A u r A • H e a r t Z : Introductory Arc ~ [ Lit. O / A ]

Epic battle is Epic!

Hale v Crimson FTW!	40.6%	[ 13 ]
Leonoka v Twins FTW!	18.8%	[ 6 ]
JuCien v Xanas FTW!	28.1%	[ 9 ]
Captains v AlaJi FTW!	3.1%	[ 1 ]
Recruits v AnLance FTW!	6.2%	[ 2 ]
Ocean Team v Juriza FTW!	3.1%	[ 1 ]
Total Votes:			[ 32 ]

[.Halcyonia.]

✖✪☛
It's not like I need somebody telling me where I should go at night ................................
Don't worry, you'll find somebody - someone to tell how to live their life ....................... I've had enough of who they want
'Cause you're so perfect, and no one measures up ......................................................... Why would I let them make up my mind and be mislead?
But all by yourself, you're all messed up ......................................................................... I'm sick of you judging me

R . a . i >>>>>>>>>
x [ "So. You got a problem with that?" ] x
☢ ☠ ☢

<<< t-Gen zepto [16th gen.] >>>
┏━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┓

⊕xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx▃ ▅ ▆
Ride on Shooting Star
The Pillows
« ► » 1:17 [|||||||||||||||------------] 2:24

┗━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┛

xxxx⇨ G.P.S. tracking//Worldship The Lady, Lifestream

- - - - - - - - - - - - ✁ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Oh. Miss No One. You're just in time, I've decided... My first action as Captain of The Lady will be..."

Rai raised an eyebrow, and behind her smooth mask that betrayed no change in emotion, she flinched slightly. "Miss No One"? Damnit. He'd heard her when she said that, then. Rai sighed to herself. Not only that, but he'd already figured out she was a girl, too. Maybe he's not as dumb as the inital impression...

"To give everyone swiveling comfy chairs!"

Her eyebrow twitched slightly again, and Rai put a hand over her face, sighing deeply. Okay, maybe he is. "Sir... What about where we're going?" she said emphatically. Did this man need to be reminded about everything?

Remembering his duties, Hale proceeded to explain where they were going. Symphonia. For the capture of some runaway Keeper and Shadowsili. Shino Ishida, huh? thought Rai nonchalently. After all, it wasn't her job. She just kept the ship running. The Keepers could do all the prancing about after suspected criminals they wanted - she'd leave that to them.

"But. But. In the case that he IS a traitor. He has to be caught and if required, killed. For the sake of order. For the sake of The Collective itself. Make no mistake about that when the time comes." There was a heavy silence, and Rai began to see a pattern. Whenever he removed his glasses, things got serious. "But hey. Here's to hoping he isn't," he said, suddenly cheerful again as he replaced his glasses and grinned. It was almost scary, the way that man changed between two extremes so quickly.

Rai scratched the back of her head absently as Hale stalked off and resumed her arm-cross position against the wall. Well, what now?

"Uh-um..." Rai looked down to see the blue-winged boy waddle up to her, the crazy blue bird held in his arms like a giant plushie. The creature seemed rather calm when it was held in his arms like that, really. "No one...will you play with us?" said Kaito, tilting his head to the side a bit.

Rai actually laughed, putting a hand over her heart as if it was too much to bear. "Play with you...?" she repeated, tilting her head back and laughing again at the absurdity. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair again, looking down at the boy with a grin. He really was cute, but - Rai didn't play with anyone. "Look, kid-"

"OHMEHFFGUH! By the Immortals, you are the cutest thing I have ever seen in the most ever ever of ever ever ever! If course I'll play with you!"

Rai glanced up as one of the Keepers - the one who had jumped onto the ship at the last minute - strode over and bent down in front of Kaito and started blabbering at him about flying together and how cute he was. Cuter than "the little baby Hylravine Servant hatchlings in Spring," apparently. Rai had no idea what that was, to be honest, but it sounded weird. Then the girl pinched Kaito's cheek. "What do you want to play right now? Do you want to play hide-and-seek?"

Before the poor boy could even move, a new vulture had swept down and attacked, squawking loudly - at least that's how it looked in Rai's mind.

“Oh My God! How in the world did I not notice you before! You’re even cuter from the front! Whooooooa~!” Rai grimaced as her overexcited Junior Captain pressed Kaito's face into her breasts, no doubt nearly suffocating the boy. “You are my cutiepie, and I shall call you cutiepie, and you shall be my cutiepie!” Then she... dropped him, and proceeded to fuss over him to make sure he was okay.

Rai rolled her eyes at the whole thing and looked down at the little boy sympathetically. He hadn't done anything yet and he was being thrown around the like a ragdoll. Oh, the price of being cute. "Better let them play with you instead, Kaito, they'll probably rip you to shreds with their claws if you don't. Besides, if I played hide and seek with them, chances are I wouldn't find them. Ever."

“Hello there, I’m Telosia Lightwing, your Junior Captain,” said Telosia, extending her hand towards the new girl.

Rai sighed. "To be honest, all this squealing is making me want to either throw up or stab someone in the windpipe, sooo... I'll see you later, angel boy," she said, grinning and leaning down a bit to address him. She almost had the urge to ruffle his hair (he was so cute not even she could deny it), but with all the manhandling he'd already endured, she figured it was better to just let him be. Who knew when that bird might explode in their faces, anyway. Besides, it wasn't good for her to get close to anyone. She had to remind herself that. "Have fun trying not to suffocate in Miss Perky's boobs," said Rai, grinning and waving jovially as she turned and walked away from the group.

Whistling as she walked, Rai strode easily down the hallway towards the back of The Lady. Time to do some exploring and see what this place was all about. The ship was mostly storage rooms and living quarters, she noticed, and Rai prayed to god that she wouldn't have share a room with someone... especially not one of the squealing girls. Then again, it might be fun to annoy them. But she'd probably get into fights. Not that Rai cared - nothing like a good fistfight.

Even if she was good with martial arts, though, Rai had to remind herself that these were Keepers, and no matter how tough Rai was, they had Nexuses, and powers that she didn't. When it came down to it, they had the upper hand. There was no way she could win against a Cryasili when she was just a normal human.

Rai's mind turned, and she thought back to how Kaito had addressed her earlier. Now that she thought of it, though, this thing about being called "No one" was actually a boon - that way she wouldn't have to worry about Hale actually figuring out her real name. Unless he looked at his files, or something - was there a file on her? She wondered. Well, whatever. Not that it matters... That's what she wanted to think, anyway. Even though it did.

After walking the length of the ship, Rai found herself in the engine room. Sweet, thought Rai to herself, nodding in satisfaction. To a mechanic, this was true beauty.

▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄

you made yourself a bed at the bottom of the blackest hole
and [convinced yourself] that it's not the r e a s o n you don't see the sun anymore

And sepia-colored memories that were imprinted on my eyelids ....................................................................... In a distorted loophole in time
Are now on the other side of the soft light... ........................... The knife that stabbed me in the back gives me [wings]
They're still too far off for me, filthy as I am now . ...................................................................... And I keep looking at the sky
I can't return to that time ever again .................................................... In order to b u r n . u p all of the memories
When we were laughing .................................................................... Running through my entire body

I [lock] myself up, unable to even atone
More than eternally embracing an illusion
In a moment I'd choose f r e e d o m
➳ ♥ •

[Makihyu Hiashin]

».......The wind is my road
.......And my heart chooses the path

» I Am Forever Free «
― Team 9-AC Aerial Operations Specialist ―
☼ λlthalia §aloshin ☼
The Lady - Cabin, Life-Stream
(♫)

[[OOC: Really just waiting on Damien to post for Alahalm before I get on with the Preposterous/Vectiras. ._. ]]

.......Althalia, so far, had completely ignored everything - the Junior Captain's announcement of the ship's acceleration, the turbulence, everything. Her mind was completely focused on figuring out what the little blue bundle of cuteness before her would like to play.

......."Um.. Um... do you like to play freeze tag? Or or or! We could play patty-cake! Oh!" Althalia snapped her fingers. "Nonono, I know this great game we used to play back in my country, it's called Fohravitar-lavat..."

.......She was then abruptly interrupted by a certain woman in a strange-looking Keeper Uniform who had rudely proceeded to take away Althalia's cutest bundle "of ever ever ever" pick up Kaito and squish-huggle the poor boy. Two things were on Althalia's mind that moment: Jealousy, because the other Keeper before her had significantly bigger boobs than she did; and Even More Jealousy, because in Althalia's mind, Kaito was not her cutiepie, he was Althalia's cutiepie.

.......Oh, women and their... mother-instincts.

.......Speaking of mother-instincts, the Skyrider was just about ready to slap the other woman and nurse the little angel-boy with a healing spell at the same time after watching the other Keeper accidentally drop the poor thing. Althalia pouted as she was quickly stopped in her tracks when the Junior Captain picked Kaito back up again and healed him first. The sandy-haired woman bit her lip and hissed a quiet "Fffffffff!!!" between her teeth and lips. The nerve!

.......The next moment, however, the young Keeper was caught completely off-guard when the other outstretched her hand in a greeting. Her face now had an awfully confused, blank expression as the other Keeper introduced herself with a smile.

....... “Hello there, I’m Telosia Lightwing, your Junior Captain.”

.......Althalia gave her superior an awkward look, but took the hand and shook it respectfully, with a forced smile. "Nice to meet you, Junior Captain Lightwing. I'm Althalia Saloshin - newly graduated. Sorry I was late to introduce myself back at Port; I was, uh... readjusting the crystals on my board. Yeah."

.......Of course, what was really going on in the back of her mind was something quite sinister, and it went along the lines of, Kekeke! Fine, you're forgiven for now, Miss Lightwing, but you won't be so lucky next time with Kaito! Fufufufu...

.......While it was the least of her concern at the moment, her hearing and peripheral senses were decent enough to hear the orange-haired "Miss No-One" comment on their babble. Althalia pouted again as she watched the girl walk off into the engine room. She did not bother to reply to her - she knew she probably wouldn't win in a battle of wits against the mechanic, and she was leaving the cabin anyway, but what a mean little mechanic she was! Of course she would play easy on Kaito... Maybe. Hardcore Skyriders like Althalia, unfortunately, were no easy players at most any games, no matter how hard they tried - and she knew this well.

.......For the most part, anyway.

So who are you to tell me.......
Where I will go?.......«

[PyroXTech]

I'm tired of running away.
It's finally time to stand and fight.

The Rogue
Shino Ishida - Farzai, Symphonia
"I'm sorry to interupt, but I must inform you that I still don't care."

There was little resistance as Shino left Farzai, the citizens too distracted by all of the damage Jack had caused to notice him skip town, he was almost tempted to go back and make another lap around the city. Almost. Absorbing the metal from the handcuffs into his personal collection the rogue rested his hands behind his head, trying to figure out where he would go now. Farzai and the nearby towns were out of the question as the guards and Crusaders would be swarming the place looking for him now that he had escaped, but he had no reason to run for the next planet quite yet. Some distance from the city Shino paused for a moment to look around for his ship, hoping that somebody hadn't stumbled across since the last time he left to check up on it. "Now where did I leave that damn ship again, I could ha-" He was cut off as he felt something pace through his aura with increadible speed, crossing his arms in front of his body in a feeble attempt to block the attack.

Three aura blasts slammed into him, the explosions throwing up a thick cloud of dust around his body, concealing the fate of the rogue for almost half a minute. As the dust started to clear the silhouette of a man stood, body still completely intact despite the ferocity of the recent attack. When the dust finally cleared several seconds later the figure became clearly visable, its featureless metal body still glowing red hot on some parts from the heat created in the explosion, taunting the attacker with a raised middle finger directed towards the trees where the attack had originated from. The metal began to melt away and form a puddle of silverish liquid on the ground around the feet of an unharmed Shino, who proceded to draw the metal back into his rings.

With a sigh Shino faced the general direction of where the attack had come from, slumping as he rested his hands on his hips. "Come on, if you want to kill me you're going to have to try harder than that. You're not exactally the first one to try, I mean come on it wasn't even original." Standing himself up straight he extended his right arm in front of his body, his aura pouring into his hands as his Nexus formed. "I do believe it's my turn."


