Rise of the Zodiac (CLOSED)

[Vexiron Akavar]

Tweedle Dee
Tweedle Dum

Gemini looked back and forth between all of the bickering that the Knights were doing. Glancing down, the elder brother would make a curious face at his "twin". "Is this how they normally act, Sister?" he asked, confused as to their strange behavior. She would shake her head, her hair flying to and fro with the power she put into it. "I can tell you right now that nobody in their right minds will act like this. But we are all crazy!" She giggled and jumped onto his back. Wrapped her arms tightly around his throat, she would begin to whisper into his ear, giggling every now and then.

The warrior lifted his voice and shouted with such power that the very cave shook. "SILENCE." When the room got quiet, he would continue. "That is quite enough of this nonsense! Already the bond of brother and sisters in arms has been broken and we bicker amongst ourselves over petty issues." He waved a hand towards Nathan. "This one has given us instruction as to our opponents, and has quickly proved useful to our cause. Three of you have been causing mischief amongst our ranks, one of us has been striken into silence by pride and NOBODY has made mention of our missing thirteenth!"


He rant finished, the little girl would boost her 8 year old form higher onto his shoulders until instead of a piggy back ride, she now sat on his neck, clutching his hair tightly to balance herself with the large sword on her back, easily twice her size. "Big Brother's point is; instead of fighting each other, should we not be seeking out he or she whom is under the title of Aries? Should we not complete our ranks before the Elder One arrives and becomes most dissatisfied with our lack of cooperation....?"

[O-o_Eve_o-O]

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Ϊn this ώorld, where there is ʆight, there are Șhadows. ϔou can either Ȟide from them or Ȕse them to your Ѧdvantage.

Leah was distracted enough that she had barely noticed Hebi's sobs change into chuckles. Her ear twitched as he struck forward, her eyes widdened as she saw how long his fangs were. s**t! Managed to jump away in time to avoid a full bite but one of his fangs grazed her shoulder. Immediately she channeled her energy to block the little venom that entered through the wound from traveling. It was only a temporary fix but for now it was all she could do. Doing a couple of back hand springs she put some distance between them as she tried to decide what to do. She continued to menatlly beat herself over allowing herself to be so unprofessional. I definetly need a break after this. She felt a slight tingling in her shoulder but decided to ignore it. Now, she would have to work quickly and subdue him before she was unable to continue to contain the venom just in her shoulder.

She eyed the snake with narrowed eyes. "So you decided to show your true colors? That was a brillent act you just pulled." Her voice dripped with a venom of her own as she lowered herself into a more battle ready stance pulling out one of her fans.

Ȋ ҫhoose to Ȕse Ҭhem

[Cheow_sky]

((Kaos and Maria))

Kaos chucked when one of the Gemini twin began to rant.
"We'll excuuuse me for not realizing that Mr. Big Bad Tyrant over here was the leader, hahah. Where is Aries anyway? Actually, I've only heard rumours about the last member... Is there really one in the first place?" Kaos asked. He had only heard that there was a 13th member, but had never seen him/her.

"Maybe Libra knows. She has an inside on where all Zodiac Knights ares..." He chuckled. Maria just glanced down at him, then turned her gaze back up to what was in front of her. There was a small screen of light that came down from the top of the cavern. It had somehow managed to leak in against the rock and the darkness. The sun was truly something beautiful. It gave off heat and light, and a radiance that even the most glorious princess in the world couldn't compete with....

Aries would show up...just not yet. Libra could locate every member, except for Aries. Aries and her had never met, so Libra could not locate her, however, she could feel her presence... Libra wasn't saying anything...

