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All right...this is the SECOND time I write this out. Then Gaia told me to log in and I lost everything. Every single word. How stupid. Anyway, this is a timeline of what's going to happen in the RP-style webcomic tentatively named "Midnight's Redemption". Entry is limited for this RP, as it needs to follow a specific storyline. Entry may be opened up at a later time, if the story calls for it. Players will be Azure Bennett (KM-Azure), Serena Akari (KM-Serena), Thrie Barton (ThrieTheTiger), and Alyson Krauss (Saintscythe Kiriaae). This is probably going to contain spoilers, so don't read if you don't want spoiled. If it seems kinda short, it's because I already wrote all this, and it annoys me to have to do it again. -__-;

(Events preceding the storyline)

November 18th, 2015: Serena's 18th birthday.

November 21st, 2015: What should have been Serena's birthday party. However, in Japan, Ciar, a beast of pure malevolence, was released from its seal. Normally, they would work on sealing it again, but there has been a man constantly within Serena's dreams, whom she believed could destroy Ciar once and for all. Her parents set a protective spell upon her which would make her invisible to Ciar as long as she kept moving. She set off to find this man.

November 24th, 2015: Reports of an aircraft (incidentally, piloted by Aly) having to dump its cargo off the coast of Washington due to some sort of disturbance, which turned out to be Ciar having snuck on board. Ciar searches for the last born Akari, in an attempt to end their bloodline and engulf the world into permanent darkness.

November 26th, 2015: Ciar is discovered by the military. Thrie is assigned on a surveillance mission. As this is the first time it is being tracked by modern technology, no information exists about it. (Previously, the Akari family would seal the memories of anyone who'd seen it. Therefore, no history existed on it.)

June 6th, 2017: In her travels, Serena encounters Ciar. Fortunately, she was well hidden, and thanks to the protective spell, is not seen. She is filled with fear and dread at the sight of it.

During this time, the military have tried to destroy or stop this creature in many ways, but have been unable to do so. Ciar mostly keeps to secluded areas.

(Chapter 1)

November 18th, 2019: Serena turns 22. She finally happens upon Azure's house. This was the man which was in her dreams. What she didn't know is that she was the girl that was in his dreams as well. Serena takes up residence, at least, for a while.

November 29th, 2019: After trying to dodge questions about herself and her travels, she is discovered by Jean-Mathieu, best friend of Azure's and big-time conspiracy theorist. She ends up having to explain herself to both of them so that Jean-Mat would keep the secret of her presence. He trusts Azure's judgment. In addition, Azure agrees to face Ciar and attempt to destroy it.

(Not much here, but this chapter is mostly about character development, anyway.)

(Chapter 2)

December 2nd, 2019: Serena's protection spell begins to falter. Ciar moves in her general direction. In this time, Serena has been teaching Azure how to fight.

December 9th, 2019: Serena's protection spell is broken. Ciar moves toward Serena in full force.

December 11th, 2019: Ciar finally reaches Serena and attempts, almost successfully, to kill her. However, Azure, with his magical bond to Serena, as well as the battle skill she taught him, is able to face off with it, and he managed to destroy Ciar. Ciar shoots off a blast of darkness before dying and dissipating into thin air; this blast hits Azure, which seems to kill him. Serena uses every restorative spell she knows to the point of exhaustion; nothing seems to work. However, Azure mysteriously reawakens.

(Chapter 3)

December 17th, 2019: Azure begins to act unlike himself, somewhat more agressive. Serena feels that there might be something wrong outside of what can be seen.

December 30th, 2019: Azure outright lashes out at Serena, assaulting her in a fit of unknown fury. She is able to get away with her escape spells, and takes harbour at Jean-Mathieu's house.

January 1st, 2020: Ciar's Shadow Acolytes reawaken. Azure goes on a rampage through the city. It takes a SWAT team to detain him.

January 2nd, 2020: Thrie contacts Aly, and takes her to a nearby military installation, where Azure was being kept. As she looked into his eyes, she was filled with the same sense of dread as when she first saw Ciar. She figured out that Ciar had taken over Azure's body. The Shadow Acolytes attack the base in order to take Azure away; however, thanks to military force and Serena's magic, they fend off the attack and manage to capture one of the two Acolytes.

