beings... he had been alone for centuries longer than this little trip.

OOC: Sorry I forgot about this. Gholgothian Crimmond died. I'm using this account now.

Talbrynn nodded as Valfar spoke. Draconis Nightcrawlis? I've never even heard of that place....from anything.... A glance to his friend revealed that Jake was thinking the same thing.

"What did you do in this, Dark Haven? Back in Valdeunia, I was a... uh, I protected the financial interests of my clients."

Jake laughed. "Yeah, and I was a monk," he added sarcastically. He grew quiet at a glare from Talbrynn. "Um yeah, anyway, interested to know what a guy does for a living when he walks around with a katana such as yours."

Valfar looked over at the other two, his eyes seemingly taking on a much darker tone. He wondered if he should tell them what he did as he wasn't sure if they were being truthfully honest with him.

"Much the same as I'm doing now," he said in a rather cold tone. "I was a wanderer."

He kept his eyes on them, taking in their reactions.

"But if you want the truth, I am a necromancer."

The Doll Maker nodded and held up the suitcase. She thumbed the release catch on the top of it, and it fell open, revealing... a neat, nice padded interior, containing the doll Shingoto. Blank, mismatched glass eyes stared straight ahead, unfocused, like how a doll's eyes should be. The Doll Maker smiled, "Her name is Shingoto. When my mother died, she entrusted her to me... She's the only gift my Mother ever gave me, and she's been my compainion ever since."

The way she spoke, it was almost as if the Doll Maker thought Shingoto was alive, real. Although this was true, there was little to no chance the others here could detect that Shingoto was a living doll. At best, they'd assume she was just a street urchin who's spent too much time alone with the creepy looking doll.

With her other hand, she snaps the case back shut, and lowers it to her side. "I... Heard a female voice... Why does she remain invisible?" The Doll Maker asked tentatively.

Izual took note of the second being, a young male. Immediately he could sense something different about that one, he reeked of forces beyond the mortal realm. Hiding one's identify from most other mortals was easy, hiding from other creatures beyond the basic world was more difficult. Despite his assumptions, Izual spoke nothing of it.

The girl was called Merle, the name meant nothing to him of course yet Izual would be sure to remember it, even if she really was just a delusion. The other one made his own comment about this place and Izual could verify that with certainty, yet he wouldn't prove that.

"Indeed, this place is something else... somewhere else."

Introductions were made and the pair began to talk, leaving Izual to his thoughts for a moment. The one known as Gaohari inquired about the suitcase, something Izual was quite curious about himself. Soon enough, the lid flicked open to reaveal a small doll. Strange.

Izual didn't like the look of the doll, or rather the manner in which Marle refered to it. Now wishing to pry, Izual continued his silence and simply observed the pair. There was no telling what exactly these two were and whether they were merely part of this place or in a similar predicament to himself.

Clutching the box within both hands, Izual continued to ponder his current predicament whilst partially paying attention to the conversation between Marle and Gaohari.

"Shingoto, does that mean anything?" He asked as he looked at the doll and then the doll with interest. "I'm not sure as you're the only two people, beside myself of course, that I've seen since I arrived here." Gaohari replied

While he was telling the truth, he was also not answering the question to the best of his ability. He then looked at the silent other, "Do either of you have any theories as to what's happened?"

Izual shook his head as the question was posed to him. He hadn't gained a single idea about where he was or how he'd arrived the entire duration of his presence in this place.

"The only thing I know about this place is that it rains a lot."

And still he hadn't determined why the rain was different, or how. There was nothing he could sense with his immortal powers and yet the substance was evidently not natural, or at least not natural in any place Izual had ever been before.

Looking between both Marle and Gaohari, Izual posed a question of his own.

"How long have you two been in here?"

A question he didn't have the answer for himself. It felt as if he'd been in this place for months and yet Izual's logical mind told him it could only be a few days. Alas the constant cloud cover prevented him from gauging any solar movements or any other points of reference useful for marking time.

Talbrynn stopped walking a moment as he flinched before regaining his composure and taking another step. As a former monk of the High Temple of Cradonia, he did not take to kindly to necromancy. But with the things I've done, who am I to judge another, even if it means playing twisted games with the divide between life and death... Talbrynn looked to Jake to see how he was taking the news, but his friend did not some to mind.

"So what, you raise up a coupla zombies or somethin' and set them loose on a bunch of farmers or somethin'?" Jake laughed as he asked the question. "That's what a necromancer did once near where I grew up. He was able to raise six dead people and had them attack a town. Killed twenty people before the Imperial Guard came and shot his ass up."

