Iwaku World - Ethereal Remains

Hydronine

The Murrstress
Original poster
LURKER MEMBER
FOLKLORE MEMBER
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  1. Not accepting invites at this time
Posting Speed
  1. Multiple posts per day
  2. 1-3 posts per day
Writing Levels
  1. Adept
  2. Advanced
  3. Prestige
  4. Douche
  5. Adaptable
Preferred Character Gender
  1. No Preferences
Genres
Scifi, Fantasy, Modern, Magical, Horror, Noir, apocalyptic, Grimdark, yaoi, yuri, anything really.


The fox quietly sat upon Rory's head as he crossed bridge, then suddenly all at once, her fur bristled up and she growled as she leapt from the other trickster's head, the music had changed and the fox arched its back, trying to make itself bigger while growling more, fangs exposed and dripping as her red eyes glowed.

Before anyone could question the fox's moves, they started to hear a discordant combination of sounds, much like the ones they had heard moments ago from above ground. As the sounds grew closer, the fox reformed into a girl and an array of gems appeared around her. Rory seemed to be waiting, but all the same seemed ready for anything that was about to be dished out. Kitti, his angelic disciple seems much more on edge, but in looking to Rory for how to act, quickly adopted his current move.

The current captive's looked on, in horror as their current problems started to appear.

Trolls, in as much celebration as they were above ground, waddled through clumsily and slower, though their roars were impressive. They almost didn't even noticed anyone. And they wouldn't have if they were alone. But they weren't.




They were joined by Spammers, who were in just as much celebration, still scrawling phrases and illegible words onto walls, darting around until one of them spotted the group, crying out phrases, alerting the trolls of the company that they had discovered.




Both seemed to converge on the group at once, the girl used the marshmallow and chocolate weapons she had before, but they weren't having as much effect as she needed. She switched to the candy corn rifle, but that too seemed more ineffective than they needed. She looked back at Rory, who still seemed to be waiting, possibly because the Trolls and Spammers were still some distances away. There was still time to wait.

The girl switched to the whipped cream dispersal units but that proved to be even more ineffective. The girl switched out again, looking a little frightened, summoning what had seemed to be the rocket launcher from earlier and let one loose, revealing it to be a RPC, Or in other words, Rocket Propelled Corn. It exploded upon the group of newbs, exploding in a fury of popcorn. This as well, only took out one or two at most.

Rory was still waiting, it seemed. The girl summoned a three headed fox-like being, which tore at the newb's legs and ankles, trying to at least slow them down, but the creature was swiped aside, returning to the girl in a gem form as she looked through the array, a trickle of sweat gliding down her face as she summoned another creature, but before it had even done anything, it was destroyed.

There was still time... they were still a little bit away. Meanwhile the girl was stuck on one gem, throwing it down, and it would burst apart with the same glittery affects as everything else that had been summoned, but nothing happened beyond that, and returned to it's gem form. She did it again, throwing it harder, then again, and again. The girl cried out, scared, then let out a long slew of words barely unable to be understood by Rory. But the gist was easy enough to guess. She was too tired and didn't have enough power to go into her more powerful form.

That's when they discovered that the newbs had another party in their group.



A small group of Flamers made themselves known as sparks and small explosions of light suddenly seemed to start. Finally the group of newbs were now within close range, and The girl turned to look back at Rory, obviously frightened and unsure of what to do, calling out the only thing that anyone could come close to understanding. A mangled version of Rory's name cried out. No thought was given to blowing the Trickster's cover. The girl was too scared to care about it.

"ARAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWRRRRRRRRRY!"

The girl put away the gem that was giving her trouble and summoned another weapon, but this one, too was destroyed before it could be used. The girl started dashing back to Rory, searching through her bag for gems, but it was obvious that she was too tired to fight properly. She tripped, tumbling past Rory, coming to a stop in front of the captives.

What would happen now?
 
Re: Epilogue Journey: The Hero and Awakening

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Kitti fought outrage as the sounds of the celebration reached her ears. Pain was the undertone, the people of Iwaku were suffering. Kitti bowed her head at the sound, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes but refusing to fall. She did not look up from what her gaze was locked onto. In truth, her attention was focused on nothing more unusual than her own tow hands, pale and slender. Kitti could almost feel the deaths that had been the banner of this celebration.

"Master, is there nothing we can do? Can you not complete some final magic, something to stop the chaos and the destruction of what we hold dear? They are not only scarring the land, but the people. If we lose, who knows what will happen... Even if it requires sacrifice, you have a willing offering if only it would turn the tide" the ancient language from her mouth came out indistinct at first, broken with suffering at the sounds of the revels.