[tyrus cypher]

Captain - 1st Earth Kingdom Regiment (The Shield)
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Benevolent Healer | Remorseless Soldier
_______________________________________
"No one becomes a good healer before they filled a graveyard. "



Things seemed to be getting better after the war. Alric had been on the field the day the last battle had been fought, honored the dead like all of the rest. Once they had gone back to the Earth Kingdom, the 1st Regiment known as The Shield had their own ceremony for their lost comrades. There was a lot of drinking, laughing, and fighting. The wizard seemed to be caught up in the middle of all the action, swinging fists and kicking his legs out in the huge free for all. When it was over, everyone was grinning and laughing at the injuries sustained by one another. It was after things had settled down that Alric called the men to attention and explained to them that he was taking the honorable discharge offered to him. After almost a decade serving with these grunts, he was glad to tell them that he would no longer have to see their ugly mugs first thing in the morning. After some crude jokes that only soldiers could properly appreciate, he gathered his things and struck out on his own.



The heavy jacket and hat that Alric wore disguised his face from view, casting nothing but a shadow where his face would have been visible. He spent the time he had learning new healing techniques and found himself teaching in the Cloud Kingdom about herbs and other methods of healing. The students, while not in the least touched by magic, were quite studious and seemed to grasp the concepts he taught quite quickly. With the classes dismissed for the next few weeks, he once again ventured towards the Earth Kingdom in search of adventure. As he traveled down the well worn trader roads towards his former home, he could not help but whistle to himself. It was a wonderful day out and everything seemed to be right in the world. Peace was taking over once again and even the Fields of Magerium seemed to healing. Small green weeds had started to rise out of that barren soil, showing that there was still hope for even the darkest of things to be born again.

[Vexiron Akavar]

Kajito "The Lone Flame" Besigan

The elf chuckled, nodding his head at the wizard's response. From the memories, pain was to be expected, but at least it was not rising. Then he spoke of his daughter, which brought the girl down onto his shoulders. With a laughter that reminded one of beautiful bells, the elf would produce a rose for the young girl and place it in her hair as she lowered herself and hugged her father. "You've grown so tall!" he told her with a mixture of happiness and pride. "Soon you won't be able to climb around your old man like that."

He chuckled, glancing up to catch sight of Cara. Now that part confused him, because she was killed, in battle, was she not? At least that was the stories that he had heard from the whispers. Perhaps another construct of Zeddius's shield. He shook his head slightly and produced a smile as he straightened to greet the woman who now hit Zeddius with a spoon. He bowed his head in response to her. "I would enjoy having a meal with you, Cara. As I am sure that you know, my travels have been long, and I always enjoy staying with you and Zeddius whenever I can."

Tell him...the longer you wait, the longer he will pain and hate."

The voice had returned. Its force that it provided in its words was slightly different now, causing the elf to shiver and place a hand against his head.

I understand that it will hurt him. If it didn't, then he would certainly be a broken man. No, I desire to permit him as much happiness as he can garner without breaking himself. The poor man..

You will damage him. Even should you let him, what if this realm of his forces him to stay like this, even if he learns the truth too late? What if it traps his soul and he is forced to live in pain and fear of the two very beings that he loves?

You mean they would turn hostile? he thought in shock.

Perhaps...and Zeddius's spirit could not fight them...

The elf's eyes moved to the ground and he looked visibly more sad. I see. So...in doing this, I would provide him an early escape route because I am here?

Drawing forth the remaining bits and pieces of his soul would put him into an ill state should you also succeed in finding him a new body...

Kajito thought for a moment.

We could use my mass of collected spiritual energy to manifest flesh and bone again to a similar state as what we remember Zeddius as. We can even use his own memories to help create his body.

The voice was silent for a moment. Then, Tell him.


When the elf looked back at the man, his face held a pitying sadness in it. He quickly disguised it with a wave towards the man's door. "Come, let us eat and be merry."

[O-o_Eve_o-O]

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Sister. She is your mirror, shining back at you with a world of possibilities. She is your witness, who sees you at your worst and best, and loves you anyway. She is your partner in crime, your midnight companion, someone who knows when you are smiling, even in the dark.

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Brother. He is someone who is always there for you, weather you want him there or not. He is someone you can lean on, someone to count on even when you push him away. He is bossy, annoying, over protective, sarcastic, and stuborn. But the gods help anyone who stands between me and my brother.

