Uriel's Gentle Flame

[The Anon Assassin]

Alexis, so very tired of being ignored took a step back to listen intently to the two love birds and smirked to himself. With ease he came up behind Lilane and draped an arm around her shoulders playing with a strand of hair like one would with a lover and eyed Bastion like a predator eyeing another. "Ah da...den perhaps you trust me? If you cannot trust mad man who can you trust?" And at this Alexis grinned and raised Lilane's hair to his lips and kissed it gently before winding it this way and that, pulling her closer each second as his other hand snaked it's way around her hip and waist. "b***h machine is stiff da? No fun. Perhaps I tell den? This place we go. Would be fun to shake up sweet bird... flaming bird. Show her where she...comes from." And at that Alexis laughed and trailed his lips across her neck, his fangs dancing across her skin. "Perhaps she'll even spread legs for me like b***h grandmother."

 

[Kain M ShZual]

He couldn't take it anymore. The moment the last word was spoken he'd shoot from the table and begin to laugh. He hurt like hell on the inside, a pain his body actual felt back in reality. Still he laughed as his eyes filled with their red hue. He'd never been able to fight off that drug before, one that suppressed not only his powers, but his natural cynicism. "Huxley Energy and all of those associated with it, with Earth's demise right? Well now that's incredibly unfortunate in a world where fortune hardly smiles!" With a violet flash he'd sit back in his chair, though he'd molded it back into his silver throne with frozen fixtures, his head resting upon his right fist with his right leg atop his left.

"Think with those wise ole' minds of yours; with those brains imbued with worlds of experience! Think: How the hell did that reactor go KABOOM!" He'd illustrate the noise with an outward stretch of his arms leading to his legs spread, his arms resting on his knees as he once again began to laugh. He'd look up to Neross specifically through his black hair, his fangs now clear as day when he spoke. "It was reported as a malfunction in the reactor, right? In the end, people became suspicious of Jonas...was it really an accident, or did he plan it? And if so, why? Nah, think like this: There were plenty of suspicious people working for Jonas, right? Pan being one of them, and me as the main other. I don't speak highly of humans, do I? I don't speak highly or Earth, do I? Leads you to think I did something, right?"

He'd snicker and lean back on his thrown while tossing suddenly loose bangs from his face. "Well, I did. I corrupted the reactor. I made it do what it did. But I did it for a very, very simple reason: Because I COULD. True be it I wanted to see what would happen to humanity if I took its planet away...would it die off? Would it somehow live on in space? Or would it find a new planet to cling to? Sadly it was the latter." He'd sigh and run his hands over the frozen arms of his chair.

"Granny Grim...Panderas is FAR from an idiot. A pain in the a** to his core, but far from lacking in intelligence. In all honesty I had nothing against his recreation of Earth in the end; I get a kick out of nuking worlds! I'd of also killed to see his face when his plan blew up just as it did the first time! It wasn't until he pulled Draega into his shenanigans that I decided I didn't like him, and mark my words I'll not only kill him, but I'll make him beg for mercy before I do!" He'd begin to laugh again and pull his hair back, though for once he'd fail to tie it back, his bangs falling right back to cover his eyes.

"Medelin! You have a heart of gold, you really do...well, perhaps silver. One of gold would provide judge and jury, but not executioner. What you suggest, in the end, is to eliminate me! Huxley...what is it now? Jonas became a piece of that chaotic beast using the world as a playground. What threat is there in it?" He'd glare at her for a moment why also trying to see further into heart, or rather soul, thus the black pentagram would appear on his left eye and begin spinning.

He'd look to both Neross and Revelik and grin wide. "Want to hear a stupid question? Here is goes: What is the meaning of life? Once upon a time I had it figured out; we are meant to be born and to experience life in all its splendor, and reflect upon our deeds upon death. Then I got hit very, very hard and realized...it's to find a way to cheat Death; to KEEP your life! Of course, that requires power...thus, when one gains eternal life, what then? They seek power! And when one can do as they see fit short of making the universe implode, what then? THEY USE IT!"

He'd rise from his throne with the sound of chainmail against his flesh, beneath his black vest. "One seeks out others to use their power on. Some, like me, seek out others, again like me, to kill! Rape, destroy, obliterate...you choose the means. I went all around to make sure there wasn't a damn soul that could contest me...and I still don't believe there is one. I've been to other worlds; slipped into other dimensions...even other realities and killed versions of my own damn self. In all of this time, I've come to realize something: Humanity is a parasite upon all worlds; all dimensions. Tell me, if we were to make Weyward tolerant of them, how long until they would kill it their own damned selves!? They think an atom bomb is the meaning of evolution!"

