Requiem for Themelio: A Dirge for Tartarus (Still Accepting!)

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"Aw, so you are barking mad. We come from different corners of the world Welda. I have never met you before this. I had no idea what happened to you. I only made assumption based on what I know. I may be able to cast miracles, but I'm no mind reader." Catherine was obviously upset.
 
Ijani had hoped that the argument would die down on its own, but it was not to be the case.

"Just, no. While I am a cleric, I believe that corruption runs within the church and that it should be violently purged. I trust no politician, and many of the church are politicians. Straying from the path of our Goddess. I have no problem with your kind Ijani. Not everyone can gain the powers of the Goddess, and so they must seek out the power to fight some other way."
"Just don't let the beasts control you, or I will put you down."

It would take more than that to convince Ijani that it was truth, but he was grateful that she didn't seem to be totally brainwashed like most of the people that came after him were. It was somewhat... refreshing to hear words like that from a cleric.

"I'm sorry, but you must be deluded,"
"Not once did I ever rally the people to atheism, neither did I speak up against the church. I didn't make myself a threat to anybody, nor did I throw my political weight against any group. I was victimised without good reason. I earned my rank through battle and they had no reason to feel insecure, and no right to declare me a traitor. The church wronged me, Lady Clearwater. Regardless of your religious belief, I thought you would be wise enough to know when they are in the wrong. I guess I overestimated your genuinity."

"Aw, so you are barking mad. We come from different corners of the world Welda. I have never met you before this. I had no idea what happened to you. I only made assumption based on what I know. I may be able to cast miracles, but I'm no mind reader." Catherine was obviously upset.

Ijani was still bitter at the church for what it had done, but Catherine had a point, and it would do none of them any good to keep arguing amongst themselves when they might need to work together to survive.
"You're asking too much if you think that a devout cleric would be so easily convinced that her institution was in the wrong. After all, we're all complete strangers here."
Even though it was true, he said it with some reluctance. Defending a member of the church was not something he felt comfortable doing, but it was in the interest of keeping things from getting out of hand.
"We could be together like this for a while, so it would be best if we didn't fight amongst ourselves." He glared at Darius as he said it, remembering the incident that had happened earlier.

Turning back to Catherine, he added "I appreciate your acceptance, but forgive me if I don't trust you." He refrained from saying so out loud, but in his mind, he continued "Besides, you may not be so willing to accept me if you knew everything I have done..."
 
"I think we should put our differences aside for the time being," Welda muttered, as she walked forwards. "As much as I hold the church in disdain, it would be in all of our best interests to sweep aside any opinions and past transgressions. This river may be the only thing between here and home. Granted, it might not be, but it may be."
 
Darius just decided to stop talking since the others were all turning against him and followed at the back of the group. The demon's warning about the water verified the bad feeling he had about it when he first arrived so made sure to keep a healthy distance away from it. Darius had hoped that it would be relatively quiet during to journey, but soon the others in the group started arguing amongst themselves about the church of all things. This made him miss his time back in the secluded mountains. There was no branch of the church there to cause religious issues so it was pretty quiet. There were, of course, occasional fights between clans that would usually end the following day. Those fights rarely ended in fatalities as well so it was easy to put the issues past them. These people on the other hand, simply could not even resolve an argument. Darius just kept quiet. With all the noise they were making the spirit wouldn't have any trouble finding us if it hadn't already.
 
"After what transpired the last time I was near a body of water, I will remind myself to be weary around it." He contemplated, he decided to keep the details of his death to himself, for now. Now that Iris had said that the river could indeed have eyes, he kept his peripheral vision on the black waters. Better to be cautious than dead..again.
The others began to fight again, religion was always a subject best kept for less stressful situations. So he decided to stride ahead, hand on his hilt, and walked beside Iris. He casually stretched his shoulder and yawned, this walking has turned into a thousand league march.
 
The spirit had spread its consciousness throughout all of the branches of its river it could, taking almost no time at all to locate the new intruders. They were being attacked by a pack of hellhounds, so the spirit merely sat and watched, amused at the fact that the hounds might kill them and it could return to its slumber. That wasn't the case, though. They dispatched the hounds with some skill, causing the spirit to mentally growl, causing the river to churn, though it quickly calmed when they began to fight among themselves. Perhaps they would kill each other then and it could pick up the pieces?

Unfortunately, it's hopes were dashed again. They stopped fighting and in fact seemed to it to be under the care of a single woman. Or at least, a demon that was dressed in a human husk. They seemed to trust it. Perhaps it should rip that skin off of the demon to see what it actually looked like? Forcibly removing it was sure to cause great pain to the wearer.

However, it didn't get long to ponder the action. The intruders were moving - towards the ancient shrine and its pools. That, infuriated it. Who were these...intruders!? Trespassers, meddlers, interlopers the lot of them! Rage filled its mind as it watched the group of people and the demon walk upon its territory from its watery hiding place. They think themselves worthy of walking upon its territory!? Kill them, kill them all! Devour, feed, destroy, eat! By now, the demon was completely filled with rage. It wouldn't so much as let them even get near the shrine.
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"Well, you're quite comfortably around me, aren't you?" Iris commented to Iwao with a coy smile. She was still relieved that there were a few here that weren't complete and utter morons as far as she was concerned. Unlike the cleric or that dragon hunter. "I might start thinking you like me, if you stand that close." She giggled, giving the Ronin a wink before letting out a sigh. They had indeed walked far. She wasn't even sure they were going in the right direction. She was certain they just had to keep following the river upstream to reach the pools, but she had been wrong before. "Don't worry, I think we're almost there. We should just have to take the next passage on the right, and they should lead us to a staircase. That should lead us to-"

She didn't get to finish her sentence, as the water in the Styx seemed to come alive. At first it started bubbling, the waters churning and the water evaporating, something in the cursed waters heating it and causing the temperature in the area to rise. Iris was seemed to be a bit surprised, but not in a good way.

