Chapter 4: Domination

[Dark FFnut]

((Yeah, I know that now.

Dammit, and it got rid of that other villain that I made up a while ago and couldn't stand, and it made Glenn look cool, and Kirby actually did some awesomeness rather than standing around and looking useless (bringing pictures to life can be very useful in making decoys of characters, you know).

Ah well. It's not like I flunked English or something. *looks at grades on final paper* NOOOOOOOO!

However, one important note I do want to address is the fact that it took us so long to get over Malice and Magus's deaths but we got over Syne's in a matter of seconds.))

[Zeromus_X]

Well, it was a bit rushed...but I guess if you move the story along manually, that's bound to happen.

My Kirby? Doing something other than comic relief? Now that I gotta see. :P

[Drazniich]

[[Right. Back into things...}]

You could see the door from miles down the corridor. Glowing runes adorned every square inch of it. Thick black chains and locks held the place of any type of guards. The construction was incredibly overdone and intimidating. There was no slot or barred viewpoint to provide food or a chance to view the prisoners.

Inside, there was a repetitive clinking noise. Seated on one bed was Belial, flipping cards into a hat. On the other, Osirus glared, furious.

Belial ignored him. Osirus finally walked over and knelt, grabbing Belial's wrists.

"Fine." he sighed. "You win. I promise not to attempt to merge two worlds in a quest to crossbreed cats with rabbits again."

Belial stared at Osirus for a good ten minutes. "Do you know why you shouldn't?"

Osirus groaned and went to the corner, rocking back and forth. "The only demon I know who obeys rules."

Finallly, he went back over and pinned Belial down. "BECAUSE IF I DESTROY EVERYTHING THEN THERE WILL BE NOTHING LEFT TO PLAY WITH!!!" he shrieked at the top of his lungs. "CAN WE JUST GO NOW???"

Belial smiled. "Next time, I'm leaving you behind. You understand?" He mussed Osirus' hair. "Now, lets get going."

The door's protective runes glared at the demonic pair. Belial skipped over and knocked on the portal twice. "Its almost a shame to have to do this..."

He slammed his open hand into the middle of the obstruction. Void energies rippled from the center of his strike, annihlating the magic and door alike. Osirus stepped around his companion. "Now, is there a shortcut back to whereever your friends went?"

Belial dragged his fingernail down the wall. A thin black line remained. "After you, sweetheart." He bowed. Osirus kicked Belial in the stomach, and tore the fabric of spatial realitivity. They looked at the result, Belial slapping Osirus on the back of the head as soon as he turned to look. They saw everything through the eyes of their chosen supplicant. "Perfect. I love Templars."

Belial reached inside. "Ladies and gentleman, please step this way."

----------------------
Ashur grabbed his face and screamed. Everything suddenly pitched forward. When he landed, his back split open. From the universal wound climbed Belial and Osirus. "Damn, thought we'd never find a use for him." Osirus said, looking around.

"Next time, remember how powerful the beings you're dealing with REALLY are." Belial kicked Ashur in the side. "In the meanwhile, you owe some favors to friends of mine. Have fun."

Belial waved. Ashur was pulled in on himself in a fit of screaming as he was torn from the world. "It might have been mean, don't you think?" Belial asked Osirus.

"Nah. He knew the risks when he made the deals." Osirus shrugged. "Hey Titania."

[~Hidan~]

Sacryan shook his head, he felt something in the air that reminded him of Chaos, but nothing around here smelled of it. He put one more stone in place and then went over to greet the newcomers. “Hail Brother, and his followers!” He said to Glenn who immediately stepped back.

“What brotherhood do you speak of that binds us?” Glenn said looking at the tall man before him.

“The brotherhood of Knights, Templars, and the servants of the emperor of course is who I speak of!” Sacryan said cheerfully

“Well I may be a knight but I have no idea what you are talking about and these people are not my followers. Who are you anyways? You look like a man but I have never seen a man with metal coming out of his head, or a man who can lift a stone the size of me.” Glenn said looking at the wires coming out of the side of Sacryan’s head.