"Can we make it stop?"

Her plea was very quiet. She thought of making him promise that if it were wrought, no one spoke of her name. Let it be thought she had perished peacefully in the forest, somewhere she loved. Still, she was unsure if her master were capable of any such magic. Her own mocking had set in, the martyred, haunting look she knew from her own gaze. Self-sacrifice was so noble, so very noble... but all the same, if it could be done... if in one fell spell he could eliminate the noobs, the legions of everything else foul...

But on the breeze there was a whisper. "The hero is come?"
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Re: Epilogue Journey: The Hero and Awakening

Zypher watched as Inari and the others crossed the bridge as well. Suddenly the girl that fired the food themed bullets began to growl in her fox form. Before Zypher could even question that the cave was filled with noobs, probably looking to finish off any survivors from the city above which, from the ruckus that had been heard earlier was eerily quiet now.

Zypher watched as the girl attacked the noobs in defense of the group but none of the usual attacks seemed to really affect them. She cried out in a strange tone, sounding the most like a language Zypher could understood and she cried it out right at Inari but the sound made something click in his brain about who Inari might be. As the fox girl stumbled and crashed right in front of him he looked up, anger in his eyes at the noobs.

"Hey you don't strike a girl!" Zypher cried out, only to be mocked by the noobs, "Fine then! You're getting bullets to the face!" Zypher laughed loudly, charging forward and hopping over the girl. He snatched one of his guns from Inari and began to fire at the crowd of noobs, his bullets being much more effective. He stepped away from the group and shot a couple more times, taking out one of the flamers. With a quick twist he shot down a couple more but it wasn't working well, for each one down another took its place. "You know anytime you guys want to help that'd be just peachy! Zypher cried out as he shot down another flamer.

Zypher watches TK get hurt and decides to join the fight against the noobs invading the cave
 
Rory then grinned. These monsters didn't scare him and sure there may have been hundreds of them crawling around in these tunnels since the coming of Diana's forces, but this time around, this battle belonged to him and his allies. No alliances, no politics, just a pure and simple fight for survival. He then picked TK up and patted her on the head, "It'll be okay. Just remember strawberries."



TK's headphones then started to play a song that was rather out of place for the serious nature at hand. When in use, they enlarge around her neck, looking more like conventional speakers off of a boombox, then the music she was listening to gets amped up.

Rory then walked forward, TK was still in his left arm. "As is customary for my people, I ask to stop fighting -put down your weapons and instead buy strawberries. " TK grabbed onto Rory's arms even tighter than before. One flamer than stepped forward, "Hehehe...You're an idiot...Heheh... We never surrender to retards like you guys! And hahaha, strawberries..."

"What? No takers to surrender....Such a shame. Oh well." Rory didn't move from his spot nearest to the end of the brigde. By this time Faramond was holding on to the twins and Kitti drew her blade. Zypher was the first one actively fighting the monsters. There was a dry wind that blew from behind them.

Rory then closed his eyes and said, "Haras Olam."

The area around the travelers then changed from the damp bluish tinted tunnels to a white realm. Then from all around them soldiers from the Ancient world started marching all around them, following them were knights, conquistadors, Napoleonic soldiers, pirates in their tricorns, Victorian British in their splendid bright red uniforms, Doughboys from the First World War, Soviets from the Second World War, and many other soldiers from various realms of reality. The travelers were standing directly in the center of this massive line of ethereal imagines. Rory stood with his face down and his eyes remained closed while he took a huff from his pipe. Then the soldierss weapons were released into the air. The soldiers then faded away; however, their weapons did not.

Rory then grinned, “Shalom my friends."

He then lowered his hands and a black STEN submachine gun appeared in his hands. "You were better off surrendering." Rory then fired his weapons and then thousands of bullets, arrows, clubs, and throwing weapons were then fired from behind and in front of the group. The flesh of the blubbery trolls was torn into by the sheer force of the magical enegeries being shot at them. Rounds pierced the spammers, as if they were mere gnats....

"Best you get your last few rounds off, boy." Rory said to Zypher, "Catlin. you now the drill. Burn off any survivors and corpses. If they wish to fight like the Sorrowkeepers in our realm did, then they deserve no mercy from us either."
 
"Last few rounds eh? No problem."Zypher nodded to the man, the attacks, the way his followers did as he asked, he knew exactly who he was now and he was determined to sit down and speak with him the moment he had a chance. Well, looks like it's time for my favorite weapon, it'll make them at least a little sedated.

