He watched from outside as the target of his observation sauntered up to what looked like a lavaman holding some woman hostage. He Felt his heart rate pick up suddenly as another within the bar pulled a weapon. Unconsciously his left hand grasped for one of the two gunmetal cylinders hanging from his hip. The smooth casing felt so natural to his hand and unclipping the carabiner that secured it in place was a thoughtless process. He had the tool up near his shoulder before he even knew what he was doing.
A red glow extended from a tube in the center of the cylinder, dim but present. Some kind of eldritch power swelled up inside the item that The Stranger held, pouring sensations of ferocity and anger into the environment around him. He was preparing to do something, and just as he left arm began the preliminary tensing to spring into action, a ruckus snapped The Stranger out of his trance.
It sounded like a bag of bricks being thrown down the roof, so he took several long strides back away from the building to get a good view of what the noise had been. A woman, wounded by the looks of things, hanging onto the shingles of the roof for dear life. His arms immediately dropped to his sides and he gazed up at her with a blank expression. He was almost in disbelief.
"Oi! What are you doing up there?"
He called, clipping the metal object in his hand back to his waist. His next order of business was the jog towards the edge of the roof and stand under where he thought he remembered the woman's position was. He extended his arms to either side and looked up. It wasn't a tremendously far drop, in fact, The Stranger felt as though he could leap a higher distance if he really set his mind to it.
"If you can, slide yourself over the edge and I'll catch you."
Tyeal watched as the person licked the demons armpit Tyeal honestly did not know how to react to this situation. Luckily the demon reacted to the lick by putting down his master and teleported to the corner of the room. Effectively the danger passed quite suddenly but surprisingly effective. Tyeal let out a mirthful laugh as he witnessed this the shadows along his body seemed to receded back up into his eyes revealing his pale white skin once more.
Tyeal seemed to be very relieved now that his master was safe and nothing was hopefully going to come and try to slit her throat. Then as if a sudden innate feeling swept over him as if something was wrong. Tyeal tapped into the surrounding darkness outside the building picking up two people outside the window looking into the lounge. A man was looking up at a different entity that was falling from above she was curled into a ball seemingly waiting for the impact which Tyeal was not going to allow to happen.
He reared back his arm the shadows in the room once again collected onto his forearm as if a magnet had pulled them there. They molded around his arm like an oily glove he then threw his arm forward the mass of darkness flung forward like a giant outstretched hand easily able to fill the hallway and since no one was in front of its trajectory it pierced through the wall to the outside forming a circular gate of darkness the hand caught the being and tenderly covered her and pulled her into the building to Tyeal. Carefully he placed her onto the ground in the same position she was in she was falling. The darkness subsided and returned to it original place around the room.
He looked her over noticing that she had a large gash on her shoulder seemingly down to the bone. Sensing her demonic heritage he deduced she was not a full demon but the wound could easily still get infected and kill her. Tyeal grabbed a wineglass from up above the bar and pulled out his knife and placed the cup on the ground hovering his forearm above the glass he cut deeply into his forearm his dark demonic blood poured into the glass filling it to the brim. The wound on his forearm healed immediately in a flash of ethereal fire leaving only his pale skin. "Drink this dear customer this will fix your shoulder and any aches and pains you are having consider this round on the house." Tyeal smiled down at the being.
-A moment of breathlessness, barely the blink of an eye and what her body had tensed for had suddenly turned to soft, forgiving blackness. Her panicked breaths subdued into inquisitive concentration as she felt herself being pulled and then placed on what felt like solid floor. the cold embrace diffused as quickly as it had encroached, revealing a room full of beings she had never seen before, one of which she immediately recognized as one of her own by his scent alone. Locking her cold gaze onto him she kept silent, her mouth slightly agape and prepared to flash her pearly fangs at a moment's notice.
