The Journey to the End

[Saryta]

OOC

*~*~*~*

"It's time for mortals to begin the journey to the End."


That was the message broadcasted on every phone, computer, tablet, and TV on the Winter Solstice. Following it, numerous rifts opened, and outpoured beings that no one had seen or heard about since the times of myths.


There were those who were prepared… and those who weren't, taken unawares or just at the wrong place at the wrong time. This is the story of those who are fighting to preserve their world, their lives.


*~*~*~*


Serena grit her teeth as she felt something latch onto her braid and groaned as more tiny hands latched onto it. "You will all burn," she growled, flipping one of her knives, grabbing the braid at the base, and slicing upwards. She straightened quickly and whirled just in time to see the shocked expressions on the vicious Pixie faces. Snapping her fingers, the long cord of black hair lit up, spreading to the Pixies and incinerating them.


"It's the end of the world, and you're holding grudges on your hair?" Kye asked, eyebrows raised, and she stuck her tongue out at the dark haired man. Blood covered his clothes, and the last of the Pixies lay twitching at his feet.


"Why yes I am," she retorted, sheathing her knives. "I'll have you know that I spent years getting it to the length that it was, all of which was ruined because of those dam—"


"You could've stopped that if you had pinned it to your head or something," he replied easily, blue eyes meeting her violet ones. "I've seen girls do that; why didn't you?"


Serena grew silent, eyes dark and flashing, and Kye just sighed, flicking his sword. "Shall we get going, then? There will be more coming, and I doubt they'll be as easy to kill as these Pixies."


*~*~*~*


Alanna glanced sideways at Liam, meeting his fearful gold and silver eyes, and she tried to will a message into her own icy blues: 'We're going to get out of here.' Of course, the boy was so dense that he probably didn't know the difference. Sighing, she turned away and surveyed the room they were in.


Even in the darkness, the little bit of moonlight that was fed in through the window revealed much to her. The ground was comprised of damp earth — in the corners, grass and moss could be seen growing, reaching towards what little light they could reach. Metal glinted everywhere: off of the chains, the tables, the chairs, the needles, the scalpels… The iron on the cages, though, was dull and lifeless and contained people who were just as dull and lifeless; they were either drained of blood, sleeping, or giving up completely.


Biting her bottom lip, she glanced upward, glaring at the chains holding her arms up, and wished that her hands weren't encased.


Liam, though, was still on the ground; unlike her, he wasn't strung up like a prize. "Hey, Liam," she whispered, "can you do me a favor?"


"It's no use," the boy said in a monotone. "I've been here before, you know." His gold eye glowed briefly. "There's no getting out."


Alanna resisted the urge to kick him and cast a glance at the other cells, wondering just how many of them were human before turning back to Liam. "There is always a chance," she snapped at him. "Now, are you going to help me or not?"


He just looked at her blankly, and she sighed. "I'll take that as a no."

 

[Saryta]

Taking her silence as a yes, Kye began navigating away from the heaps of Pixie bodies and towards the center of the city; there awaited a safehouse for them -- for everyone who knew what was coming... which wasn't many. Even Serena, the girl with precognition and a sense of all of that lived, barely got notice of what was happening.

Serena had followed in silence, her knives sheathed, and her violet eyes dark as she glared at anything that moved. "It's... quiet," she commented finally, and she automatically began to reach for her knives and extend her sense of the world... Before she got the chance, though, everything went dark.

"Serena!" Kye shouted, lunging forward as the girl slumped to the ground, and upon reaching her, Kye was thrown backward into a brick wall. Groaning at impact, he dropped to his feet, and his blue eyes surveyed the area warily as he tried to gather his bearings. What just happened? Part of his question was answered as an object -- a brick, by the looks of it -- came flying his way. Kye dropped to the ground, and as he rose, he had to avoid another object -- a metal pipe.

"Come out and fight like a man!" Kye shouted, drawing his sword, and he cursed inwardly. He had hoped to be able to get to the safehouse before now... He glanced sideways at Serena and grimaced; whatever it was, it had managed to take her out...

And as his opponents came out of the darkness, Kye could understand why. There had to be at least twenty of them... Vampires... and Demons. Kye tightened his grip on his sword. Lady Luck, please don't run out on me today, he prayed. He knew that the odds of someone coming to help them was low, but it never hurt to hope.