He'd begin to cackle and shake his head, his body slouching forward. "And if we remade Earth, how long until they unmade it once more? I ended that poor planet's suffering before those parasites could further harm it. And I was bored, but that's not my point. No matter where we put them; what I do to help them, they'll destroy themselves in the end." He'd then look over the entire audience. "I hardly feel like wasting my infinite time and power on cosmic ticks." He'd straighten himself out and smile warmly, his left eye still analyzing. He'd look to Neross and chuckle a bit before pointing to her...or rather at her, at the scythe. "But I will take that. You've abducted my conscience and wasted my time; I believe that trinket will allow be to look the other way...less you wish the ticks burned away sooner then later."

 

[The One Faithful]

Neross gazed back at him and then smiled slightly, a simple tilt of her lips. "Fool..." she told him simply, and the world around them shifted Kain's throne shattering only to be replaced by a grand hall forged of white and red stone. At the fore point of the hall were two thrones one larger than any man could deem and framed with bones, appearing more like a torture device than any true chair, around it streamed white vapor which almost seemed to emit screams.

The chair beside it, the chair in which Neross now sat, was forged of black metal and gleamed against her pale skin like molten rock. It twisted and curved in a nightmarish way and framed her body like a black hole might frame a red star. The scythe itself now gone. " You have forgotten where you are....my blade has never been within your reach...and even if it were you could not hope to take it from me. The blade is sentient, the very soul of a world as old as the very beginning of time. It chooses who will wield it. And it is not yours to steal...this path you have taken. I have to wonder. Has it made you happy? Has it given you joy? I pray that it has...for that woman which loves you and that world which you destroyed. For I lost the one I loved battling to bring an end to my own race. In my thirst for power I destroyed all that I knew and all that I had come to love...and hate. Until at last I was left with nothing. And when I found that this was not what I had wanted I sought my own happiness. And at last I can say I am happy...so...are you? Has power and immortality given you every joy you have ever dreamed of? If so...I pity you." And with this Neross faded away, her dreamscape fading away until all that was left was the wastelands of Hell.

Then Revelik grinned and stood and stretched, walking off into the distance he turned and sent Kain a rivaling grin. " You know. When we had first heard of you I had hoped your ideals on evil would be on par with my own. Now I see your just as generic as any human dictator. Man that's disappointing. When you figure out what real evil truly is come find us. No doubt we'll be waiting for you." And with a wave Revelik too faded away, until the fantasy scene from before was all that remained.

Grimm her starry silhouette still floating before Kain seemed to look at him with disappointment. "And so goes a never ending line of stupidity." Then with a sigh Grimm turned away from Kain to stare up at an endless sky of stars. " Common sense would be to remind you of this place. This meeting of unconscious minds. Where everyone is laid bare. Their fears and their weaknesses. Their loves and their triumphs. And for the life of me I have searched through these dreams and never once have I come to hate any single person I've come across. Not you...not the one who once tore my family apart. There is not an action in the world that could make me hate someone. But I am disappointed. Because I now see that you are stuck in a mindset of finality. There is only a beginning and an end to you. I had hoped you could see more of that. I had hoped you could see what I see. See that nothing really ends...not even after death. The dead do dream...and I have seen those dreams and walked amongst them...even influenced them. I have come to find that life has no purpose unless you give it one. " And then Grimm turned back to Kain, taking back her human form, though this time she were simply a woman of her late twenties dressed in a simple white dress, a kind and loving look gracing her pretty features.

"If you still think that humanities existence is only one that of a parasite then use that key to find me....and kill me. Kill me in the worst way possible. And I will prove to you that death is not something which I cheated or fear...I will show you that if you wish to live in finality, I can still provide you with a 'happily ever after'. "

And then Kain would wake up on the street as he had been, the only difference being a red-headed woman staring him down with silver-laced blue eyes. Medelin, dressed in casual clothes, a light blue shirt with flowing sleeves and a pair of black slacks, with a matching pair of black straps, would stare Kain down in the way a mother lioness would stare down someone threatening her cubs. "So then. If you have no desire to save this world...or the people who call it home...what are you going to do about my grand-niece? What are you going to do about Draega? My mother is naive...it's what she gets for being a 'hero'. But me...I've lived as a 'villain' I've done my share of murders...I've taken my share of lives. And I know better than anyone what can happen when someone you thought loved you turns against you. So...after that grand display of masculine power...what is it that you're planning?"