Talbrynn sighed and shook his head. What do I care about traveling with a necromancer? I was exiled from the Temple and joined the Triad, I've done worse things than this...

"Well, if we're about truth right now," he said. "I used to be member of the Highwind Triad, I had just left a few weeks before being dragged out wherever the hell this place is."

Valfar laughed. "Oh I've only used zombies to attack people in self defence," he smirked. "I prefer to summon skeleton warriors though."

He placed his hands in his pocket as he stood there with the two men. The rain was still coming down, it was a strange that the ground was not as waterlogged as one might expect. The necromancer could tell that Talbrynn was uneasy as being with him now that he knew his true self.

"Highwind Triad?" he then asked. "Never heard of it."

This could be quite fun if he did hate necromancers.

Talbrynn shrugged and wiped the wet hair clinging to his face out of his eyes. "The Highwind Triad was....well, to be blunt, a crime syndicate." He stepped carefully a sizeable rock jutting from the ground.

Jake laughed again. "Hell, it was the syndicate. Even the Imperial Guard was afraid to fuck with the Highwind."

"Anyway, the Triad was centered around a family, the Zinn-Li." Talbrynn motioned to Jake for a cigarette and match. He carefully lit his smoke and and relaxed a little as he exhaled. "They used to be a regular rich family run gang, but once I joined and rose through the ranks, they hit it big. I did a few jobs....got them some cash, and now they pretty much run the show of the Taharan Underground."

He took another hit from his cowboy killer and kicked a rock away. "It's getting rockier out here..."

Valfar thought of something, "Didn't piss off someone powerful did you?" he questioned him. "Someone that knows powerful magic?"

If Talbrynn were to say yes then Valfar could return to Llaith being the number one suspect again. He was almost certain that it was his former Masters doing that left him here. The necromancer scowled in anger at the thought.

Talbrynn laughed. "I pissed off a lot of powerful people: The High Temple, the Imperial family, a few rival families..." He took a moment to think and shrugged. "The High Temple had a lot of powerful magic at its disposal, but they would have sent assassains to deal with me, same with the Imperial family. They did a couple times but I took care of them. The Moc'Li family had a few magic users, but I doubt they the power to bring me to wherever this is..."

"I don't think this is the work of some magic user," put in Jake. "Mabye we hit some fuckin' wormhole or somethin'. Like the ones in those movies."

Talbrynn laughed again and shook his head. "You watch to many movies man, that shit's called "sci-fi" for a reason."

"If you hit a wormhole you would have remembered seeing a bright flash," Valfar mentioned. "Besides that high pitched noise that knocked us out isn't heard of in wormholes."

He did listen to what else they had mentioned. If not magic then what else could it have been. Valfar was unsure, a magic user had to be the number one suspect.

"It is almost certain to have been the work of magic, if not by Llaith or those you have managed to piss off then who?"

His clothes had long since soaked through and was clinging to his skin. It was an uncomfortable and very unpleasent feeling.

"That it does, frequently and incessently." Gaohari agreed
"Ya, it'll take me forever to get my hair back under control." His demonic component agreed within thier shared mindscape.
"Maybe if you didn't have so much, you wouldn't have to spend so much time on it's upkeep.
"You're one to talk."
As the two began squabling again he replied to Izual's question, "Couldn't say how long I've been here, time flows funny. I'm pretty sure it's been more than two days, and less than two years but other than that you're guess is as good as mine."

Izual pondered this a moment, it appeared this place didn't discriminate. Whilst this pair appeared to be in the same predicament as him, centuries of existence had given the demon/angel a very untrusting attitude towards strangers.

"Right, it's been pretty much the same for me."

The excitement of finding others in this place had died down as Izual figured they knew less of this place then he did. Gazing down at the box in his hands, Izual sighed. He was no closer to remembering what was in this box, or how to open it. Nothing was new in this place besides the two before him and they appeared to be useless. The situation wasn't getting any better with time and Izual was beginning to lose patience.

"I suppose we should find some shelter or something, if there is some out here. The only thing I've come across in this place are rocks."

Now that he'd found them, Izual had no intention of losing these two, unless their company became unbarable.

"Guess that would make sense, but I haven't seen anything but rocks as well, so we'd be wandering aimlessly. Also the best way to look would involve splitting up, which may or may not result in losing track of each other." Gaohari commented as he took a seat on a rock and looked over the other two.