*~*~*~*

Alanna squirmed, rattling her chains, and she prayed that someone, anyone, would volunteer. All she needed was a volunteer. She bit down on her lower lip and began composing a general announcement when the sound of an opening -- and then slamming -- door rang through the otherwise silent dungeon.

"Oh, good," a silky voice murmured, descending into sight. "I'm glad you have yet to escape your bonds... Though, with your reputation, I'm a bit surprised." The pale-skinned stranger was standing right in front of Alanna within the minute, his colorless eyes matching her own.

The left corner of her lips twitched. "I feel so out of the loop," she commented lightly. "You know of me, but I've never heard of you... Did I kill your best friend?" No reaction. "No, it had to be your brother." He twitched, and she laughed softly. "Oh, so it was your sister."

For her realization, she got a punch to the stomach and a kick to the ribs; Alanna didn't give him the satisfaction of showing pain when some of her ribs cracked. In fact, she continued, "It's not my fault she went crazy. It seems to run in the family -- first your mother, and then --" Harvey Viveca -- she knew who he was at this point -- silenced her by waving his hand and playing with fire right in front of her face.

"I will look forward to getting you off of my hands," he murmured, voice low enough that only she could've caught it, "but I never did have to promise that you'd go in perfect condition." His eyes flashed. "I'd be careful of what you say..." he turned to Liam, and the smell of burning flesh -- along with Liam's scream -- cut through the air briefly, "because there will be consequences." The smile he paid her was empty of emotion, and he turned on his heel and left, leaving just as loudly as he had come.

"Now will you help me?" Alanna growled to Liam, who was curled around his burnt arm. "I can fix that, and --"

"No," Liam snapped. "We're done for. Conserve your energy."

Alanna sighed and rattled her chains. "Goddamnit, don't any of you want out of this place?" she shouted.

 

[Inati]

"Maybe I can help," a light voice replied to Anna's question from somewhere, perhaps in one of the darkest corners of the room.

How long she had been there, no one would ever know, but Sparks had seen enough to know that these people did not stand a chance of surviving that...creature, without some help. She stepped out of the darkness once she was sure he was gone and couldn't even hear the tiniest disturbance of his step on the electrical frequency. Her strangely colored hair- blue with streaks of pink to give her that cotton candy effect- was tucked underneath her good and her electric green eyes, sitting upon a caramel colored face, flashed with a power yet to be released. The newcomer had entered the city with a couple friends of hers, the three of them having survived the first wave of the attack at the beginning and fighting their way to safety all that time, traveling, looking for survivors. It looks like they may have had some luck in this particular town, Sparks having heard the struggle that was going on in this room from the sounds screeching along the electrical currents only she could hear. That was why she was there; she heard the struggle and as she got closer, felt the panic.

She smiled at Anna and then glanced down at Liam, raising an eyebrow at his blank look...as if he just gave up; "Let's get you guys out of here before that thing comes back," she whispered, quickly running up to Anna and beginning to remove the chains, "Jeeze, this guy must really like you to chain you up this hard!"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

In the middle of the city, she ran as fast as she could, the air whipping through her long black hair as she raced to reach her destination. Sparks had told her about the others in the middle of the city that were ambushed, urging Max and Eli to take on the horde together while she herself went to see what she could do about the others in the cages. Max narrowed her golden eyes as she ran across building tops and down the sides of the abandoned structures, following the trembling shadows that guided her way to the others.

"Will we make it, Max?" A deep voice beside her ear asked.

The young woman glanced at her companion that was wrapped around her neck, a small black dragon with glowing red eyes and a power waiting to be released, before turning her attention back to the path before her, "We'll have to, Eli."

She made a jump over three building tops consecutively before she came to a quick halt. Her golden eyes caught sight of the unconcious woman and the fight-ready man both surrounded by demons and vampires; "Got 'em!" she rejoiced before backing up and then jumping off the roof to the ground, landing on her feet in front of the man.

"Hey there! Hope you don't mind I join the fun!" she greeted the man, her once bright eyes going completely black as the shadows twitched and moved at her command, creatures of your worst nightmares coming to life, "Have at it!"

With a single sweep of her hand, the shadow monsters charged at the demons and vampires, latching onto them and dragging them into the darkness where their screams echoed until they were silenced. In order to help, the dragon named Eli opened his mouth, where a glowing orb sat at the back of his throat, and fired a raging sphere inferno at the enemy, the ball growing bigger the closer it got to its targets, not all of them able to escape before they were caught in the flames and singed to a crisp. Max looked back at the man and nodded towards the unconcious female.