With a rapid movement he placed his hand over his heart and fired out his "セクシ ビイィム!" Zypher cried out a blue beam shooting out from his chest and smacking into the noobs, forcing some of them to dance, the sound of J-Pop could suddenly be heard loudly in the cavern.



Zypher took up his guns again and began firing, taking out the dancing noobs, unable to continue to move not understanding the fact that they could use the dance into their actions. As his guns began to click he noticed the vast majority of the noobs either dead or dying and those that suffered neither were still dancing to the music.

"Well looks like we just have to mop up those last few and we're safe." Zypher said blankly, placing his guns back in the holsters, making note to reload them later.
 
Faramond watched the others cross the bridge as he started getting ready for another round of walking. Strange noises coming from all around bothered him, however, and it was already too late when he realized that the noobs managed to find their way into the underground caves, and are now attacking them en masse.

There was a scramble as the others started fighting back the attacking noobs. For their part, the twins ran towards where Faramond was, with Aki slashing away any noobs that managed to get close. Faramond and Aya stayed close to the cave walls, also pushing away any noobs that managed to get near them.

They went at this for a while, simply defending themselves, and not really attacking. At some point, Aki looked at Aya, who replied with a worried expression. Aki shrugged in return. Faramond didn't understand what the twins had 'talked' about, but he thought it to mean that they would simply continue on defending themselves until the noobs got tired of attacking them.

As Faramond and the twins were too busy pushing the noobs away, Inari finished an incantation, summoning soldiers. And soldiers came flowing forth, soldiers from the Ancient world started marching all around them, following them were knights, conquistadors, Napoleonic soldiers, pirates in their tricorns, Victorian British in their splendid bright red uniforms, Doughboys from the First World War, Soviets from the Second World War, and many other soldiers from various realms of reality. These soldiers then fought with the noobs, ensuing a chaos that made Faramond unaware of the soldiers' presence.

Faramond started to get tired of pushing noobs away, even poking some of them with his sword. Aya had the same problem on her side of things, but it was Aki that showed the most tiredness. It was him who did most of the work afterall.

The noobs would have started overwhelming them, had not for some weird, catchy, and dancy tune that started enamating from Zypher's position. All the noobs who heard the tune, which was all of them, started gyrating in some sort of dance, making it an easy work for Zypher to shoot them off. Aki also took the potshot at the dancing noobs. And so is Aya. Faramond was the last to jump on the chance, and when he did, he pulled out no stops, even making fun of the noobs who couldn't resist dancing.

Faramond, Aki and Aya didn't stop until all the noobs on their side of the cave were either dead, or dying.

"Hah! Never thought of J-Pop could do that!" he yelled and smiled at Zypher, "But those noobs dancing was an awful sight. Had to kill them out of mercy."


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summary:
Faramond and the twins did nothing much but to defend themselves as Inari summoned his soldiers. They kept defending until Zypher's attack, which enabled them to get rid of the noobs.
 
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TK looked down at the bodies with a sad look in her red eyes, but as her eyes raised back up to Rory, the music changed again.There was a smile growing on her face. The beat began.



She grabbed Rory's hand and took it into her own, then pointed with her other at their prisoners as she lowered her fuzzy hood, revealing white-silver hair and red eyes. She then looked up at Kitti, smiling brightly.

"Mur mur.... mur murrrrrmur? Arawry? Arawry....Murrrrrrrrrurrrrr Mur mur murrrr mur?.... Mur murrr mur mur murrr!"
" I think..... shouldn't we let them go? Rory? Rory, haven't they been through enough? Can't we just have a victory dance? It would be good!"

Her voice rang out as she spoke in her odd laguage, then started wuffling and burbling other noises and tunes in time to the music while twitching to the beat. Her hips started moving, then she suddenly bounced over to the woman who clearly was Rory's student, then grabbed her by a hand, starting to dance more. Eyes closed, somewhat jumping, somewhat writhing in tune to the beat. Reacting to both the bass and treble of the tune, her lips tracing the words to the song, the closest the girl could come to understandable speech was lipsyncing.

And it feels like.... And it feels like... And it feels like home.....

The girl kept dancing in celebration, a big goofy smile on her face as she suddenly danced up against the other girl, giggling then bounced off again, dancing around and past all of the captives, trying to persuade them to dance as well. She then grabbed a few gems and threw one, a glowstick appearing, she took a string from the bag and tied it on, then started swirling it around, chortling as the item began changing colors as she swung it. She made designs with the glowing lights made by the item, then recalled it and kept dancing.

She then clambered up to Rory and pulled him into a mock waltz, completely out of place for the tune, giggling more. "Murrrrrr mur?" Please free them? She smiled up at him while giving him her best shot at puppy eyes. As the song drifted to a close, it was soon replaced with another. It was obvious that TK was in a dancing mood.



