As one might expect of The Vatican City, it is full of the commonly pure colors of white, gold, and more. The people that are here love being here and typically share their devotion to their lord with each other. However despite the pure shell of this city there are dark secrets hidden around every corner.
A small portal opened up in one of the many alleys of the city. From out of the small portal would pop Decus, the brown haired man. Why was he here? This city of pure white where his recent actions would probably be seen as heretical? Following up on a few leads was the only real answer to that. Despite the more obvious surface rumors of this city, such a wonderful place for those who worshipped could worship in peace....everywhere had it's secrets. After a bit of a talk with...an old acquaintance of his he learned that even this supposedly pure city had kishineggs walking it's streets. Not like it was something that was unexpected, in fact if anything he expected that there were many kishineggs all over the place anywhere there was a populace. No, his real reason for being here was trying to find any more leads he could about the man who's face appeared in the moon. His old acquaintance so to speak had heard of some sort of faction brewing within the city that could oppose Lord Death and The Witch Queen, and that was enough to draw him and his group here. Of course aside from the city itself....he had no clue where to start.
“‘Killer? I hardly know her!’” Rex followed after Decus, laughing heartily with each step he took. “Damn Decus, you’re funnier than you look, nice joke!” The scythe’s laughter died down with a sigh and he wiped a tear from his eye with a finger. The pair stepped from the portal from Aracana and Rex had to take a second for his eyes to adjust to the light. He squinted, shielding his eyes with his hand while he got used to the shining Vatican City.
“You didn’t strike me as a ‘vacation to Italy’ type of person.” Rex shoved his hands into his pocket and turned to Decus with a curious look on his face. “What’re we doin’ here?”
↯ Enter The Dragon ↯ [ The martial artist is able to channel a spell or technique through their body. For instance, a Witch can cast a spell through a punch and a Weapon or Meister could use a technique through the legs. ] ⇩ ↯ Crouching Tiger ↯ [ The energy cloaks from all the five animal style techniques will protect against techniques or spells one level above the level of the technique to a maximum of level five. This ability has a five post cooldown. ] ⇩ ↯ Kung Fu Panda ↯ [ The martial artist gains a custom technique based on this skill tree. ] ⇩ ↯ Predicting ↯ [ The user is able to detect soul wavelength attacks just before they strike the user, allowing the user to defend against these attacks for one level lower in resource. The reduction doesn't stack with any other reductions, and this benefit is only applicable once every five posts. ] ⇩ ↯ All Hallows Eve 2 ↯ [ The range of all scythe techniques is doubled. ] ⇩ ↯ Scyther ↯ [ The Sickle Slash technique will slice through equal level and lower defensive techniques or spells once per five posts. ] ⇩ ↯ Hidden Dragon ↯ [ The passive duration of a cloak formed from one of this skill tree's techniques lasts an additional post (or until destroyed, still). ] ⇩ ↯ Hitmonchan ↯ [ Once per five posts, the shockwave created by the Punch technique is one level above the level of the punch performed to a maximum of level five. ] ⇩ ↯ Hidan ↯ [ The range of all scythe techniques is tripled. Requires the All Hallows Eve 2 perk. ] ⇩ ↯ Jashin ↯ [ The cost of a scythe technique in stamina is refunded once per five posts. ] ⇩ ↯ The Way of the Dragon ↯ [ The master martial artist is now able to perform the Dragon technique twice per battle rather than once. ] ⇩ ↯ Unsettling ↯ [ Regardless of the Madness tier of any opponents (or lack thereof), the user can generate baseball-sized abstract, incomprehensible visual-only illusions that confuse the opponent. This generation isn't an ability and doesn't cost an action, nor does it induce Madness, but it can cause confusion and distract opponents. These can be things like the untrackable 'eye squiggle' that some people get in the corner of their vision, but can also be things like vague doodles that can't be looked at directly or even visual glitches in the environment that fix themselves once the opponent(s) look at it. ] ⇩ ↯ Tantrum ↯ [ The user emits their soul wavelength across the battlefield and prevents all techniques that heal Madness from functioning for one post. This ability has a five post cooldown. ] ⇩ ↯ Witch Hunter ↯ [ The master scythe is able to perform the Witch Hunt Slash twice per battle. Additionally, this perk enables these two usages to destroy a same level or lower defensive-based technique or spell. ] ⇩ ↯ Disordering ↯ The user emits a screech which disturbs the souls in the area prevents opponents from entering soul resonance for one post. This does not effect opponents already in soul resonance. This can be used once every five posts.