"Grab her! Get to safety!" she instructed him, sending another wave of shadows to give them time.

 

[Huntress]

Everything was a mess. Senses running amok as confusion consumed her mind. The woman couldn't remember much. She had been running, there was screaming. Something was following her, it looked like a ghost of some sorts, a spirit. Her memories became blurry once again. Darkness. Her ears rang loudly as she shifted in her position. She could recall something entering her body, flowing through her, some odd, raw power. It spread through every vein, extending to every limb. Then the darkness returned.
Her eyes shot open as she inhaled deeply, whispers and screams of pain and terror assaulted her ears, orders were being thrown at people, metal clanking as something was being forged and suddenly...silence. Her eyes burned with a fiery amber for a few moments before fading.

Her vision quickly adjusted to the darkness as her eyes scrambled to take in her surroundings. Where was she? What had happened? Her blurry, confusing memories only caused her head to hurt. There was a distant dripping sound, it echoed through the structure. She must've been somewhere large if the drops were echoing like that. It smelled musty, old and damp...death lingered. She shifted in her position, it was an attempt to sit up. There was a sudden searing pain that came from every inch of her body, flesh sizzled and the stench entered her nose. She screamed in agony, The slightest movement causing the burning to become worse.

A few tears dripped down her face as she panted. The sizzling sound died out and the burning seemed to stop. She tried to look around once again but she was laying down it was difficult to spot anything. She clenched her jaw and winced. Closing her eyes she recalled the recent pain. Taking deep breaths she mentally prepared herself. Counting to three she slowly sat up then stood up. Flesh was seared, it sizzled loudly the stench overpowering anything that currently surrounded her. She couldn't hold back the whimpers and screams as she walked ahead, the tears were beginning to flow again. Her body trembled as she soon reached a set of bars.

She gripped the rusted iron and looked out with glistening eyes. The moon was shining in through a large window that was at least a storey above her. She looked at the silver orb, it's light brought an uncomfortable warmth to her skin, her eyes burning a vicious amber once again. Eventually she tore her gaze from the moon, it was almost as if it had her trapped within a trance. Looking out passed the bars the pained woman called out in a tired voice that cracked. "Hello?! Is there anyone out there?" She questioned between whimpers of pain. She tried not to move much as the pain lessened.

Through the bars and within the moonlight she could be easily seen. The woman was tall, easily five foot eight perhaps taller. She had meat on her bones and defining feminine features but she was lean and solid. An athlete of some sorts without a single doubt. Her body well taken care of and it paid off. She wasn't wearing many layers the definition in her body easily noticeable. A dirty black tank top with a pair of torn and muddled blue skinny jeans, black boots that reached half way to her knees on her feet. Her hair at it's longest hung just above the middle of her back, raven black and although it was currently messy and caked it fell in loose waves. Her face was strong, her features attractive her eyes naturally a hazel grey.

She frantically searched for anyone or anything beyond the bars. Her tired slightly pained voice calling out. "Fuck..." She cursed. Looking down at herself she couldn't help but notice the chains that now adorned her body. Confusion spread across her features. It was a thin ribbon-like chain. Both wrists were wrapped along with her neck and ankles. The thin chain continued up her arms and adorned her torso and legs as well. She wasn't too sure what to think. The flesh beneath the enchanted silver was seared, red and sensitive. She didn't understand in the slightest what was going on and it didn't seem like anyone was around to explain to her either. "What have you done now Alissa..." She muttered to herself and hung her head low as she shook it.

 

[Saryta]

((Alanna, not Anna. Just thought I should point that out. ))


Alanna looked at the girl nonchalantly as she stepped out of the darkness, hardly surprised at the girl's presence. She knew she had felt something… But thanks to Harvey's magic canceling cuffs, she hadn't had a chance at pinpointing it. Come on, girl… Just a little closer. All I need is a single touch, and I'm free. The metal around her hands completely encased them, preventing her from using her ice magic, and her death magic required her to have a free hand in order to get the metal to rot away… But, it was still in the air, and all she needed was a conduit.

Her ice blue eyes met the bright green of the girl's, and she forced a relieved — almost grateful — smile onto her lips. "At least someone here has a good heart," she commented, looking meaningfully at Liam, but he was hardly paying attention. She could see the burn from Harvey starting to spread along his arm, and she cursed mentally; the damn bastard had left a residual magic burn, probably on purpose. Hurt me by hurting my friends. Thanks. Regret flickered before she refocused on the girl in front of her.