Izaya let out a little puff of air as the Gemini couple spoke. "I speak for myself when I say, I am here soley because the Elder Dragon summoned me. We," He gestured to his sister. "have assembeled as is expected when he calls. If Aries finds no need to heed masters summons than that is there own wish. I will not go out of my way to seek Aries out when he or she has failed to do the simple job of showing up." He knew little of who held the position of Aries and just figured they existed because every other traditional zodiac name was pressent beside Aries. Izaya felt no shame in admitting what he said because as much as it seemed strange for his age, he was number 2 which ment he was ranked right under Maria. While he would never consider himself on her level he still held some rank of his own, though he rarely pulled that card. In the long run it mattered little to him who was summoned when. His only real leader was the dragon.

Nami perked up when Izaya spoke and rised to stand next to him. "Yea, and knowing our luck, if we went out to search for Aries then Elder-san would show up and we would get in trouble too." She ended with a pout showing her distaste at the idea of getting introuble because of someone else.

((EDITED))

[Cheow_sky]

((Okay, so I edited my post. No one knows who Aries is, or what gender she really is.))

[tyrus cypher]

Uberbringer des Todes
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Brother of the Void
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Wizard of War
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"Anger is a killing thing. It kills the one who wields it, for every rage leaves less than he was before."



Berdine grinned as she was presented with the rose. She went skipping off to her side of the table, the innocent look on her face somewhat at odds with the search look in her eyes. Indeed she was the child of Zedd and Cara. The girl had long dark hair and the same facial features as her father, but the shock blue color of her eyes were all her mother. Those eyes showed the faintest signs of a hunger that could not be fathomed. Maybe it was for the best her life had ended when it did. The offspring of two War Wizards was said to be a danger that could not be permitted in the world. Other than that vague warning, nothing else was known about it. Everyone sat around the table and Zedd hurried himself filling everyone's plates. The vegetables were freshly grown and the meat from a rabbit that Zedd had snared yesterday. With some bread and fresh fruit it was a filling if simple meal. They laughed and joked around like a normal family, everything seemed to be perfectly normal. After dinner they had a wonderful desert made from extra fruit and a whipped milk cream.


Berdine crawled up in Zedd's lap and fell asleep, his large hand slowly running down her hair as she slept. Cara told stories of when her and Zedd were younger and all of the trouble they used to get in. To which Zedd told some rather embarrassing stories about her in return. As it turned into night, Zedd carefully handed Berdine to his wife to put her to sleep. With slight nod of his head, he indicated to Kajito that he wanted him to follow outside. Zedd stepped into the cooling night air and filled a pipe that he kept next to his favorite chair with tobacco. After his pipe had been lit and the door closed, Zedd went into the heart of the matter without preamble. "Since you got here today you have looked like you had seen a ghost. Now, between us as friends and without false statements, I didn't survive that final battle did I?" Zedd had always had a suspicion in the back of his mind since he arrived back in the Forest of the Gods that something was off. Everything had just seemed too perfect. This was the life he had dreamed about all those years ago when they had fought for Malen's father against the Underworld. When they had been rebels and traitors. Of course the final battle he was remembering was not against Toten and Malen but against the Underworld standing with Malen's father. The whole war had been erased from his memory. So what had happened to him?

[Vexiron Akavar]

Kajito "The Lone Flame" Besigan

((I just realized something. If Zeddius does accept Corvus as his sword, since Corvus is part of his soul..kinda, it would be like Kajito's sword because the elf's blade is made of his own soul too! HUZZAH : D ))

The elf played along cheerfully enough. With masterful tactics he had avoided any suspicion throughout the dinner. Though he had to admit...it was satisfying to eat. He did pass on the rabbit, however, insisting that be preferred the fruits of the earth over the inhabitants. When dinner was resolved, Kajito listened to the stories of Zeddius's past, exchanging a few embarrassing moments of his own, particularly with a certain busty maid who was also a Knight and enjoyed teasing him so.