Tk backed off of Rory, then cartwheeled before raising her hands above her head, clapping in time to the beat, then started jumping, one fist punching the air as she moved to the beat, she called out a few more times to Rory and bounced around, still trying to dance with everyone, In her eyes, they had won a war. She needed to celebrate.
 
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Kitti was caught up before she knew it, dancing with the oddly child-like figure of Rory's second student. The desperate pain of before eased slightly as she lifted the girl into her arms to spin her a few feet off the ground. Kitti whirled her, keeping careful arms linked around the girl's waist. Smiling warmly to her, Kitti descended, lightly placing her on the ground. The unease and ache gnawed their way back into her heart as soon as she released the girl. Rory was standing, almost apathetically and Kitti felt a void.

Perhaps it was true, she had found herself but... she seemed to have lost everything she had known in the process. Kitti patted the girl gently on the head, her gaze sliding over to the prisoners. They seemed decent enough, and letting them go would be acceptable soon, she was certain. It made her feel cruel, to pin one's wings when her own were so precious to her. Freedom, it was vital. Kitti bowed her head, having been ignored by her master. She felt chastised, like a little girl again, for speaking to him, for asking him to create solutions.

Rory had summoned Engel from precious Fluffy, he had controlled the elegant Simica... was there nothing he could do? But he seemed unwilling to speak to her. What then, her mind questioned, who else might have that level of power? She withdrew into her cloak, wide eyes watching the world as she sought in her mind for an idea of where Paorou might be in the time of turmoil. Leaving Rory would be hard, possibly too hard, and she knew she was clutching at straws, but it was the only thing she could do to fight back tears.
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"Release them," Rory spoked to the winds. Soon the handcuffs reverted back into the sweets that TK had shot at them just a short while back. "Our adventure with these three ends here." He then looked Zypher straight in the eyes, "As for you. The divine winds had a reason for sparing you. Call it a predestine, for you and I are linked by the choices we've made over all these years." Rory then faced Kitti, "I'm leaving TK in your charge. Take the man and the children as far as you think it necessary. You will not be seeing me again for many days, weeks, months, or even years. You're in charge now, dear Cat." He then raised a box shaped force field around his allies. Kitti looked disturbed, "But Master!!!" "No Cat. You're needed to help with the larger scheme of the world. Now go, before anyone tries to attack the Emerald. You " He then raised his black gloved hand and sent the boxed shaped barrier flying through the tunnels towards the large airship hidden near one of the many sea cliffs around the edge of the city.

Rory then turned his back to Zypher and smiled at their departing comrades. The blue lights of the tunnels slowly grew brighter and brighter,until it overcame all sight. When things started to dim down, Zypher and Rory were now standing in a field of tall blue-green grass that reached up to their chests. Rory signalled for them to start walking. To Zypher it was clear they were no longer in the same reality as Iwaku. There were bright blue skies over head with white clouds in various shapes. To their right was an old cottage and to their left were thousands upon thousands of white windmills that were spinning. Zypher could have easily smelt the strong scent of ocean air in the winds.

"Welcome to the Little Patch of Blue. At this point, you need no introduction Zypher. Since you're here, that means your boss has appeared as well. The winds are saying the hero has arrived. You and I know both that this hero is your boss woman." Rory then moved his arms behind his back, "Since I have not chosen a successor to the throne, I need to find one right? Here's my deal to you, if you can show me you are head strong enough to give me a good battle in close range combat, you'll have my vote to become King. Your boss needs all the help she can get. I no longer have an interest in the pointless affairs of politics."
 
Zypher looked to the others as the strange girl as she danced about burbling and cooing in her strange ways, dancing with the other girl and "Inari" as he was still called to the others. He chuckled to himself, watching her move about to the music coming out of her headphones. Suddenly a small wind blew past Zypher and the others, their cuffs returning to the whipped cream that the fox girl had placed on them before. With a quick shake of his wrists he was free again, quickly pulling out his handguns and reloading them.

As he reholstered his guns Inari approached him, telling him that the divine winds that had saved him and the others from the noobs had brought them together for a reason, and that the bonds of fate had shackled their meeting to this moment. Within a moment the others, all of the people he had encountered on his journey so far were gone, Faramond, Aki, Aya, gone, but not harmed. They were sent off with the other girls in "Inari's" group.