"Oh, him?" Alanna chuckled. "He's harmless." Conveniently, she pushed away the images of fire and the possibility of who his buyers were. "Really, he's just a guard dog, and his bark is far worse than his bite." Her lips curled into a dark smile, and her magic began coating the metal that bound her in anticipation. There it is! her thoughts exclaimed happily as her magic used the point of contact between the girl's hands and the metal to begin working. Within just a few seconds, the seamless metal casing had decayed enough that it had cracked.

"You might want to back up," Alanna warned before she released her ice magic, and the metal splintered outward, forced away by the ice shooting from her fingertips. "Much better," she sighed, and she flicked her fingers at the chains binding her feet; they soon fractured as well.

"That's why he had me locked up so tight," she told the girl. "It's rather difficult to keep me contained." She laughed softly before kneeling beside Liam. Grimacing, she spread a thin sheet of ice over his arm before taking out her lock picks and picking the lock binding him. "My sister is gonna have to heal that," she told him softly, "but the spread is halted for now."

She straightened and offered him her hand, which he ignored. "Since you're free now, leave," Liam murmured, and he glanced at the stranger. "You too. While you still have the chance."

Alanna narrowed her eyes, but she bit her tongue and instead glanced at the girl. "Can you unlock the rest of the prisoners?" she inquired, and she nodded to the master key ring. "They all have the same lock, by the looks of it, so it shouldn't be too hard." She tilted her head upon hearing someone cursing. "It sounds like at least one of them will appreciate it."

((Also, Serena and Kye's POV are on their way. ))

 

[Pyralithia]

Hearing the sounds of battle and death Azura runs toward it her long golden blonde hair up in a pony tail her silver eyes flashing almost glowing as she rushes through the city streets, her companion Vane a black wolf with violet eyes running alongside her a hidden power within him. As Azura turns a corner she finds herself behind a horde of demons and vampires attacking another woman with a dragon around her neck.

Azura quickly pulls out a black katana hidden within her black duster the blade instantly igniting in blue fire spreading from the blade to cover her body in dark blue flames, she smiles calling out "hey scum bags how about we make this a little more even?" she swings her blade toward them and long line of fire shoots toward them slicing most of them in half and setting others on fire there screams adding to the others, Vane leaps into the fray growing to 2 times his size before pouncing on any that escaped quickly ripping and tearing into them.

 

[Saryta]

Kye arched an eyebrow at the woman who had arrived, a dragon curled around her neck. "Excuse me?" he demanded, straightening. "I don't just run from a fi--" He was cut off as a Demon lunged at him, and Kye darted to the side and sliced, beheading the man. An unearthly scream ripped through the air, and black smoke poured from the man's now exposed blood and bone. Part of Kye felt bad because he knew that the Demon's host was indeed human, but the other part of him -- the stronger half -- insisted that there wasn't any other way at this point. As the Demon smoke rose and started towards him, Kye bit down on the inside of his cheek, drawing blood. The coppery tang filled his mouth, and from his hand spilled energy as dark as midnight. The writhing energy surrounded the black smoke, constricting it, and it began to glow white hot. Another unearthly scream cracked the air, but it was cut off as the smoke began to char; a moment later, the smoke was ash, the Demon sent back to whence it came.

"I'll have you know that I'm not entirely defenseless," he informed the woman, coming back to protect Serena's body as his energy waned, and Kye lunged forward again -- this time to slice down a Vampire attacking at the girl's back. Flicking the blood from his sword, he glanced back down at Serena and took a deep breath, weighing his options. She'd kill him if she knew that she was giving up their precious safehouse to complete strangers, but they didn't seem that bad, and though he hated to admit it, they had just saved their lives...

He picked up Serena's body, cradling her to his chest, and Kye glanced at the girl and her dragon, who were still giving him time. "641 Sahara Avenue," he told her. "If you and your... friend want some safety, some friends, and some resources, knock on the door, and ask for Kye." He fished out a small gem and stuck it in her pocket. The nearly all black crystal winked scarlet before disappearing from sight. "That'll insure they don't kill you on sight," he promised her before taking her word for it and starting down the street, moving faster than most eyes could follow, hardly noticing the newcomer with the wolf.

((I made an OOC; click here to get to it. I'll be posting some rather important stuff at times, so try to check in every once in a while. ^^ ))