Decus looked at Rex who seemed to be confused as to why they were here. Which was fair, his assessment itself was fair, just about everything was fair. "Rumors always have a little bit of truth to them." He said to the scythe, placing his hand upon his own shoulder and rotating his neck a bit to stretch it. "I hear that The Pope might be into some shady dealings. This city of gold and white might not be so gold and white after all. In fact, it's quite possible that the city is red with madness and blood. If that's the case then I'd like to see for myself. Perhaps this is our next step to becoming stronger." Decus wasn't exactly sure where to start though obviously. "Of course, We need not rush ourselves in this situation. Unless something quickly comes up where we need to we have time. Azalee and Karma are not here specifically because if they were the chance of The Witch Queen's interference becomes more likely with them around. For the two of us, We are practically on the other side of the world from the DWMA. Should Lord Death wish to interfere with anything we might do...if he even finds out...then it would take him quite a while to send anyone here." Decus explained to the man, walking out and along the streets of the city. "As usual though, we have to find a place to stay. Preferably close to the Cathedral. If the pope has the power I think he might then it'll be a good idea to stay as close as possible."
“So what? Is your plan to stroll up to the freakin’ Pope? And then what?” Rex shifted his gaze skyward as he prodded at Decus’ intentions. “Try to get in on the deal? Kill him? You’re a smooth talker Decus, but I doubt even you could put a couple of nobodies in the good graces of His Grace. After all, we’re just a couple of defects from the DWMA.” Although, the man that Rex chose to make his partner was capable of some incredible feats. The Weapon didn’t doubt that he’d be able to find a way to accomplish this goal of his. But the details were above Rex, as intricacies were never his strong suit. So the plan Decus would have in mind would escape Rex unless otherwise stated. The Weapon, however, felt his lips upturn into a smirk. One that bore his teeth in a fierce grin. “Or is your plan to turn him into a Kisshin? I bet the Holy Empire is just a straw away from snapping into their fears.”
Menace and bloodlust rolled off of Rex in a mist so thick that it was surprising it wasn’t visible. The man washed it away by sliding his hand through his hair, fixing his black bangs. “Are you a religious man, Decus?” Eventually he would ask. Why not? When in Rome after all. Rex would wait until the man answered before giving his two cents. “I’ve never quite believed in something like a higher power. When you’ve seen the god of death in person, it kinda removes the luster of deities. And even he’s bound by… something.It makes you wonder if there’s something even more powerful than the god of death.” Rex waved his hand dismissively to the thought. “I try not to think about things like that too much. Why worry about the possibility of something higher existing, when you should be focused on what’s going on in front of your own damn eyes.”
↯ Enter The Dragon ↯ [ The martial artist is able to channel a spell or technique through their body. For instance, a Witch can cast a spell through a punch and a Weapon or Meister could use a technique through the legs. ] ⇩ ↯ Crouching Tiger ↯ [ The energy cloaks from all the five animal style techniques will protect against techniques or spells one level above the level of the technique to a maximum of level five. This ability has a five post cooldown. ] ⇩ ↯ Kung Fu Panda ↯ [ The martial artist gains a custom technique based on this skill tree. ] ⇩ ↯ Predicting ↯ [ The user is able to detect soul wavelength attacks just before they strike the user, allowing the user to defend against these attacks for one level lower in resource. The reduction doesn't stack with any other reductions, and this benefit is only applicable once every five posts. ] ⇩ ↯ All Hallows Eve 2 ↯ [ The range of all scythe techniques is doubled. ] ⇩ ↯ Scyther ↯ [ The Sickle Slash technique will slice through equal level and lower defensive techniques or spells once per five posts. ] ⇩ ↯ Hidden Dragon ↯ [ The passive duration of a cloak formed from one of this skill tree's techniques lasts an additional post (or until destroyed, still). ] ⇩ ↯ Hitmonchan ↯ [ Once per five posts, the shockwave created by the Punch technique is one level above the level of the punch performed to a maximum of level five. ] ⇩ ↯ Hidan ↯ [ The range of all scythe techniques is tripled. Requires the All Hallows Eve 2 perk. ] ⇩ ↯ Jashin ↯ [ The cost of a scythe technique in stamina is refunded once per five posts. ] ⇩ ↯ The Way of the Dragon ↯ [ The master martial artist is now able to perform the Dragon technique twice per battle rather than once. ] ⇩ ↯ Unsettling ↯ [ Regardless of the Madness tier of any opponents (or lack thereof), the user can generate baseball-sized abstract, incomprehensible visual-only illusions that confuse the opponent. This generation isn't an ability and doesn't cost an action, nor does it induce Madness, but it can cause confusion and distract opponents. These can be things like the untrackable 'eye squiggle' that some people get in the corner of their vision, but can also be things like vague doodles that can't be looked at directly or even visual glitches in the environment that fix themselves once the opponent(s) look at it. ] ⇩ ↯ Tantrum ↯ [ The user emits their soul wavelength across the battlefield and prevents all techniques that heal Madness from functioning for one post. This ability has a five post cooldown. ] ⇩ ↯ Witch Hunter ↯ [ The master scythe is able to perform the Witch Hunt Slash twice per battle. Additionally, this perk enables these two usages to destroy a same level or lower defensive-based technique or spell. ] ⇩ ↯ Disordering ↯ The user emits a screech which disturbs the souls in the area prevents opponents from entering soul resonance for one post. This does not effect opponents already in soul resonance. This can be used once every five posts.