Inari, or as Zypher had figured out by now, Rory, turned back to him and smiled as the tunnels bled from their reality into something far different, something quieter and more peaceful. A blue-green grass bled into the reality the tunnel walls turned into a clear blue sky dotted with a few fluffy white clouds. Along Zypher's vision, he could see large white windmills slowly turning in the calm breeze along the left and to his right was a small cottage. Zypher thought he could faintly hear the ocean in the distance but he knew he could smell it.


"Welcome to the Little Patch of Blue. At this point, you need no introduction Zypher. Since you're here, that means your boss has appeared as well. The winds are saying the hero has arrived. You and I know both that this hero is your boss woman. Since I have not chosen a successor to the throne, I need to find one right? Here's my deal to you, if you can show me you are head strong enough to give me a good battle in close range combat, you'll have my vote to become King. Your boss needs all the help she can get. I no longer have an interest in the pointless affairs of politics."

"Diana has come? And you know where I'm from? You're much more knowledgeable then I had anticipated." Zypher sighed, stepping through the grass, pondering the king's offer to take up the crown. "I accept your terms. If you wish to give me the crown I will prove my mettle. I would like nothing better then to challenge you for the crown."Zypher bowed his head lightly and smiled, drawing his pistols.
 
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The music stopped when the barrier was risen, but then it started again out of nowhere, and when Rory and Zypher turned to look, they was faced with a very angry girl, who didn't seem to care that the scenery had changed, or even noticed it. She was shaking and her teeth were bared. Her hands were fisted at her sides, her knuckles were bone white. Nothing else mattered at this point save for the fact that someone dear to her had actually tried to keep her away.

"MURRR MUR MUR MMUUUUUR RRRRMURRRRM MUR MURRRMURRRR MURRR MURRR! MURR MUR....MUR MURRRRR MUR MUR, ARAWRY!" WHAT THE HELL! WHAT THE FUCKING HELL! WHY DID YOU DO THAT! WHY DID YOU... HOW DARE YOU I THOUGHT WE WERE GOING TO WORK TOGETHER, RORY!The girl yelled out, eyes narrowing. The predicament from before was quickly becoming a non-issue, it didn't matter how much power she had when she was pissed, if she wanted it bad enough, she's turn into other other form, it would just have consequences.

She grabbed the gem and crushed it in her hand, her eyes glued to Rory as she took on her other form, her voice had a edge of a growl when she spoke next.

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"I finally reappear to say hello after some time of working on my powers... I expected you to realize that I'm not going to be so easy to do away with as the others... I've worked on getting stronger to help you.... You're the closest thing I have to family and you seriously just tried to send me away with a woman and people I had just met... How dare you... I don't give a shit about this..... person you're planning to crown, I don't care how dangerous it it.... I don't care! SO WHY WOULD YOU TRY TO CAST ME ASIDE LIKE THAT?!" TK's mouth opened wide revealing plenty of sharp teeth packed into her mouth, Her dark, dull black eyes stared in Rory's direction. She floated slightly where she was, then drifted towards Rory. She draped her arms around him, frowning.

"Am I not strong enough to help you yet? Are you displeased due to the dichotomy of my being in which I have to take the form of that girl who can't even seem to say your name? Do you not view me like a sister like I view you, a brother? I want to help.... " TK then drifted back to the ground, her feet touching upon it, and she stood. Her wings held back, like a butterfly's, the wings pressed up against each other while the cascades of her white billowing hair floated around her still, seeming to have it's own sense of gravity....

And still her dull dark eyes tried to reach Rory, He was important to her. It didn't matter if he was a king or if he was a pauper to her. He was the only thing she had that was close to family. And he had hurt her dearly with his actions, as unintentional as it was, it wounded her.

"I don't want to be with your student, or with those people I never meant. Besides the fact that I'm not entirely comfortable with them, I also believe none of them know a word of what I'm saying when I'm in my other form. I'm not some child. I can take care of myself, I won't get in your way, just.... let me stay by your side....
 
"Trance," Rory said, "I predicted this day would come eighteen years ago just before my encounter with Homac. Much like those times, we still stand on the edge of hell and yet I display no fear. I’m a Nephilim; an immortal. The beings will grow old and die. Yet, I will always remain for I am a Dreamkeeper. Maybe, I should have been a little more caring. But as I had fear all those years ago, I have be remembered as a hero."

He then glanced at her, his left purple eye still gazing into the past, whilst his right green eye stared into the future. "We all know the heavy risk of what will happen next. Yet, I am one that will argue that our faith is not a mere product of reason, but something that requires risk. If there was no risk, there would be no point of living." Rory continued to speak, as if this were his own eulogy, "We are both tricksters. In the war to come, there will be little room for me to play..."