Gripping the scythe with both hands Shino began to condense his aura into the blade of Harbringer, swinging the weapon back so that it rested horizontally across his chest. With a grin he brought the weapon back in a horizontal arc, detaching the blade mid-flight to increase the range of the attack, but even then the blade would only make it about halfway to the trees. As the blade travelled through the air it left a crimson streak in it's wake, sitting there motionless as Shino reconnected the blade to Harbringer and rested the scythe on the ground. "Now, would you be so kind as to die." With a snap of his fingers the streak shot forward, crashing through the forest with increadible speed. From where he was standing it appeared as if nothing had happened for a moment, until several dozen trees began to collapse upon each other, crushing anything unfortuanate enough to be caught underneath them.

Lifting the scythe to rest it on his shoulder, Shino yelled towards the remains of the forest. "Hey, I'll be leaving now. You might want to hurry if you're still dumb enough to try and kill me, that is if you are still alive." It didn't take long for him to learn that it was easier to just to kill them and get it over with, at least then he had one less person on his a**, well for a little while anyway. Disappearing into the forest Shino headed towards a nearby clearing that he had hidden Vengeance in once after his arrival, wondering who would have sent a man to kill him, it wasn't that often he pissed anyone off that much. Keepers? No, not their style, they would have tried to capture me first. The Crusaders aren't exactally bright enough, I wouldn't be surprised if it took 'em a week to figure out I was gone... I know I'm overlooking someone, but who?

It didn't take very long for him to arrive in the small clearing, but he had a feeling it would take his persuer a couple minutes to dig himself out and catch up. Carefully removing each ring and placing it at a random spot around the clearing, he was able to finish the task within two minutes, leaving no more than ten feet between any nearby rings. Smiling at his deed Shino took his place at the center of the clearing, resting Harbringer on the ground in front of him while he looked around for any signs of the assassin's arrival. I hope this guy shows up soon. I figure I got another ten, mabey fifteen minutes with Harbringer before it starts eating up my aura.

So move out of my way,
before I have to cut you down.

[Hiro Ayami]

High rise, veins of the avenue
Bright eyes and subtle variations of blue
Everywhere is balanced there
like a rainbow above you

Street lights glisten on the boulevard
And cold nights make staying alert so hard
For heaven's sake, keep me awake
so I won't be caught off guard

Clearly I am a passerby but I'll find a place to stay
Dear pacific day, won't you take me away?

╬ ╬
Target Sighted: The Lady: Bridge

As Telosia greeted him, Mav couldn’t help but grin stupidly, missing both Hales and Kaito’s looks. It was only when Hale mentioned sharing his Muffin that his attention was drawn away from Telosia’s bre-... badge.

“Eh, what muffin?” he queried out loud, glancing to the cupcake in his hand a second too late, “I’ve only got this cupca-HEY!”

He barely had time to voice his protest before Hale went off on his own accord, something Mav was beginning to notice as more common than not, tearing chunks of the ‘muffin’ and throwing them around at the various members of 9 AC. As a tiny chunk wound up in his hands he sighed, popping the morsel into his mouth.

Tolerate...

He glanced towards Hale, who was apparently conversing with some little orange haired boy.

...That man is a genius they’re always eccentric.

Ignoring the squad overall for the time being Mav’s attention was brought to the sound of engines whirring, and a few moments later realized they were coming from the ship currently vibrating under his boots. As the rest of the squad hurried in he scrambled to grab the boxes of cupcakes he’d left behind him and followed suit behind the rest of his new team, probably seconds before Althalia had run in. However rather than following the rest of the team he hurried over to one of the smaller rooms, intent on finding a place to stash his treats. If there was something his first encounter with 9 AC and its members was that his cupcakes were NOT safe in plain sight.

Arm laden with boxes containing bakers dozens of cupcakes, he fiddled with the door of room 5. Dropping the boxes on the bed he quickly fiddled with a metal panel at the foot of the bed, giving it a few precision kicks and smashes, eventually tearing the thing off. Hastily he stuffed the newly revealed compartment full of his treasure, leaving one box on his bed along with his uniform jacket, jamming the panel back into place. Content with his work he grabbed his box of cupcakes and hurried out of the room, charging down the hallway towards the bridge.

By now the ship had taken off, though he figured he should be around to at least find out where they were heading. However, rather than catching anything that Hale had said, he’d come in just as the speech was over, and Hale leaving the bridge. Glancing at the main screen he saw the information on Symphonia, though once he got to the part about them being unaware he grew bored, saved only by the excited squealing of women further inside.

Stepping inside from the doorway he caught sight of Kaito’s face pressed firmly within the depths of Telosia’s cleavage. It was at that very moment inspiration hit Mav. A little bit of quick thinking and he made his little plans in his head, dodging the little orange haired boy as he exited the bridge. Shifting the box of cupcakes to his side he made his way over to the squee cluster.

“Yo.” He greeted them with a smile, lowering himself to be level with the blue haired angel while the two women conversed between themselves, “You must be Kaito, we’ll be working together from now on.” He grinned, “Like the Capt’n seems to think, we best be getting’ along right?”

He patted Kaito on the shoulder, “How ‘bout we go play a game in the mess hall? I bet there’s plenty of things we can do there, maybe we can steal the Capt’n too.”

This is my:
Reality -

Understanding -

Sensation -

Feelings -

Hope -

Truth -


Understanding everything and nothing
Is this where existence ends?

[Taska Neko]

[тнє мσѕт σвℓινισυѕ]---》「 σƒ αℓℓ 」

[K]aito [A]zure

[海翔 アズレ]

Keeper Team 9-AC - Worldship The Lady, Lifestream

Lost in the darkness,
Silence surrounds you.
Once there was morning,
Now endless night.

Kaito blinked wondering why 'No one' was laughing. Did something funny happen that he didn't see? Looking down at Sukai he thought she might help him understand what the other was laughing about, but his bird companion didn't think it too important and shrugged it off as she preened herself.

"Play with you...?" the one called 'No one' had managed to get out before she started laughing again. Kaito still didn't get what she thought was so funny. "Look, kid-" Kaito perked up listening since it seemed she was going to say something...perhaps it even had to do with what she thought was so funny. It seemed he would never know however as 'No one' hadn't gotten to finish the sentence.

"OHMEHFFGUH! By the Immortals, you are the cutest thing I have ever seen in the most ever ever of ever ever ever! If course I'll play with you!"

Kaito blinked a bit surprised to find himself now face to face with the Keeper who he had seen just make it to the ship before take-off. "Ah...Yeah I can fly," Kaito replied flapping his wings slightly as if to show her that they worked, it was only a few flaps though, then they settled back onto his back as they normally did. When the young woman talked about flying together Kaito gasped. "You can fly too!?" Kaito said surprised, mostly because he had yet to meet another would could ride the air like he could. It made him confused though, how could she fly if she didn't have wings? Maybe he should ask...

"Uh...but how can you fly? You don't have any wings...are your wings hiding?" Kaito asked in all seriousness. Kaito wanted to learn more about the lady and how she could fly without wings, but soon the topic changed as Althalia moved forward and gently pinched his cheek. Kaito scrunched his nose up unhappy about that, it only helped in making him look cuter though only adding more gas to the fire.

"What do you want to play right now? Do you want to play hide-and-seek?" The simple mention of what to play made him so happy that he no longer cared that this lady was pinching his cheek, nor that she had just jumped into the conversation on her own. He was glad to have found a new playmate. If 'No one' still wanted to play they could all play together.

Kaito opened his mouth to quickly accept the offer of hide-and-seek but before anything could get out of his mouth Kaito was once more attacked, this time from behind by the very being that had nearly mauled him over when they had first met. Kaito gave out a surprised squeak releasing his hold on Sukai, who seeing the potential danger of being mauled by the women herself, took flight to land on a higher (and much more safer) perch, watching Kaito from above. She knew the women wouldn't really harm Kaito, which was why she didn't attack. Besides, if it was being attacked by women over his cuteness, Kaito already had much experience.

“Oh My God! How in the world did I not notice you before!" the voice cried out. Kaito was about to turn around himself to see who this new person who was squishing him so tightly was before he found himself being spun around anyway. "You’re even cuter from the front! Whooooooa~!” she cried out before smashing him into her chest where he was nearly suffocated snuggled to death as he found his head buried by two giant soft pillow like protrusions on the Junior Captain's chest.

Kaito flailed his arms slightly trying to escape, but Telosia's strong hold on him kept him from doing so. "Mm camft hreaf" Kaito said, though his words came out muffled due to his head being currently buried. Kaito's body swayed from side to side along as the Junior Captain continued to try and kill him hold onto him muttering something about him now being her cutiepie.

Kaito struggled for air now having been deprived of it for quite some time as he was attacked snuggled finally getting some release when Telosia began to introduce herself to another. The moment Kaito was dropped he gasped, his lungs trying to fill themselves with air. "I-I thought...I was going to die..." Kaito said softly to himself. If Telosia had overheard she probably would have thought he had meant it for when she had dropped him.

The moment she did drop him though she was back to him checking him over like Sukai sometimes does whenever she believes him to be hurt. In a way the Junior Captain sort of reminded her of Sukai...where had she gone anyway?

There up on one of the railings on the ceiling Sukai was snickering as she watched throughly enjoying herself as Kaito got squashed by the female crew members. Kaito scrunched his face glaring at her as if to ask her why she didn't help him. She merely cooed softly, "You're just too cute for your own good,".

Kaito stood himself back up ignoring Sukai's comment and dusted himself off a bit, free of Telosia for now as she preoccupied herself with introductions. It was then that he heard 'No one' speak up. "Better let them play with you instead, Kaito, they'll probably rip you to shreds with their claws if you don't. Besides, if I played hide and seek with them, chances are I wouldn't find them. Ever. To be honest, all this squealing is making me want to either throw up or stab someone in the windpipe, sooo... I'll see you later, angel boy. Have fun trying not to suffocate in Miss Perky's boobs," 'No one' stated as she began to walk off.

Kaito was a little sad to see the other leave since she was who he had originally wanted to play with. He was quite hoping they could all play a game together, the more the merrier after all, but 'No one' didn't seem interested in playing at all. Kaito nodded softly as he watched her go. "Bye-Bye, we'll play some other time then!" Kaito called out waving to her as she left meaning he would continue to bug her to play with him later too.

Just as one left another arrived. "Yo. You must be Kaito, we’ll be working together from now on. Like the Capt’n seems to think, we best be getting’ along right?" Kaito blinked recognizing him as the one who had the cupcake earlier. Instantly Mav had gotten his attention. He smiled and nodded, "Right!" Kaito replied happy to find another possible playmate for him.

"How ‘bout we go play a game in the mess hall? I bet there’s plenty of things we can do there, maybe we can steal the Capt’n too." Kaito's eyes lit up happily and he nodded eagerly at Mav's offer. "Can we eat more cupcakes there too?!" Kaito asked...clearly cupcakes were becoming Kaito's weakness.

If I could reach you,
I'd guide you and teach you
To walk from the darkness
Back into the light.

[Q-Mo]

"I'm a destroyer, not a savior."

|| ♣ Jace Vistus - The Destroyer Savior - Vectiras, The Island Of Aedif ♣ ||

[ OOC: GASP! The first real villain of the new series! ]

I'm coming!

The Ghoul drew itself to full height over Mei, ignoring the confusion around it as the Nith brought ruin to the town that housed the memories, the lives, the loves... the everything of the people of Aedif.

Hold on just a little bit longer... please.

Seemingly reveling in the destruction and fear all around it and hoping to inspire some in the defiant young girl before it, the monster raised it's hand slowly, showcasing it's deadly claws and bringing them to full view in the weak light that poured in through the rips of the collapsing tent. And now, the claw descended with a deceptive swiftness that would in seconds; end the life of a girl who had already played a truly important part in the fate of the Lifestream.

