The Asper~Gaia's Tavern on a Pirate Ship ~

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[The Magnificent Bistrad]

Questions raced in his mind as he stared at the tree. He pulled a knife out from behind his back fashioned from the horn of some type of creature and a strange black metal. From his sash he pulled out a small tube. He stuck the point of the knife into the tree prying off a bit of the bark slipping it into the tube and corking it. He brought it up to his face his eyes sweeping over the tiny sample. The bark was hard much harder than that of your average tree of this nature. Oh how hed love to uproot one of the behemoths and study it in private. But taking one from the prefecture might have caused an issue with the inhabitants. Instead he would find himself satisfied with his small sample.

Rek was so engrossed in the tree he had almost forgot the point of this outing. He felt the small hands of the captain tug at his shirt pulling him out of his entrancement and would turn around to face her."s**t sorry! Lets go." He said tucking the glass vial into his sash as he continued on his eyes darting from the cat people to the fox people a smile forming on his lips. Rek had never seen anything like them before." What kind of creatures are they? Where do they come from?" Rek couldn't help but ask they seemed to be some strange cross of animal and human!

They came to the clothing store and Rek watched as onyx made the deal with the sales girl. He walked behind the curtain a little unsure of what to expect he never expected custom fit clothing like this! There wqas a bustle behind the curtain the odd sentenced could be caught. " Hey you cant touch tha- AH!" and small phrases like." Hey that is not detachable!" He was obviously out of his element in here. When the curtains were drawn back rek would stand dressed in neat and clean fitting robe woven of fine linen colored black and white words of a foreign nature neatly embroidered up the white pieces.

Rek spread his arms out giving himself a scan as he looked himself up and down in the mirror before turning to onyx as she held out her hands smiling like a child waiting for a present. He reached into the old rags of which he used to wear pulling out 4 tubes of lipstick and the vanishing powder." I didnt expect you to go this far Onyx but thanks ill give you a few refills when you run out. Its only fair this clothing is very fine." He said putting them in her hands.

[onyx2047]

Abanji Prefecture


As Rek came out with his arms open, doing a little twirl and looked himself over it was clear to Onyx that Rek was obviously happy. Well good. He put the lipstick and vanishing powder into her hands to which she pocketed.
"I love the fabrics and quality of the Abanji Prefecture. And they are Khajitts and Kitsunhiits. Cat and fox people. You have to have a hot apple cinnamon roll!" she said as she paid the lady and then started to steer Rek off in a direction.

Walking up to a vendor that smelled like hot, sweet heaven, Rek and Onyx could see that it was a cart with a glass top. It was back lit and had sections with which inside each was a sweet. The one Onyx was after was a particular intricate looking roll that had strands of melted cinnamon running through it. Tucked within the roll was a filling made out of fresh apples and a few other secret ingredients. Onyx pointed to them.
"I'll take two of the apple cinnamon rolls please." she requested. Paying up the vendor tucked them into a paper sleeve and handed them over.

Onyx handed one off to Rek.
"Here! this one is for you." but oni wouldn't wait. She bit into hers.

The roll was light but still semi doughy. It was sweet and slightly tart without being disgustingly sweet. It melted on your tongue, a big tease. It made you eat it more and more until within two seconds and it was done. For Rek maybe less. She hadn't considered that maybe he wouldn't be into sweets but seeing as how he was so interested humanity, maybe.

"what do you think?" she asked him with a smile. Things like this...being in the market, eating sweets reminded her of the few good childhood memories she had.

[The Magnificent Bistrad]

Rek repeated the names trying to memorize and catalog them in his brain for future reference when onyx made mention about the fabric." It feels good against the skin and there's no coarseness to the fabric. They know their trade particularly well." He said bagging up his old clothing. Rek would purchase for himself a few other nicknacks before onyx made mention of hot apple cinnamon rolls. Rek was famished he could use something sweet to eat right about now. He wasn't much one for baked goods but then again hed never tried anything other than normal bread. Pastries were foreign to him.