“I am Sacryan, most people call me Ryan though. I do not think this is the same world I come from, because I do not smell the stink of Chaos.” Ryan saluted while saying this and went on to scratch his head. “Where am I exactly?”

“That’s a long story. Perhaps Titania would be best to tell this.” Glenn turned to her and nodded.

“This is Palis. A world once destroyed by a demon and we are al here because the world drew us here to save it from having that happen again.” Titania said and then went off to play with the children in the town.

“I see.” Ryan said “So I am here to help kill some demon, yet I do not feel the presence of Chaos. All the same I must help, a demon alive is a demon that must be destroyed!” Ryan bowed. “I shall lend a hand in whatever task you need me to do.”

[Zerlina]

((We’re in a town? Gawd, I’m so lost!))

Titania walked slowly along the snowy pathways, her arms wrapped around herself as she shivered in the cold, northern air. Nichi, Magus, Malice, Syne. Was anyone she knew when she had come to Palis still around? Belial perhaps... though she wasn't quite sure. Besides, it wasn't as if they were best of friends.
With little else to do, she stared at the shoes on her feet which had long since worn through. Silently, she thought to herself, remembering her time in Adinem and the strange circumstances that led to the slippers on her feet.

Pulling her out of her daydream, a small ball of string hit her in the leg. She stared at the poor object, her eyes following its direction to a group of children. Without a word, she bent, taking the ball and approaching the group.

“Is this yours?” she asked, holding it out to one of them.

The little boy flinched, moving slightly backward as if afraid “Are you…are you a ghost, madame?” he asked in a shy voice.

She shook her head.

“You don’t look like any of us.”

“I’m not from here.” She said, quietly “Beyond these mountains there’s lots of people who don’t look like any of you.”

The little boy nodded, staring at the hills and then at his string ball.

Titania smiled, placing the small object in his hand.

“What’s your name?” she asked,

“Noah.” The little boy answered.

There was a silence as Titania thought, “Is this a common name here?” she asked after a while “Are there many children with your name.”

The boy nodded, sticking out his chest proudly “It’s the same name as a great warrior from this town!”

“A king!” another child shouted

“A hero!”

Titania laughed a little –the first time she’d genuinely smiled in a long time “Hm…he is the hero of this town, then? I suppose he was born here.”

The children nodded.

“I’d love to hear the legend…perhaps you could tell me.”

“I could tell it backwards in my sleep!” cried a little boy, running up to her and tugging on her dress “Come, I will act it out for you!”

She smiled and laughed, picking up the child out of instinct “You will wait for my friend? I think he would very much like to hear the story to.”

The boy nodded and pointed at Glenn in the distance “Is that him?”

Titania nodded, and began to walk toward her friend, carrying the child though she was still weary.

“Glenn…” she called as she came nearer “I think this boy has a story to tell you.”

[Drazniich]

When the Templar quoted imperial doctrine about destroying demons, Osirus fell over laughing. Belial didn't.

"He... he said..." Osirus howled. "Oh the nine hells, I could kick Khorne's skull in..."

Belial went over and knelt next to where Osirus was rolling. WHen Osirus got close enough, Belial brought his fist down hard enough to dent the earth around him. Osirus kept laughing. "Damn it, Osirus, rule number 8. No revealing information that would destroy the foundation of a major religion." he hissed.

Osirus dusted himself off, rubbing his chest where Belial hit him. "Is there anything the rules don't cover?" he walked over to the Templar. "Nice to meet you. I am Osirus, the Sixth. My little friend there with the seven pointed star is Belial the Seventh. Trust, I'm sure we can find something for you to hit."

Belial sighed. He noticed how much he sighed or felt frustrated when Osirus was around. Back when the rules were created, Osirus had understood. He'd helped write them, for Kharn's sake. There needed to be rules, and order, or there was no reason to exist. Even a creature of rebellion needed the authority to rebel against. Osirus had simply taken it upon himself to turn on the rules at some point, and be all the rebel the universe needed.