They say that a no good deed goes unnoticed. SHRK! In a rushing blur of white, a hand coated in gently blazing aura rushed past from behind, ripping through the falling tent's wall and catching the claw a mere inch or so away from Mei. The Nith seemed to hesitate for a moment, as it did, another ripping noise signaled the arrival of the hand's owner, in a rush of cloaking flames bursting into the tent and slamming into the ghoul hurling it backwards. The figure stood protectively in front of Mei, it turned to face her. Although somewhat masked by white flames settling in a mantle and "crown" around him, the black arm hanging on it's left side contrasting the rest of the impressive but somewhat short figure gave it away; Jace was back.

"I'm sorry I missed your show... But there's no way I'm going to miss the next one, and there's going to be another one. Okay?" The flames masking his face like a strange helmet slipped off slightly to allow him to flash an apologetic smile to Mei before he was forced to turn around as the remaining Nith in the tent turned their attention to the new arrival, the flames armored him once more.

The Nith seemed to be hesitant to attack. Jace took the opportunity, white flames covered him completely as he rushed forward with a shout, an age old battle cry undefined by words; that battle cry used by sentient life to say: "This is my world. Sod off you bastards." The blast of cleansing white fire cut through the first few Nith like a hot knife through butter, scattering their life energy into the air to be finally put to rest by the life-stream. The remaining monsters quickly attacked after realizing that the boy was against them and were laid to rest by the white fires of the young boy who had taken himself up as Vectiras' protector.

The tent finally began to buckle in, the last of it's supports giving out as the last few people within managed to scramble their way out, outside, the invasion raged on with dark energy raining down from the heavens seemingly consumed by the shadows that fueled the Nith. The wind howled, rain poured in from above the mist washing the blood that flowed down the streets in a slick river of diluted red. And in the center of it all a spiral of white flames burst out from the recesses of the collapsed tent.

"I hear voices... They... they say this isn't what I'm meant for." The smoke began to clear as the white flames retreated back to their owner, who had burned a hole through the collapsing structure so that it lay all around them but not even a piece of singed cloth have touched their heads. "I'm scared. So terrified I can barely breathe... I think they're right. I might be a monster Mei... but... but the thought of standing back and watching this... you... everything be destroyed is even scarier... So it's going to be okay... I promise. Everything will be... al-"

Something took him in the chest, the white flames fluttered in place for a moment and then were ripped back leaving a stream that slowly returned to it's owner who had been thrown back several feet and lay on the ground, struggling to get back up... A translucent red "string" with occasional flecks of metal running along it protruded from Jace's chest. "Oh please... You're supposed to be what he is searching for? ... You make me sick." The Nith ravaging the island seemed to all stop what they were doing and surround the fallen boy, the collapsed circus and the foxgirl in a massive ring as the very skies above them thickened and darkened.

"I don't see it. Is it power? No. You're weak. What is it that he could possibly want from you? ... What could it be?" Jace rose, his hair now slick with dirt and rain, his chest was stained red with blood; the boy looked up in his pain blurred vision and saw a masked man, his white masked face tilted in a way that regarded him coldly, in the same way that a cruel scientist observed it's experiments. To him, Jace knew that he meant nothing but a curiosity. Floating around the man were "chains" of the translucent crimson string braided with steel, it connected to Jace to a wire that seemed to tug at his very aura.

"Wh-" The wire suddenly whipped back, ripping Jace out of his place and dragging him forwards viciously Jace managed to plant his feet a bit in front of Mei landing and struggling futilely against the string as he tried to cut it with his Nith claw, slicing the string easily; he suddenly found the end of the severed string splitting into two and lashing onto him, one now attached to his arm as well as one to his chest. "AHHHH!" Jace fought back valiantly but the pull was starting to overcome him, dragging him inch by inch across the ruins of the tent towards the masked man.

"And why? Why of all things would you fight us? Your brothers, your brethren. You silly... silly boy. Why? For that pathetic girl hrm?" Jace's legs gave out, the boy fell forward but before he could be dragged away swung wildly with both his right and left hands blazing through and cutting through the wires respectively, and doing so again and again as they split off to form more and more wires that attempted to latch themselves to him. "I..." The strings finally managed to overwhelm him, pulling him off balance and mercilessly dragging him against the streets so that in his attempts to stop himself Jace ripped a jagged inconsistent groove on the streets of Aedif.

"Oh good. You haven't died yet. You aren't as weak as you seem... I'll teach you a lesson for your insolence and your betrayal... make sure you don't do it again." Jace was dragged to his knees before the man who other than moving his mouth to speak, remained motionless, the white haired boy attempted to fight against the incredible force of control exerted by the wires but was only rewarded by having his head pushed into the pavement brutally before being forced to his feet by the puppeteer-like strings.

"I fight because..." The masked figure hesitated for a moment before forcing the boy closer with the strings so that his mask almost touched Jace's now bloodied face. "...What was that? ... Why you fight? Of course you should fight... you're a destroyer... it's what you're made for... Jace Vistus." Jace's face went pale with shock, his eyes widened, those words struck something inside him and wounded him on a level far deeper than the flesh. He raised his head and howled in agony, in fear, in the pain of the truth... No... no... he... was... he was...

... A destroyer. His arm knew it was true first.

"But I want to be a destroyer that saves."

[.Halcyonia.]

• Ѷεcтϊгαș → ♪
• ϓαηɱεϊ → ♫

♥
If the condemning sound of rain makes you sad,
I will become your gentle shield
Don't ever stop believing
I pray... that a small miracle
Will reflect in your eyes
I won't run away from fate; I'm by your side.
No matter how sad your dreams are, I don't mind
I pray... "believe" and rip up the darkness of the cold memories
♥





★ Ⓨ Ⓐ Ⓝ Ⓜ Ⓔ Ⓘ ★
✿ do you have any fruit juice ? ! ✿

¤·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸¸.☆ [ Island of Aedif, Vectiras ] ☆·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸¸.¤

x. fight! → ♬

✫ - ✬ - ✭ - ✮ - ✯ - ✰ - ✱ - ✲ - ✳ - ✴ - ✵ - ⋆

Yanmei stared defiantly as the Nith drifted closer, raising its clawed hand high into the air above her. She tried to back away, but ran into the pole behind her, and found herself transfixed by the Nith's raised claw. Looking at it there in the light, she couldn't help but be reminded of Jace's deformed arm... But Jace would never be like them. In her heart, Mei knew this.

The claw came down towards her, ready to end her life. Mei flinched.

Shrk!

Mei opened her eyes to see what had saved her. It was a hand glowing with white aura energy. The hand of a savior. A moment later, a figure burst into the tent and rammed into the Nith, toppling it over. He was cloaked in white aura, just like the night he'd awakened. He was back. As he turned his head to face her, Mei's dirt-scuffed face lit up with a smile of love and relief. She could feel it rushing through her like a waterfall, and it gave her energy.

"Jace...!"

"I'm sorry I missed your show... But there's no way I'm going to miss the next one, and there's going to be another one. Okay?" He smiled apologetically, and Mei knew that she would have given anything in the world to see that face again. Yanmei could only smile at him and try to nod, which was somewhat difficult because she was so overcome with joy. She wanted to rush to him and hug him tightly, but now obviously wasn't the time.

Jace turned back to the Nith and began to fight them back. Right... I have to fight, too. Ignoring the pain in her shoulder, Mei pushed herself to a standing position as a giant hammer materialized in her hand. "Alright... Come and get it!" Nearby Nith spotted her and came running in to attack, and Mei swung the hammer around at them in a flurry of attacks. Fighting next to Jace like that, nothing could hurt her; her courage now was that of a person who has recovered something precious that they believed they'd lost. And she wasn't letting him go again. Mei would protect Vectiras with Jace this time, by his side. She would show him, as she'd tried to do all those days when he'd been asleep, that he wasn't alone.

The tent shook and began to collapse, and Mei backed up to be nearer to Jace. When the tent came down at last, a burst of white aura flames circled upwards, leaving a huge hole in the tent. The tent fell around them, and Jace and Mei were untouched.

"I hear voices... They... they say this isn't what I'm meant for." Mei turned to Jace as he spoke. "I'm scared. So terrified I can barely breathe... I think they're right. I might be a monster Mei..."

Mei's heart faltered a little at Jace's accusations of himself. "Jace..." In that moment, she wanted nothing more than to tell him this: That if he ever felt frightened, she would be his bravery. She would stand by him, no matter what, and remind him of what he was. Not a monster... but the person she loved and looked up to. Her brother, the star who fell from the sky. The savior of Aedif. He was Jace, and she didn't care what he was or who he had been. He was Jace, and that was enough for her.

"But... but the thought of standing back and watching this... you... everything be destroyed is even scarier... So it's going to be okay... I promise." Mei smiled warmly at Jace; when he said those words, she really believed him. "Everything will be... al-"

Suddenly Jace was thrown back, his white aura drifting back to catch up with him. "Jace!!" Mei sprang after him, trying to reach his side, but a Nith came at her from behind and pulled her back, its long claws at her neck.

"Oh please... You're supposed to be what he is searching for? ... You make me sick."

Yanmei tore her eyes away from Jace struggling on the ground and looked to the speaker of those words - Jace's attacker. A man with bright red hair... and a mask.

Slowly, the Nith seemed to put off their attack on Aedif in favor of watching the proceeding spectacle. They gathered in a large ring, surrounding Jace, Mei, and the masked man like children watching a fight occur on the playground. From above, the black, sinister clouds that poured down dark rain rumbled and growled violently, the sounds of an angry, caged animal. Amidst the rain and thunder, the voice of the masked man cut through the heavy air like a candle flame in a dark room.

"I don't see it. Is it power? No. You're weak. What is it that he could possibly want from you? ... What could it be?"

Jace rose from the ground slowly, and Yanmei cried out to him, seeing the front of his clothing covered in stains of red. "Let... go of me!" she yelled, squirming in the arms of the Nith holding her back. Finally, she managed to break free and run towards Jace, but the claws of the surrounding Nith grabbed at her, and she tripped and fell in the mud a few feet away from him. Just then, the shrapnel-studded wire yanked forward, pulling Jace with it, who began to struggle against the cords. Finally, he managed to cut it, but the severed end instantly split into two and reattached to him. Jace continued to fight, but the wires pulled him forward mercilessly, and he was slowly dragged forward across the crumped tent. His yell of pain pierced through the black rain and landed like an arrow in Mei's ears.

"Stop it, you're hurting him!" screamed Mei, as if her words could save him. The Nith had swarmed to her once again, and were holding her back despite her best efforts to fight them off.

"And why? Why of all things..." The man was still talking to Jace, but they were far away now, and she couldn't hear them. Finally breaking free from the Nith that was holding her, Mei began fighting the Nith around her, materializing the hammer in her hand to bash them away. Buki-Ya had been hiding in the collar of her performance costume for some time, but now he emerged with an angry chitter and bravely launched himself into the fray. He screeched loudly as he scrambled among the Nith, clawing and biting as he went, too quick for them to catch.

It was probably a good thing Mei was surrounded by Nith and couldn't see Jace, because it would have broken her heart to pieces to see him suffer the way he did then, at the hands of the man covered in chains. Jace fought the wires with all his might, but soon they overcame him, and at the whim of the dark man, Jace was dragged into the streets of Aedif. As he went, he left deep trails through the mud, signals of his struggle.

Yanmei saw none of it, as she was still stuck far behind battling Nith. "Get out of my way!" The hammer smashed down on yet another Nith, and it shattered into a shower of black energy that quickly dissipated back into the darkened sky. Mei jumped from Nith to Nith, using the monsters as stepping stones as she leapt from one to the other, smashing them with her hammer as she went along. Her speed and agility were too much for most of them, and she swerved and dodged away from their attacks like the flexible, practiced acrobat she was.

At one point, she was countered by a Nith and thrown down into the mud on her back. Grimacing, Mei tried to get up from her spot, but the creature jumped on top of her and held her down with its weight. Yellow eyes glowing against the black sky, it placed its clawed hand around Mei's neck and began pushing down, trying to strangle her. Mei squirmed, pulling at its arm to no avail. Out of nowhere, a blur of gray and brown streaked through the air and landed on the Nith's face. It was Buki-Ya, and he was beyond angry. The little marmoset clawed at the Nith's eyes, and the monster screamed out in alarm, releasing its grip on Mei momentarily. Seizing the opportunity, Mei concentrated her energy and changed suddenly, into - a porcupine. The girl instantly curled into a ball, and the Nith that had previously held her down jumped away in alarm, at which Mei changed back into her normal self and smashed the creature with a hammer.