Rek followed onyx to the cart squatting down in front of the glass case looking at all the goods, the aroma rolling out from the case caused him to almost immediately begin to drool. He looked up as onyx offered him a roll. He took it from her sniffing it at. He brought it up to his mouth taking a nibble from it chewing it slowly rolling it around in his mouth getting a good full taste of the flavor. He then jammed the entire thing his mouth in one bite. He reached into his pocket tossing a few bits of gold onto the counter." I'll take a dozen please." He said crumbles falling from his mouth.

When onyx asked him what he thought he smiled and swallowed." Where have these things been my whole life." he said grabbing a napkin to wipe away the crumbs and Cinnamon that smeared his face.

[onyx2047]

Abanji Prefecture


Oni had to agree with Rek's comment regarding the fabric. I mean it was why she brought him here to the Abanji prefecture. She thought that he would be able to appreciate it out of anyone. When he tasted his food there was this sort of pause in time when Oni was just watching him. Waiting. Trying to anticipate his reactions. Then in one big gusto Rek decided that he didn't just like them. He loved them. Onyx bust out laughing nearly choking on her sweats. The vendor donned a face of shock and surprise and immediately began to box the stock he had.

"Oh my...." oni snorted in a giggle. "Don't eat them all at once. Your tummy will hurt and I sure as s**t 'aint cleaning up that mess." she held up her hands before her like she had just been arrested.

This promoted Onyx to show Rek something else here in the market. Walking away from the Vendor oni brought Rek to a different sort of sweet smelling stand. This shop was an actual shop as a pose to a street cart. It was a floral shop! Inside they also sold a minimal amount of organic, loose leaf tea.

'Here....let me hold onto those sweets for you while you have a look...' oni said taking his recently acquired package from him.

[The Magnificent Bistrad]

Rek blinked a moment as onyx warned him about getting sick off of them." But how could anything this sweet be bad for you?" He asked having never obviously heard of obesity. Rek followed onyx as his eyes watched the busy and bustling streets of this new prefecture. He was so overloaded he could hardly comprehend it. He kept expecting to wake up back on the ship. To be honest hed only been away from the land of the giants a few months. Its where he was born and raised, This was all so new so foreign to him and yet he didn't feel out of place. The diversity of this city was a sight in itself.

Onyx Led him by an actual shop something hed been wanting for a long time by himself. It was the shop of a florist. The aroma of the beautiful fragrant flowers almost lifted him up off his feet. Onyx no sooner spoke than rek handed everything bags sweets all to her without even looking at her. He was to enthralled by all the beautiful and rare species of plants to be found on the shelves. He stopped by a two headed flower one a bright warm orange the other a pale silverish white. He motioned onyx to come over to.

"This flower grows native in my lands to find it here is just....astonishing." He said lifting it up off the shelf by its pot." Its known as the sun and moon flower. Men and women in my tribe give them to one another to signify everlasting love. My father gave one to my mother the day they met. When one gives them to another its like saying we will be together for eternity as the sun and the moon in the sky." He said marveling at the flower." I havent seen one of these since i left my lands.....How much is it." He said looking over at the clerk who held up three fingers. He handed the man the required cash and had it bagged up.

[onyx2047]

Abanji Prefecture


Oni just gave him a big fat grin when Rek had stated that he did not understand how the sweets could be bad for him. Oh how it was simply wonderful to see the look on his face when she had brought him to the florist's shop. And oh how wonderful it was to have him hand over his goods to her to hold. He didn't even bat and eye. As he spoke, she was stuffing her face rather nonchalantly, absent mindedly as she listened and made little murmmers of understanding. He would get a few verbal responses albeit muffled by food. She really did find the sun and moon flower to be interesting though. As she did with the story that came with it. She wasn't surprised that he bought it. It had the most perfectly blended aroma and she had to wonder what sorts of alchemaic properties it held. Onyx herself spotted a white Lily flower, singular and bought it. She stuffed it behind her ear and giggled with a smile at Rek.