Rory raised his right hand telling her to halt, "I cannot allow for you to intevene in this fray. It is merely a friendly duel between the former king and a potential successor. You do have a bad habit of playing devil's advocate. "

A cold breeze then blew the tall grasses of the prairies arounding them. TK loamed over the peaceful setting, while Zypher had taken a seat on a fallen log, whilst Rory remained standing.

Rory then spoke to Zypher, "Don’t worry dear Zyphie; for it is only when man is tested that he can truly judge his mettle.” He lowered Isodath to the ground, "Since you are using pistols, a sword in a gun fight wouldn't be fair. So instead I'll use this." Rory then drew his cane of all items. It was paint black with a metal in the shape of a raven's head. "Now I shall make the opening move." Rory the pointed the metal head towards Zypher. Hundreds of ravens as black as the night flew out and started to swarm around the gunslinger.
 
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Kitti arched her back, her eyes shining with bitter hurt. Just you, master? Always just you. The greater good is all you seem to see, the small details elude you. You seem so blinded by little things, a need for trust and loyalty to foster the blossoms of hope that you try and spread to the winds as though they are wildflowers that will sprout anywhere they land. You leave it to others to nurture the land, to tend it with their hands the soil... dismissively, Kitti turned her back.

"Discard me then, plunge headlong into what abyss you choose and pay no heed to me. A new age is dawning, isn't it, Rory? You may cast aside your mantle of the master, but the fragile bonds you crumble in your fingertips... they do not break so much as wither and wait for some spark of affection, even a passing whimsy of yours, to spring to life once again for you. I will never forsake you, I will forever heed your every call, but since I am not needed here, I wish to take the ship and carry out my own means" .

Kitti could sense the disconnect, the chasm separating her from the girl who did not wish to be near her. It was heart-wrenching to see this girl, the same as Kitti was years ago as she prostrated herself before him, begging him to teach. Chaos had been there, then, old faces on the gentle old world... not for the first time, Kitti wondered if truly she had outlived her time. Thoughts sprung unbidden, arms clasped around Fluffy's slender waist, Reiz's silver fading into dust, or staring Jack in the face before the plummet. Older times, and people that she would not see anymore, bodies she could not enfold into the crush of her embrace.
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Theme for the scene

Zypher watched in silence as Rory explained his reasoning to the strange fox girl, naming her to Zypher. Trance huh? Interesting name... He thought, sitting down on one of the logs as a cool breeze blew past him, ruffling the grass quietly. If Zypher had a choice he would never leave this place but alas his focus was on fighting.

"Zyphie eh? Haven't been called that in a long time." He quickly sprang to his feet, dusted off his pants and drew his guns as Rory raised his cane. Suddenly a swarm of ravens shot from the king's cane and flew straight for Zypher. "Well shit..."

Zypher fired rapidly, taking out a few of the ravens as they swarmed about, creating a split second where he could dive away from them, firing a couple more shots, dispersing them. He ducked low, running through the tall grass away from the ravens and directly towards Rory's position.

Zypher leaped out of the grass, firing a shot at Rory, which wildly missed and was smacked in the nose with the cane. Zypher tumbled back into the grass before circling back around to jump from behind Rory, popping off another couple of shots, one grazing Rory's side and the other catching a raven that had followed him around. The cane came up for another smack onto the side of Zypher's head. As Rory swung around for another hit Zypher blocked with his handgun, shooting to send the cane away, but not breaking it as Zypher would've hoped. Zypher jumped back and fired again before Rory could react, catching the man's arm.

You know I'm doing damage I just don't think it really matters to the king... Zypher mused as he charged back into the long grass. He rested for a moment there and reloaded taking the chance to breath, his ears were ringing from the smacks he received but he hoped that he was proving his worth to the king. He wiped a bit of blood from his nose and charged again, firing rapidly at the king, most of his shots just being glancing blows, as Zypher got closer Rory swung from the side. With a grin Zypher hopped onto the staff, jumping off and flipping over Rory, firing a couple of shots as he soared over the King. He landed roughly, facing the king, surveying his damage.


Zypher begins the fight
 
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There was no music, the being was silent as she watched the fight, her mask-like face was stilled as she watched Rory and Zypher. She didn't want to sit there and look on as this transpired, but she stayed. Her eyes, dull, black, looking lifeless, watched every shot, every blow, every move. Her hair blew in the slight breeze and her tail came to flick and curl around her body as she pushed off of the ground with her feet gently, flapping her wings quietly and slowly, just barely staying a few inches off the ground, then suddenly propelled herself further, trying to gain a different viewpoint as she watched, her wings holding her aloft and off to the side of the fight.