 

[Kain M ShZual]

When he'd come to be within his body once more he'd grin and flex his fingers. He'd kept quiet as the women and the one other male did their talking, hardly caring to answer. He had his answers, his justifications, though he didn't want to keep them from thinking as they did, at least not for the moment. Still, he found it curious that Medelin kept quiet...though her visage before him claimed that curiosity. He'd listen to her as he always listened to others, at least women, then chuckle a bit and shrug. "Didn't you love it? To watch as their life slipped away at your hand; to know that your actions banished them from this world? Live on or not, it is the power to end these lives that I bask in. Even as a mortal I almost wanted to fall to my knees in pleasure when I realized how easy it was for a blade to separate flesh."

He'd close his eyes and do a series of deep breaths while his hands poured blood...obviously he was remembering those nearly orgasmic moments. "I loved watching them beg for their lives...I loved watching them stand before me with honor...I loved them fighting me until they could give no more...I love them coming at me filled with fear...I loved raping them...I loved torturing them...I lover letting their pain linger. Sadly...loved is past tense, now isn't it?" He'd open his eyes and look to her as if she were someone he'd hated for an eternity. "Someone, somehow, at some point got it into my head that I was BEYOND such things...fatality? A fatalist? No. I don't care where they go or what happens to them after they die. I just want to kill them! Even if it meant sending them to Bliss, I just wanted to rip them apart!"

As if weak he'd bite his lower lip and grab onto his coat with his right hand, his left arm limp. "Someone calmed me. Someone erased these urges. They implanted these ideas of forgiveness and redemption in my mind...they erased who I was! Even as a monster wit ha beast for a torso fighting Kharlan I was still a fraction of what I was...what I AM. That girl...Neross. I looked at her...I listened to that scythe...and I remembered! Who I was, what I did, and why I love it!" He'd grin and attempt to stand straight.

"I don't give a damn what you've done. I don't give a damn what the rest of those mind-bending freaks have done or will do." He'd laugh again as wings would rip from his back, though they were nearly translucent. Instead of wings of feathers, scales, or anything else...they reflected on his power, the power to tear apart whatever he touched. Wings made from his AP Field. "What would you do if I said I was going to go back to Draega, now a parasitic mortal, and bleed her dry? What would you do if I said I was going to torture her until her spirit fled her body? What would you do if I said I was going to rape her, impregnate her and keep her as a slave for nine months until she gives birth to heir, which in the end I'll no doubt just kill as I have every other child I've had!?"

He'd fall to one knee and grin, his body trying to revert to what it once was and finding it extremely difficult to do so. "Would you take her? Hide her? Put her somewhere I can't reach her? Hm. I suppose we're just full of questions, aren't we? In the end...I can have whatever answer I'd like! Alternate realities...those are my forte. I could do as I please to her...but I don't plan on it. I don't plan on harming the only individual that loves me. She'll remain safe...and who knows? She might just fix me...though I hardly see why I need fixing. Finality...Entropy...all so boring. Wouldn't it be a blast to eliminate the human race, then raid the Heavens?"

He'd rise into the air and shake his head, his hands in his pockets and legs limp. "I'm not a hero. Never was. Never will be...dunno why you freaks ever thought I COULD be. ...I really don't." He'd drop from the air and stay on one knee for a moment, his wings disappearing to show he wasn't going anywhere. "You all knew so much about me...what I am; what I like to do...what the hell made you think I could be a hero!?"

 

[The One Faithful]

Medelin raised an eyebrow at him and waited for him to finish, at last crossing her arms and shifting her weight onto one hip to stare at him in an incredulous way. "When did we ever say we wanted you to be a hero. We didn't expect you to change who you are...whatever it is you think you are. We expected you to do what you do best. And we expected you to love Draega...we expected you to do nothing more than fight with us to destroy an enemy...which is what you're good at isn't it? Death and destruction? It was our way of extending an invitation, we've just developed a twisted sense of introducing ourselves over the years. Our motivations...who we are. We like to get it out in the open now...first thing. So if it wasn't clear before then I'll spell it out for you. Join us...stay out of our way...or... find yourself with a longer list of enemies." As Medelin spoke her eyes and expression remained constant. No fear flickered in her fathomless eyes, no anger or judgment, only a sense of something close to a challenge.

