Welcome to Gaia! ::

Far and wide, the clouds began to grow dark and crack with ominous thunder and forboading lightning. Standing on a grassy hill far from his woodland home, Vincent stares off into the distance. His deep, purple eyes seem unfocused, as if he is seeing far beyond the expance of grass and hills before him. Suddenly, his eyes come back to focus as a man dressed in black noble's garb strides up to him. With an evil smile and green eyes that seem to seep with malice the man is obviously an opitomy of evil and chaos. His cocky smile spreads as he extends a hand toward Vincent and speaks in a voice both human and yet fringed with something far more...primal.

"Vincent...my brother...It ends today." An evil, horrid laugh splits the near silence of the planes as Vincent's brother revels in the fight to come.

"I fear, my brother, that it will not be as easy as you think. For while you have dabbled in the evil and the arcane, I have focused my efforts on obtaining something far more powerful - THE DIVINE SPARK!"

Vincent takes off, drawing from his back the legendary sword known only as the Demonic Sword. Vincent's power flares to untold and unseen heights, pouring even into the very sword he weilds. The blade screams as it's curse is stripped violently from it, laying bare the blade's true form. Taking on the form of a sword that most angels would salivate over, it sheds holy light that bathes over Vincent. Six magnificant wings burst from Vincent's back as the sword's transformation wears down his own resistances to transformation.

Sailing high above the battlefield Vincent raises his sword, the newly christaned Divine Fury above his head. With a defiant shout to his brother, the man who took his whole life from him, Vincent unleashes every shred of power left within his body. Below, a angelic symbol nearly a hundred meters in width spreads across the battlefield. Great rings of ungodly power begin to fly from the outermost circle, preventing his brother's escape.

"BORUS!!! TODAY, I END THE SUFFERING YOU HAVE CAUSED! TAKE THIS! MY PAIN...MY FURY...AND ALL OF MY SORROW!!! ANGELIC...REQIUUUUUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

From every feather and every wing burst forth a mighty torrent of power, each missle a destructive manifestation of raw power and divine brilliance. With nowhere to run and nowhere to hide, Borus could do nothing but scream in rage at his inevitable fall. For hundred of miles around all could see the resulting explosion of unbridled, holy power...

When the dust had cleared, all that remained was Vincent, floating above the crater that once was a grassland. Slowly, he descended to the ground, his wings disappating into miniscule orbs of power. As the last bit drained from his body, Vincent Valentine, the Heirophant of the Broken, stood still as a statue on the broken land around him. Bringing up his sword he stabbed the blade into the ground before him. From its hilt flew the sword's true power, off to be reborn anew somewhere else in this vast world. Then from his pocket he drew Demetry's coin and summoned his mighty dragon companion. With naught but a silent mental exchange, the dragon nodded its head in compliance and took off into the horizon, never to come back. Vincent watched in sorrow as the dragon diappeared from view.

"That's it." Vincent said silently to himself, "I can't hold on anymore...Iris...I'm so sorry I never got to see you again. But it's better off this way...At least, that's what I like to think...Everyone...it was fun...but I have to go. I hope you all understand..."

With his final words spoken, Vincent's final lick of power and will faded from his body, and slowly, as if from some horrid nightmare, Vincent's body turned to stone, having made the ultimate sacrifice - his very soul - to ensure that the world would never have to face a horror of Borus' magnitude. The only thing that kept Vincent at peace till his final moment was the thought that at least his friends would not have to suffer as he had......

Lazarus was the first to the scene, to discover the crater, and the statue of Vincent. Fear and pain washed over his face, as a tear formed at the corner of his eye. His mind rationalized that this might be a real statue, construced to honor the mighty noble, the great paladain. But his heart told him that Vincent himself had been turned to stone. With a few short words, and two simple gestures, Lazarus cast a Retell a spell that told the past up to ten minutes prior. He watche dthe scene unfold in explicit detail before his eyes.

As Vincent unsheathed the Demonic Blade, Lazarus had to fight to stop him. He knew it was fruitless, but his body wanted to leap into the scene, and stop Vincent from useing the blade; He had been in the mountain of the dragon-king when Vincent had nearly died countless times to the blades madness. He also knew the change that over-came the gentle man, when equiped with the fel-blade.