Rain poured down around them as a muddy and bedraggled team of Buki-Ya and Mei slid back in the mud, facing a new line of approaching Nith. Ugh, there's just no end to them! Ears flattened against her head, Mei glared at the oncoming Nith and increased the density of her hammer, adjusting her grip on the rain-slicked handle.

Then she heard Jace scream. It was the most horrible sound she'd ever heard. Mei felt like her heart was being pulled away by that sound, like she would break to pieces then and there. It was a cry filled with pain, fear, and agony. Mei's ears lifted at the sound, and her eyes widened with fear.

"Jace..." Something large and overwhelming began to well inside of her. Mei could feel the power building, growing. Pretty soon, it would burst out of her. Pretty soon... "JACE!!" Shutting her eyes tightly, Mei's hammer disappeared as her body began to change. In a bright flash of light that pushed the surrounding Nith away from her, a new form appeared. This animal was bigger than anything Mei had ever transformed into before. Rather than a cub, a large tiger stood. It had the long, lean body structure of a young adult, but it was as large as a fully-grown animal. Something was different about this one, though - instead of being white, or even orange, its fur was completely black, with bright pink stripes jarring across its body in stark contrast. It's eyes were bright jade, and the end of it's tail was tipped with white - just like a fox's.

The second level of Mei's Nexus had been released.

With Buki-Ya clinging fearfully to the collar around her neck, Mei leapt through the cloud of Nith and sped towards where she'd heard Jace yell, sprinting through the mud as fast as her legs could carry her. She spotted the masked man standing above Jace, who was dangling above the ground on sharp wires. In a blur of motion, Mei pounced the masked man, and they tumbled down into the mud.

Now larger and heavier than ever before, Mei used these aspects to her advantage. Combined with the benefit of surprise, she was able to knock the man completely off-balance. They wrestled in the mud for a few seconds before Mei came out on top. The man raised his arm in front of himself to block her attack, and she promptly bit down on his arm with all of the force she could muster. Because of the multiple chains and thick, heavy material that his clothing was made of, however, she was unable to pierce through his armor. Her bite hardly even left a scratch on his skin, though the pressure would be enough to bruise later.

Buki-Ya had ran away chittering, bounding just out of the range of action. If Mei needed him, he would be there in a pinch, but this was one situation where he wasn't willing to get squished among big people. Between fangs and razors, he wasn't too happy about the thought of getting sliced in half, either. Now, the little monkey ran to stand behind Jace, as if hiding behind the boy.

Growling, the masked man flung Yanmei away with a burst of his aura, displaying a huge amount of force. Mei landed in the mud a good twenty feet away and scrambled to her feet, shaking off the mud from her dark fur.

"Insolent girl. Learn not to meddle in matters that aren't yours!" There was a whip of motion around the dark man, and his sharp wires redirected themselves in beelines towards her. Mei transformed into a wolf with light blue fur and, with the extra agility, began dodging his attacks as she sprinted towards him. Just before she could reach him, though, one of the wires grabbed her ankle from behind, flipping her in a full circle. Mei landed in the mud on her back, yelping. After righting herself she stood slowly and glared with steely green eyes, growling at the man before her.

"You just don't give up, do you? I told you... to step aside, rat."

"No... no, I don't give up. And I will not step aside," said Mei, standing shakily after changing back into her usual form. "And I'm not a rat, I'm a fox, you big dummy!" She added, frowning.

"If you will not step aside... then you will be killed," sentenced the man coldly. The wires whipped around again and shot towards Mei, who leapt to the side. She managed to dodge one, but the second wire gripped her around the neck, and Mei was lifted off the ground as the wires pierced the cloth of her collar and dug into her skin, drawing blood.

What is it with strangling today?! thought Mei bitterly, struggling. She concentrated her energy, and with a flash, suddenly turned into a small black bird. Flying out of reach quickly, she soared through the dark sky and came around from behind the masked man. When she was high above him, she changed back into her normal fox-demon form and lifted her hands high above her head, the massive hammer materializing in her grip. "Not if you die first!" Mei brought the hammer down with all her might, aiming straight for the man's head.

Rather than being squished by the hammer, the man simply raised his hand in the air. In a burst of aura energy, Mei was stopped right where she was. For a split second, she hovered there in her air, eyes wide with shock. Huh?

The wires tore through her, and Mei was flung away, spinning through the air. She landed in the mud once again and rolled away, bruised and beaten. Her whole body hurt, and Mei ground her teeth against the pain. This time, she felt like she might not get up.

"Do you really want to fight for this boy who is a monster? You don't even know what he truly is," said the man with a sinister gaze. On the ground, Mei stared down at the mud, rain dripping into her eyes. "Stupid child. Be a good girl now and die in the mud, like the worm you are."

Mei felt a flare of anger burn inside of her. I told you, I'm a fox!

He turned towards Jace. "Your turn, boy."

"N... no," panted Mei, gasping for breath as she pushed herself to her feet. "No!" Her eyes suddenly lit up as Mei remembered her purpose. The starlit sky flashed through her mind, and she remembered dragging Jace out of the water. She remembered his face on the white pillow of the hospital, so peaceful as he slept. She remembered his nightmares, and the night he awoke to save the town. Mei's heart came to a realization. This was where she was meant to be.

This time, she wouldn't let Jace leave. This time, she would stay by his side. Forever.

With effort, the little girl got to her feet and stumbled towards Jace, standing in front of him protectively. She was a good foot shorter than him, but in this case, it was the size of her heart that mattered.

"You're the one who doesn't know him," spoke Mei defiantly. "If you fight Jace, you fight me."

The man narrowed his eyes. "So be it." Around him, the wires flashed, and with deadly speed and precision, they shot forward, straight for the heart of a brave little fox demon.

☁ ׺°”˜`”°º× ☁ ׺°”˜`”°º× ☁
there will be sunshine again after the r a i n . . .

☀ ☂ ☁

♥
Breathing calmly, I looked at you
Who had fallen asleep, so exhausted
The sweet, unprotected profile
That no one in the world but me knows
♥

[Damien Nocturne]

||The Wandering Tradesman||
Bridge of the Worldship Preposterous

( "D'ya know what the Pillar is? No? Neither does anyone else. We know what it does though, and we certainly can't go messing about with the thing holding up the sky. Whaddya mean, 'sky ain't a solid thing'? More solid 'n your morals at any rate!" )


“Vectiras, Vectiras, a name I cannot recall; that alone should be enough to make it interesting.” Hmph. Derogatory remarks aside-he most certainly was notakin to all the men of Yato; they lack half his wit, and any of his charm-it smacked of something ominous when he rolled the name across his tongue.

Vectiras, like old math, a point of direction and a destination in its own right – but only a small part of grander, more intricate shapes.

Whatever.

And then the girl wrapped around him, tugging at his things, a little angel with all the money in her hands that such bloody paws could grip. Too much and it would slip out, best not overextend it. He ran a tongue across his (completely normal) front teeth and eyed the money.

He only barely heard her words.

Hmph. What a simpleton on the outside. What a corpse on the inside, rotted though and bloated. He swept the cloak wide, physics nearly shrieking in outrage as it moved in a way no logical material (could) should move. It rippled so heavily; a fold slammed into some protrusion with a clamorous thud, damaging the sheen.

The rope coiled along his arm, black like cable, a coiled snake of charcoal with silver filigree – it knotted around his wrist. Something shimmered along its length, a distorted wave of air, but it passed quickly.

A blink and golden finery draped down, thin chains and amulets and clasps studded with delicate gems, dangling salaciously from his Cart (he called it that now, his merchandise rope. Used to pull the thing around, but fancy magic let him do so many interesting things.) The precious metal glimmered beneath the lights in that tantalizing way, a glimmer of old wealth and class.

“If shining trinkets you desire, then you may have some.”

Irritatingly, his brow knitted together, lips curving upward into a terrible smirk. Something in his mouth seemed to gleam in the light but it vanished just as quickly (probably nothing, probably nothing.) The expression was, despicable.

“Of course, if you would be willing to part with a, reasonable portion of that gold…” Here, “reasonable” read quite clearly as “all,” and even the would-be subtle undertones were screaming it to the world. The smirk on his face just stretched wider, more pronounced.

“I could find a few more interesting items.”

The smirk vanished as he shook his head, free hand gesturing animatedly toward the merchandise swinging gently from his outstretched arm. Best to keep her focus on the important things, like giving him some of her money – or better, all of her money.

Of course, she probably wouldn’t be interested in the special wares. Nobody really was (especially not that coward king. Called his artifacts useless magic junkboxes. See if you ever get a FTL drive now, you know-nothing idiot. Bah!)

“Not that the current selection is bad at all.”

[PyroXTech]

.: Lucien Von Kroenen - Keeper Worldship The Lady, Lifestream:.
"Do you hear the voices too?"

Catching the remains of the muffin mid-flight, Lucien was slightly confused by the methods of this rather unusual Captain. Lowering his head the Keeper lifted his mask just enough to fit the muffin into his mouth, dropping his mask back down into place once he had a chance to close his mouth. "Team 9-AC. Everyone. In case you don't know, I'm Captain Hale Savitat. I know this is your first time on a proper mission since becoming a Keeper, this is my first time as a Captain so I can tell you, I'm as nervous as you are. But that's alright. By the time I'm through, I promise. I'll make a real Keeper out of you all... Even if it kills me... or you." It wasn't exactally Lucien's first mission, but he understood that Hale would make several small mistakes like that over the course of this mission alone, he reaslised it would be better to just ignore them rather than call him on every mistake.

With Hale's speech complete Lucien followed the others into The Lady, taking a seat at the far end of the table as the stragglers began to file into their seats. "Oh. Miss No One. You're just in time, I've decided... My first action as Captain of The Lady will be..." The masked Keeper looked towards the Captain, a little surprised that he was attempting to be serious for once. "To give everyone swiveling comfy chairs!" Caught off guard by the response he almost began to laugh, but he was able to play it off as a cough while everybody else seemed to be either completely dumbfounded or in agreement with Captain Hale. You have got to be kidding me... This man is completely insane, how did he ever make it to the rank of Captain?

At least from there he managed to stay serious long enough to tell them their mission, the capture and possible exectution of one Shino Ishida, a former Keeper believed to be a Shadowsili. While a few of the others began to talk among themselves about the later Lucien couldn't have cared less about this Shino, after spending so many years as an assassination specialist taking the lives of his targets had become somewhat of a common occurance. His only regret in this mission would come from letting this target escape with his life, but unless ordered otherwise he would have to hold back on his abilities, no matter how much he wished to do otherwise.

"To Symphonia then."

As Hale and Telosia departed the room and left the Keepers to do as they wished for the remainder of the trip, Lucien watched silently as Kaito approached Rai. "No one...will you play with us?" While the mechanic attempted to respond, it did not take very long until Athalia, Telosia and even Mav swarmed the angel boy, each taking up the offer to play with the young angel. His head already begining to ache from the sheer idiocy that he was now witnessing, the masked Keeper stood up from his seet and departed from the room, whispering under his breath as he left. "Childish fools..."

Realizing that the others would remain distracted by Kaito for at least a few more minutes, Lucien headed towards his dorm in hopes of some peace and quiet before the mission began and he would be forced to interact with the rest of this new team. He quickly found his way to Room 3 and slipped inside, closing the metal door behind him as he walked over to one of the beds. Carefully he removed each of his weapons, laying both Executioners and the automatic pistol on his bed before he removed a cloth from one of the pockets on his uniform. Sitting down on the end of the bed he flicked back his wrist and allowed a katar to extend from his right sleeve, carefully looking the blade over for any imperfections before he began to polish the deadly blade. For several minutes he sat in silence, wiping away every spec of dust and grim until the blade sparkled under the lights of the room. Satisfied with his work he retracted the blade, disappearing into the depths of his sleeve until it seemed to vanish from existance.