Onyx looked down to the bag she was holding, the one with all the sweets. Out of the eight Rek and bought...three were left. Her face screwed up...she slowly looked up at Rek and gave him a face like: sweatdrop
"Look at that...I just saved you from an early heart attack...you should thank me" she looked away from him as a blush streaked across her face. Her hand with the bag was held out to him as if to say: Take the damn bag away from me! Please!!!!

No lies. The woman could be a tank when she wanted to be. Oni sighed.
"Look...I really wanted to hit up the spa...I need some R&R...time to myself. You don't have to come of course. Your more than free to explore the prefecture as I am sure everything here is new for you, but...that's my destination." she told him honestly.

Oni and Rek would work out their plans, with or without Rek Onyx would make her way to the lovely spa that existed here in Abanji.

[onyx2047]

Abanji Prefecture ~ Spa ~ Private Hot Springs


As Onyx had returned to the spa the workers there knew exactly who she was. They welcomed her back warmly. Oni reciprocated. She also told them what her intent was for coming today. Onyx wanted a crack at the hot springs. More specifically the private springs as a pose to the public ones. The private springs, like the spa its self, was built in a fashion as to enjoy real nature. Nothing was replicated. As construction would have it, the private hot springs consisted of three small hot springs secluded by rocky cliff, hills and trees. It would seem that the spa was dead today and that was exactly what oni needed. In fact she even paid extra to ensure that that area would remain solely private for her. Well...as private as the facility could make it of course. There were guards at posts within the forests and all.

Making her way down stone paths, drawing further and further into seclusion, Onyx began to relax. When she got to the area she tucked behind one of the heavily frosted cubicles to change. Bikini clad she exited, towels in hand she made for a hot spring. 5'10 and very well toned despite being slightly lean, in this form, she didn't really look threatening. Like this, one could never guess her stories. Told many different ways, all were true. The truth was encroaching her mind.

The water was hot, it took a few minutes for her to get use to the extreme temperature change. Before long her muscles had relaxed. She sank down lower. Yellow topaz eye's could not stop themselves from scanning her surroundings. Paranoid. Onyx covered her face with her hands.

'Stop...stop it. Let go. Relax. I ... i'm trying... but I can't...'

Plip...plip...

Her tears fell, silently, hidden. Like the leaves of the cherry blossom tree they fell so freely. Rare for Onyx.

's**t ... c'mon Onyx. Keep it together! Don't unravel!'

Another voice inside her head spoke.

'But you must. Like it or not, Immortal as you may be...your still human. Are you truly dead inside? Then why do you do the things you do? Let it go. It's okay...to let go.'

"It's...it's okay...to let go..." she whispered to herself.

And her sobs racked her body. This had been such a long battle for Onyx. Since Rome. She was ********, truly. Her mind, her body, her emotions, all had been tested, worn incredibly thin, and it added up. Onyx was breaking. Too much had transpired and this bullet train that she was on could not be stopped.

[onyx2047]

Abanji Prefecture ~ Spa ~ Private Hot Springs


When these natural moments occurred, Onyx like to hide her weakness. Yes, she saw emotions like this as weakness. And many times over, she had looked to a few key beings in her life (and none were human) and wished she could be without emotion. It was the sole reason she fled Kuro as quick as she could. She was breaking and knew it. She was weak and didn't want to be seen. Broken and didn't want to crumble in anyone's hands. Onyx's pride wasn't exactly her fault. As the last child, daughter of a Samurai, treated and trained like a boy by her father until she was twelve, well it was instilled. It only got worse over the years. Then slipped into an issue over the course of her unnaturally long life. There wasn't any doubt that Onyx was at least half crazy, but what wasn't understood was the why.