January 4th, 2020: The captured Acolyte refuses to speak. Serena is adamant on releasing the curse of Ciar. Thrie urges Serena to think of alternatives. This turns up fruitless; if Azure is sealed, he will become Ciar and eventually plague the Akaris once more; if he is killed, the curse will simply jump into someone else's body; if nothing is done, he will eventually become Ciar anyway.

January 5th, 2010: The captured Acolyte finally speaks. S/he (not sure of gender yet) wishes this to end. S/he tells of the lost history of Ciar and the Akari family. As they are about to discover how to break the curse, the other Acolyte mounts an assault on the base, and manages to take Azure away and nearly kill the traitor Acolyte. S/he manages to tell them where to find Azure and how to break the curse; cause Azure to regain control of his mind, then have Serena give him a kiss of true love. This must all be done before the next full moon, on January 10th. (These full moon dates are for real, by the way. Look it up! :3)

January 9th, 2010: Thrie, Serena, et. al. find Ciar's lair, and therein, Azure and the remaining Acolyte. They manage to defeat the Acolyte, then begin to help Azure to regain his mind. Once they manage to do so, Serena kisses him, and the curse of Ciar is permanently destroyed.

So, that's the outline of the first three chapters. I'll leave this up for review, and see if Thrie and/or Aly wish to make any addendums or amendments before we begin to act this out.

[Edit Feb 27: MIDNIGHT'S, not Moonlight's, Redemption.]

Oh, it's MIDNIGHT'S Redemption you said? Ah, misunderstood you. I'll change that. X3

(Updated 3-3-2010: Final Version)