Lucien began to reach for one of his Executioners, but his hand stopped before he could reach the weapon as thousands of voices began to fill his head, pulling both hands up to cradle his head in an attempt to dull the oncoming pain. Resisting the urge to scream as a wave of pain shot through his skull, his breathing became heavy and strained as the voices continued to become louder and louder, until it seemed that they would split his skull from the sheer volume of their screams. He knew no help would come for him, they would not hear the voices or know his pain, so he would have to endure them like he had so many times before until the voices eventually died down on their own.

[Makihyu Hiashin]

».......I may be a fool about to walk off a cliff,
.......but I am the fool with a sack,
.......and in this sack I have the things
.......with which I'll make my destiny

» [By Your Powers Combined] I am Captain Preposterous «
♦ Mattheis Hiashin III ♦
H.K.M.S. Preposterous - Bridge, Above the Atmosphere of Vectiras
(♫)

[[OOC: FUUUUCK YES LET'S DO THIS PUNKS! ... P.S. This is going to be long - but hopefully Matt's first really "epic" post.]]

.......With the scene going on before him and the attention of that burden of a salesman upon someone else, Captain Mattheis was almost tempted to slip away. However, for the purpose of self-amusement, he watched as the peddler made his offers to the angelic passenger with the sack of money, wondering just how well he could swindle this customer. She seemed shallow enough - Mattheis had never in his life known anyone who was only interested in things because of their... sheen. As far as he was concerned, people like that didn't really deserve to have that wealth.

.......Then again, he didn't know this particular woman very well - and he was sure that he probably never would. People had their reasons and quirks.

.......This all ended abruptly when one of the crew members yelled out. "Captain! We've picked up Nith signals! They're - they're rapidly approaching! Forty-five degrees port-side!"

.......The Captain whirled around, eyes wide. "What?!" He stormed over back behind the helm, where he could see the whole bridge. Mattheis leaned over one of the rails, next to the radar screen and one of the radar operators - the one who called him. Suddenly the entire crew began moving rapidly, and the entire Bridge was filled with noise and panic. "What've we got?"

.......The operator gulped and pointed out the dots and identified them with images displayed on the other screens. "S-Sky Titans! And swarms of Ravagers and Harbingers! It's a massive fleet! Point of origin: Vectiras!"

.......Mattheis hissed. "Damn it, of all the times they could have picked to attack like this...!" The crew knew exactly what he was talking about. The passengers! We can't compromise the lives of the civilians and future Keepers...!

.......In the midst of his thoughts, another operator called out. "Ravager beams detected! Impact in fifteen seconds!" The Captain snapped out of his thoughts. Time to get serious. The orders rolled off his tongue now, and the crew followed immediately - this was what he was born to do.

......."I want the forward Aura shields at one hundred percent! All hands to battle stations! Prepare for counter- AUGH!" Everyone grabbed onto the the nearest set of handrails (or other stable object) as the beams struck the shields and shook the ship. The shields weren't quite down yet, but they were damn close, and there was no chance that they would be able to withstand much more. Why the hell were those beams so damn strong this time? Matt's heart was pounding - as were the hearts of his crew. Normally, he'd be excited - he lived for this kind of danger, it was what he gave up the crown for - but this time, there was much more on the line. The Captain got back up, gritting his teeth, and pointed toward the oncoming warbirds. "Prepare for counter-attack! Initiate Level-Two Battle Operations!

.......Communicators all over the bridge immediately relayed the message to the rest of the ship via intercom. Almost immediately after, the battle sirens went off in every hallway and in every cabin of the Preposterous, and every operator, mechanic, and combatant crewmember on the ship rushed to their stations. Back on the bridge, Chief Officers of every department began to roll off the status of their stations:

......."Railguns, online!"

......."Aura, Vylli, and Default cannons, online!"

......."Counter-Torpedoes, online!"

......."Turrets, manned and ready to go!"

......."Combat Worldships, standing by!"

......."Escape pods, prepared for boarding, sir!"

.......Mattheis's head turned at this. Escape pods. The Preposterous was given a few new installations prior to taking off from Hylravi (including homing torpedoes), but he remembered when one of the engineers explained to him the importance of this particular section. The forty pods were nigh-impenetrable spheres with a maximum capacity of twenty-four each. In case she goes down, Matt thought, It'll be those things saving them. He nodded in approval, then had Navigator Altya surrender the helm and headset to him once more. The Aquilina quickly complied, and his gloved hands tightly gripped the wheel. The Captain took a moment to look at the radar, studying the formation of the oncoming Nith. He took a deep breath as the plan came to him. It was risky, especially for a fleet of this size, but if they went down... it would give the passengers the best chance to survive.

.......He spun the wheel. "Turning port-side forty-five degrees! Auxiliary engines at one hundred percent! Engaging the enemy head-on!" The ship and her engineers obeyed, and everyone on board felt the ship turn and angle itself toward the Nith fleet... and Vectiras.

......."Ravager and Harbinger fire detected at twelve o' clock, sir!"

......."Counter them with torpedo fire! Focus all turret-fire on the oncoming Harbingers and Ravagers; all cannon and railgun operators, see if you can do some damage on the motherships!" The counter-attack proceeded. The newly-installed torpedoes successfully canceled the Nith cannon fire, and resulted in brilliant explosions in the space between the battleship and the Nith fleet; however, the turrets could only take out a fraction of the lesser Nith, which were still inching closer and closer and firing more and more. Even more to the crew's dismay, the cannons and railgun fire aimed at the Sky Titans were blocked by their lessers, and when they did hit, they only managed to scratch the surface of the enemy motherships. Mattheis grimaced as the ship shook again from the Nith strikes - in his eyes, the only success from this move aside from the counter-torpedoes was that the Preposterous was quickly approaching Vectiras's atmosphere. If all else failed...

......."This isn't good, Captain!"

......."Yeah? Heh, tell me something I don't know, sailor!" Mattheis replied, with a grim smile. As another officer announced the downing of the shields, he thought, No, it's already failed. She can't take anymore - not without losing lives. He hailed one of the Communicators nearby. "Communicator Saloshin!"

.......A young, sandy-haired man of around the Captain's age whirled around in his seat. "Yes, Captain?"

.......His Captain eyed him from the side as he did his best to keep his focus on the window of the bridge. The Preposterous was maneuverable, and could dodge some attacks, but only to a limit. "Hail every Worldship you can come in contact with that's in the vicinity. Start sending out the S.O.S., use every Collective language you know." The Communicator's eyes widened.

......."But why? We've only been fighting for a few minutes! We can take them, Captain!" Mattheis closed his eyes for a few moments, then focused his sights on the young man.

......."You can risk your own life in your own battles, Skyrider, but as soon as the operations endanger the lives of the innocent, it becomes a different story," he stated, with a cold, but burning ferocity in his voice. "Those dirty bastards have played on a weakness of mine, and they will not be forgiven."

......."I promise we're not going down without a fight, Ruhalis, but the innocents come first." Mattheis continued, his gaze softening. "So hurry up and send the distress call, Saloshin!" The man quickly nodded and turned back to his station. Explosions and fighting continued as the Communicator tried every frequency he could. The Impenetrable, the Stargazer, the Stream Emperor, the Lady...!

.......The communications devices before him crackled to life. "S.O.S.! This is a distress call from Communicator Ruhalis Saloshin of the Hylravine Kingdom Militia battleship Preposterous! We are being attacked by a Nith fleet above Vectiras! Our shields are down and our weapons are having little to no effect on the enemy! We have civilians and applicant Keepers for Vectiras Academy on board! I repeat, we have civilians and applying Keepers on board! Somebody, anybody, please respond!"

.......Everyone on the ship once again braced themselves as the ship was struck again - much harder this time, no thanks to the now-downed shields. The dark masses of Nith were practically on them now, and the Sky Titans, now much closer, were beginning to combine into what the crew knew would be an even more fearsome mothership. They were now just above Vectiras, however - and that was enough for Mattheis. He turned to his trusted Navigator and ship Communicators, and his now-tousled black hair hung just over his eyes, giving him a grim, dark look.

......."How many passengers do we have on board?"

......."Around two-hundred, sir." The Captain raised an eyebrow.

......."Huh, really? Only that many? I know we've only been to Dresk but..." Mattheis shook his head; this was no time for idle chit-chat. "Nevermind. Send every passenger down to the escape pods... And have the entire crew leave on the break-off combat worldships to protect the escaping civilians from any Nith that may chase the pods." That moment, every crewman's eyes turned to the Captain, or their screens displaying the Captain (if they were below deck).

......."What?!"

.......Mattheis sighed, and returned to them that familiar smile. "Save the passengers, and save yourselves. If there are Nith up here, then there sure as hell are going to be Nith down in Vectiras. Most of these people - these children - are inexperienced and, if they can use their Auras, they're very new at it." His tone was darker now. "I have a plan. It's practically suicide, and there's only a slight chance for me to survive, but if any rescue ships are ever going to come along and rescue all of you, I may as well save them the trouble of those bastards out there," the Captain said, pointing out at the merging Sky Titans out the window. "Am I right? You're all dismissed."

.......Altya spoke out against his order. "Sir, I refuse to believe... this is not... This isn't your time to die yet, Captain!" The other members on the bridge chattered in agreement. However, Mattheis's next words cut in like a knife of ice and shocked like an arrow of lightning - and unbeknownst to him and everyone in the bridge, with the intercom still on, every single person on board the ship heard what he said, and what he was going to say:

......."Shut up and get your asses off of my damn ship."

.......The crew finally complied, but not without giving him a shocked stare and a solemn salute. The last one to leave was Communicator Saloshin, who had finished up the last distress call. As he stepped out of the bridge, he turned around to face his Captain for what he thought would be the last time. The man - the Prince - was no older than himself...! He clenched his fists.

......."Captain. You will survive. If you don't, I swear..."

......."Go." The Communicator grimaced as his Captain cut him short, saluted him, and pressed the button to shut the bridge doors.

***

.......After the last pods and accompanying warbirds were sent out and dropped onto Vectiras (with the hope of aiming them at an island, or in shallow waters near one) and the screen before him was clear, Mattheis stepped forward with his arms crossed, before the great window of the bridge. "Activate Voice-Command, Computer." There was a whirr of electronics and Vylli energy before the automated AI came to life.

......."Voice Command active, Captain Hiashin. All weapons are online. Awaiting further instructions."

.......His voice was as cold as the computer's. "Bring the Preposterous within Aura harpoon firing range of the merged Sky Titan. Then set a collision course, preferably some distance away from the pod landing site, and perhaps in water. Set all thrusters and engines to full power."

......."Proceeding with orders, Captain. I will set a course to preserve the ship and all life on it to the best of my ability."

.......Psh, fine, but I'm the only lifeform on this ship. Mattheis returned to the helm, and nodded his approval to the AI, putting in no effort to argue against the computer. All the possibilities ran through his head: The ship, with imported materials from Krux and other major Collective worlds, was designed to withstand atmospheric re-entry - but, the engineers hadn't had the chance to analyze the extent of the damage before being sent off, and if there was too much damage to the hull, she wouldn't make it. If the ship didn't burn up and get him, then the crash surely would - perhaps he could direct all the remaining power to the hover and reverse thrusters to slow it down? No, he thought, shaking that possibility out of his mind, mostly. That would only give the Titan time to escape. Perhaps if it was done at the last minute, though...?

.......Regardless, the Preposterous was already proceeding with the plan, and there was no turning back. All chances and calculations were left to the cold machinery now, and the Captain had every intention of going down with her, whatever she decided. If he did manage to survive...

.......Well, that would just be absolutely preposterous.

......."Bang!", "Bang!", and she was chained to the Sky Titan.

.......A scream of the engines, and she was dragging it down into the atmosphere.

......."Fwoosh!" and they were crashing down in an endless, spiraling dance.

.......Indeed, the Sky Titan could escape from the Aura-powered harpoons, but at this point, it was equally as helpless as the Preposterous was before the laws of gravity. And all the while, as the giant Nith's eyes stared into the bridge window, her Captain gazed back with his hands grasped tightly onto the helm, with a smug smile and unblinking eyes upon his face.

......."You're going down, or both of us are."