The metallic symphony of fresh blood quickly sent her into a standing position, the ebony feathers on her forearms rustling as the crystal blue flooded to an abyss of black. keeping herself refrained she took a step back, her black sockets darting from the figure to the cup of pure power he had just offered her. Her arm stuttered for a moment, hesitating for a moment before shakily taking the glass and stepping back further with one swift motion before pressing her pale back against the nearest wall, her pale, long fingers quickly wrapping around the glass to keep the temperature nice and warm and she practically inhaled the liquid.
Finishing the last few drops her eyes faded to a richer, vibrant blue, their gaze still locked on the familiar. Placing the glass quietly on a small table she slunk against the wall, clutching her shoulder as it began to mend. "why did you help me?' she asked in almost a whisper, her voice raspy and flustered with waves of pain strung in between breaths.
The Stranger eeked out as he saw the woman slipping rapidly off the roof. He was ready and able to catch her fall, but then the strangest thing happened.
The house ate her.
A black smokey hand reached out from the aether and consumed the woman as she dropped, yanking her in through the front door. The Stranger looked on at this wide-eyed.
"Yeah. Nope. Not getting eaten by demon house today, no sir."
He turned on his heel and started shuffling off down the path leading through The Azure Plain.
He booped the snoot.
The blonde recoiled from the fist to his face, hands swinging to clasp over his nose as he fell, bottom planting onto the floor.
[********] That wasn't a learned phrasing at all.
He probably deserved the punch, but still! Rude!
Feeling around with his fingers, he managed to crack his nose back into place, sapphire hues temporarily illuminated by specks of white at the pupil.
His eyes watered, but he was simply getting over the shock.
Licking a molten demon for some reason clearly didn't hurt him. But being clocked in the face? Yeah, that hurt.
And then someone was pulled through the wall into the cafe.
And then someone else was slicing open their wrist and pouring it into a goblet for the sudden entrant.
- and frankly, Lethecus was having a hard time following everything, but goodness, that demon smelled delicious.
The woman dropped to a kneel when the magma demon let loose his grip. Her head jerked to follow his new position, and a grin rippled across those copper lips. So that was weird for him, too, huh? She took a stand, spun on her heel, and looked over at the young man who had done the...er. Deed.
"Well. I can't say I would have done the same, but thank you for your help, if helping me was your intent." She arched a brow. "Either way, I'm free. But are you okay? That was quite a bopping!"
For a moment, she thought Tyeal still had his attention on the demon. But when the shadows danced across the cafe, her gaze switched to him and his new companion. Was she injured? Where in heavens did she come from? No. Now was not the time to wonder. Tyeal was busy, and Blaise's other half was still a threat.
"Typhus. That's right. Your name is Typhus. You share a body with Blaise, is that right?" She looked back on him, huddled in his little corner. "Please, I want to help. I'm not trying to upset you, but the more I know about what Halo did, the more I can understand what's going on. And I'm willing to share what I know."
Fate had been unkind to Tenkai over the past few months. Fate was usually unkind to him, understandably so given how often he stood opposed to its machinations. Recent events had left him feeling a touch of coldness he had never experienced before, a feeling far unlike his usual joviality. As much as he wanted to deal with what was plaguing him so as swiftly and as decisively as possible, he knew that it would take time and require a clearer head. In search of this, Tenkai found himself doing the one thing that made him feel like his old self: wandering about Gaia as any good wandering monk would.
From the outset, he looked no different than the usual Japanese Buddhist monk, albeit with a full head of dark brown hair tied back into a ponytail. He wore a long black robe with a blue kesa draped about his torso. A large-beaded rosary necklace hung from his neck, and there were plates of armor visible on his right hand and shins, at least from whatever could be seen of them through his robe. Slung over his shoulder was a long, stick-shaped object wrapped in gray cloth, probably some sort of sword based on its general shape. Most people in these parts held no qualms about openly carrying their arms, but Tenkai didn't want to alarm anyone who might think he was looking for a fight.