"If we always decided to side with heroes then I wouldn't be alive today. There are too many shades of gray for any one person to truly be a 'hero'. People are just people, some more extraordinary than others. Like you...like me...like Draega." She stared at him a moment longer, at his difficultly to transform and the stance in which he stood, even his limp. "If anyone were to know how much of a hero you weren't...it'd be me."

Lilane felt her anger rise at Alexis' touch and her hair began to turn aflame. She forcefully pushed at Alexis in order to dislodge him and glared up at him her eyes flashing gold and her incisors growing in her anger to flash like fangs of her own. "Let go of me." she told him pointedly, showing how unamused she truly was.

 

[Kain M ShZual]

"Well, good to know I'm not expected to be like my s**t-head little brother! Now, I am interested to who the hell you are. Who you really are; why it is you claim to know just how bad I am...or screwed up, or selfish; whatever he hell you want to call me." He'd shake his head and wipe the sweat from his eyes. "See, you made a stupid comment there...I was ready to reconsider and apologize even, but then you pseudo-threats about a longer list of enemies. Lady, that's what I LIVE for. Piss people off, watch them pretend they're WORTH a s**t, then show em' they're worth just as much as the last piece of gum I wiped off my boot which remains over this planet, waiting to crush it!"

He'd force himself to stand straight and jump over her to the other side landing rather ungracefully on his right knee. "This world WILL end. And please, know it will end 'cause you wenches decided to piss me off out of the blue! But hey, if you think you can stop me, go for it. If it weren't for idiots like you all, immortality would be real damn boring." He'd rise from his knee with a grunt and turn to look at her. "Now then. I have better things to do then humor you! Like...using this key to kill the wench that started this bullshit!" He'd smile and begin walking away once again, heading back towards Draega. "Draega's gonna be fine; stop pissing yourselves and get over it. Sounds like all you bastards are used to watch planets die; what hypocritical ******** do you think you are to ramble on about saving one? Go pretend you all can atone somewhere else; save another species." He'd finally just wave her off.

He'd watch Alexis with a raised brow, then smile and shrug. "You're both kinda sad. This wannabe-madman's about as cliche as anything I'd ever see on any other freakin' mission and Christ Lilane, why let him get to you? You're just feeding the fire." He'd laugh a bit and shake his head before pointing to Alexis. "Lemme guess, you're a masochist too?"

 

[The Anon Assassin]

Alexis would raise an eyebrow and then grin, brushing off the girl's flames as if they were nothing and instead turning toward Bastion with a grin. "Masochist? Love pain? Oh da...love pain...my own...and everyone else's. Is thing all have in common. " And at this he'd seem to fade away and reappear holding Lilane once more, a knife at her throat, the other hand cupping her face. "Girl is mad...because girl knows...I would love to see her bleed. I wonder...if I draw on pretty skin would it burn away or leave scar?" And then with a quirky sort of giggle he'd touch the knife to Lilane's shoulder and dig in slightly, only enough to draw a line of blood which would quickly trail down her arm.

"Well...guess I'll just have to see for myself." He'd laugh at this and cup Lilane's chin turning her head away from her neck. "Such bore this planet. Such straight answers...is good...is evil...no inbetween. Earth so much more fun. People agonize...cruel people hide behind tears and regret. Not here. Is so obvious who is who. I want it BACK." And at this his expression became dark, cruel, and furious turning his glare past Bastion, as if he could still see Kain. "I want play in streets where refuse builds...left by true villains...creating more and more! Dis world can not breed creatures like me...creates weakness...creates lasting innocence." And then slowly, tentatively, as if letting go of something precious Alexis detached himself from Lilane, though his hands trailed and his look turned forlorn and longing. "Perhaps were better....I born girl. "

 

[The One Faithful]

Medelin let out a slight 'hmph' and then reappeared before Kain one eyebrow raised in an unamused fashion. "We're not done here. You can't just get up and walk away from a conversation just because you want to...or because you feel it's dramatic. We're not done talking. " As she said this she reached into one of her flowing sleeves and pulled out a mask, one half of it was a full mask, a rich purple in color which covered her entire face and left nothing visible save for a curving crescent where her eye should be. the other was a thin black strip which not only left most of her face visible, but her sharp blue eyes as well. "Y'know. Back in the old days I might have just let you go on your merry way and been pissed...let everything stew and gone back and happily changed my plans. But after being dragged back from death I'm a little less compromising. See I have nothing to atone for. I lived...I saved the world and universe more times than any one person should...and then I retired, got married, lived happily ever after and died. All before the Earth blew up. The only reason I'm here now is because I was pulled back from death. But who am I to whine and complain? I'm going to use what I've been given and live this new life. But I'll be damned if I'm going to put up with someone calling me a goddamn hypocrite. Especially..." And as she spoke her form changed and soon it would no longer be Medelin standing before Kain...but a female version of himself.