As he motioned for Kajito to follow him, the elf would quickly grow curious as to the purpose, though he felt he knew the reasons. Upon stepping outside, he was greeted to the coolness of the air, which brought a sigh from him. And then Zeddius asked the one question Kajito feared to answer. Should he tell him the truth now or pass it off?

No...do not lie to protect him. Be honest...

"When your arm was torn to utter ruin, your two sword's..the spirits within them, ripped your soul from your body in the form of a new blade, Corvus." He said slowly. The elf's voice was low enough so that only the wizard that he stood next to would hear him, and not the fabricated child and wife of his. "Upon your death, there was much confusion. The people that were close to you and knew you personally held much sorrow and grief at their loss. On the flip side, those of the various kingdoms who saw you as a hero but did not know you well were conflicted between a minor sorrow and great happiness at Toten's defeat and Malen's rebirth. I took Corvus with me into the Forest of the Gods, where I have lived in seclusion for these months, visiting you here."

A faint blue glow appeared on his palms as he started to draw symbols in the air, the strange lettering glowing with much warmth. "This world....is false, Zeddius. But you are not alone." He turned his gaze to the wizard once the lettering was complete. "I am not mere fabrication, and even in death I have been permitted to speak to you. Since you have now been given information I have kept hidden all these months, it seems I must pose a new question.."

He swallowed first. This was going to be the hard one.

"If I were to be able to manifest a physical domain for the consciousness of your soul, a new body, if you will, then would you permit me to remove thus from the sword Corvus, a blade that is yours to wield by all rights?"

[Cheow_sky]

Hebi Ryoushi

私はすべてを消費する。
あなたは私の獲物です。
私は森の中に隠し、あなたが一人でいるまで待ってください。
暗いが出たとき、あなたは私になります。



Hebi disappeared into the dense forest. His sinister chuckle echoed through the trees and seemed as if he was all around the two girls.
"Yes, my little act was wonderful, wasn't it. I've been practicing for years." He hissed. "You just couldn't take a hint, could you assassin girl? I tried to get you off my case, but now I'm afraid your fate has been sealed. You were to stupid to get away from the danger...." Hebi said. Hissing sounds came from every tree. A few snakes slithered out from bushes and for within the tall grass. All of them are poisonous.

"It ssseemsss that you've cut your ssself. Thatsss very bad misss assssassssin." Hebi said, dragging on the S's on purpose. He didn't really have to talk like this, but it added in some amusement. "Even if my fangsss grazed your ssskin, you're ssstill mine. You will jussst fall to the venom ssslower." Hebi's voice was nothing more than a whisper now.

Hebi's form had changed, and now his bottom half was than of a snake. His skin was a deep green with black streaks going through it, and his tail was 25 feet long. His finger nails had sharpened and his eyes looked exactly like a snakes now, cold and black. He slithered through the trees and watched the two girls from withi the forest. He got behind Leah and waited, watched his prey.
"Such a pity....you're very beautiful....both of you are..." He sighed, then struck out of the forest. His mouth gaped open and aimed for Leah's head. He was planning to try and swallow her whole. Of course the poison would start to kick in soon, so it would get harder and harder to dodge him. That was how he killed...with his venom. He would first paralyze with victims, and then devour them.

He would get the cat girl next if she didn't leave...or maybe he wouldn't.... The half-demon might be enough.

Theme: Devour

[O-o_Eve_o-O]

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☽☾
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Ϊn this ώorld, where there is ʆight, there are Șhadows. ϔou can either Ȟide from them or Ȕse them to your Ѧdvantage.

Leah stood completely rigid as Hebi disappeared. Try as she might she couldn't pin down his location. Every time he spoke it was as if the sound was coming from every where at once. "You are hardley the most dangerous thing I've come across." Her tone was harash and expressed much of the agrivation he was feeling, as more snakes started to emerge from bushes. Did he control them? Considering she had already been bitten by him she figured the last thing she would need was to get bitten again. Leah started to cut the heads off of the snakes that got too close to her. It actually made her feel bad, she loved all animals even the ones like snakes that most people found creepy.