She wanted to butt in, she wanted to help Rory, but she also purely just wanted the fighting to stop. She wanted to toss then both from each other, and talk this out, but.... this was a test for this man who was possibly going to take Rory's crown and become the next king. She then suddenly realized that she had never truly thought of Rory as a king, she had never been able to really see him in that position.

While she floated, she summoned what seemed to be a desk-like surface and began drawing furiously. Her pencil carried the rage in her heart of not knowing what to do, how to help or how to proceed. She tried to focus on that instead of the fight, but found her attention still squarely on the two. Then as Zypher faced Rory, she put away the drawing. Put away the paper. Put away the pencil.

Her wings stopped churning, and she plummeted back down, only for her to flap them lightly, landing quickly, but still gracefully. She watched.
 
Rory lightly chuckled. There was small amounts of black blood oozing from his cheek. This was the first time in nearly two decades that he felt his own blood trickling down his Mediterranean colored skin. "Nice shots. But you'll have to try harder." Rory taunted. He become more than accustomed to pain...

Many years in the past, before Rory had met Kitti, before he had even battle other angels to get to the place he is now, he had traveled with a young woman with white hair named Enyo....They had gone on many adventures together in the past. Just the two of them. Rory always dwelled on this particular scene in his head. Maybe it was because he wasn't really that aware of his surroundings at the time, or it was one of the rare times, he actually focused on the small details....

It was July 1st. They started their mission yesterday afternoon, and of course it has not gone well for the angelic tribe called the Dreamkeepers. After a few hours, Rory started stumbling, but the younger of the two females with him wouldn’t stop. "By the love of Iuido, why are you acting like a Sorrowkeeper, Jessica? So what if, Rory has to lean on me?" Enyo demanded to know.

Jessica noticed and said, rather insultingly, "Can't you two ever keep your hands off each other? You are always cuddling, or kissing, or something! I haven’t met a person as dumbfounded as two are! You're slow! Really, Enyp I would've thought you'd want this to be done and over with as fast as possible, but I guess I was wrong!"

"Bite me, Jessica. Rory and I need each other! And besides it keeps my darling's spirits up and he actually forgets his pain! Or are you so self centered that you have chosen to forget he's was nearly killed? My love helps, right my dear?" Enyo replied back, kissing Rory and glaring at Jessica. "Maybe it's because you've never fallen in love! We need to rest, he's getting worse!"

"Enyo, my sweet. It's all my fault! I'm so weak and tired and all you do is take care of me... You must hate my weaknesses..." Rory said, gasping for breath as they struggled to make it uphill.

"Oh, Ror... How could I ever hate you? I love you with all my heart, more than life itself. Don't blame yourself, it's only my ankle, nothing to be too concerned about. My silly little pet." And he took her in his arms, and she leaned against him, as he played with her hair.

These days were long in the past; however. He had lost Enyo and ever since he had slowly became the man he was now....


Once more he and his opponet were looking eye to eye. Zypher could only focus on two things, the trickster's mixed matched eyes. "However, there's more where that came from."

While they were more than six feet apart, Zypher felt himself get smack around by pitch black feathers once again. However this time around, it was not the ethereal ravens but a massive wing span. Rory stood up, behind him were two giant black wings of a fallen angel. His eyes were narrowing and a sly smile formed on his face.
 
Zypher was already breathing heavily, the battle so far had been intense. The king's eyes drew him in, almost sending him to another time.

The city was burning, people about him screaming. He began directing people to the Contessa's space station, trying to keep the order. His armor covered his arms and his shins and just around his neck. It was glinting off the moonlight and the fires from the city. Chaos had overthrown Diana as leader as everyone screamed and ran for cover. Zypher looked in vain for the rest of Diana's knights. He just prayed that the others had made it onto the space station. Zypher fought behind the crowds herder who he could find onto the space station. Finally he ran up the steps, looking back out over the remains of the city consumed by hatred, fear and chaos. He took one last look and turned into the space-station the word "AFTA" printed on the side of the hull.

'Looks like this is goodbye Moonwings...' He thought as the hatch closed after him.


Zypher was snapped back into reality with a smack to the face from what felt like the wings across his face. He looked ahead at the newly formed wings sprouting from King Rory's back.
"Well that's a nice trick." Zypher smirked back at the king and pulled his guns back up to take aim, spitting out a bit of blood. Time to get this over with! He thought and charged, firing as rapidly as his fingers could pull the triggers, aiming first at the base of the wings, hoping to shoot them off and then moving in towards center mass of Rory's body. A few shots connected and little specks of black blood splattered outwards. Zypher charged forward, coming near Rory, narrowly avoiding his cane, and placing one pistol at his temple, but he felt a cold blade at his neck, he turned his head gently to look at the king, covered in his cloak again he looked different, more lithe, almost...feminine.