The first to be bitten to the bone had been her emotions. Emotions that had played mind games with her. The culprit responsible? The infamous Vampire, her personal haunting, Metal Trsu. Whenever she thought about Rome, the incidences that had played out, she ended up giving herself a migraine out of hell. Questions upon theories, upon self analysis and it produced more unanswered questions. But Onyx had at least realized one key fact. It was a fact that made her feel extremely uncomfortable. They had history. A lot of history. In fact, Metal, though slightly different upon first meeting him, was her first official customer! Onyx didn't count those who came from the Lost Nights to see her knew home and business adventure. It was...strange to know that he was still here.

It was even more alarming when Onyx's inner voice betrays her because the truth was, Onyx would have it no other way. Metal, to Onyx, was like a sickness. One that required a drug with which you become addicted to. And that wasn't exactly romantic. Other than the vampires natural abilities that may have a hand in toying with Onyx's mind and emotions, the gritty dirty truth was this: He could give her death. He thrilled her because he was a ticking time bomb. Because she was half crazy, she loved it. He was so convoluted. But...more importantly...he was powerful.

Onyx, the ever dominating woman that she is was simply attracted to power. And most beings that had a lot of power...were never truly up to any good. They always had at least an evil streak to them. This was way beyond the phrase "Good girls love bad boys". Only another man of greater power than herself would ever be able to handle her. And she only wanted a man of greater power. She was ******** tired of incompetence. She was bored with always being in control. Metal was utterly out of control. He was a challenge. She craved fire. And ironically, for all the death she had seen, done, been around, she wanted to feel what it truly meant to feel alive.

Oh God! How this revelation, this admittance wanted to make her die right then and there. She could not fight her denial any more on this. But Onyx had told herself that she was going to shelf it all. He was bad for her. She could be bad for him too. There was a lot of complications and Onyx wasn't too sure if she could handle it either. The biggest of course being her past and her hatred for the Vampire race. That emotion thing had stuck its big ugly head into things though. Would it be enough to distort the situation at hand? At current, she was safe in blaming Metal's Vampiric allure for everything! No...none of it was her own doing. He was to blame. He was just trying to make a good girl go bad. She was sure of it. The pride in Onyx told herself that she wasn't going to be ensnared by him.

Her hands fell away from her face a bit...she looked at her own bare hands. They were covered in blood so dark they looked black.

[onyx2047]

Abanji Prefecture ~ Spa ~ Private Hot Springs


"No!..." she hissed placing her hands under the water. She was fighting the hallucinations that her guilt was placing upon her.

Since her current feelings were seen as weakness, seeing as how Metal caused her will power to waver, she was pissed. Onyx grew angry. Her eye's flicked over to a deep amber orange and her fists clenched beneath the water. She needed out of the water for a moment. Sitting up on the edge of the hot spring, she let the cool air calm her rising temperature. Steam rolled off of her body. She closed her eye's and tried to focus on the movement of her energy to calm herself. It worked. But as Onyx sat there and slowly came out of her meditative state more things were rising up to the surface, like a great purge.

Believe it or not, things got deeper. The events of Kuro had such an impact on her that it very well might have altered the very person she was. Her thoughts drifted to the entity that had forced her to relive her sins. Her thoughts lingered on how horrid that experience truly was for her. Her mind played back the events she was forced to relive. The greatest mistake of her life, seeking a revenge that she had promised to not seek. She had no idea that it was because she was a vessel, A Phoenix Rider, destined for a certain life. She didn't know that all her training had been for something. She destroyed everything. She tainted her phoenix before she even knew she had it. Those flames...were never suppose to be flames of anger but flames of renewal and cleanse. And from this event came her only salvation. The gift granted by means of her Kessen Chu. Her immortality. But Onyx was forced to relive the night that her Grandfather had disowned her as well. The night she should have died but cowardly chose life.

Naturally one could tell her to be easier on herself. It wasn't like she knew all the facts before making that decision. Her parents were brutally taken from her to which no child should ever bare witness to. The lines between revenge, avenge, honor could very easily be blurred. Wouldn't any human being feel the need for justice? Wouldn't any human want things to be fair? Such a human that was younger, felt great suffering, confusion? It was a damn sad story. The tale of Onyx was born in tragedy. She never spoke of it because Oni wasn't the type to want anyone's pitty. She couldn't help but feel it as an insult. Thanks Grandpa.