And so the monk would find himself trailing off of the beaten path through the Azure Plain, drawn by the sight of a large building he originally took to be an inn. There were a number of said waystations all throughout Gaia, and they proved to be very useful for travelers like Tenkai. Already feeling the familiarity of the wanderer's life give him some much needed peace, the monk found his sense of curiosity renewed. He approached the building, yet did not step inside just yet. He took a moment to appreciate the exterior, both the building itself and the enchanting forest nearby. His eyes scanned across the front in search of its sign.
"The Copper Key Cafe," he read aloud as he rubbed his chin, thinking to himself. "Key to what, though?"
Did....did they just go back to business as if nothing just happened? This place was just as bad as that rotting husk of a building, full of crazy people and freaks. He glared at all of them yet still couldn’t shake off this overwhelming feeling of being....defiled. All he wanted was his brother back and then he’d leave, was that too hard to understand? Looking back at his armpit assailant he felt a little bit of regret for hitting him....he should have hit him harder for what he did.
Despite the fact that all of his skin glowed his face seemed to give off a little bit more light. A fact he knew and hated every bit about it. Screw getting the information! He was going to kill each and every one of them that could say otherwise then go back about his business and forget that this day ever happened....and he was going to start with that sick demented good for nothing....
His attention snapped back to the lying witch as she started to address him by his name. His eyes narrowed into a piercing distrustful glare that silently lasted a good while as he tried to read her intentions. What was she playing at? Was she actually being sincere or was this some sort of twisted mind game? Letting out a low growl as he couldn’t figure her out he clenched his fist. She had better not be screwing with him. ”...the b*****d jumped us, reached into our chest, and ripped very beings apart from one another. ******* hurt like hell too. It wasn’t quick and it wasn’t clean.....I’m not sure how he pulled it and I don’t care as to why but I want my boy back and I want that b*****d’s head and everyone who assisted him mounted on a stake and slowly burned alive.”
The Stranger began to jog down the path but he quickly came to notice something that unsettled him. It was a person! He had a far eastern look to him, an appearance that may have been familiar to The Stranger at an earlier time. A monk, meandering on down the path that lay before him, presumably towards the only thing that lay on the other end.
Oh no, not again. I won't let this haunted house take another poor soul.
The Stranger thought to himself as he skipped to a stop and turned back to face the monk.
"Ho friend!"
He called, his deep baritone voice carrying clear as a crystal. He really wanted to make sure he was heard.
"That place is beset by something wicked. I felt the house rumble not moments ago, and with my very own eyes I saw a black ghostly hand snatch a girl and drag her inside."
The Stanger pantomimed his warning, staring at the monk wide-eyed the whole time.
"And there's shouting, lots of shouting. I'm headed off to collect an exorcist right now. Unless. . . You might be one?"
The Stranger started eying the monk up and down from head to toe, toe to head. He adopted a nervous little smile as he clasped his hands together, hoping for a yes. After all, the only person The Stranger had recognized since waking up in the woods was a boy currently trapped by the haunted people-eating demon house.
The demon's toes twitched slightly, soon her fingers followed suit. Every so often her eyes would move under their lids, and her lips seemed to be trying to make words that never came out audible. Inside she was having a nightmare that kept her locked in place. Dreamer saw herself pinned in a fight with her oldest adversary Roze. It happened a couple of months ago but the wound to her face still felt fresh. She was recalling him trying to jam the knife in to the middle of her face, thankfully she had evaded it, all while keeping a maniac from getting to a woman. Not an easy feet, Dreamer however was well versed in battle and had been doing so for years.
One of her horns seemed to carve the tree she was sleeping against, it seemed to jar her awake thankfully.
"Mmn." Really she shouldn't have been spending the day napping, but the Prism forest was more then inviting. Often times she would return to this place as a means of escape.