Here's the story of Thrie one year prior to the events of Midnight Redemption. This will explain how Thrie landed into the Paranormal Unit which will be assigned the task to track down the Ciar.


~~~~
The following exert is from top secret records and documents pertaining to Gunnery Sergeant Thrie Barton prior to his assignment into the Paranormal Unit of the Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command. All information must be kept quiet and must not be repeated outside this vault.

"Possible target sighting... please confirm."

"Agent acquired target, pursing."

"Intel confirms. Target matches profile."

"Agent report, target has entered 3 story gray concrete building."

"That's a affirmative."

"Initiate containment protocol."

"Target is contained. Waiting for further instructions."

"Notified all teams that we are a Go."

"Teams have been notified. Proceeding capture protocol."

"What the Hell is that!? Wha- Open Fire!"

"Team leader, whats the sitrep?"

"Take cover! s**t! It got.... ... Cover him! Now!"

"HQ! We've lost the target. Currently engaging a spider like thing!"

"Team leader, repeat that last communication."

"We have engaged a human with spider legs for limbs! Advise!?"

"Comm, contact Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command. We have an immediate emergency and require Echo One deployment."

"Command, MARSOC acknowledges situation. ETA deployment time, 7 minutes. Advised to recall field agents and assume observation."

"Comm, notify MARSOC that we will comply. Officers, recall our agents ASAP."

"God have mercy...."

A small VTOL transport broke through the clouds and approached a three story tall gray concrete building. The transport reduced its speed until it hovered directly over the building. The rear entrance ramp opened and a single human figure stepped out from the dark compartment. The figure was wearing a black and gray digital camouflage fatigues. A climbing rope descended from the transport and a second later, the figure slid down the rope. The rope detached from the transport once the figure had landed on the roof of the building. With the rear entrance ramp closed, the VTOL increased power to the engines and ascended back toward the clouds.

Thrie watched the transport leave the vicinity and gave the midnight moon a brief glance. He was about to execute an order that was given to him. His hand reached down and unhooked a baton off his utility belt. He held it securely in his hand and approached the stairway that lead downstairs.

As he slowly descended the stairway, he heard a clicking sound coming from the floor below him. The power to the building had been turned off prior to the start of this operation and left the building in complete darkness. Thrie did not mind. He was able to see fairly well in this dark. Cautiously, he approached the room that was the source of the clicking noise. He rounded the final corner and prepared himself.

What he saw in the room did not frighten him but the sight of a monster disgusted him. Protruding from a human's back was four pairs of spider legs each ended in a razor sharp talon. On the face, instead of the pair of human eyes, it was a dozen black spider eyes. The teeth had mutated into two rows of sharp carnivorous fangs. Whatever this thing was, it had just taken that form recently. The rest of the monstrous spider had yet to emerge from the human body. Thrie thought he should end this monster before it fully mutates and acquires its full strength.

Thrie held out his hand armed with the baton and activated the Energy Link. The baton sparked yellow and a blue beam materialized in his hand in place of the baton. The monstrous spider noticed the sudden commotion and charged at Thrie without any hesitation. He immediately engaged the spider monster in melee combat. After ten minutes of the fighting, Thrie wondered how much stamina this monster had. Thrie believed this had gone on for long enough and it is time to end this. He prepared to charge at the spider but it did something unexpected. The spider jumped suddenly at the wall and broke through it.

Even if it meant he had to jump down from a three story building, Thrie did so in order to pursue the monstrous spider. After he landed on the ground, he quickly located the spider and pursued it. He had to bring the spider down before it escaped into the population. Thrie turned at a corner and stopped abruptly. He saw the spider turned at this corner but it was nowhere in sight. Cautiously, he walked down the street in search of the monster. Something of that size could not have gotten far, no less hide. He approached the end of the street and stood at the mouth of an intersection. He was really baffled by the disappearance of that spider.

He was about to hit up his radio when he felt it. He quickly turned around and looked up toward the sky. The spider had hid itself behind the roof of the houses on this street. It had preyed on Thrie until this moment where it jumped down toward him. Thrie remained calm and calculated where the spider will soon land. At the last second, he jumped back and avoided the spider. Then he bumped into someone and her surprised yelp startled him. He turned his head to catch the face of a young girl in her late teen. Her hair, even in the dark, was a glossy dark red. He recognized her to be a college student that resided in this area. She had talked to him a few times here when he patrolled this street during the undercover portion of this operation.

That would be the last time he'd see that lively face ever again. Blood flowed from the corner of her lips and fell on the talon that had punctured through her upper torso, her heart. She had no time to even scream and fell into shock. Thrie stared in disbelieve at the girl as she fell to the ground when the spider drew back its talon. In his shock, his beam baton fell out of his hand and sparked back to a regular baton. The spider drew back and lurched forward, talon aimed at Thrie.