Out of all the demons, Osirus was probably the least harmful, in that manner. You could always expect his next move.

Belial instead walked over to Titania. "What'd I miss, kiddo?" he smiled wickedly. "I was attempting to teach Osirus a lesson. I think it failed."

----------
[[Right. So, I've been doing a lot of online forum games but I'm still comfortable with the set of rules I was last on... I'll start moving yall once I get back into the swing of stuff.]]

[Zerlina]

((No post this time but I thought I'd just let you know that I won't be around for the next month!

See you in July ^_^))

[~Hidan~]

okie dokie, have fun in asia!

[Dark FFnut]

((Oh no, people. Don't count on Dark FFnut to reconcile your little plot inconsistencies. Glenn's got nothing to do with the return of Belial and Osirus, because I'm going to pretend he's out of earshot.

Now the fact that they're talking to Titania directly... not my problem. Titania's not my character. ))

***********************************************
Palis, The Year 0 Aikia, Snowy Village

The little boy stood in front of Glenn, arms crossed. "I'm going to act out the story of the hero Noah, but you gotta pay real close attention, 'kay?"

Glenn merely nodded.

The boy raised his arms and began.

"One day, seven hunerd years ago, the great hero Noah decided to beat up the scary demon king. He had two friends who helped him too - the prist... praystus... uh... Llideah, and the knight lady Ishia. Noah went into the demon king's nephew's castle and stole a big crystal that would open the doors to the real demon king's castle..."

A voice began whispering in Glenn's head. Wrong there. It wasn't Hector who had the key. It was Valmarus.

"...so when the three of them got to the top of the castle, the big scary demon said-"

************************************************** ***************
Palis, The Last Year Of The Great War, Kani's Castle

"So you fools have actually arrived?" Kani's voice thundered. "Noah, didn't you say that you wouldn't let me and Llideah kill each other while you were still around?"

Noah glared at the demon. "That's why I'm here. I refuse to let you and she slaughter one another. As for this one," he gestured to the unconscious Ishia, "she was going to lead an army to help Llideah here. I just had to knock her out to prevent that."

Llideah looked horrified. "Noah!"

Noah shot Llideah a dirty look. “You brought her and her knights just to help you stop Kani. Obviously our last little ‘conversation’ didn’t get through your skull, girl.”

Kani laughed maniacally. “Delicious! The two of you turned on one another! And now to destroy the both of you!” A dark ball of energy shot forth, directly at Noah’s head.

Noah raised his blade faster than the eye could follow, deflecting the dark energy. “No,” he whispered hoarsely. Kani grimaced.

***********************************************
Palis, The Year 0 Aikia, Snowy Village

The flashback ended, but Glenn had a feeling of something missing – as if there was more to the past than he’d witnessed, but couldn’t sense it yet.

The child Noah was still going on with the “official” version of the story. “So the three of em faced the big demon king down together, and Noah said ‘I will stay with my friends until the end!’ and-“

Glenn turned away, leaving the kid to shout after him, “Wait! I didn’t tell you how they finally beat the demon!” Although the knight was curious to hear that version, he was more curious to find out what he couldn’t flashback to - and the true story of the final battle.

((And here ends my post. You people can sort out Sacryan and Belial and all of that stuff before I post again.

And no more flashbackin’ until the final battle! I’ve got an idea for it that’ll probably confuse a lot of you, and even the resolution of the past (and therefore Kani’s fate after the Great War) should be a little surprising. Have fun, people.))

[Zerlina]

((Wow wth...I made a really really 5 page long post yesterday and now it's not here.))

[Dark FFnut]

((Kinda like my other post that I mentioned where Kirby was useful?

Get used to it, there's a reason I left this place last year.))

[Zeromus_X]

((What happened? And why are we talking in parenthesis? ))

[Zerlina]

((*sigh* I’ll try again, but that post seriously took me a good couple of hours. This is going to just be a really cruddy re-creation, but whatever…it was an important post cause it gave this story a kick in the ass going.