The 5'7 woman began to get to her feet, a sunkissed hand seemed to be blocking out the light that had been attempting to wake her for the past hour. She shook out her long black locks that were placed neatly in a pony tail. A tail shot out from behind her to wrap around a pair of katanas. It wasn't often she carried them anymore but they came in handy when she felt lazy. Dreamer's cloud gray eyes looked down at her hands, watching them tie the weapons around her waist. They hung off the back of her horizontally on opposite sides for easy access, this did make getting through doors a pain. She brushed her gray t-shirt off and adjusted the well worn boots around her dark pants.
To Copper Key it was, maybe for a drink? She continued down the pathway through the Azure Plains. It wasn't long before something made her stop for a moment. Parallel to her was someone familiar though it seemed another person had run up to him.
'Tenkai?' Dreamer wasn't about to interrupt their conversation, instead she passed them, going around almost. Although she did make sure to glance at him once more before opening the door.
Some of her was wondering if that demon that tried to fight her was here, Tyeal? As she sauntered in she looked around, "Key?" It was then that Dreamer did in fact see Tyeal, Key, and some other magma looking creature. She stood listening to the conversation, not really caring about what the outcome was as far as them either staying on course or getting distracted with her.
Tyeal's eyes lingered over to the being of fire in the corner who was talking about another person he was looking for. He reached his pale hand up and scratched the side of his head before his gaze slowly hovered back over to the half-demon who was now currently resting against the wall her voice was barely a whisper but it was not hard for him to hear what she said.
"Why did I help you? Does it truly matter as to the reasoning why I do things my dear customer? No, you are alive currently that is what matters not for the reason as to why I do things that is what truly counts." Tyeal stated bluntly to the half-demon, "When you are up to it I'd like to know your name so I can drop the formalities.", he finished.
Tyeal stood up stretching himself as he did so his back popped a few times as he did he looked around him his eyes penetrating the darkness again around the building. The one that was near the half demon moved down the path and was talking to someone with an odd aura. Then stretching his presence out further he caught signs of another someone very familiar to him, instinctively the corners of his mouth tugged into a half smile as his eyes shifted over to his master.
"Master someone we are very familiar with has shown up." Tyeal called over to Key he wasn't a hundred percent sure but he didn't extend his presence anymore he figured now the being he spoke of now knew he was watching her. It wasn't with malice more curiosity then anything. He had experienced to many different kinds of beings working here that he know longer hated all demonic entities that stepped into the area. He wondered now what the night would consist of with so much activity at the Copper Key.
He turned his eyes back on the half demon once again, "Are you hungry?" He asked holding his hand out to her to help her up.
((Oh crap I may need to edit this, I didn't notice dreamer also responded >> ))
(( I'll address it in my next post, no need to make this one longer than it already is. .w.;;; ))
Spooky Mittens
Stranger In Red:Pausing to give a warning.
The Stranger began to jog down the path but he quickly came to notice something that unsettled him. It was a person! He had a far eastern look to him, an appearance that may have been familiar to The Stranger at an earlier time. A monk, meandering on down the path that lay before him, presumably towards the only thing that lay on the other end.
Oh no, not again. I won't let this haunted house take another poor soul.
The Stranger thought to himself as he skipped to a stop and turned back to face the monk.
"Ho friend!"
He called, his deep baritone voice carrying clear as a crystal. He really wanted to make sure he was heard.
"That place is beset by something wicked. I felt the house rumble not moments ago, and with my very own eyes I saw a black ghostly hand snatch a girl and drag her inside."
The Stanger pantomimed his warning, staring at the monk wide-eyed the whole time.
"And there's shouting, lots of shouting. I'm headed off to collect an exorcist right now. Unless. . . You might be one?"
The Stranger started eying the monk up and down from head to toe, toe to head. He adopted a nervous little smile as he clasped his hands together, hoping for a yes. After all, the only person The Stranger had recognized since waking up in the woods was a boy currently trapped by the haunted people-eating demon house.