As he did, he noticed one had a box in his hands and asked, "What's in the box?"

Izual immediately felt protective regarding the box, despite not knowing what was inside it. He knew it held particular significance to him and he's just aquired it before all this, yet then it was blank. He didn't know what was inside or how to open it, just that it was his now and no one else was getting their hands on it.

Looking between the box and Gaohari, Izual shook his head.

"I don't know what's in there, or how to open it. At least, not yet."

Sitting down upon a rock of his own, Izual stared at the dirt before him, as if he were contemplating something. It was only after several minutes of not moving the others realised something wasn't quite right.

Izual found himself almost sprawling down a flight of barely stable stairs as an urgent sense of panic threatened to overwhelm him. He didn't know why he felt this way but it was difficult to fight off as his heavy set frame scrambled downwards.

The building around him was filthy, wall paper pealing away, carpet stinking of cat urine and general filth coating everything. Izual had no idea why he was here. Reaching the bottom of the stairs, Izual looked up to see an aging woman running after him, screaming for him to wait for her, to help her. Whilst normally such a thing was not beyond him, Izual found himself moving before he'd even thought about it, there was no contemplating the matter, he simply acted.

Bursting through the front door, Izual looked up to see darkness. There was no sky, just black above. Sighing to himself, he gazed around the streets before him. People were running everywhere, trying to escape some unseen threat. Not wishing to hang around, Izual began to run as well, much slower than he usually would, for some reason it seemed harder, more strenuous to exercise.

Everything seemed so foreign to Izual and yet somewhere in the back of his mind it was familiar. Unfortunately he didn't have time to think about it as a hand reached out and grabbed him by the collar, pulling him into an alley.

Momentarily stunned, Izual found himself pinned against a wall by two men, both wearing unmarked dark clothing, hiding behind sunglasses in a place that obviously had no sun.

"You won't be getting away this time..."

Izual didn't have any idea what was going yet he wasn't about to let two thugs rough him up. Calling upon his supernatural strength, Izual attempted to launch both men into the opposite wall.

Nothing.

It didn't work, he didn't have the strength. Everything was different. Looking into the glasses of the man before him, Izual cursed. He wasn't even himself, Izual found himself gazing at the reflection of a fat, middle aged man.

"Shit..."

No more words escaped his lips as both men produced blades and began savagely stabbing him, the wounds obviously fatal.

Shaking suddenly in resistance to the attack, Izual found himself back on the rock... the others looking at him with confused expressions.

[OOC: Uh.... >_> Is this thing even still alive? Because it was really cool and one of my main characters is trapped in this thread]

OOC: I'd like to carry this on too, haven't seen SB in yonks though. Plus I'd been waiting for Valdeunia to reply.

[OOC: I'm going to try and revive this to the best of my ability, after hearing complaints from Crimmond and considering the time some of you have already invested in it. I have come up with an actual direction for this story to travel in, one I found lodged in my database from a long time ago that I changed a bit to suit Wasteland's purposes, although the quality of this direction is left to be determined. To be clear, this isn't a change or a new direction, it is just the first direction this story has had. As I have said before, I apologize for that.]

“We’re having trouble with the experiment,” a voice, barely heard, muttered. “It seems the transitions weren’t as perfect as we originally thought.”

Rei looked at Garr in confusion. “What did you say?” Garr seemed equally confused.

“I haven’t said a word in…” Garr paused, thinking of the last time he had spoken. It could have been hours, days, weeks…

“About ‘the experiment,’” Rei continued. “About imperfect ‘transitions.’” Garr stared at Rei, unsure of what to say. Perhaps the confinement had begun to wear on the ancient Aural’s mind. Perhaps Rei was just imagining things. Or perhaps Rei was having a dream. Garr hated his own; he hated how real they seemed.

“Rei, I didn’t say anything,” Garr said in a calm tone. Rei shook his head.

“But I heard it,” he protested. “Trouble with the experiment…imperfect transitions…”

“Rei, I didn’t hear anything either,” Garr added. Rei sighed, slumping in a corner, defeated.

Perhaps he was going crazy. It certainly was beginning to make sense. Perhaps the dreams were more like hallucinations, and now he was hearing voices on top of it. Then again, perhaps Garr was lying to him.

“If you did,” Rei asked, “would you tell me?”

“What?” Garr replied. Was Rei suspicious of something?

“You wouldn’t lie to me, would you?” Rei asked. “You wouldn’t fucking lie?”