The female Kain smirked and gazed at Kain in mixed amusement and general irritation. "...me." she finished, her voice a carbon copy of Kain's own . "See. When I said I'd know how much of a hero you weren't...I wasn't boasting. "


Lilane knew that Bastion was right, but she couldn't stand the feeling that Alexis gave off. It was a whole lot like having someone pour a vat of leeches, spiders, millipedes, and slugs all over you. It made her uneasy and generally squirmy. And then Alexis sank his blade into her shoulder. Lilane ignored it, her body going still as the blood turned to ash and floated away on a nonexistent wind. The wound itself instantly began to flare and heal the second Alexis redrew his knife...no...even before. And Lilane would quickly step away from Alexis the moment he released her to turn and stare at him, much in the same way a cat might stare indignantly at someone who picked it up without it's permission.

 

[Kain M ShZual]

He'd laugh as she began to talk, though slowly he could feel his body tense up, a if something were about to happen. He'd turn his head as he looked at the mask, not quite sure what to think of it. Once she'd become the estrogen-loaded version of all he was supposedly he'd grin, though the voice really got him. He'd finally stand straight and remove Muramasa from its sheath and plunge it into the ground. "A hypocrite and a mimic?" He'd burst from site, quite literally bursting with blood and other items going all which ways. His sword was still there though, so not like much would happen outside their...area.

He'd reappear wrapped in his old wings, the first set he'd been given combined with the new. Simply put, black bat-like wings with feathers where one would expect flesh. His coat was far more decorated even though the sleeves were missing, the back slit up he middle. The shoulder of the coat seemed more liked the tasseled shoulders one would see on a military outfit...thus suit him fine! Especially the shade of mauve they were. The coat remained open, revealing the buttons to be a total of eight silver crosses meant to hook and close the coat. A dark soul patch ran from the top of his lip to the bottom of his chin, something he'd shaved in his twenties last he remembered. His hair was cut, about neck length at most and ears both pierced with amethyst studs.

He'd fold his wings back and force them into his body while taking hold of his sword again, rather admiring the chunks around him. "See, THIS is why it's bad to run from who you are! Eventually, they'll just explode out. And that's gross." He'd offer her a sarcastic smirk and dismiss the sword into...well, one could only wonder, but not this plain. Finally he'd fold his arms and allow his eyes to look here over, both a grand mixture of reds and violets. "My sincerest apologies about the dramatics, but hell, you got to change and I wanted to stop feeling like I was detoxing! Been there, done that. Didn't work obviously."

"What I don't get, though...not, it's not a matter of understanding but rather a matter of a game of 'Is it Bullshit or Not?' and sense leads me to believe it is. It's not like I've never been mimicked down to the last little detail, but then again...I've seen myself come from other realities and I myself have crossed into others. So, another me, especially of opposite gender, isn't possible. ...Still, gut's tellin' me to hit the Bullshit Buzzer! Looking like me is hardly proof of any sort of greatness...just means you're beautiful." He'd shrug nonchalant and lean back on nothing, or what seemed to be nothing. "So I'll stay...if you can bring on the proof!"

"You get off on pain...we all do, in a sense. You're just very special and I mean that in a retarded sense...as in you're ******** retarded. I'm sure you've heard the term. You mumble on about pain this and writhing that, yet you b***h about your own underlining pain and I don't know if YOU even know it. 'I want Earth back! Earth was fun! Earth had emotion!'" He'd shake his head, almost ready to puke at this thing. "You know what? EARTH BLEW THE ******** UP! And guess what? When an attempt was made to revive it, WE helped ******** it up!" He'd grin and shrug his shoulders. "Again: A Masochist PRETENDING to be a Sadist 'cause his toy is gone."

He'd run his hands through his hair to make sure nothing was ruffled and look to Lilane. "He wants to share his pain; he says he likes to make people suffer but in the send he likes making people suffer WITH him. Take away his ability to force pain upon you, and what's he going to do? Throw a b***h fit." He'd then look to Alexis with a grin. "He might even get his little heart hurt so damn bad he'll use his cute little scissors! Because sad little Alexis has to get what he wants...so what are you, Alexis? Aside from a very confused child? Are you...a human? Something of this world? A...oh! I know! Are you a demon? Are you the product of Hell, suffering, pain, torment and all of those other fun words you seem to try and wash yourself in?"