Yeah, her sin was great. She was indeed without a doubt a murderer in its most basic of forms. And it was a horrible thing to realize once it was all too late that those people in that village, were not followers of the Miyagi clan. They were innocent men, women and children. The entity in Kuro had stirred to surface Onyx's most regrettable, game changing, soul shattering, moment. But....Onyx had been living with this for a very long time now. Surly she had made peace with this? Why was this so upsetting for her?

Since that moment, lingering effects of the entity had seeped and clung to her mind. Reliving that event triggered her to recall her earlier days. The days with which she couldn't cope with her Kessen Chu. The days with which her true sins were committed. The entity in Kuro was all about viewing and showing ones deepest sins. Onyx was bombarded with quick moving images that made her body buckle forwards, hunching a bit as she sat there, one hand to her head. She was a mix of tears and angry growls as she had wanted it to just stop already.

[onyx2047]

Abanji Prefecture ~ Spa ~ Private Hot Springs


In a time before another very important event occurred that would change Onyx into the woman she now was, she was a tyrant at best. These memories that ripped through her mind span to various things. It started with the copious amount of sex, drinking, suicide attempts, all in hopes of taking back her decision to live. She simply couldn't handle the idea of never dying. She was denied the simple pleasures of life. No amount of alcohol would numb her, no amount of cuts would bleed her dry, no amount of sex would disease her. She had become so obsessed with dying and learning what would successfully work and what wouldn't. Nothing she tried worked then. By the time she did find what would work...things had changed for her.

Onyx back then was incredibly self destructive. Being a pirate had come before her assassin-hood. Her earlier pirating days, back when ships dueled on the open waters, saw the age when violence, brutality, was the way. In her rule as a legendary Pirate, the pseudo name she had went by, the many lives she had taken, was unmistakable. Even though the story books got some facts wrong, the legend was never-the-less there. She never married anyone. Her Chinese name was Ching Shih commander of the "red flag fleet". Her goal had been to be the most feared pirate in history. It wasn't...all total insanity...I mean...she thought the rules she implicated were sane. It was simple: If you stole or looted from a town that that had provided assistance, if you stole or she thought you were stealing from the treasury, if you raped or even had consensual sex while on duty, she chopped your head off with a battle axe and dumped your lifeless body into the ocean. And the chick you were banging? She got strapped to a few cannonballs and got dumped over board as well. You got hunted down and got a body part chopped off to which got passed around to the other mates if you tried to go AWOL. She simply wasn't ******** around in those days. She ran a tight ship and meant it. She wanted to make sure you were working when you were suppose to be working and if you were lucky enough to get let off mildly, you'd find yourself scrubbing the poop deck of all the spilled blood while having the imprint of her boot on your lacerated back.


The craziness was born in this time really. Her desire, her quest for this goal was fierce and she would do anything to see it to frutation. She managed to capture sixty-three ships of the Chinese Navy, easily replacing any men she may have lost. The books have written that "Her military success was so ultimate and her wrath so terrible that the Admiral of the Chinese Navy, Kwo Lang, committed suicide when being faced with the prospect of being captured by her forces."

Eventually the Chinese Government offered her amnesty if she would agree to quit. She did agree having achieved her goal. It is said that "She and her force of seventeen thousand men pulled their two hundred ships into port for the last time and were allowed to keep their plunder and retire to quiet lives in the Chinese countryside."

Some books say she lived to the age of sixty nine and ran a brothel. Obviously not true...she was alive and it wasn't a brothel. It was an Okiya that she ran. The best part of it all though was reading what the rare text books out there said about her.