"Everyone, move!" She shouted to the mortals. Just as she finished that sentence, dark pillars of water shot from the river, each one aimed at one of the mortals and shot with a force enough to shatter solid bedrock.
 
The attack took Ijani by surprise, but Iris's warning was early enough for him to be able to act by reflex. Kinetic magic was a school that Ijani had always been gifted in - long before acquiring any of his more demonic powers - and so it was this that he turned to out of instinct. Stretching both arms out in front of him as if he was pushing against a wall, he projected an invisible forcefield in front of him just in time to intercept the dark pillar of water hurtling towards him at incredible speed. Deflected by the forcefield as it punched through, its trajectory was altered about 10 degrees to the right, narrowly missing Ijani's head and exploding against the wall of the cavern behind him. Looking around to check the condition of the rest of his party, he readied his staff and prepared for another attack.

"The Styx, I take it?" he said, sounding a little breathless.
 
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He was about to reply, saying that although he was indeed a hunter of demons, most were behemoth demons that had dispersed after the war, until the water came alive.
He expected this to happen, and was already springing into action by the time the water had jettisoned towards him. He dove to the left and rolled as he hit the ground, he heard the water spout exploding through a stalagmite as he drew his swords from the kneeling position he was in.
 
Darius heard the eruption of water right after the demon's alert. He had just enough time to duck as the column of water was aimed at his head. It whizzed just above his head and quickly carved a circular crater in the cavern wall. "So much for the spirit being intelligent enough to be curious. Guess we have no choice now but to fight". Darius was slightly disappointed, he had hoped to avoid another conflict at least until they were out of the caves.
 
"The Styx, I take it?" Ijani commented after successfully deflecting the surprise assault in a very skillful manner. One that managed to impress even her, at least a little. She herself, deflected the jet shot at her by taking her staff and holding it in front of her. The staff created a small barrier in front of it, the jet of water hit it with enough force to slide her back a few feet as it exploded on the barrier.

"Whatever gave you that idea?" She said, briefly making sure the others were safe.

"So much for the spirit being intelligent enough to be curious. Guess we have no choice now but to fight." He was probably right of course. There was very little chance that the spirit would have talked to them to begin with.

"Doesn't matter right now, we need to get to the altar pools." With that, she took off down the path taking the one on the right as she previously mentioned. From there, it wasn't long until the narrow pathway opened up. To most mortals, it would have been a beautiful sight. It would have been if not for their predicament of being chased by an enraged water spirit.
 
Catherine rolled out of the way of the tendrils of water and without another word began a mad sprint to the altar pools looking behind her for stragglers and helping to pull them along. This was no time for words and as such she remained silent as she moved about to the pools and dodging the water.
 
After he saw Catherine sprint past wordlessly, Iwao followed suit. The roaring of the Styx was all the sound he could hear, besides that of his own breathing.
" Keep low, eyes open, mouth closed, stay nimble." The words of the War Master echoes in his head, his muscle memory took over as his calculative mind charted a path, and he followed it.
 
Utilizing his staff to conjure a more sustained shield for himself, Ijani held his staff out in front of him as he moved as briskly as he could in the direction of the pools. Strafing and his lack of cardiovascular fitness compared to the other members of the party slowed him down, however, and he soon found himself trailing behind.

Realising that speed may be more important than defense in this moment, he dropped his shield after deflecting a weaker but still forceful shot of water from the Styx and transferred that energy to his legs.

The kinetic force of his muscles now amplified, he was able to sprint with long, leaping strides that allowed him to quickly gain ground on the fleeing group, but the exertion quickly took a toll on his stamina, and it was difficult to control. He would not be able to keep this up for long, but he hoped it was enough to make it to the pools.
 
Welda could hear the large bursts of water and quickly side stepped so that she was behind Ijani. A massive explosion could be heard in the spot where she had previously been standing, as the earth beneath the very place where her feet had just bolted from suddenly ripped into the air. A huge crater, filled by the jets of water, was the only trace of the earth. A long flowing puddle, practically a stream, made its way to the cave wall as the crater overflowed and poured out. Welda could feel the water around her feet and the fresh smell of the wet clay on her nose. She took little time to reminisce on the trips she used to take with her older sister to the nearby cliffs where they used to collect wet clay and carry it home in little beige baskets, to mould it into anything of their desire. She wondered whether she would ever see - no, hear her sister's voice again, or that of anyone else's whom she had left behind, but she also knew that reminiscing wouldn't bring them back to her. On the other hand, surviving long enough could bring her back to them, and so she drew her blade quickly, both hands firmly pressed around the smooth thick wool wrapped around the steel hilt of her longsword. The sound of a metal plate dropping to the earth quietly reverberated through the room, almost completely washed out by the much greater noise of gushing water, only to be followed by the quick-paced steps of Ijani dashing towards the threat.

Welda ran blindly in a different direction, panic striking a chord in her heart, and she kept on moving as fast as her legs could carry her. It slightly comforted her to hear another pair of footsteps speeding in the same direction directly in front of her, and judging by the higher pitched sound of the soft panting, Welda could easily tell that it was a female. Miss Clearwater, perhaps, or the demon lady Iris. Regardless, she stayed behind them, tracing their every step as quickly as she could.
 
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