.......Suddenly, the ship's AI, with its "survival instincts" pre-programmed into it, began to pull up. The physics and unexpected change in direction was enough to make the Captain fall over and feel like he was being crushed with pressure as he, with every bit of his strength, held on to the helm. He swore he could feel his insides being squashed and his ribs breaking; then again, Mattheis had never really broken his ribs before, but it was still [******** painful. Talk about an awfully shitty deus ex machina; damn, could a man not go out in peace? Or at least in some kind of awesome, quick-killing explosion, and not kept alive while being crushed by physical laws? Seriously.

.......Struggling to get back up, Mattheis grabbed the helm and pulled himself to the best standing position he could manage with the ship's change in course. He looked out the panoramic bridge window - with a "CRASH!", the Sky Titan was the first to fall, and Matt hoped to the Immortals and every higher being and order in the Collective that the impact had killed it. As far as he was concerned, he sure as hell did not want to be the guy who crashed his ship and died only to have the enemy ship actually survive.

.......Huh, his sense of humor was coming back. Mattheis's dark smile returned... perhaps he really would survive this ordeal? Such wishful thinking - the math, the physics, everything sensible argued against it. But... maybe, just maybe, the Life-Stream would spare him...? After all, with such laws, why - why did he still have hope? Why would any sentient being still hold on to hope? Well, if I do survive, I swear I will perform an almsgiving like no other when I come back home...!

.......All coherent thoughts came to a complete halt as the ship jerked forward - it was a skidding water-landing, but she was still coming down fast, parts of the bottom were surely breaking off, and the she was most definitely not sea-worthy. What's worse, she was coming close to... He gazed, wide-eyed, at the map display beside him in utter shock. The island where the pods landed!

......."s**t!" he cried out, spinning the wheel again to turn the ship, but with saltwater and sand jamming up the turning thrusters, it was to little avail. "Computer! Shut off the auxiliary engines! Activate all reverse-thrusters, and drop her deeper in the water!"

......."Aye, aye, Captain." He felt himself jerk backward as the computer complied (Damn these newfangled Artificial Intelligence systems! I'm never trusting this b***h again!) and physics again crushed him, this time against the back wall of the bridge, and breaking his right arm. (Is this what rape feels like?) However, the ship - broken, beat, scarred, screaming, and seemingly about ready to collapse or explode- eventually slowed down. She hit something, then something else, then another - probably big rocks or sandbanks. Mattheis heard something explode below deck, and the AI went offline - the main computer had been blown to bits.

.......Eventually she slowed enough for him to get up and return to the helm. At this rate, though, the ship was still going too fast, and he was sure that she would make some Preposterous explosion... with the escape pods on the beach, which were now visible from his window. The Captain with no crew, the King with no crown, crossed his fingers and prayed that something, anything would stop the ship.

.......His prayer was answered. Lying beneath the water was yet another rock - but this time, it was massive, and the Preposterous was deep enough in the water (hell, her bottom was burying itself in the sand by now) this time to more than just skid it. It struck, and the ship jerked backward once more. The Captain himself would not get to see it all the way through, however, as he went flying back into his Captain's chair behind the wheel.

.......Matt's head struck the black metal first. As he lost consciousness, slumped in the throne of his ship, his last coherent thoughts were only for his crew and passengers. He wished that he was stronger, he wished that he was better, he wished that he had a Nexus or something so he could protect the people he was responsible for! Why? Why couldn't he be like his ancestors? Why couldn't he forge his own destiny? Why did he have to beg? Why was everything today left to the decision of fate? It wasn't right!

.......This time, he begged the Preposterous itself: Please, stop! For the love of the Immortals, don't crash into the pods! Don't kill them and everything I gave...!

.......And as the darkness swallowed him, the (remains of the) ship, with chunks of her (including the wings, the lower battering ram, and exploded bits of the main engines) floating in her wake, beached up on the shore of the chosen Vectiran island... just a few feet away from the landing site of many half-buried escape pods and shocked refugees.

.......It was nothing short of a miracle.

With these things I have chosen.......
to build a ship, my wings to fly.......
to fly off this cliff, to fly above the world.......
and to fly my own path to freedom........«

[Q-Mo]

"Life huh? I'll live it how I want to."

|| ♣ Jack Sanguine - The Mercenary - Symphonia, The Forest ♣ ||

[ OOC: Man. I wish we had more time to expand on this fight. It would have been awesome : O. Totally fitting. Anyway having Jack attack, describe/bot their little melee shuffle however you want, you can have Shino spring whatever trap he was no doubt going to spring and then get knocked out from behind and Halcy can go from there. ]

The smoke cleared, due to his lack of actual control over aura Jack had no idea if the person had been killed/hurt or not; but it looked like he would have been hit pretty hard by the three vicious blasts of his aura if not killed... the smoke cleared... there was a rude finger raised in his general direction... made of metal. Jack raised his eyebrows, unable to stop the grin that slipped onto his face, raising the edges of his mouth slightly, he liked this guy already. Too bad he had to capture him... or just bring back his corpse.

... Well that's admirable.

The metal dome surrounding his target began to melt away, traceries of Jack's aura lingered on it and Jack formed his Nexus in his hands readying another blast but before he could fire there was a hiss through the air as something streaked through the trees below him including the one he was standing at the top of. He blinked in puzzlement. I've got a bad feeling about this...

Groaaaan...

Oh shi-! CRASH! Suddenly the trees surrounding him and the one he was taking perch upon began to tip over and crash down upon each-other in a fantastic destruction of native greenery, taken off balance the mercenary fell backwards with a shout of surprise managing to teleport a second before crashing into the ground appearing in a awkward position sprawled in the bush with several toppled trees surrounding him. He let out a sigh of relief. "Whew... that was sudden." The smug b*****d threw some snide comment, lost in the pounding ache resonating from Jack's head as a result of the fall, into the forest before walking away.

Bah. You're losing your touch.

The bounty hunter crawled out from the ruins of the slashed down section of the forest he was in, rubbing a small bruise that had formed on his back as a result of falling into the hard uneven ground of the bush he had teleported into. I really need to start reading those bloody briefings... Before I get myself killed. Jack steadied himself in a tree before walking into the small crater his attacks had made in the middle of the forest and where this Shino Ishida had been moments ago and looked for the direction that his steps went in.

I guess I should be careful this time. b*****d seems to be pretty well versed in using his aura... isn't just any ordinary criminal... that was Keeper level stuff. Jack followed the trail set out for him in a roundabout away, moving and teleporting when required through the thicker parts of the forest and trees in the vicinity of Shino's trail until he approached a clearing where the rogue Keeper stood wielding his Nexus in the center of the clearing.

The bounty hunter scanned the area carefully... something was off... his quarry was... too relaxed... too expecting... aha! Scattered around the clearing were several metal rings, a few feet apart each one and from what he had seen previously, Jack guessed that part of this guy's abilities were to manipulate metal from the kind of barrier he had raised in response to his initial attack. Jack grinned, metal got awfully hot when it was heated up enough... enough to be used as a torture device.

The tips of his fingers ignited with sparks of fire. So much for being inconspicuous though. I'll have to work on this. And within moments, the majority of the forest surrounding Shino was in flames, spreading rapidly and moving inwards where-ever there was grass, twigs or anything to fuel it seeking to the clearing and reach the quarry of the mercenary who called out from the forest.

"Shino Ishida. Man. You really must have pissed off someone pretty bad to have them send me after you, I don't come cheap you know... And this is why. I can stay out here forever, until you burn like a chicken in very very big oven..." Jack teleported to a different position, although the searing flames should have hidden his position well enough and his voice unclear over the crackling and burning of the fire; he played it safe to ensure there wasn't a counter-attack this time.

"I'll wait it out if I have to, trust me. You're going to give out sometime or another from smoke, heat or just plain burn to death. Not very pleasant I can tell you, using this kind of stuff is worse than smoking. Its like breathing in cancer." He shifted positions again, sweat formed on his body quickly, while he sounded confident enough Jack knew that once the flames left his aura they were capable of harming him as much as they were capable of harming Shino and the fact that he was standing in the middle of the fire with an explosive aura didn't help much either.

"Give yourself up, deactivate that bloody nasty thing of yours and we'll both have an easier time, I don't get bitched at by my contractor and you don't get cancer. 'Sides, they seemed nice enough, I don't think they want you with a lethal lung infection mate." Then he waited... and there was no response that seemed to indicate that he was going to give himself up anytime soon. Jack sighed. Poof.

The mercenary disappeared and suddenly appeared in a violent explosion of aura next to Shino, knife drawn and inside the circle of rings, "Nice shield thing you've got here." the bounty hunter bluffed as he held the knife in a combat position with the blade gripped in reverse of a normal cutting position and flames surrounding the tips of his fingers and sparking at the ends of his heels as the mercenary went in for close quarters combat taking advantage of the "dead zone" that a scythe usually possesses quickly moving in and taking several swings and kicks at Shino all possessing an explosive impact if they connected attempting to wind, knock down or knock out the rogue Keeper.

Jack saved the knife however for blocking any attacks involving Shino's Nexus or his metal manipulation abilities, the knife not mixed with his own aura or flames but instead seemingly rejecting it and as a result able to block aura based attacks such as blades formed from aura with amazing effectiveness. "But... I'm... already... inside!" The mercenary said between attacks, trying to keep his opponent pressured and on the defensive with his flurry of attacks to prevent Shino from activating any real tricks he had up his sleeve that may or may not involve the strange rings scattered around the area.

Breaking away, the bounty hunter teleported away sliding back charging a fireball in each hand which compressed at the ends of his fingers which were clapped together and pointed at Shino creating a deadly looking torrent of flames to ready itself at the tip of the pointed fingers but didn't fire as the noise of metal sliding, somehow heard over the deafening crackle of flames around them caught Jack's attention. He had teleported into a ring and then slid backwards into another, and two more lay within a few feet of him, the flame as a result of the distraction extinguished itself with a pathetic pop noise.

"Oh. Bugger."

"Even if that means ending up wasted in a gutter. You get out of my way."

[Q-Mo]

"I'm a destroyer, not a savior."

|| ♣ Jace Vistus - The Destroyer Savior - Vectiras, The Island Of Aedif ♣ ||

[ OOC: "Because! Because I going to be a destroyer that saves! Because I promised everything would be ALRIGHT!" - Prepare yourself for the new "believe it", you'll want to strangle Jace by the end of this series when he says this >.> ]

"Jace..." Jace struggled to break out of his bind, it was no use... his left arm... his body refused to obey him, it told him that this... this was his purpose... to be merciless... to destroy... not to save... Jace's aura fluttered around him settling down into a blanket like mass that then deactivated into it's original form, his Nexus crawling back up his arm leaving it bare of the white aura that had previously covered it. Now he only bore the arm of the destroyer... like it should be. Right?

"JACE!!"

Trembling with effort, his entire body defying his urge to get up and fight, the boy managed to raise his head, defiance blazing in his eyes as he faced his tormentor who stared back through a blank white mask. "Tenaci-." Suddenly rushing out of the crowds of Nith in a flash of black streaked with pink, a vicious force slammed into the masked man hurling him to the ground and for a moment tightening the chords binding Jace to the point where they cut thin red lines into his flesh causing the boy to whimper in pain before suddenly they released and streaked towards the creature assaulting their owner.

Jace blinked in a detached kind of way as he half-lay on the floor unable to... or unwilling to muster the effort to stand, his Nith arm supported by his other bare arm as it hung limp and resistant to any commands to move... that tiger was rather oddly colored... there was a scared fidgety noise as something furry ran past him in his blurred vision, Jace blinked. "... Buki?" Mei's monkey... that must mean... Jace looked up, it was her... Mei.

And he watched, horrified and unable to do anything as Mei fought a battle that they both knew she couldn't win... this man... this man was what Jace was supposed to be... a monster. But despite that... despite everything, she fought, she even seemingly gained the upper hand at one point but then. Then she was blocked in the air by a shockwave of aura that was followed by the metal embedded wires of crimson tearing into her flesh... she was hurt... because of him.