Despite his preoccupation, Tenkai snapped alert as soon as the stranger hailed him.
"Hm?"
Having turned in the direction of he who called him, Tenkai gave the stranger a good once-over. Nothing about him seemed so strange as to cause the monk much alarm. In spite of recent events causing him to grow a bit colder, he hadn't allowed it to foster any sort of paranoia. As it stood, it seemed that the man was trying to warn him about the building. If what he said were true, this whole inn...well, cafe, at least...would have been haunted.
Tenkai turned his head back to the building in question. It surely didn't look haunted. Houses that were plagued by malignant spirits or demonic possession had a certain disquiet about them. It was a reaction brought about by a thinning of the veil between the world of the living and the dead, between reality and the Empyrean. Sometimes this was caused by the presence of a powerful disembodied spirit or a large quantity of weaker ones. Other times the roles were reversed, and the "thinning" was what brought forth the spirits in the first place. Either way, the end result was a state of unnatural decay brought about by the entropy of one plane bleeding into another.
This place didn't seem anything like that.
Of course, "seem" being the operative word here, just because it looked fine on the outside didn't mean there couldn't be something wrong with it. Entropy manifested in different ways. It could have looked like the pluperfect ideal of a fairy tale cottage in the woods and still give off a disturbing feeling simply by being too perfect. But as with all supernatural disturbances, they were easily sniffed out by psychics and other spiritually-sensitive people. People like Tenkai, for example.
"I just so happen to be an exorcist, my good sir," said Tenkai, managing to rekindle that spark of joviality, "But I have to say that I do not believe this place is haunted. I don't sense anything overtly disturbing that would indicate a haunting."
Well, at least not anything that wasn't already normal for Gaia. Tenkai did sense something inside. A few somethings, for that matter, things that were likely the cause of whatever supernatural phenomena the gentleman had witnessed. Gaia was absolutely rife with beings of various and obscene levels of power going about doing the most absolutely mundane things imaginable. Tenkai couldn't walk a whole block in Durem without passing by some sort of demon prince or high-ranked vampire lord just going about doing things one would expect to see common mortals do. Of course, vampires were far more discreet about it and mostly did it for the night life, which was not at all uncommon for their kind. Demons were more of a modern day occurrence, and not just tieflings or mazoku either. These were literal princes and dukes of Hell, the Outlands and wherever else you'd expect demons and devils to come from.
Gaia was simply that kind of place, absolutely rife with magic and mystery. It was no wonder why so many wanted to just consume all of it.
"Though I'll admit, what you just said does sound a bit strange. It's at least worth a look inside. Tell you what. You can follow me inside and take a look for yourself. You should be safe as long as you stay near me."
It was an odd sort of favor to do for a complete stranger, but at the end of the day, Tenkai was still a monk. An exorcist, among other things. That, and the story had gotten him a bit curious, to say the least. It could have been a trap meant to lure him in for whatever reason, but Tenkai was already going to go in anyway. Why warn him not to go inside if that was his goal? Well, unless he was taking advantage of anyone who would investigate for the sake of an innocent.
All the same, it didn't bother Tenkai. If the stranger was just some thief trying to set him up for an ambush, he was in for a very rude awakening.
A hard blink after a final crack, and the young elfman appeared to have himself situated again, if only a little disoriented, a small plume of dark smoke escaping in a burp. "Thanks, ma'am." The adventurer responded, perhaps thanking her for her concern? To be fair, either of his parents would have simply told him he was fine, and to just get up. "I'm okay." He pointed to his nose. "See?"
It wasn't flawless, but the freckled nose didn't appear terribly crooked. Perhaps a bit swollen.
On the bright side, both of the potential threats appeared preoccupied with their own things. His poor 'victim' focused on the distressed maiden, his aggressor preoccupied with a winged lady.
Mayyyybe it would have been better if he left them to their business. He wasn't exacting so much dramatics from such a location.
Already two individuals had spilt blood.
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