Parenthesis=ooc btw))


The snow fell dizzily in the gray night sky, turning and tumbling in the whistling wind. Glenn, Kirby, Belial and the others sat by the inn’s hearth (having stopped there for a few hours rest). In silence, they ate their meager suppers- which seemed like a feast after nearly three weeks of nothing but bread and dried meat. This quiet seemed infectious, for the crackling of the fire was enough conversation.

Titania gently poured a basin of warm water onto her feet, vainly trying to scrub the dirt off of her callused toes. She toned out the sounds of the women who chattered around her, and merely focused on her task- mechanical in her absence of thought.

“It’s funny that you should come on the Ides of Winter.” said one woman, pulling Titania out of her silence.

“The...Ides of…” the mage tried to repeat but trailed off, a sharp memory flickering in her mind.

“The Ides of Winter.” Another woman interrupted “It is the day of the year when the moon is at its highest point in the sky. We process to the temple of the goddess and bring candles to represent the stars in the sky.”

“It’s quite beautiful at night…” added a smaller girl “I’ve only just returned from there. With all of the lanterns, it’s hard to tell when heaven ends and when Palis begins.”

Titania closed her eyes, imagining the sight- where heaven ends and Palis begins she thought to herself, running the phrase in her head. There was something there. Some sort of clue.

“Perhaps I will offer a candle to the goddess.” She finally said, refilling her basin with water “Tell me- who is it that watches over this town.”

“Ah,” an older woman sighed “That is the goddess Ishtara- lady of the moon.”

Ishtara- Ishtar! Then this…

“Tell me- at the temple…is there a priestess?” she asked, trying to hold back her excitement.

“Not since many hundreds of years ago. They say that to hold the position now is to be cursed. Besides, one must possess The Eye of the Moon in order to be a priestess of Ishtar.”

“No one has been found who possesses the power?” Titania muttered

“No,” answered one woman “There is only ever one who is gifted with The Eye at a time.”

“You know this for sure?”

“According to town legend, my lady,” Answered a much younger girl “Ishtara had several children, around the same time as the god Domaesdaeg. The King of Heaven –Aeternitas- forced Domaesdaeg to give up his only son to Palis and so pay for a debt incurred to the mortals. Angered and unable to cope, Domaesdaeg tricked Ishtara –Aeternitas’ wife- into letting one of their own children fall from heaven. This child –this daughter- possessed an eye like the immortals, but was doomed to die. Unable to let her child leave her, Ishtara made her a priestess of the same temple in this town. Whenever she dies, she is found born again and brought to the temple…”

“…where she should spend the rest of her life…” Titania mumbled.

“It is true. She must touch mortal soil for as short a time as possible. After she is taken to the temple she should never be brought out into the world again.”

“Why is that?” Titania asked, sounding a little bit angry beneath her simple question

“It is believed that because Ishtara’s daughter was a child of both worlds, she could bridge the gap between Heaven and Palis. By keeping her off of mortal soil, they were bringing her closer to her mother, and therefore bringing themselves closer. They believed that if she could find a pure enough incarnation, she could bring the people to the Celestial Palace.”

The women continued explaining, but Titania could not hear them. She felt the blood rush through her body, and her heart beat quicker. Suddenly, it hit her- what her dreams had been trying to tell her the whole time.

“Where is the temple!?” she finally exclaimed, cutting off any conversation that might have been going on.

There was silence for a moment but then finally one woman spoke up “…it is in the eastern mountain…but you should not go there at this time of night. The snow is heavy and the wind is strong.”

“I do not fear such things,” she muttered in reply, getting up with such haste that she nearly forgot her shoes.

She rushed through the inn, slamming the door behind her with such fury that it clapped like thunder.

“Glenn! Belial! Osirus!” she cried, bursting into their room “Come quickly! We only have until midnight tonight to find Kani!”