With a blink of an eye, the spider came to a complete stop. Thrie's hand had caught the spider's talon just mere inches from his face. The spider tried to pull its talon back but it wouldn't budge as if it was held in place by cement. Thrie's short black Marine haircut was replaced by rapidly growing silver hair. It grew till it reached his lower back. His eyes which had been warm golden brown were now deep silver blue as cold as the arctic ice. His canine teeth grew longer and sharpened into fangs. The spider screeched and tried to free it's talon from Thrie when it sensed something other than human coming from Thrie.

Thrie yanked the spider toward him by the talon and grabbed a hold of the neck area of the spider's human body. He released his grip on the talon and grabbed the base of the spider's leg. He pulled slowly and with loud cracking and snapping noise, the limp broke free from the main body. The spider screeched for the first time in pain. It no longer tried to attack Thrie, instead fought desperately to get away from Thrie's grasp. The spider's struggle was entirely futile as Thrie grabbed another limb and ripped that one off as well. He did not stop till all eight limbs were completely detached from the body.

He brought back his hand, the same hand that had ripped off the limbs, and straightened his fingers. With lightning speed, he stabs straight into the head of the spider. With his arm elbow deep inside the monster, he activated the energy link. The monster's body sparked yellow for a few seconds. Then it exploded sending body parts in all direction. Red human and purple monster blood were splattered all across the ground and walls. Thrie just stood there in the middle of the massacre and stared down at the girl. Just yesterday, she had been alive and warm. Now, she laid dead and cold on the ground before him. Silence was a deafening sound in the air.

The quiet night air was soon replaced by the whine of several large VTOL engines. One of the transports landed in the street that Thrie was on and two squads of Marines rushed out. The eight Marines took positions around the remains of the spider, Thrie and the dead girl. After the Marines secured the area, a female Marine Officer in her green dress uniform disembarked from the transport. She wore the silver bar of a 1st Lieutenant Rank on her collar. As she looked at the mess, she showed a tiny hint of anger but hid it well with her well practiced baring.

She approached Thrie quickly and called him out angrily. "I don't know what happened to you or where you got that disgusting hair style but right now, I don't give a s**t. Go drag you a** back into the transport before I do it myself. I'm going to deal with you after I get through all the paper works as a result of what you did."

Thrie turned to look at the Officer then slowly traced the curves of her body with his eyes while she busied with pointing and giving orders to the other Marines. An almost feral growl could be heard from him.

The female Officer noticed Thrie hadn't moved an inch and had been staring at her. Her nostril flared with anger and she walked up to him and shouted once more. "I think someone has lost their mind! I told you to-" She was interrupted by Thrie who had suddenly pushed her down onto the ground and got on top of her

She shouted in surprise as she felt and heard her uniform coat get ripped off violently. To make matters worse, she struggled futilely under Thrie's sudden inhuman strength. Her face turned red with anger and she felt violated as she watched Thrie slid in between her legs and rode her skirt up. Two Marines broke from their formation and rushed to the aid of the Officer. They began pulling Thrie with all their might but he didn't budge. Thrie grabbed her khaki dress shirt and began to rip it off, buttons popped and flew. A third Marine joined and slammed the back of his rifle to the side of Thrie's head knocking him unconscious. The two Marines that were trying to move Thrie were then able to drag him off the female Officer and held him at gunpoint.

"Dude... what the ******** was that?" One of the Marines asked with a shaken voice.

"I dunno know man... that was ******** weird, bro." The other Marine replied.

The third Marine helped the Officer up and handed her the uniform coat that was ripped off of her. She took the coat and used it to cover her exposed chest with shaking hands.

"I... " The Officer stopped herself when she heard her broken voice. She cleared her throat and tried it again. "Sergeant Thrie Barton is hereby under arrest for assaulting and sexually assaulting a Commissioned Officer of the Marine Corps. Bring me another VTOL with assault Marines and throw him in there."

"Aye Ma'am!" The Marines said in unison.

With the arrival of the second VTOL, the Marines threw the unconscious and hand cuffed Thrie into the back. In the new VTOL compartment was two more squads of Marines and they were in full mechanized battle armor. They were encased in steel armor from head to toe. Also, they were armed with heavy hitting 7.62mm M240 machine gun. Not the smaller 5.56mm M16a4 rifles one would normally carry.

The VTOL carrying Thrie lifted off and headed back for base. The wind generated by the VTOL's engine blew unmercifully against the female Officer but she held her coat tightly kept herself covered. When the wind died down, she turned to watch the VTOL carrying Thrie shrink as it gained distance. She wondered what had just happened and worried for him inside her heart.

Good, now I know what Ciar is and I also thought up my own theory of what Ciar is. The theory would be most useful when applying with the military intelligence when they are involved in the issue at hand.

"OMGSPOILERS" should not be an issue as we're writing this story together. All details will have to be laid out prior to writing the manuscript of the story. Once the story manuscript is set in stone, then we can work on the name. A name in the manga universe are sketches detailing what will take place on each page.

Now my comments on the time line. The dates will either have to go or wait to be added when we get to said event. Also, some contents that are separated by dates may have to be combined together for the sake of the manuscript and comic.

For example...
part 1: Nov 18 will most likely be included in Nov 21. Where we will include that she had been having dreams about a man since her 18th birthday, which was 3 days ago.