"Do you really want to fight for this boy who is a monster? You don't even know what he truly is?" Jace felt the emotion building up inside of him, why? Why was she doing this!? He was right, she shouldn't be defending him! She should be... "Mei! Pl...please... run... I..." he fell silent however as the man turned to him, "Your turn boy. I will beat that STUPID sense of kindness out of you, even if it breaks every bone in your body... You may thank me later." there was a flurry of movement as Mei suddenly scrambled to her feet standing protectively over Jace with a look of resolve over her face.

Jace a tearing sensation in his heart, something caught in his throat, something wet began to form from his eyes... true tears, not tears of fear, not tears of pain... tears of happiness and gratitude. So... she would stand up for him until the end? No matter what... no matter what... No matter what! The wires flashed forwards, bringing with it, the oblivion of the person Jace had come to treasure most within the short period he had been awake.

The two previous time when Jace had activated his Nexus, it had been a memory, a copy of the real thing extracted from the foggy recesses of his mind. This time, this time it was his, this time. He was the one who released his Nexus. "She's right... I'm not like you!" His aura burst outwards forming into it's billowing cloak form again, rushing forwards and encircling Jace and Mei inside it's folds and blocking the incoming wires, the man gave a shout of surprise.

Within the cloak of his aura, shielded from the terrible battlefield outside for a moment, the "mask" of flames that had settled on Jace's head lifted as he smiled in true thanks to Mei. "Thanks... You helped me remember... I promised right? And now... now I'm not scared anymore... I get it now..." The aura was thrown open, to reveal Jace now standing in front of Mei, the "cloak" throwing off the wires attached to it as if they were nothing but dust as it opened, in the sky piercing through the veil of darkness came crashing escape pods and worldships lighting up the island with a odd light that portrayed destruction, hope and determination all together.

Paying no attention to the incoming debris falling out of the sky, Jace stared his surprised enemy in the eyes to ensure he heard what he was going to say next. "You're right... she doesn't... I'm not even sure what I am." Jace lifted his arm to his eyes for inspection, the Nith arm was Nith in origin yes. But it was his. "... But neither do you... I might be one of you... but that's just it. I. Me. The me that will choose his own path! You're right... I'm no savior but you're also wrong! I'm not just a destroyer either! I'm Jace Vistus!"

"You... make me sick. Why? Why do you choose this path? Why do you fight to protect these useless USELESS beings!? ... I don't understand it! The strong should rule the weak! That is how this world is! And I am the strong! And you! YOU ARE THE WEAK!" First a few... then more... and until a seemingly countless number of crimson wires barbed with metal sprouted from the man's aura gruesomely forming from his body as if they were his own blood as he screamed in rage directing them in a piercing swarm rushing at Jace, all the Nith surrounding the boy seemed to lose their interest in watching the fight and quickly rushed in, a sea of crimson and darkness rushing upon the beacon of white fire.

Jace reached up grasping the edge of the mask that rested above his head and pulled it down allowing his aura to shroud his head like a helmet and cover the rest of his body in a similar fashion. The Nith thought they had won... above in the sky as the Preposterous began to fall... in Vectiras as they swarmed over the unprepared world... here as they rushed upon the seemingly insignificant white flame. "I fight... I fight because..." The first of the Nith rushed forwards in a tidal wave of darkness... they had forgotten one thing... living beings are the most stubborn things around, "Because..." Flaming debris from destroyed world-ships above crashed into the streets surrounding Jace crushing several Nith under their flaming husks.

"Because they believed in me!" He streaked through the ranks of the Nith, flaming debris crashing around him as the Preposterous dragged the massive Sky Titan into the ocean adjacent to Aedif, Jace's voice could hardly be heard over the roar of the two massive structures falling through the sky. "Because Mei believes in me!" He crashed against the wall of crimson wires that snaked and rushed attempting to find a way past the blazing white cloak that surrounded the boy but only managed to be burned away before even getting close. "Because I'm going to be the destroyer that saves!" The white blaze pierced through the wall, rushing through the barrage of wires which slashed, cut, stabbed and chipped away at the boy slashed at him and stabbing him through several times as he rushed towards the masked man shouting with determination.

"Because I promised! I promised everything would be ALRIGHT!"

They collided. Everything seemed to freeze around the two auras of red and white struggling against each other for a moment, and then seemingly in time with the Preposterous slamming into the ocean came a huge explosion of white aura that rushed through the streets of Aedif completely destroying the Nith that surrounded Jace and Mei. As if in the response to the destruction of the negative influence, light once again filtered down from the sky of Vectiras onto Aedif but the darkness seemed to loom over the rest of the world, the townspeople came out of hiding, some went to go help the survivors of the crashed ships others went to the town center where the circus had been to see what had caused the explosion.

The smoke cleared, in the middle of the crater left behind by the blast was a boy laying unconscious. He was battered, cut and bruised. The gentle rise and fall of his chest as he breathed was like... like the ocean. Life had again thwarted the Nith, they had won the battle, the passengers of the Preposterous had survived, Aedif had been protected... but the stormy darkness gathering over other islands showed that while a battle had been won... this was just the beginning... the siege of Vectiras wasn't over.

It had just begun. And in the sky, within the Lifestream high above came reinforcements... in the form of The Lady and it's unorthodox Keepers. There was hope. Just maybe.

"But I want to be a destroyer that saves."

[An Ounce of Tyranny]

’Taptaptaptaptaptaptap!’ Small feet scurried quickly across the wooden floors that lead to a certain room. Through the creaks on the side, a slight aura was emitted though faint, and most people would never be aware of its presence. Like the young woman who quickly approached, the aura kept quiet, cautious. The woman brushed back her hair quickly before she attempted to grab hold of the door knob.

“I wouldn’t do that…”

The young woman nearly jumped out of her skin as a voice, a soft yet haunting voice drifted from behind her. It was gentle and yet, it felt like a warning so deep that it made her skin crawl. She turned around only to realize that it was the one (perhaps the second) person she was advised not to run into. Absolute avoidance was impossible however, to keep the number of encounters to a minimum was the best advice the other maids and servants gave to this woman. It was Trysten, the ever quiet, ever unpredictable right hand man of the more upfront “beast” of the manor. Because the woman didn’t reply and only stood frozen in thought, the taller man continued with the fewest amount of words possible.

“She’s not a morning person.”

It was, technically, all he needed to say. No one had warned her about the possible mistake she would have made on her first day, let alone how great the consequences would have been. Had she only been able to imagine the manor’s “beast’s” morning mood, she might have simply ended her occupation right that moment.

“But Miss Haine is already late! She’s scheduled to be at her mother’s house in fifteen minutes! Her tardiness will only bring trouble to those of us who are responsible…”

The maid’s voice eventually came to a stop as she felt Trysten’s impatience. The man had not even interrupted her, nor had he switched expressions and yet, just like the household legends report, his moods could be felt. The latter caught on quickly that she was new and put out his right hand with a slight bow, as if to gesture toward the door in a respectful way, usually in a way that servants would use.

“In that case, feel free.”

The woman did not budge. She understood that he was not pleased with her but what she didn’t understand was the reason. She had not realized that he took offense to the way she looked out for herself, with no one else on mind. Selfishness was an ugly trait in his eyes, though he had the slightest pity for her and was ready to stop her had she actually decided to proceed. Instead, the woman intelligently squeezed herself out of a dangerous position.

“Although, I’ve also been given many more chores to do. I’m sorry to bother you but if you will, please see if she’s ready for departure.”

Frightened, shocked, and embarrassed, the young maid bowed in respect before she once more scurried across the floor with her small feet down the hall, in the opposite direction. Likewise, Trysten rather enjoyed having successfully teased the newcomer and casually, he turned the doorknob and let himself in. While the warnings of Haine not being a morning person was true, the rumors of Trysten being so cold was somewhat exaggerated. Though he remained quiet around others and he was seen as unapproachable and heartless, Trysten had softened up over the years while he kept residence with Haine and company. However, he preferred the rumors and the initial intimidation shared amongst the house workers.

As was customary, Trysten neared Haine’s bed and pulled her covers slightly off her. He then touched her shoulder lightly.

“You overslept again.”

As he finished his sentence, Haine’s arm came up and while she was still half asleep, her hand balled up into a fist and she subconsciously swung at Trysten’s face. However, he caught her wrist with his dominant hand and pulled from where he stood so that her body was forcefully dragged out of bed. The further her body slid from her mattress, the more awake and conscious she had become until finally, she awoke fully.

“Five more minutes…?”

“You have fifteen more before your mother gets angry.”

“Fantastic…go grab my clothes. I need to wash…something.”

“Your face?”

“Sure sure. Now go…grab…something.”

Trysten silently grinned as he left Haine to her own bathroom adventure while he went through her clothes. Haine, on the other hand, staggered to said bathroom before she was able to start said adventure which included brushing her teeth and drowning her face in water. Once dressed and in a somewhat more decent mood, Haine left her room and the house while some of the workers greeted her on the way out. Her own personal transport took her and Trysten to their designated house several miles off and while she was still several minutes late, Haine approached the house with a more upbeat manner. The usual was roughly half an hour after waking in order for her to sober up and slip into the usual groove.

At the door, a servant heartily greeted the two and ushered them in before Haine turned to Trysten. With a simple look, he understood what she had wanted and nodded quickly before he turned and left. He wanted to say, ‘Enjoy’ but felt that it was too early in the morning to throw in sarcasm. Instead, he simply left and the servant closed the door behind both.

“The lady of the house is currently out right now but your older brothers are eager to see you.”

Haine faked a smile and only proceeded, though she knew what lie ahead. If she was the “beast” of her manor, her elder brothers, who happened to be identical twins, should be referred to as Lucifer and Lucifel, two sides of the same damn evil coin. She loved them, respected them, and even enjoyed their company. However, lately all they were concerned about were narrowed down to academies.

“Haine. Welcome, it’s been a while since we’ve last seen you. Still avoiding us, hmm?”

“And apparently, still failing!”

Haine grinned though she was absolutely serious. It went both ways, naturally.

“Mother is still waiting for your reply, you know. You should answer her soon with your decision.”

“I see you’re still doing her dirty work. Three out of the five of us have chosen. There are only two of us left and we both happen to be girls. Cut us some slack, yeah?”

“Haine-“

“Also! Our aunt asked me to accompany her to Ambery. Though she has many guards on her and such, she wanted me to see what it’s like, for she has this idea to enroll me in one of their highly prestigious schools.”

“What? Does Father know about this? Quite frankly, we all know you would never attend an academy in a different world. Nor would any of us allow it. I don’t understand why that old man agreed to let you go.”

Haine grinned so subtly that it was hardly detectable. Her brothers knew her well, for she never would attend such an academy, let alone in another world. However, she was using any means necessary, and that one was certainly effective, to stall her parents’ drive on getting her enrolled. Daddy’s little girl had a difficult time convincing him but it worked out in the end. She was, to the best of his knowledge, only accompanying her aunt with the intention of a short stay and brief sight seeing. As she finished, Trysten appeared and nodded to Haine, a signal used to suggest that all preparations were done. Her brothers, however, were dismayed.

“I see. I don’t understand why you avoid these academies like the plague, especially one for magic. Your life certainly seems to depend on its usage.”

There was a sound of a crackle somewhere, perhaps it was Haine’s own nerve that snapped.

“What was that…?”

“Oh…? You disagree? I’m quite sure that you wouldn’t be able to go through a day without using magic, let alone stay alive in a sticky situation. Sure, you would be able to defend yourself with weapons and your body, but that’s all it is, hmm? Depending on one thing after another…and yet, you won’t commit to anything that you’re so reliant on.”

Haine’s eyes narrowed at her brothers, who seemed all to please to have aroused such excitement. Trysten stood by worried, as he knew it was only a matter of time before something like so occurred. He knew them all too well by then, and knew that Haine would submit to any kind of challenge in order to prove her point and save her pride.

“I quite disagree. I don’t need magic, weapons, or martial skills I’ve learned over the years. Basic instinct and some common sense would get me through, you know.”

“Ohhhhh? And just how confident are we today?”

“Name it.”

“Very well. Go through one day. Or rather, for your trip to and at Ambery, refrain from any magic and weaponry. You could fall back on your martial skills or this ‘instinct’ of yours. No magic. No weapons. If you can handle it, maybe we’ll ease off on you after all.”