When he talked about his venom she allowed her mind to travel back to the graze and how her whole shoulder was starting to feel strange. Looking over at the cat girl she wondered if Hebi planned on killing her too or just herself. "You might want to take this chance to leave. He might turn on you." She returned her stare to the forest with her ears pointed up trying to pick up on his location. She considered herself extremely lucky that her instincts were as sarp as they were. She hadn't even noticed he was behind her but they told her to dive to the left. Without a second thought she listened to them and barely missed being eaten head first by Hebi, she shuddered at the thought of being eaten alive. But happy with an opening she reached to grab her other fan but found it difficult to move her left arm. s**t its spreading fast! And I'm still conatining most of it. Realizing the danger of the situation she racked her brain for ideas. She could just turn tail and run, not matter how shameful, she would live to see another day. Or call on Kumori since he had a much longer fighting range than her fans. . . Or she could change into full demon, but she really hated to use that technique.

Still only holding a fan in her right hand she moved to Hebi and went to slice down his side. "I have to say, I liked you better before you turned into this." She would persist a little longer before making her final decision. A lot depended on how the other woman would react to the situation. Would she join Hebi in the attack or help out her? Hell, she could just stand there and watch. Either way Rakzah was a suprise variable, and Leah hated that. She really regretted following him into the forest while he was with someone else. Note to self. Never engage if they are with others who aren't human. While it had never caused a big enough problem before this instance made up for all the times it turned out right. There was just to many unkown factors with other non-humans being present.

Ȋ ҫhoose to Ȕse Ҭhem

[Teh Musician]

Gorath

Cancer

One must ask if they truly love nature as it should be loved.......Then they must ask if nature loves them back......

Gorath did the closest thing to a sigh a creature made of rocks could muster. A growl of sorts but in no threatening way, more so a defeated grunt of an older man. This was the first time since the gathering did Gorath speak.
"Master pick each carefully. The beings master picked will be here to listen.... Patients." Gorath said. It was comical that the most threatening by sheer size appearance was so calm. When Gorath spoke his voice was a low rumble. The sound of rocks grinding and bouncing in his massive throat could be heard as sort of back round noise when the golem spoke. Being of rock and earth he had no squishy vocal chords, it was through the dragons magic that spawned the creature that gave him thought and a voice.

Gorath looked to the one known as Libra with her two creatures that represent something. Gorath felt bad the white one was sick. The small rabbit like beings and their master Maria he also heard her called shared the role of balance. Gorath represented a physical manifestation of the angry earth being abused by certain races. Once beautiful landscapes made by the delicate hand of nature was run down and turned ugly by its other creations. Gorath was calm now but a sort of boiling anger was deep in his heart being hurt and abused for so long and having no voice to change things. Gorath walked over to Libra and where she stood making loud steps from his weight and taking care not to kick or step on the others. On the higher level Libra was about eye level with Gorath.
"Little white rabbit look sick. Gorath Help?" He asked. the rocky features on his face turned to a sort of smile. Gorath spoke softly not to overwhelm Libra and her creature companions with his booming voice.

In this case it is a resounding no.

[Cheow_sky]

Libra ((making that formate soon....soon....))

Libra turned to look at the large golem made from stone and grass. He reminded her of what the Earth used to look like, when all emotions were balanced and sometimes, unbalanced. He asked her if Harmony was sick; a small nod answered his first question. When he asked if he could help, Libra nodded.
"You already have..." Libra said. Her voice was soothing and peaceful, and would bring warmth to even the most vile of creatures. Like a dove singing, or like how rain fell gently from the sky. Comforting and like a mother.

Harmony had perked up her head when Gorath showed kindness. His words had made her feel much better. She shook her head and then her body, as if she was wet, then looked over at Gorath.
"Your words of generosity have helped me, thank you Mr. Stone Man." Harmony chimed as she sat up in Maria's arms. Balance was the key, and at the moment, two simple sentences had helped restore some of the balance in the room. It was that easy...so why could the world do the same.