"Ching Shih assembled and ran one of the most formidable pirate armadas the world has ever seen. Her forces wreaked havoc not only among the merchant shipping population, but were also incredibly successful at going toe-to-toe with the Chinese Navy in large-scale sea battles. She was tough, well-respected, had a formidable code of honor, and was militarily and tactically superior to a number of Chinese and European naval commanders. And best of all, she was able to get away with everything, keep all of her loot and avoid suffering the indignity of a death by hanging."

She was successful. Goal completed. Sin written all over the ******** place. It was like a big ******** YOU to the "gift" which she saw as punishment that she had been given. Immortality. And being a fancy lady pimp eventually got really boring as well. Onyx spent some time traveling around leaving Asia. It wouldn't be until years later when she would return. In a monastery a letter was delivered to her. Onyx's decision to answer that call would change who she was forever. The woman that sent that letter would place upon Onyx a guilt, playing the part of Onyx's heartstrings that she knew were still there, and her near death, that would impact her for all time.

Onyx was currently reliving in her head all of this. Her body was shaking. Her eye's squinted tightly. Both hands clutched onto her head. She was not rid of the lasting effects that the entity in Kuro had upon her.

[onyx2047]

Abanji Prefecture ~ Spa ~ Private Hot Springs


The s**t fest wasn't over yet. While the last event did change Onyx for the better, she had decided to fight for life, for the innocent, for justice, for love. She had decided to start on her mission of repentance. Alright, a step in the right direction! Onyx could heal right? Wrong. Dead wrong.

Onyx had tried to think logically. Become an assassin. They get contracts to kill bad guys. I ought to be done in no time. Then I can be rid of the Kessen Chu. Accept, killing ... only further degraded the Phoenix attached to her soul. The one that could not survive in negativity. A fact she would not learn about until it was far, far too late. Her Grandfather had disowned her and eventually died before telling her the truth about her intended destiny.

Onyx ******** herself into the ground for many, many more years to come. It was a double edged sword. If she wanted to be free of her immortality she was going to have to sacrifice the phoenix. But...it did not die completely. In attempts to hang on, it allowed its self to be tainted and through the emotion of all that anger Onyx had...it lived. The one saving grace however, was that Onyx didn't really like being an assassin. In fact, she hated it. She didn't take a whole lot of contracts really before deviating from it. Still....it was still murder and still sin. Onyx's mind ripped through some of her more brutal kills and the fact smashed her into a wall. Onyx began to ENJOY the kills after a while.

The event regarding her first Vampiric encounter happened and this set off a decade binge of killing and hunting vampires to satiate her hate. More negativity. After that cooled off she decided to get back into her semi pirating ways by becoming a thief. She took the pledge having joining a thieves guild ran by a being named Aecon Phoenix. She broke that oath secretly because she was secretly still a damn assassin. Onyx needed to kill 10,000 bad guys and at first she seemed committed.

Her mind was tortured by the vampires she killed, and oh God how much sin was there in her thieving ways?!?. Out there all alone, no one heard her scream out in agony as she doubled over to her side. Her hands breaking her fall. Forehead to the ground she panted, struggling to breathe!

Of course, Onyx had tried to justify this all over the years and some of it she could. And of course this was the entity having brought to the surface only the bad she had done in her life. All of the good she had done to try and make up for it all had been dismissed. But...that was they key to Onyx's and her phoenix's survival really.

"To...eliminate..evil...from the world...I shall deliver you from the darkness and into the light. and the hand of the wicked shall not drive you away from me."

In the battle of Kuro Onyx's Phoenix had half emerged to help Oni do battle against the dark entity. Those words that the Phoenix spoke Oni had heard them as the Phoenix spoke through her. And it was the last line that made Onyx's pain, suffering, tears, to cease. The Phoenix...had been speaking...to Onyx. "The hand of the wicked shall not drive you away from me". The Phoenix had been...fighting for Onyx. The phoenix believed in Onyx. It put its life, its power on the line to help her through it all. Having that Phoenix within her was damn proof enough that despite all of the wrong Onyx had done, all the right she had also done in her 216 years as a learning human immortal had also been for good. Could it be that as long as Onyx learned, progressed, healed her mind and soul, she could redeem herself where the Phoenix was concerned?