She ran back out without waiting for them, running heedless into the cold of the mountain without so much as a cloak. Cold and snow rushing past her reddened cheeks, she hurried up the steep slopes and darkened trees, persevering even though the storm blew hard against her. There was something –some determination- that had possessed her, and made her nearly mad with focus.

Finally, though, she slowed to a stop, looking up at the tall trees, and around at the thinning forests. The others, having taken a few moments to get ready, finally caught up with her and stared with questioning (and slightly annoyed) glances.

“Ishtara!” she cried out, staring up at heaven and letting her arms open toward the sky “Ishtara aeterna! Ishtara aeterna! Damia glia! Luminous caeliestié! Harrenus lia shildé ete gasien lia vos!”

Glenn stood still, listening to her voice echo in the snowy night. He knew this language, though he had never heard it spoken- somewhere it was flowing in his blood…in his soul…and the sound of it brought to life an unreachable memory. Eternal Ishtar, brilliant lady, light of heaven! Hear your children and guide us to you. It was an old prayer- one that had not been uttered for many years passed, and indeed would not exist after that night.

Suddenly, the world was silent and even the whistling of the wind seemed to stop.

“I am your child!” Titania cried in their common tongue “One of two who have fallen from heaven! Show me the way to your temple, that I may find the other and bring him to his deserved fate!”

The ground seemed to tremor slightly, and in the sky there was a bright flash of lightning. The snow swirled off the ground, forming –in fury- a long stormy tunnel up the mountain. Without a word to the others, Titania ran on, following the heavenly guide with as much speed as her cold feet could muster.

Finally, it came into sight –a tall silhouette against a sky of gray snow. Here, the storm seemed calmer, and indeed it was as the girl promised –like the melting of heaven and Palis. This was Ishtara’s temple- this was the place where two worlds would meet.

Titania stopped, taking in the sight with breathless wonder. This place was beautiful- beautiful and horrifying, with a history of confinement and loneliness among its elegant stones. She swallowed hard, and –gathering courage- she ran down a small slope, and then up the steps toward the temple.

“The world was warmer then…” she laughed to herself as she came inside, her cold feet echoing on the stony ground as she circled herself, looking up at the carved ceiling.

The place was held up by marble pillars as thick as the trunks of ancient trees, and the ground was made up of blue and gold tiles forming a picture of heaven. Along both sides of the temple were two gutters that sloped downward toward the entrance, sending any negative energy away from the altar at the front. Ivy grew, and in places, the ceiling had cracked open- above the canopy was a large, round hole, bordered with pure gold and lapis lazuli. Titania ran forward, up the steps to the altar, but then suddenly she stopped.

There it was- that horrible water. That impassible pool that had made her miserable for so many lifetimes (if indeed the legend was true). She stared at it, unable to move- how had she gone over it before? …Gadriel…

She turned back, facing Glenn and the others who stood at the other end of the temple “Does this look familiar to you, Noah? Have you been here before? This is where you rid yourself of me- remember? Where you dismissed me as the dirt beneath your feet! Ha, perhaps you don’t remember, because it looked much different…but that is because I have not opened the way yet! You say you will have nothing to do with me, yet now you cannot advance without me! Well hear this –oh knight who holds himself higher than all of us imperfect mortals- your future depends on the one you have ridiculed!”

She turned back once more, and closed her eyes, walking into the pool until her feet rested on a golden mosaic ring- the only one on the floor. She faced upward once more, looking at the hole in the ceiling which the moon filled perfectly- only on this day of the year.

“Ishtara!” she cried once more, as lightning struck and the storm grew stronger “Ovenié lia caeliestié! Ovenié tov lia shildé! Ishtara Aeterna!”

The ground shook with a heavy tremor, and the storm rose to a climax, the lightning growing strong in the snow sky.

“Ishtara Aeterna!”

There was a loud clap of thunder and suddenly everything became light. This was only for a time, however, for in a moment the world fell into shadow.

*

“…where am I?”

“The border between worlds.”