“Done. And just so that you can’t give me that crap about cheating, I won’t let Trysten help me out either in those fields.”

Trysten sighed in the background as Haine’s brothers grinned widely and openly. The deal was done and the two visitors left, one flustered while the other grew silently anxious. They were to leave that day and board a private vessel with their aunt. As all preparations were already fulfilled due to Trysten’s prior planning, they had only needed to meet up with her aunt. As they arrived on scene, Haine reminded Trysten of the deal.

“Remember, no magic, no weapons. Even if we get jumped in some alley. And this goes for the entire time we’re there.”

Trysten only shook his head and was about to state something when Haine’s aunt came into view. Instead, he only looked away and allowed his partner to do the entire meet and greet. With a brief embrace, aunt and niece let go and spoke about Emery, until with a huff, Haine’s aunt threw her hands up and started to complain.

“Unbelievable! One of my assistants was supposed to make sure that I-, we, get a private vessel for today. Turns out, she did a last minute booking and they were either already taken or are down for maintenance. Now, we have to take a vessel with so many other people! How could they do this to us! Do they not know who we are?!”

It was a compromise; one that Haine’s father knew well, which probably influenced his answer to allow her this trip, because Haine’s aunt was simply full of herself. And in truth, the latter was completely overjoyed at the fact that they would have to be onboard a public, and crowded, vessel. It would at least distract the woman enough to keep her attention off Haine and more so on how close people were sitting to her.

“It’s fine, Auntie. And I think you could request to sit further up front where there’s more room. Trysten and I will be in the back because for some reason, sitting up front makes me a bit sick.”

It was a total and utter lie, and the thought of separation so early on clearly didn’t sit well with Haine’s aunt. However, as she reconsidered the option of more room and less people in the front, she ultimately agreed and before they knew it, the time to board arrived and both Haine and Trysten were relieved to know that they would be in separate sections inside the vessel. Once on board, the entire vessel went through the routine customs of safety measures and monotone warnings not to tamper with anything. Haine literally tuned the entire cast out and only focused on matters when the vessel actually took off. It was smooth sailing for the most part until the vessel was engulfed in light turbulence. It was written off by the passengers and the pilots as nothing to worry about until the turbulence became increasingly violent. The vessel was thrashed about until the people finally became concerned and by then, it had already been too late. A huge swarm of Syphons were the ones who caused the turbulence and it was more or less their way of one, scoping the vessel out and two, basically toying with the passengers.

It then occurred to the Syphons that the vessel was worth their time and they began to latch onto it, sucking, as a team, the aura of the vessel to weaken its barriers before allowing entry. Surrounding this swarm was a handful of Harbingers and as the vessel’s barrier weakened, they shot canons into the sides to further damage the carrier. Screams and general loud commotion erupted within and the pilots struggled to protect their vessel while the assistants failed in calming the passengers down.

“Haine, it would have been easier to handle if it were a private vessel but there’s too many people in here and without proper preparation. We have to seal off their attacks bef-”

“No magic. No weapons. Remember?”

Trysten turned to Haine and looked at her incredulously as he attempted to formulate some kind of last minute plan.

“There’s no time for that. These people will die, your aunt will die, we will die.”

Haine sat in contemplation, quietly, while the crowds of people around her screamed in panic. If there was one person she knew who had the ability to fight them off, it would be her aunt along with her bodyguards. However, they would only be able to protect the front and their man power was not enough to completely hold them off. Along with the ship’s shell deteriorating at an alarming rate, not much would be left. However, her aunt up front would most likely make it out alive at very least and using her ‘basic instinct and common sense’, her and Trysten would perhaps make it somehow. It was a done deal. The only people she would have put effort into saving were already capable of possibly (keyword) surviving such an attack.

“Haine.”

“Haine. Being prideful should have its limits.”

“Haine!”

On a section of one side of the vessel, a canon finally was able to burst through and a loud, deafening explosion erupted. The passengers on that side were, needless to say, killed upon impact and it was the first time Trysten felt a real sense of fear. The impact of the attack caused the vessel veer in direction, creating further chaos by shuffling the passengers around, many who fell out and into the captor’s hands. Just as another canon was about to hit the vessel, Trysten leapt forward and threw his arms around Haine, sending them both toward nearby passengers until they fell to the floor. The second canon was another direct hit and because it was aimed at a different section, the vessel was unable to take such disproportionate settings in air control and temperature and as the Syphons attempted to ravage the carrier, it began to fall steadily at a fast rate downward. Almost like an air balloon, the holes triggered swaying movements and some spirals before completely reaching the ground, which, the impact was so great that it blew sections of the vessels in different directions. Trysten never let go of Haine, not while they were being frantically trampled on within the vessel and not when the vessel crash landed and they were violently thrown miles from where the impact had occurred. The incident knocked both of them out and as they were floating in and out of conscious, they realized that they were no longer on the vessel, ninety-eight percent of the passengers were not present, and they were not in Ambery. It would only be known later that they had incidentally landed in a place called Vectiras and that their whereabouts would be unknown to the family that loved and cared for them.

[_Passive-x-Entropy_]

I Love You. Forever.
Only Forever?
Forever....

And Ever

INEVITABLE DEGENERATION OF ALL BUT THE MONSTER WITH ITS NAME
-----------------------------------------------------------
♥ E n t r o p Y ♥
H.K.M.S. Preposterous [Burning Wreckage on Vectiras]
-----------------------------------------------------------
DEAD AS DEAD CAN BE

.......Ears colored with several different shades of blue, shot through with black, flicked up and forward as a pale face tilted up. Dual-colored eyes focused intently on a screen, a familiar face with a red feather stuck into the hair surrounding it filling the monstrosity's vision. The eyes narrowed to slits of grey and bright violet as the order came thinly through the speakers. Surging to his feet, he jammed everything into his bags as the ship jolted, and slung the backpack over his shoulder. Scrambling up the stairs to the deck, he headed for the escape pods with but one glance over his shoulder. That was an honorable man, and if he survived this...

.......Well, if the Captain survived, he would be in a shitton of pain. But he would also get the greatest thing that Entropy could give him, the hybrid decided as he stepped into the escape pod. His gaze remained focused on the scarred face of the man on the bridge until the last second, when the doors of the pod closed and it detached from the ship, hurtling through Nith, heading for the surface. Closing his eyes, Entropy calmly folded his hands even as the pod shook, nearly threatening to fall apart as it fell through the atmosphere. If anyone else's eyes were open, they would have seen his face contort into a grimace the few seconds before they hit the ground and all of them fell unconcious.

.......He awakened in a position familiar to him. Entropy was barely concious, the tang of blood was on the air and in his mouth, and he was struggling against the pain to open his eyes and keep breathing. He heard rather than felt his bones crack as they reset themselves, his natural healing falling in as flashes of green lanced across his body. Other vampires flickered with color as well; one of the few races where auras set in to heal the ones they covered naturally, instead of manually. And while they did not control that, they could control bloodlust. But he wasn't a vampire first.

.......The smell of blood leaked into his nostrils, and while it was something he had smelled many times before - his own in massive quantities once or twice before he was changed - his control never ceased to slip unless he was completely full. Eyes flashing open, he strained against the straps that held him in place in the escape pod. The poor things had already experienced an impact, and snapped as he actively muscled his way through, ripping at them with his teeth. Rational thought slipping away, he lunged at the body directly across from him, a clone. The man struggled underneath his fangs and strength, finally slamming his cybernetic fist into the side of Entropy's face.

.......Falling onto the floor, his head spinning, the reek of his own dead blood and shouts of indignance assaulting his senses, the hybrid curled up. Placing his hands over his ears - his hat seemingly have gone missing - he thrashed on the floor, his tail lashing as so many thoughts filled his head. What the hell did he just do, for one; Entropy hadn't lost control in so long. What had just happened to his head? Right. Thank god for clones and their obsession with technology. He didn't need death on his hands. Why was he here? The ship was attacked. The ship...what happened to the ship? The captain....the Captain was on the ship. What happened to the ship?

.......Dragging himself to his feet, he was just barely aware of weapons being drawn and pointed at him in his peripheral vision. He reached out and dully knocked a gun aside, a sign of rationality that caused the Dreskans in the pod alongside the hybrid to lower their weapons. Balling one hand into a fist, he drew it back, tilted back on one foot, then tilted forward again, bringing his fist forward to have it meet with a loud noise between a crunch and a bang that caused the door to buckle. His rotten blood dripped on the floor from the gashes that his sharp nails made in his palm, though green electricity lashed around it to quickly repair the small wounds. This action was repeated with his other fist, and a simple boot to the door was all that the piece of metal needed to go flying across the sand.

.......His booted feet barely had a chance to fully hit the sand before he was charging across it, bent over, his hands clawing at the earth as well, propelling him faster. His unnaturally colored tail lashed out behind him, his ears flat against his head as his hair whipped back. The thick fabric of his cloak whipped his emaciated shoulders, then fell easily around him as he stopped on the ship. Still on all fours, he thrust an infuriated fist through the glass that protected the bridge of the Preposterous. Nothing stood in the way of an enraged Shift -- Nothing could get out of the way of an enranged hybrid.

.......Adrenaline rushing through his veins, more thoughts rushed through his head. A ship that preposterous had been nearly reduced to simple scrap metal. What did that say for the single man left inside? Needless to say, Entropy calmed considerably as his eyes caught sight of a hand, no blood in sight - or smell. His ears flicked forward, and they caught the dull sound of a heart still beating in a cloth-covered chest. He was no Hyralvine....but it sounded okay, though at a slower - probably unconcious rate. Jumping down into the ship, the view of a breathing, black-haired male made him visibly relax.

.......If he ever breathed, there would have been a sigh of relief amidst the sound of the ocean washing against the metal. Stepping forward, he scanned the body - no, the Captain, he wasn't dead, he wasn't a body. Broken bones seemed to be the extent of the damage, and that was easily taken care of. Ripping into his hand with his teeth, a hiss of pain escaping his lips, he did the same on his other hand and waited until sparks danced across his skin before picking the Captain up. Entropy knew the healers could take care of it...but what if they didn't have the proper supplies? In this case, he hurt his hands, but at least he could carry Captain Mattheis without worry of messing up his broken - perhaps even some shattered - limbs.

.......The sparks of his aura, seeing there was more work to do, 'jumped' down his fingertips to descend in a glittering mass on Matt's body as the hybrid leapt out of the window he had broken, running easily across the gleaming surface. Leaping down onto the sand, landing easily, only the slightest of jerks jarring his passenger, he laid the Captain on the sand. His eyes intent on his 'patient', he snarled at anyone that dared come close, even those that smelled Hyralvine. The young captain unknowingly, with his deed, bought himself one of the most loyal of bodyguards.

.......Curling his lithe body into a near perfect donut, his pistol close at hand, his sword drawn and waiting, he kept one gray eye on his charge, still growling as anyone came near, and one violet eye on the sky above. It darkened with something unmistakeably Nith, and the filty things were held at bay all around them by Hyralvines and Dreskans alike....though the young angel he had seen earlier was nowhere to be found. His ears caught the sound of another vessel crashing into the sea and sand somewhere near by, and he caught a flicker and scent of something burning....But these were hard to miss for anyone.

.......What WAS difficult to catch was something he could only see with his eye cast across the sand, just barely a set of specks within view. PEOPLE. And they most definitely were not part of their crew; he could see that even from this distance. Surging to his feet, Entropy desperately struggled with both his needs and wants, finally settling - painfully - on a decision. Snagging the nearest Hyralvine guard, the hybrid set the man's task and moved quickly, jerkily, nervously across the sand. Some gruesome twist between a snarl and a grin marred his stressed features as he charged across the sand, ducking down.

.......Steel-toed boots splashing in the water, he picked up a female and slung her over one shoulder, registering some form of conciousness as he did so. He crouched and stood again, straining just slightly with the man beside her held over his other shoulder. His boots digging into the sand, Entropy charged across the lines back into the safe area that was being defended from the surging lines of Nith, laying the two out next to the Captain. Allowing the guard to stay, he took his place once more beside Mattheis, his gaze only flickering up occasionally a few times to check on the others.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Victims - Aren't We All?