He continued to watch, seeing Vincent's own power over-take the blade, turning the evil into good. Lazarus watched as his friend struck down his vile brother, and then, to save the world, was turned into stone himself. The tears did fall now, a great and wise man, too good for this world, had given his life to save everyone else's.

Lazarus fell to his knees, and spoke a silent prayer, hopeing that, in his next life, Vincent, Heirophant of the Broken, would have an easier path, and know only the greatest things in life. As he finnished, his prayer, Lazarus stood, and layed a chanrge coin at the base of the statue, the first coin he ever earned adventuring with Vincent. It was a small token of respect, but it was significant for the Mage.

Perrian ran to the area where he saw the explosion and suddenly freezed. "I...this can't be...my friend...the person who was like the brother I never had...I..." Perrian said through tears that were starting to roll down the healer's face. Normally it is the job of the healer to heal those in need of healing and to remain strong, but, at the sight of the statue, this healer could not remain strong and broke down in tears. He walked up to the statue and knelt down at it. "Oh, if I was here I could have maybe saved you and it could be I in your place instead of you...if I was just here...but true...you wouldn't like that." He said through his tears, a small smile went on his face realizing that this is the way Vincent would have liked to leave this world- he would liked to leave this world fighting for what he believed in and fighting to keep this world a better place for his friends. "Rest in peace my friend, my brother. I thank you for the blessing you put on me and I hope that it will protect me in the future" He whispered to the air and waited for a response which did not come. "Rest in peace, friend and brother."

*Aproaching slowly form the edge of the clearing, Firu saw the others who had gatherd around the now quiet battlefeild. Having arived in time to whitnes the finaly of the altercation. And altho he did not know him as well as the others, he had stood beside him in battle time and again. So silently he payed his respects for one of the greatest wariors to walk these lands.*

Perrian nodded and sighed. He continued to look into the sky. "I'll have to be ok, he wouldn't want me any other way. I just will miss him a lot, the brother I didn't have. I-" Perrian said and stopped in midsentence to take a breath. "I'll just have to be ok, a healer can't do too well being sorry for himself and being distracted. One second too late and an attack can hit an ally that you could have healed one second before and saved him from being knocked out. I'll have to regain myself and be ok. I mean, anyway, healers are supposed to be strong with emotions, right? I'll be ok, or try to be. Anyway, he'd want nobody to mourn his leaving this world for too long." Perrian nodded and looked over to Isidar into her eyes, but said no words.

Perrian sighed and nodded. He took her hand and stood up. The small smile on his face got a bit bigger in result to Isidar's sarcasm. "Fine, fine. I'll certainly miss him, but time will still continue." He said then went quiet. "Hmm..I think I'm going to get myself a glass of something...nonalcoholic...I'm heading to the tavern soon. Meet up with you again later?" He asked to Isidar and waiting for a response, he held her hand.

Some time after the incident with Vincent, when all is quite and still about him, the clouds above begin to gather and darken ominously. And from the stillness about his shrine comes a small crack as a line is broken in the unblemished surface of Vincent's statue...

The crack on his statue began to lengthen as a small beam of light shot out from within. Now, cracks were appearing everywhere, from each shining that same, brilliant white till everything for a dozen feet became engulfed in its warmth. Many long seconds passed before the light exploded in every direction with tremendous force, flinging chucks of statue in every direction like miniature missiles. The light faded slowly, revealing a kneeling Vincent at its center, where moments before had stood his statue. His breath was labored, and strangely quite. Slowly, he raised his hand, forming a small white symbol about half an inch from his upturned palm. He waited, head lowered, as several moments passed. Then, off in the distance a flash of red and white descended toward him: the dragon Demetry carrying Divine Fury in its talons. The dragon landed gracefully after tossing the sword into Vincent's outstretched hand before transforming into the decorated, red summoning token. Vincent quickly returned the sword to his back and stood. His eyes were closed still, and on his forehead was now a symbol of an elaborate cross, encompassed by a circle with six, pointed projections sprouting from the edges. The symbol glows briefly, and the Divine Fury resonates in tune with it. Suddenly the light fades from the blade and is absorbed by Vincent's body, and the angelic blade transforms again to its demonic heritage. As the light about his body and the symbol fade, his eyes slowly open:

Dead...empty...and souless.