 

[The One Faithful]

Medelin as Kain smirked and then she cracked her neck first to one side then the other before merely crossing her arms over her chest and lean back against nothing as well. And she turned her eyes toward the sky for a moment before looking back at Kain and grinning. "So what? Should I ...drain a few innocent. Should I go back and grab that Russian idiot and break his neck with his own abilities? Or should I wreak mass murder? All are equally dark ideas...but...they're not Medelin's ideas. I'm sure at this moment she'd just tell you how her powers work. How it's not mimicry or some other general bullshit having to do with magic runes. But generally I just don't care at the moment. Because I don't really give a damn if you believe me or not...it's just fun to see the look on your face. And thank you...I know I'm beautiful. I'd say your not bad looking yourself but I'm sure you already know that. "

 

[Kain M ShZual]

"If you can't prove it then it's just a damn shame. I'm sure you wanted to keep my attention, but hey, you oughta know that's hard to do when I could be doing...well, anything else really." He'd look ti his right hand and look his nails over after singing the tips of his gloves off. He'd then look to the planet beneath him and grin, his right hand held out as if he were holding something. "Hell, what I need to do can be done from anywhere, really. This spot's not better or worse then others, though I might disable my own hearing if you keep speaking to me as if you truly were me rather then someone with a nice costume."

The ground beneath them would shake for a moment before a crack in the planet would appear and from it would spill what seemed to be some sort of energy. It would make its way into Kain's palm at which point he'd begin to literally steal the planet's life. The stream, once slow and stable, would then grow very quick as if it had no control over itself. And it didn't; Kain was literally ripping the energy from the planet. "I'm not sure what you're trying to accomplish by showing me my own visage less you wanted me to hurry up and destroy this planet. Really, I'm pretty confused. Hell, if you wanna destroy the place too, then by all means join in! ...But don't hinder me. I've been to this things core once and I'll happily go back and release all of my power at once. Then, like I always do, collect all of the energy again plus the new energy! Then something of black hole happens and I end up in an alternate world where I proceed to kill myself and gain my own power! Then I come back here and see what's going on. Been this way for a long time now..." He'd sigh and shrug. "Y'know I went to the future to kill myself once...but that guy had like, a fleet of ships! It was crazy! Lil' too much for me for now. But hey...it was me, so what can I say."

 

[The Anon Assassin]

Alexis' expression grew soft and he smiled, his hand slipping to touch his ancient blades...but only that. And then instead he turned away from them both and laughed and then swiftly turned and flung a knife straight into Lilane's chest, into her heart. And then the russian stepped up to her and stared down at her in a soft and almost angellic way before tearing the blade from her chest and staring at the knife as if it were something new and never seen before. He ran his hand along the blade, through Lilane's blood and then let the red liquid slip into his lips, he painted his face with it until he appeared drenched in it. And then he turned grinning and crying, black streaks running down his face as he stared at both Bastion and beyond him.

"Pain. Death. Life. Is thing all things...have common. " And then, his lips twitching in a meriad of twisted emotion he touched his hand to the black trail of tears running down his face before finally he laughed again, doubling over, his tears trickling onto the pavement as he stumbled forward and let the blade slip from his fingers to clatter noisily upon the ground. "Scattered. Dizzy. Devil. Angel. Thing between. Creature. Monster. Freak. FATE." And then Alexis looked up and touched his heart and his eyes went dark, fading from gold to honey-brown as he muttered in Russian. "Ребенок шлюхи. Сука. Симпатичная игрушка.Бог. Мать, где - бог? Моя рубашка. Моя грудь. Мое тело. Моя душа. Они взяли их всех от меня. Почему бог не будет позволять мне умирать?" And then he repeated in english the last line his eyes turning back to gold with a dark sort of madness.

"Why won't God let me die?" And then turning swiftly Alexis grabbed the front of Bastion's shirt and glared at him. "Am like Judas. Am like Cain. Was promised death and damnation. Yet I do not die. Why?" he asked, suddenly afraid. "WHY?! Why does he not strike me down and kill me. Why does he let me go on...and on...and on....so much sin...dat no longer...do I burn. I want no peace. I want no rest. I want death. Give me death. Glorious and bloody. If devil not let me die...den god all I have left."

And then Alexis slowly released Bastion, staring at him like a man staring at something petty and unneeded. "Hannah...Hannah....Hannah..." he repeated, over and over. "My diamond eyes....my innocent. Bring me back. You are mine....so bring me back. Make da world.....whole for me again. Bring me back ...where I can see you. See nothing. See nothing. World is....spinning."