He cringed as he looked at the person who replaced the king, the blade lightly digging into his neck painfully.
"So what now?" Zypher huffed, a smirk coming to his face as he looked at his gun directly against the fabric of the other's head.
 


"That, my friend is quite simple." The hooded person spoke. The voice was commanding, just like Rory's but it clearly belonged to someone else. Instead of trying to jab the blade into Zypher's neck, the hooded figure then prepared to give Zypher an upper cut. As its name implies: the figure's left arm quickly raised up from their belly, making an upward motion that resembles a pirate's hook in shape and landed right in Zypher's nose. Considering the fact that the said person was wearing armored gloves caused Zypher to go flying backwards. Once again, it seemed that his opponent liked attacking his nose.

The being then stepped forward and kicked both of Zypher's guns away from his body. The person then lowered their hood.

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Whom Zypher saw was not Rory, at least not the one he was used to dealing with. Looming over him was a woman with a tomboyish hair cut. Two solid amber colored eyes stared at his bloodied face. Unlike Rory, this woman had more color to her clothing. It was still black but there were now facings draped in royal purple. She then raised Isodath next to his neck, once again lightly digging into his skin.


"Who...Are you?" Zypher asked while he felt the world spin around him from the uppercut to the jaw.

“You are going to ask if I am Rory. Everyone always does...How unoriginal." The woman then sighed and spoke dryly, "In some sense I am; in another I am not. My soul is automatically transferred to a new body each time the current one is destroyed. The original’s consciousness and personality fizzle away when the new body is born. However the original memory, knowledge, and power still remains forever expanding...”

The woman holding Isodath looked around and pondered. All three people were once again standing in the bluish light of the Castle's tunnels. She then raised an eyebrow. "However, this is news to me as well." Still keeping the blade next to Zypher, the woman then raised her right hand and appeared to be writing in Hebrew on the reality around them. "Well...Ain't this a dosie? I witness the rebirth of the freakin' universe and I wind up here of all places...Metaphysics is such a pain in the ass..." She sighed and then helped Zypher up, "You must be Zyphie. My apologizes for slashing you up. It looks like you'll have to put up with me for a while then."

The woman then wandered over towards TK. "Interesting. A kitsune...So my ancestor enlisted the help of a fox girl. Very interesting indeed." She then extended her hand in friendship towards Trance, seemingly not disturbed by the super charged form of the normally cute and bouncy kitsune. "You may call me the Sage, if you wish to be more formal, I can be called Westy...Whatever floats your boat, really. It's a pleasure too meet you."


Summary: Rory has seemingly disappeared and is replaced by a young woman in armor that attacks him using Isodath...She defeats Zypher by giving him an uppercut to the jaw. She then stops, appearing to know both Zypher and TK. This person is the same Sage that appeared in the Legacy.
 
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"Resty?" The girl asked quietly, then tried again. "Rrrrrrest.....Resty.... Mrage?...." Seemingly upset with her inability to pronounce the names right, the girl whimpered, taking the woman's hand, shaking it, then hugged her, sniffing her quietly, trying to get used to the new body, then finally nuzzled her affectionately. Unsure if the woman would understand her, she attempted to speak. "Murrrrah..... Mur murrmu mruuuuu murmur murrr?" Hello... can you understand anything that I'm saying?

She then looked over at Zypher, seemingly upset slightly. If what the woman said was true.... He had destroyed Rory's body.

It wasn't something sure could easily understand...

Still, she attempted.

"Murrr murrr... murrmurr? Murr.....murrrr mur mur?" I don't think I understand... where were you before this? How did... this work out?The girl asked timidly, still not knowing if this woman understood her. She hoped that she did. Because Rory had been the only one who had seemed to... If only this wasn't all so confusing.
 
"I'm not sure I understand why this happened either. Don't worry about just yet." She then allowed for TK to climb into her lap. "I guess I should reveal a little bit about myself then. I am one of several beings that have been named Westy over the years. I came from the grassy world where you people just were a few moments ago. It's called the Sanctuary. I helped train a young Sino-Chinese girl named Soo Jin Ya there, she had been sent on a long journey on a space ship called the Legacy. Basically a tale of here and back. I'm going to make an educated guess that it was my connection to her that brought me here..But why I replaced this world's Rory confuses me. I'll have to look into it."

Westy then turned her head towards Zypher, "You might want to fix yourself up. I'm guessing you have somewhere important to be off to."