“What is wrong with you?” Garr shot back, now defensive. In all the years he had known the Aural, Garr had not once witnessed Rei be paranoid or swear. Now, in one sentence, he had witnessed both. Something was wrong, and a sharp feeling of dread began creeping into Garr’s heart.

“Answer the question,” Rei demanded, taking a step towards Garr. With any other man Garr would have held his ground, but he knew first hand the destruction Rei could deal, and he wanted none of it. Garr took a step back.

”I’d have no reason to lie,” Garr replied defiantly. “Nor anything to lie about.”

Rei merely glared at him for what seemed like hours before simply muttering, “I’d certainly hope not.”

“You know,” Garr said calmly, trying to defuse the situation. “If there’s something you need to discuss…”

“Do I look like a twelve year old girl to you?” Rei snapped. “Do I look like I need to share my fucking feelings with you simply because I’m pissed off? People get angry, damnit! Learn to deal with it!”

“People get angry,” Garr replied. “But you’re not a person, Rei…you’re an Aural. I’ve seen you aggressive…determined maybe, but never angry.”

Suddenly something once again did not feel right. Rei looked upon Garr and forgot why he was angry. He struggled for a moment, trying to remember, but he simply came up blank. Garr was correct, however, in that Aurals, if properly trained, do not get angry, and Rei was hardly untrained.

“Maybe I just need…some sleep, ya know?” Rei said, backing down almost in shame. Garr nodded, but he was unconvinced. Nevertheless, the two laid down on opposite sides of the shelter, Rei closing his eyes to forget what just happened, Garr staring at the ceiling through the darkness, running what just happened over and over again in his mind to be sure he remembered.

“Something must be done before they become aware…”

Rei rose from his bed instantly and looked across the shelter. Now wide awake, through the darkness he saw Garr staring back at him. This time, Garr had heard it as well.

His heavy, battered helm swung around towards the two brothers. For a moment, he eyed them both, then he turned his head back and started to walk on. If they followed him, so be it...If they didn't, he was fine with his own thoughts.

The appearance of a massive being was odd enough, but as Varin noted, a fact much worse was that they could not sense this hulking beast, nor as they realized, each other.

“Hey!” Lucius shouted at the man who was slowly walking away. “Hey, wait up!” Quickly the two brothers ran after him.

OOC: Good to get this thread going again, Valdeunia is no more so I guess my character is on his own again for now.

IC:

"Llaith, damn you," Valfar cursed.

He'd lost track of time and had no idea how long he had been walking through the rain in this wasteland. Strangely he couldn't remember it not raining at any point, how could it rain so much in a place as lifeless as this. More to the point where was this, he had been wandering and had seen no sign of civilisation and since he had no way else of getting out of this wasteland he had to keep on walking.

Gar did not stop, continuing his slow trudge across the wasteland. "Humans... from a nation that has so called 'advanced' technology. Once more, the Creator has saddled me with the likes of you... Not that the 'advanced' society you come from believes in a Creator. Fah."

Apparently not a fan of the first world, let alone off world.

He slows down a tad, sighing heavily. "What do you want from Gar the Executioner, human?"

"What do you want from Gar the Executioner, human?"

“For one thing I’m no human,” Varin snapped in response, catching up to Gar and standing in his way. Regardless of the truth of the statement, Lucius shook his head in embarrassment. They were, at least, half human. Oddly enough, it was usually Varin reminding him of this fact. Varin’s hostility towards his human half was strangely out of character.

“Ignore him,” Lucius mumbled, approaching this “executioner” who seemed somewhat annoyed that he had met up with them. Varin scowled. “But to be honest, it’s not that we want something with you per se, simply that we’re a little more than intrigued by your appearance. We’ve been wandering alone for days.”

“We’ve discovered some facts about this place that we think are clues to where we are, or at least what this place is,” Varin said, almost as if he were bragging. “We were wondering if you had found anything yourself…?”

Gar stops and looks at them again, scythe off his shoulder and at Varin's throat. "You're more human than I am. Than makes you a human, human. And a cocky human I can do without." He looks at the wastes. "I have found nothing but dirt, bad rain, silence and humans. Something else is out there though... laughing it's sick omnipotent ass off at me. I can feel it in my bones." He looks back to them. "Don't you get what's happening? We're toys to whatever brought us here from Earth. Probably to some overgrown child of an energy being. I hate energy beings. Humans I can stand... at least you can eat a human if it annoys you too much."