Part 2: Nov 24 and 26 should be combined into a single date. Last sentence of Nov 24 about Ciar in search of the last Akari will be shoved into June 6's content instead.

In the comic layout, each part would represent a chapter. We will have enough contents per day to write a chapter. Otherwise it will be too time consuming to say "something happened then its night time again... then morning arrives and something happens... night time again, next page, 5 days later."

Time skip is rather difficult and at times confusing in a comic or manga. Unless it is for the prologue or conclusion chapter, I highly discourage it. Our story will most likely have to happen on a day after day basis.

In sort, I'd advise we sort out the contents of the time line into chronological order and add the date as we write out the details of the story.

I'll provide an example of how I'll use the your time line in my next post.

The wind swept through her hair, almost knocking her pilot's cap off of her head. Her legs were aching to be stretched, as piloting a plane for 4 straight hours was not exactly her idea of fun any more. She took in a deep breath as the cool mountain air caressed her unprepared, uniformed body, sending shivers up her back. She was finally home, even if for a short time. She wondered why her father had built a house so far up in the mountains. He always did have a thing for strange get-aways.

The mountains surrounding the secluded beauty made it seem like this part of the world was for her eyes, and her eyes only. Like there was a wall keeping away the rest of the corrupted world, while here was a quiet sanctuary. The fresh scent of pine lingered in the air as the sun was finally beginning to rise. The pink clouds in the sky betrayed the blushing sun, which would soon turn the whole mountainside into a vision worthy of dreams.

After working so hard to help the Colonel, her father, figure out the many lab test results of the strange creatures for so long, Alyson longed for a short, if futile break. It didn't take long before the equations came rushing back into her mind as if taken on a life of their own. She sighed to herself as the propellers to the small aircraft finally died down and the silence of the wilderness finally registered in her mind. She would be a on a short break, but also not too far from base should they need her assistance. It was a good balance for her workaholic habits, she settled to herself.

She fidgeted with a button as she reached into her pocket to find her key-ID. Why would a man build a house in the mountains and arm it with military-grade security? At least it looked unsecured unless someone attempted to rob it or get in without the key-ID.The retinal scanner silently appeared before her, an almost invisible hatch above the doorbell. She stood still as the machine did its job.

"Identity Confirmed. Welcome home, Lieutenant Alyson Krauss." The machine responded in it's robotic greeting.

"Thanks..." Alyson replied monotonously in humored gesture.

She had grown up surrounded by the elite. Being a military brat; before she even knew her abc's, she knew the differences between a 9mm and .45 to an M16a4 in weight, chemical composition, and speed. She had always had a knack for science, but she often found herself aloof in thoughts of flight, ever since she was introduced to flight simulators.

When she got to high school, she was taken out of the academy and home-schooled due to the rising conflicts among the citizens and the military. She wouldn't be safe if people knew she was the Colonel's daughter. It would have been like walking into a wolf pack bathed in sheep's blood.

Later on, she found herself working under her father as a lab technician in criminal justice and soon after, found that she loved more than anything to be of service as a soldier. Not quite the jar-head, but more so the officer. She found herself privileged to be among the few that were allowed to know what was really going on behind enemy lines, as well as her community when it called for their level of experience. She was elevated quickly in rank not because of her bloodline, but due to her keen chemist's mind. She was teaching officers of higher rank about things they could barely grasp.

Alyson often found herself wondering what in the world was really going on. It seemed as if earth itself decided to plunge into the depths of hell, when the reports started coming in of attacks, murders, and often unexplainable, but macabre deaths. And here she was, asking for a challenge, thinking all along that it would never be beyond the usual.

This time, magic was involved... the back of her mind kept creeping up with past studies of mythology and if there was a link to it all.

She turned on the water in the shower and let it run while she set her uniform up on a hanger. Just as she was about to step into the shower, her cellphone rang. The caller ID display lit up the name "Daddy". She was glad nobody was snoopy enough to ask her if they could borrow her cellphone. She'd assumed it would be pretty embarrassing for them to find out that the legendary Colonel's daughter had such a childish outlook.

"Good morning, honey." The gruff, stern voice spoke.

"Good morning, daddy." Alyson smiled in reaction to his familiar voice.

"The GPS shows you've landed. Is everything in place?" He asked.

"Yes, daddy. Everything's as we left it." She responded.

"I hope everything is to your liking. I know it isn't much, and you won't be staying for too long, but I sincerely hope it brings back memories."

"Believe me, dad, it's more than I could ask for. God Himself would be proud to come here on vacation. I just can't believe it's been over 5 years since we've last been here as a family..."

"I wish it could have been otherwise-"

"No, it's alright, really. I will make the most of it and be back before you know it, Sir. And don't delay should I be needed there sooner. This was your idea, after all..."

"Alyson, you're only 23. You're a great soldier, and an even better daughter. Your mother--" he paused, his words catching up to his memories.