[Teh Musician]

Xavier Demonheart

Scorpio

The voices speak in numbers and the soul has been given to darkness.....

Scorpio listened to the words of the archer. From everything here a normal human was odd and out of place until he just coming from life has already figured out key opponents. Scorpio was intrigued to the point he even stopped trying to make 'tension bleed' and let his shadow shrink back to normal. Then the twins spoke up showing their age asking what the info would do for them. They thought that just fallowing orders meant no variables. Regardless of the task or tasks they are wicked in nature and not wanted by those named by the clever human. Demon lord Kaos spoke as expected making the other demons in Scorpio's mind laugh. The pride of demons were legendary making orcs seem humble so the answer was expected. The large armored man with the little girl clinging to his neck only shouted. Of course it meant nothing Scorpio didn't care he was interested in those names. The demons in his head growled at some of them as Scorpio read them aloud to himself.

"What is being said child of Taurus is these people can be dangerous. Regardless of what the dragon tells us to do these key names will gather armies. Though they just came from war there has been a disgusting wave of peace in the world." Scorpio spat at the ground just thinking about it.
"Peace is profit for these sickening lands and thus they will defend it with their lives. A cornered rat can sometimes kill a snake. The holy beings are especially dangerous to more than just me in the group." Scorpio explained simply to Izaya. He then turned his attention to the human known as Nathan.
"You've pleased the voices human. Let me know if you want to make a contract for any more power. They truly would enjoy using your mind for darkness." Scorpio said. It surprisingly wasn't a threat. To Scorpio that was an honor to be accepted into possession to gain strength.

Then the light from the sun suddenly crept in from the ceiling. Scorpio hissed showing a wicked wolf like snarl as one of the beams made it to his eye. He back away from his current spot swiping his sleeve across his face. He jumped against the wall his shadow forming four tendrils across his torso that clung to the wall. Using his arms legs and manipulated shadow he crawled up the wall to the darkest corner of the upper wall he could get to. A sound of a high pitched scream mixed with a demonic roar came from the dark corner. Scorpio traveled through the sun with his hood over his eyes or his shadow around his body. The bare sun was sickening to him and very unpleasant. It not only burned the skin but the eyes as well. Then it makes you feel warm and fuzzy ultimately at peace...... It was simply horrible.

.....Dance in the shadows and feel my madness!

[Cheow_sky]

Hebi Ryoushi

私はすべてを消費する。
あなたは私の獲物です。
私は森の中に隠し、あなたが一人でいるまで待ってください。
暗いが出たとき、あなたは私になります。



Hebi had missed again, but he noticed that the female half-demon was slowing down. He landed out in the open, but turned around at a blinding speed. He was just barely slashed by Leah's blade. He examined the wound with child like curiosity, and the chuckled.
"How funny, I liked you better when you weren't trying to kill me." He hissed and slithers low on the ground. That cat girl was still here...maybe she could be of some use. after all. She wasn't human either. The cat girl could possibly distract Leah and allow him to devour the half-demon. Maybe Hebi would consider letting the little kitty live. Hebi let Leah's eyes follow him, but not his tail. While Leah wasn't looking, he swung his large tail right at her.

Hebi planned to pin her down, and the to swallow her whole as the venom took started to paralyze her. Oh yes, he loved the sound of that. This was his favorite part of having being hunted. He turned it into a game first, and then he made the hunter the hunted. He loved to make it so that his prey was still alive when he ate them, just so that they could suffer inside of him as they were digested. On one occasion, one hunter had brought Cuttlefish, which was something that made him sick to his stomach. He couldn't stand Cuttlefish! It made him want to puke, and sometimes made him so sick that he could move for days. It was the best thing to use against him, but it looked like this huntress didn't have any on her, so he was in the clear.

Hebi watched as his fast moving tail went to wrap itself around Leah and to bring her down. He had always wanted to know what half-demon tasted like.


Theme: Devour