“…where are my friends?”

“They’ve already arrived in the other realm…you will see them soon. Come… come with me…I will lead you to the place you’ve been looking for.”

“Who are you?”

“…Caritas.”


((Well that’s not the whole thing, but my sister’s kicking me off. Don’t touch my charrie I’ll continue with her in a bit. However continue with your characters…you’re now in Kani’s realm ^^))

[~Hidan~]

(Sorry i cant post right now, i have limited time on the computer on vacation. I'll try to post once i return.)

[Dark FFnut]

************************************************
Palis, The Year 0 Aikia, The Dark Spire

Glenn, Kirby, Belial, Osirus, and Sacryan materialized in a pitch-black chamber with unseeable walls.

Kirby quickly reached for his sketch pad...

...only to find that it was gone.

His gasp was audible enough for all to hear it. Belial summoned a handful of flames to find the source of the noise.

Incredibly, the flames illuminated a mural on the far wall.

The mural depicted the lower body of demon on the bottom. However, as one followed the mural further up, it showed the demon splitting into three upper bodies - all humanoid.

Belial and Glenn let out simultaneous gasps, and Osirus burst out laughing. "Are you serious? You mean to tell me that Kani literally split into those three little brats?"

The three humanoid torsos depicted were those of Syne, Nichi, and Brian.

Suddenly the rest of the mural came into focus. In the far background there were four imposing demonic figures. One of the four figures was on the ground in the fetal position - the other three stood, focused on the gigantic Kani figure.

Near the foreground of the mural as well were four other figures. Two wore similar dark cloaks, one inscribed with a "V" and the other inscribed with a "G." There were holes in the mural where their chest were, some sort of dark liquid flowing out of them.

The other two figures were a man with a great sword and a cloak covering his face, and a female wearing white, ethereal robes.

Glenn instinctively knew every figure in this mural, and shuddered when he realized what the liquid flowing from the chests of Variel and Gadriel was.

Sacryan stepped forward, scooped a bit of the liquid onto his finger, and tasted it. "Coppery... metallic, almost. As if it were..." his eyes went wide with fear. Kirby turned green, Glenn lowered his head, and the demons exchanged glances.

Looking at the ground, Glenn noticed something... too odd to be a mere coincidence.

Beneath the four figures in the forcround were four oddly-shaped slots.

In front of Llideah was a small, round, deep hole.

In front of Noah was a wider, flat hole.

And in front of the other two... were a scythe and a pair of daggers, shoved into the slots.

Glenn felt what he had to do.

Do it do it now put the sword in then have the girl put her flute in do it now open the door come on it will be fast just put it in then come meet me at the rooftop just like you did before come on Noah you know how it ends and this time you can go on to the afterlife and that Ishia will not stop me from my goal just put the sword in Glenn then you can get some rest and not have to be this hero anymore just do it DO IT NOW!

The voice in Glenn's mind rose to such a crescendo that he could do nothing but plunge his sword into the slot in front of Noah to quell it. As that happened, he realized something else.

"He's been waiting for us..." Glenn's voice was emphatic and eerie.

"Who... how do you know?" whispered Sacryan, totally oblivious to what Glenn knew.

"Kain... Kain hath not been dead the last time." Glenn gestured to the prone demon in the background. "This mural beith not about seven hundred years ago. It is about now. And he knows that we're here. He knows we hath seen the past. He knows this mural would touch we who know the past. But Kain's death giveth it away. Kani wants us here, for whatever reason. So in coming here to kill him..." Glenn's voice dropped to a dead whisper, so that the others had to strain to hear him. "...we may have played right into his hands all along."

((I'm gonna be gone until Tuesday, but remember people, I have dibs on the final battle. I'm going to blow your minds with the final battle if I do it the way I envision it.

There's a lot of stuff we mentioned previously that we never really quite expanded upon that I've been thinking about so I plan on capitalizing on such things. Just keep the final battle open for me (both past and present) so I can do this right. Other than that, have fun.))