"She would have been happy to see this mountainside... the view is breath-taking. In fact, she is probably watching it right now. Just from a different angle." Alyson tried to lighten the mood, but to no avail.

"Yes, well... are you sure everything's alright?"

"It's fine, daddy. I promise. I'm gonna go get some sleep now, if you don't mind. I'll be back soon!" She put forth her cheerful voice, pain sitting in the pit of her stomach upon the memory of her mother's death. Those monsters had taken her...

"Alright. Good night, dear." He held back a failing sigh.

"Lieutenant Krauss, signing off, Sir."

The dial-tone droned as he replied almost instinctively, "Carry on...".

Alyson's memories rushed forth with the soul-shattering image of her mother's mangled body 2 years previous. Alyson had seen many bodies in her line of duty... but this was different.

She had inherited her mother's eyes, her petite frame, and her long crimson hair. She remembered those hugs and kind gestures. She now regretted any and every moment she had gotten into an argument with that woman. That ever-lasting smile was torn into some mad artist's macabre work. She remembered how that beautiful, porcelain face would always make her smile. Now all it would ever do was roil her stomach. She swallowed back the bile in her throat and turned the water cold and let it numb her mind into focusing on other thoughts. She would find who was responsible for this... and she would exact her vengeance.

The sun rose as her eyes heavily shut out the coming day. Pistol under pillow, and a soldier's sense of surrounding ever present, Alyson fell into a long-needed slumber.

I had to scrap Thrie's backstory twice before I landed on the third one (the posted one) which was more to my liking. My grammar wasn't even the best to begin with so... it's gone through lengthy changes.

With Serena set on her journey, all that is left is Azure's story. Then Midnight Redemption will finally take its first step.

Since there's been no action for a little while, why not rewind the clock about ten minutes from the end of that last post and revisit that scene from Serena's perspective?

Note that the reuse of certain lines is not out of laziness or anything. It's done for effect, to create a feeling that Azure and Serena are more in tune with each other than they even realize.

-=-=-=-=-=-

Serena had gone two days without stopping at a house to rest up properly. She'd gotten used to it. Sometimes, it's easy to find a kind soul. Other times, there's not one to be found. Yet other times, she'd been fooled by her own intuition. That's when she would keep running, until she became outright exhausted.

However, she could feel his presence draw ever closer. The boy from her dreams, he was nearby. Yet where exactly, she couldn't be certain...

It was well into the night. Serena had been traveling through the forest, as she was apt to do. She soon reached the edge, and came upon a small neighbourhood. She checked for any activity. It seemed the coast was clear.

"Well," she thought, "this seems like as good an area as any to rest for the night... I can feel warmth emanating from around here." She looked around. "But exactly where, I wonder..."

It did not take long for her to notice a single light shining from a single window of a single house. When it seemed the neighbourhood had gone to sleep, one person seemed to be awake.

Serena walked up to the door. She placed a hand upon it and concentrated. "Sense Heart..." A warm feeling spread from her hand, through her arm, and permeated her body. Herein lived a good-hearted person. The feeling was different, however. Almost...special. Her heart raced.

"Oh, my... I... This is... This couldn't be...his house, could it?" she thought, for a moment. She shook her head, and returned to reality. "It couldn't be so simple. After looking for so long, it just couldn't." She pulled the hood of her cloak back, and knocked at the door.

She'd always waited patiently, and accepted that some people just won't answer the door so late at night. Despite this, she did not believe her own thoughts. Her heart was still racing. She was almost shivering, despite her cloak protecting her from the bitter cold of that November night.

She knocked again. "Wouldn't it be interesting, though..." She heard the door being unlocked. "To see the door open..." The door opened. "And... And..."

And there he was. As if he'd stepped right out of her dreams, there he was, exactly as she'd imagined him. Either she was dreaming again, or he was real, and he was right there, in front of her. She looked up at him in awe. He didn't notice. In fact, it's almost as though he was doing exactly the same. She didn't notice.

Finally, she caught herself, and cleared her throat. "Uh...good evening, sir. My name is Serena. May I come in?"

Thrie suggested that I post a personal description of Eva. Makes sense. Here we go.

Eva seemed to appear, as if out of the shadows, shortly after the cult had formed. Any attempts to trace where she was from -- albeit this was a long time ago, so perhaps their information was just limited -- would have no result. She seemed very much interested in the dark arts. And for that matter, interested in the Master. She got in without much problem.

She always seemed to know just what to do to motivate the group. As a result, she was quickly posted as a sort of morale officer, at the Master's side. However, although she was attached to the Master, that didn't stop her from having one on one..."sessions" with most of the male members as a private motivation to get done what needed to be done. And despite these acts, nobody knew anyone was getting this same kind of treatment. Those who didn't partake were still mesmerized by her charisma, and would follow her to the ends of the Earth.

All but Takeshi. He thought her entire act was simply gratuitous, and wanted no part of it. Why he followed the group at all, nobody knew. Why he was still in it, how he was still in it, nobody knew. Why Ciar picked Eva and Takeshi to be its Acolytes, nobody knew. They never got along. Maybe it was random. Maybe it knew what it was doing. Clearly, it didn't expect Takeshi to defect and spill the beans at some point... Or perhaps it did...