 

[Kain M ShZual]

He'd watch the knife enter Lilane and grin while at the same time tensing. It wasn't like he couldn't heal her; he'd stood before God or the shiny light he was lead to believe was God in the holy realm he was lead to believe was Heaven. In the end he knew They lied left and right...but he knew his own power. He'd listen to the man-boy b***h in Russian and the tension would cease within him, the smile turn to a grin. Soon enough, he couldn't help but laugh a bit. In the back of his head, as this man-boy muttered "the child of a whore" he could only think of Jack the Ripper.

Once the man-boy grabbed his clothing he'd sigh, all too familiar with the situation. This, to him, was like a crying drunk in a tavern acting out against someone, anyone, for attention of one form or another. Now he could only think of an old wino under a bridge crying about how miserable the world was, and as tempted as he was to take action, he'd instead brush himself off as he was released. He'd create a seed in his hand and form his hand into a fist save his thumb and place the seed on the crease of his index finger. His thumb would bend and stretch, shooting the seed like a bullet into Lilane's wound. The seed would sprout, the roots meant to seek out toxins and eliminate them and close off cut tendons, skin, all of the bad stuff that needed to be good. When all was said and done, the seed would leave her body and bloom as a white rose.

"Бедный мальчик крика без груди, чтобы привить его голову в; потерянный в мире и избегал невидимыми силами. Патетический." He'd snicker a bit and shake his head. "Y'know, I've met God. It was...a strange experience and one not meant for a mortal. But, the more you tell someone they can't, the more they want to. Curiosity is a b***h. That aside and really not relative to anything, I'm pretty sure I could tell you exactly why God doesn't put any effort into you." He'd put his left and in his pocket and rub the back of his head with his right. "But I'm not a messenger anymore. So you keep it up! Keep on askin' n' bitchin'. I'm sure that it'll fail to get you anywhere." He'd then offer Alexis a thumbs up and a wink with a sarcastic smile.

 

[The One Faithful]

The female Kain smiled a bit and then laughed before reaching across to the tip of her forehead and smiling began to peel back her face. "Costume...right..." she replied snidely before ripping off her face. For a second she stared at the flesh in her hand and then let out a scream of laughter. "Oh right...not wearing the mask anymore." And then, both skin and muscle and bone smiling pulled in a grotesque memory of her previously dark and beautiful form. Her body changed like a mirage fading away as if the energy swirling around her was steam that lifted it once more and left Masquerade standing before Kain. Though her body now seemed younger, her body slightly thinner, her curves a bit less defined and her outfit a true 'costume'. A pair of black shorts held up by a bright pink ribbon belt with a golden 'V' for a buckle.

A shirt, purple across the chest to her neck, cutting off like a halter top, the sleeves black and sporting an upside down crescent at the hem, just below her breasts. The sleeves were short and left her arms exposed save for a pair of fingerless gloves that stretched up to just above her elbows, black and covered in thick metal plates at intervals, including over the back of her hands. The mask from earlier once more framed her face, the full purple side matching her shirt, the thin black side allowing a full view of her sharp blue/gray eyes. And as if to weigh her thin body to the ground were a pair of combat boots, heavy and black. The only accessory that could be seen was a single gold belly-button ring and an odd insignia just above her heart that seemed to be a heart, although it feathered on the inside with elegant curving vines. And Masquerade, herself, was grinning like an imp for the first time since facing Kain.

And with a soft voice barely audible above the sound of the planet's energy rushing past her Masquerade chuckled and placed a hand upon the crack in the earth an odd symbol shinning across the back of her hand in brilliant gold as she did so. "Like you're the first megalomaniac I've ever gone up against..." she told him curiously. And with a shudder the earth's energy would spike and ooze back through the crack like water, even the portions that Kain had absorbed, which would fall from him like sludge seeping from his pores. Then with a breath from behind her lips another symbol would appear upon her opposite shoulder and the earth would instantly heal itself with a 'snap' as if it were irritated at being disturbed. "Wouldn't touch unfamiliar energy if I were you. You never know where it's been." she told him, her expression growing serious again and this time there was a true warning in her eyes, as if pleading him to see through her words to what she was truly getting at.