[onyx2047]

Abanji Prefecture ~ Spa ~ Private Hot Springs


"Pay attention Onyx...."

A voice said unto her mind. And Onyx was reminded much in the same way she had been reminded of all the negativity. Images, memories of all of the good things she had done in her life for others flooded her. Her positive accomplishments, the love, the friends, her son.

"I was responsible for him you know..."

Oni lay there panting, listening, viewing. The image of Heiden's face appeared to the forefront of her mind. Her eye's grew wide. Onyx had the Kessen chu. It killed everything foreign in her body. She couldn't have children. It was a miracle that she had gotten pregnant. It needed to be with someone incredibly strong to beat the kessen chu but...was she aided by the phoenix? She who represents rebirth? The two things in life Onyx wanted. A child and a husband. Did the phoenix really have the power to aid her like that? Onyx blinked hard a few times.

"Did you not notice? The new abilities as of late?"

That was right...Onyx was capable of doing a few new things where the Phoenix was concerned. Something not possible if she hadn't been regaining the love, the trust, the power of the Phoenix back.

"Pay attention Onyx..."

Those words were repeated. Then Onyx saw something in her minds eye that would truly set the epiphany off.



The Phoenix Echs

A firey hand snapped out to wrap around the dark ones throat but its intentions were not to flex physical power much like it's self. Instead its purpose was to push against his pull. As the dark one emit negative energy, positive was being pushed back against it. The dark one would find that the firey hand would disappear seemingly into him. The Pheoinx was attempting to push its self right through him. And the dark one would have no positive memories to be sure to be reminded of, instead it was like a sponge. Light absorbing the dark. The phoenix was consuming and absorbing, converting dark to light to disperse it into the ether.



Onyx gasped as though she had just taken her first breath into life. She had seen it for herself. A way to do good. The true power of the Phoenix. Rebirth. Deliverance. Not destroy. But to return into the balance of things. Light absorbing darkness and converting it. This was the ability Onyx needed to work towards. If she could obtain this then she would know for sure that she and the Phoenix were finally whole, finally one, finally in balance with one another. Onyx needed to keep doing good, positive.

She also realized that despite the horrible events of Kuro, it had given her such a boost in this quest. The children she protected, the men and women she fought for, not to mention everyone else that could have been affected by the wrath of the entity had it not been stopped. Finally, the team work and return to the ether of said evil entity. Onyx had leveled up in a major way and hadn't known it. Only through her suffering (death) could she see the healing that had taken place (life).

Onyx slowly pushed herself up on wobbly arms until she was sitting upright once more. She looked at her hands. The dark blood began to fade to reveal her own hands. Yes, she had done wrong. Yes, she was capable of evil but that was what being human meant. It was what you chose in your life that defines you as "good" or "evil". Onyx, at her core in her heart she was not "evil". She was human and had made grave mistakes. Perhaps, had she not had the phoenix within her, maybe if she wasn't given the choice to try and redeem herself, she would have died and if here was such thing as a hell, she would have gone there straight away. It occurred to her then that she really didn't need to ask questions of the emperor of Kuro. The experience had proven to be the most positive thing other than her son to have happened to her. Other than sheer curiosity, why question it? She smiled lightly now to herself. Perhaps the next time she visited Kuro it could be on lighter terms.

While this wonderful revelation was soul inspiring and it filled her with strength and determination to keep going, stay positive, and all that fun stuff, it did not take away some of her current issues still at hand. She was still sad at the loss of Li and Raziel Kane. We can blame her humanity and that ******** thing called human emotion for it. She also had an item that had gone missing after her altercation with Metal's alternate Raziel. Onyx suspected that he might have took it but...why? It made no sense. The inevitable was coming. Onyx would have to face Metal. Onyx would have to confront him about his alternate.