Decus looked at Rex for a moment as he asked what the plan was. Even going as far as to filling in his own blanks just to shoot them all down. Even going as far as to suggest his plan might have been turning the pope into a Kishin. Decus looked at Rex rather blankly for a moment. "If my hunch is right, he might already be one." He said, plainly and simply to his partner. Moving along now through the streets staying off to the sides, Rex could hear about their plan exactly a little later. Of course as they moved along, Rex also asked a rather jarring question. Involving religion. Decus' typically stoic face and demeanor shifted to one of distaste. Perhaps simply being asked about it could change his demeanor, but he figured if anyone should know about his views involving those Rex probably should. "Lets find a place to stay for now, I'll tell you when we get there." Decus said, perhaps simply to put off speaking about it a little bit longer.
A little under an hour later, Decus and Rex would be set up in a small hotel of sorts that was close enough to the main church that Decus was satisfied with their location for now. While in the room, Decus would sit and think for a moment before looking to his partner. "I hate religion." He began, frown on his usually emotionless face and all. "I was part of a church, raised by it really. The lot of them worshipped Lord Death himself. You mentioned higher power than him, well we believed he was the highest power." Pausing for a moment to think about it though he would correct himself a bit. "Sort of...we believed that the Lord Death we know, the being that runs the DWMA is a sort of avatar of the True Lord Death so to speak. An extension of his power placed in a world he created in order to watch over it. There's no difference between them, however the True Lord Death watches over more than one world, perhaps there are others he's created with other avatars of himself he watches over." Taking a breath as he would generate shockwaves of soul energy in his hand for a moment. Green and red mixing with one another in an electric-like energy that honestly simply looked cool. Something Decus just did every so often with no real meaning behind it.
"The church I belonged to was long corrupted though. The high priest gathered members for years. Always promoting another to priest, then harvesting the souls of all it's current members before looking for more humans to trick. Our High Priest was a kishinegg, my first ever real mission was to dispatch him and the other priests. It was odd, he still worshipped lord death despite everything. However he had a twisted view of the situation. He believed that if people were not meant to devour human souls, then Lord Death would not have made the world in such a way where they can do exactly that." Another pause, this time accompanied by a sigh. "Regardless such a shitty way of thinking, I fed into it a little bit. I made my own conclusion though. Weapons are able to safely eat Kishineggs without becoming Kishineggs themselves. They gain power from it, we meisters absorb the residual energy of the Kishineggs we defeat. So what if he was right...but in a wrong way? What if we could eat Kishineggs and be safe? Of course, then I started to eat Kishineggs myself. Gaining power in a unique way, I've always wanted to be strong. Of course, the more I thought about it, about Lord Death and other things the more I felt like I began to realize the truth. The Witches, that so many humans, meisters, and weapons forsake are no different than us either. The Witch Queen is just as strong as Lord Death, and perhaps in a similar situation. Maybe she is also a higher power, and the Witch Queen that is here is a mere portion of her power placed on the world. She has enough power to create her own pocket dimension within Lord Death's dimension. It's also not like magic isn't something that's ambient. It's everywhere, otherwise witches wouldn't be able to use magic outside of Arcana. So what if The Witch Queen and Lord Death made the world together? Maybe even split it into two part, one for each of themselves? Knowing that they were both equally as strong as the other. Of course, this is where something you said comes into place. Even Lord Death and The Witch Queen are bound by something. Part of it is free will, neither can make mindless people who only do as the two of them wish. They have to adjust to their people's wishes to some extent. And madness, an alternative force that somehow found it's way into the world. Perhaps by a third higher being, the man who's face appeared in the moon that day at City Hall maybe? Someone we just don't know....maybe The Pope is this force of madness." After his sort of....rant he would look towards Rex once more. "Ah, apologies, I felt you should know about how I think about these things."