"Especially the energy of this world....then you'll just be playing into their hands...and ...forgive the expression...god only knows how much they'll love seeing you fall into their plan like some good little pawn. We offered you a chance to be free. To choose the life you want or to fall into step with those that would play even YOU like a doll. Yes Kain.....even you. Demi-god....god-like you may be...but that's what they're betting on. Because it's their lot in life to use those who have power they do not posses...until they can claim it for their own. We thought that our battle had finally ended so long ago. We were wrong. And now the folly of my past will destroy anything I've ever fought for. Trust me when I say this...who we're fighting against...they love playing people like you like puppets. Because you're arrogant. Because you're power cannot be measured. Because they'll love nothing more than showing you that you were nothing next to THEM." And she spat these words like an oath and snarled her eyes glowing silver, their orbs turning to ice and her pupils becoming reptilian like slits. "So watch out for Draega...my descendant...my true heir...because they'll so love to use her as well. And it would rip my heart in two to see someone else be deceived by HIM...to be used...to be fooled..." And then with a shimmer Masquerade was once more a weary looking woman and mother standing before Kain simply gazing at him with a look heavy with burden. And then a warning in her eyes for him Masquerade turned to walk away her body slowly dissolving as she did. "If you excuse me...but my babe is crying for me...until later Kain M'Shzual."

Lilane laid a hand upon Bastion's forcing his thumbs up down. Her body encased in white flame, her entire being shinning as if the center of some great star. Her clothes gone from the heat though her body had become nothing more than a silhouette as an effect of the heat. And her eyes glowed forth from that heat in a bright gold as she stared in silence at Bastion before shaking her head and turning instead to stare at Alexis in a sympathetic way. And then she took a gentle step toward him, flames, like footprints, burning as she stepped though nothing seemed to burn and instead that which was touched seemed to be caught in a loop of time dying and being born endlessly over and over until the flame died out once more leaving it perfectly as it was.

Lilane stepped up to Alexis and gently reached out to his face and laid a finger upon the black trial that ran down his face, trailing it with her finger until it was burned away. And then, in a voice that was at once both ancient and new she spoke to him gently. "Poor creature....sad creature. Abandoned...raped...tortured...starved...driven to madness by a culture that demanded you to kill. I pity you for your suffering. For your madness that forced you into an endless life. But there is none that can lift your curse. This is your judgment. This is your sentence." And as she spoke her tone grew harsh, almost dark and evil as from Lilane's flames stepped another, a man who was taller and broader than Alexis with honey-gold hair and eye, his right covered by an eye patch. And in an odd way he greatly resembled the russian before him. And in a voice that was filled with anger and intent the man gripped Alexis by the throat, Lilane's forefinger still lingering on the end of the trial of tears. And at once the both spoke until the voices seemed to disengage and it was only the man speaking in an easy baritone.

"This is the hell you created for yourself. Eternity is a b***h isn't it Alexis? But I'll gladly share it with you brother...if it means a thousand chances to destroy you once and for all."

And Lilane, separated from the man, was pushed back and stumbling, her flames faded and with a sharp gasp, a desperate intake of air, she fell back toward Bastion her eyes rolling up into her head.

The man, ignoring this glared down at Alexis who he held in an iron grip and with a snarl his body seemed to flare for a second with dark flames before settling once more. "It's taken so long this time brother. The flame giants have taught me so much about some particularly lovely ways to slowly burn the life out of you. I'll have to thank that girl later for providing me a direct portal to you. And this time dear brother," he spat the word with such contempt that came out as more of a hiss, "we shall see if your 'fate' holds."

 

[The Anon Assassin]

Alexis, his eyes watery and black from the tears he had shed, seemed to not hear Bastion's words or see the way he healed Lilane. Instead he only continued to mutter, over and over as if it were a chant...a spell. "Hannah...diamond eyes....Hannah...innocent....Hannah...diamond eyes...Hannah...." It wasn't until Lilane's burning form approached him that he raised his head and ceased his muttering. Instead he gazed with eyes clouded with madness and grief the gold fading once more to honey-brown.

However, as she spoke, as her voice changed, his eyes quickly cleared and returned to their golden state his face flashing into his usual victorious smirk. Even as the force on his neck grew he was grinning, close to laughing as he gazed into his brother's remaining eye. And with glee Alexis smiled and gripped the hand trying to strangle the life out of him and chocked out past his restricted windpipe. "Elian...wonder...does your....eye ...still hurt? .....or...'ve you...come to...reminisce...about...scars ....big...brother...?" And despite the grip around his throat Alexis laughed, reaching one hand to touch a thin scar by his brother's good eye that looked very much like the trail of a tear carved forever into his face.