For now though she wanted to just sit in the warmth of her epiphanies. Feet in the hot spring she lightly kicked them back and forth. She watched the way the water steamed and shone like glass in the reflection of the sun. In this moment she took silent rejoice in life. For being alive. For the events of Kuro had also successfully thrilled her and showed her what it meant to truly be alive.

[Mr Shinjiko]

"I wouldn't think too much, it has a tendency to cloud one's judgement."

The voice was that of the Kurai Kage archer that she had met some time ago in Kuro Hitokiri. The voice came from Onyx' right, and if she looked right, she would see him squatting next to her. He didn't look at her directly, instead looking out over the water and it's randomized movements. Perhaps what she had said was the reason behind it, or perhaps it was because things really weren't finished. Either way, her shadow was there.

"With what happened in Kuro Hitokiri, you embody Aizou Seishi. Your body is filled with love and hatred at the same time, and you control life and death. You are not unlike the Kurai Kage or even the Emperor himself..."

Again, as she had seen multiple times before, once she blinked he would be gone from her side. But he did not leave, instead he stood across from her, squatting down, standing on the water's surface itself. Head tilted to the side and it could only be assumed that he was looking straight in her eyes. The Kurai Kage, a group that was originally made for assassination. Yet here her shadow stood, facing her directly as he squatted down on the water.

"You have it in your eyes. There's a fire, not because of what's inside of you, but because of what you believe in. It's always been a question as to why the Emperor asked you for aid, but now... seeing it in person... it is clear."

onyx2047

[onyx2047]

Abanji Prefecture ~ Spa ~ Private Hot Springs


His voice made her gasp! Her head snapped to her right and there she saw her shadow. Kurai. He would find her in a rare state. She was too weak on many levels to fight him. Hell, she didn't even have it in her to be angry! Christ, the moon was going to fall from the sky now. To his words she chuckled softly.

"Its the way I am. I can't help it. The curse that is my humanity"

Oni watched him a moment and when she blinked he had moved. His following words caused her to close her eye's. Oh she heard his words loud and clear and she was digesting them. For now she would try to deflect.

"You know...i was always a s**t assassin. Watching you makes me look...well even shittier. Stop making me feel shitty"

Her playful manner was there but the energy behind it was like she was sleepy. It was because she was drained. Her hand came up to rest upon her forehead. Oni groaned a bit as her body racked with a shot of pain in her head.

"nyugh...kurai...i don't really feel like i can control much of anything anymore." she admitted

His final words could not be denied however. She looked up at him through her fingers. Her yellow topaz eyes had paled significantly.

"The only thing that is clear...is that I'm broken. For the second time. Ima mess. I didn't want anyone to see me like this Kurai. Not Ando, not you, and certainly not your Emperor. Yet here you are. " Again she deflected. She didn't want to know what he was referring to. She was afraid to hear it.

[Mr Shinjiko]

"The Kurai Kage are more than simple assassins. We are the Will of the Emperor."

The level of control that this nameless assassin held was incredible, to say the least. Despite squatting on the water's surface, he would move now to sit lotus position on top of it. An old Shinobi legend stated that there were few that mastered the art of the night, and those that did were able to move across the water like a god. This Kurai Kage was no god, that much was known.

"You forget that I am your Shadow. I see everything, and it is a heavy burden. One that I am honored to hold. Remember this... the broken die and you are not dead."

So much for any guards protecting Onyx. For a moment the Kurai pondered over such things, but was quickly brought back to the situation at hand. His mission was more important than the inadequate security that roamed around the area. Without any purpose to move, he wouldn't, remaining completely as he was in that lotus position. Head tilted again, this time to the left.

"You beat yourself up, for what reason? Do you feel as if your actions do not matter? Every action matters. Everything in this world is the result of another action. You wake in the morning because you did not die at night, you eat because you are hungry. Your actions resulted in victory. It is your actions that caused the Emperor to bring back the Kurai Kage. We are because of you."