As he looks at them, they can almost feel him staring at them, though his face is hidden perfectly by the battered helmet. "And I intend to find whoever brought us here and remove their internal organs to feast on. My lands are going untended, my gardens unpruned. Unacceptable." A gardener executioner that feasts on people's organs. One might start wishing he was just one of the 'ghosts' this place conjured up.

Varin glared at the mask before him but didn’t flinch at the scythe at his neck. “Not just Earth,” he said, pushing the weapon away. “We’re from the Orion Sector. That’s quite a distance…”

“Listen,” Lucius said, stepping between the two as Varin’s temper flared. “We want out of here as bad as you do, but walking has yet to get us anywhere.” He paused, wondering how he was to explain the walls. “There are walls around us, mirrored forcefields it seems. Some of them are weak, however, and can be walked through.”

“It’s like we’re in a maze,” Varin explained. “Trapped like rats.” He tilted his head to the side, imagining the executioner before him as a rat under his armor.

Gar removes the scythe and impales the handle into the ground to hold it in place. "A rat? Gar the Executioner is no rat!" He growls and reaches up, taking hold of his helmet and pulling it off. Underneath is skin gray enough to make one think he is a corpse reanimated, with vines, moss and seaweed like plants growing out of his flesh. Adding to the disturbing image is the massive amount of scars he carries, which crisscross his head and neck.

"I am The Taker, The Executioner, The Angel of Death, Mortis, Hunter of the Blessed Shores, Reaper of Blood, Death's Bastard Son... take your pick, human. I have been called many things for the thousands of years I have existed. Not once has anyone compared me to a rat before. For good reason." Gar growled and looked up to the sky. "And if what you say is true... that we are in a maze... whoever has placed us here had better know how to remove me from here before I find the exit and start hunting."

“Sure seems like they’re listening,” Varin muttered sarcastically, shaking his head. Lucius shot a glare at his brother for continuously trying to provoke Gar, his right hand hovering over the hilt of his blade. This wasn’t the time for confrontation, but then again, they had all the time in the world.

“I really wish I could be doing something right now,” Lucius said, trying to change the subject. “Something to at least help us. We’ve been standing around like idiots since we got here…doing nothing but aimless walking...”

Izual opened his eyes to find everyone gone, he was alonce once again with his treasured box grasped within one hand. One moment he'd jolted out of some kind of vision to find the others gazing upon him, then a blink revealed he was now alone.

Slipping down off the rock that had supported him, Izual spun around and examined it, noting the different colour. Perhaps it was he that had moved and not everyone else?

Shrugging it off as yet another one of the strange occurences within this place, Izual began walking in a random direction once again, irritation building up within him. He wasn't even sure how long he'd been in this place but there appeared to be no way in or out, no clue of where this place was and no hint as to why he was here.

As the demonic angel continued his aimless wander he soon became aware of others, their voices reaching his supernaturally enhanced ears. Looking back over his left shoulder Izual spotted three figures in the distance. There was no telling how fare away they really were in this place and yet he couldn't help but break into a reasonably paced jog towards them.

As he drew closer to the trio, Izual caught the audible words of one of the men ahead of him.

“Something to at least help us. We’ve been standing around like idiots since we got here…doing nothing but aimless walking...”

Gar spun on the newcomer as he came closer and planted his feet in a defensive stance. Then he saw another human. Or something close enough to a human. "Blast it all, now there are THREE of you!" He growls and turns, stalking off. "SOUL TAKER! COME BEFORE ME NOW AND I WILL MAKE YOUR FINAL DEATH QUICK! DO NOT MAKE ME HUNT YOU!"

His voice was tens of decibles louder than it had any business being and made the silence afterward nearly deafening. No 'soul taker' or any other thing appeared. He growled again and went silent, looking back at the others, who were undoubtedly watching him. "What?" he demanded.

Izual noted the larger creature before take a stance as if he were ready for a fight. Not wanting to start anything, the demon/angel slowed to a walk and kept his hands in open view, making it obvious he had no intention of attacking anyone.

Stopping in his tracks, Izual watched Goor move off from the others and start yelling at something, either that or he was talking to himself. Turning to the other two guys, Izual finally spoke.

"Something wrong? I've been stuck in this place for far too long and you guys are the first people I've found that haven't disappeared in a blink."

From the looks of things the three beings before him didn't appear to have any better idea of what was going on then he did, but perhaps they knew something. The longer Izual remained in this place the more distressing it became, although he wouldn't let that show.