Welcome to Gaia! ::

God said it was good.

These are the words that founded the Church and gave them the power that they hold today, they sheltered the poor and homeless people that were the end result of wars and fed the orphaned children of so many catastrophes.

The priests work hard to spread love and peace to the people that follow the church, God’s will be done, they gave their very lives for the ideals and sacrificed themselves to uphold what the church meant to the world. Love, Kinship, Peace, Acceptance…

A better future.

It soon came to be that the people loved the church in return, converting others to its way and slowly but surely the country became righteous and loved unconditionally. A more perfect example of what was strived for you would need to look no further to find, years passed and wars were started and ended in the name of God.

Many other religions had been struck down and converted over to the Church, to God, and it was swift coming that the entire continent would be held under one banner. What more could you ask? If all believed the same then there would be no reason for strife or struggle.

That’s why the Church took pity on the others and cleansed them of their outlandish notions, to bring them peace of mind and to bring the people they cared for peace of heart in knowing that their neighbor would be saved just as they had been.

Years rained over the continent and the unearthing of an artifact that would be fated to change the path of this humble life forever more would occur. A small sapphire dagger that extended from a hilt made of untarnished gold, the first discovered “Sinful Angel”, was found buried deep within the earth inside of an iron mining shaft.

The mining team working at the time was never found and condolences were sent by the church to the unfortunate families that lost a father, brother, son, uncle or cousin that day.

The so called Sinful Angel made its way to the church no long after, a recovery team having been dispatched to acquisition it away from the public to prevent its blasphemy from harming any faithful citizen who might run afoul its’ evil.

Months passed and peace returned, the event forgotten by the public as it drifted back into the darkness cast by ignorance. The Church however, had learned far more than one would believe. The formation of a special group of inquisitors known as “Redeemers” occurred, their purpose?

The obtaining and control of any future Sinful Angel events that may occur.
These Sinful Angels were far more then they appeared, objects of immense if not sometimes strange, power.

Their form could be anything, or so it was deducted by the Church, ranging from a piece of cloth to an anklet to a dagger like the one they had in their position.

Those who came into contact with the Sinful Angel artifacts could hear a voice, unique to each item, which spoke in often muddled ways. The voice changed them, twisting their minds into depravity and turning them against the Church and God.

However… Some understood the voices clearly, learning from them and eventually becoming somewhat attached to them.

It is not quite known just what these voices are, for those who would know seem as if they would choose death over revealing such a secret, but it was decided that it was something to keep from the public at any costs lest havoc be wreaked upon their peaceful lives.

This… Was not to be the case.

Over the next few years the Redeemers were put to work as more and more instances Sinful Angel appearances began to pop up all over the continent, civil unrest beginning moderately at the sudden activity of the church in response to the strange artifacts that had now become public knowledge.

More and more Sinful Angels were taken into the church as time passed; it was not so unbelievable that lives of the Redeemers had been lost in conflict between themselves and a holder of a Sinful Angel… If not conflict with Angel it’s self.

It had become darker; the capital that held the main Sinful Angel cache and Grand Cathedral was shrouded in a dense fog and constant rain from greenish black clouds above.

No one came out of or into the once bustling and lively city anymore and the Church its self began changing in uncomfortable ways, their methods changing subtly and slowly over time and worrying the once faithful people.

All Sinful Angels were to be reported to the Church immediately, failure to do so branded you a heretic and in direct opposition to God.

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~Rules~

1. there will be no pictures unless one is specifically requested. If you can't describe it with your words, then you have no need for it.

2. please keep a uniform text/font. Reading multi-colors gives people headaches and kind of gets annoying.

3. if you godmod, teleport or otherwise make an idiot of yourself then assume that everyone hates you. Put a stop to it immediately.

4. literacy and content are important. A grammar nazi i am not, but please use some discretion.

5. all original characters, no shinigami/naruto/deathnote/"insert overused series" in this entire fiction. If your character isn't original, then don't use him/her.

6. this is all based on a large continent, medieval sort of. While any and all weapons and clothing are fine, if everybody chooses a katana then it's safe to assume you need to choose something different.

7. you cannot be in the church.

8. you start with a Sinful Angel, it requires a back story as to how you acquired it. (no overpowering the Sinful Angels! They can do a variety of things, but i swear to whatever deity you believe in- If i see ONE hadouken from a Sinful Angel...)

9. I just like everything I do to come in groups of 9.

Any questions you have? PM me ._.

“Boy…”

The small child sat alone in the dark cell. In the distance, the sound of water dripping could be heard. The place was extremely cold and he sat with his back against the wall, his head bowed in despair. His last days on Earth until the Church decided to end him were not nearly the way he wanted them to be. He would have rather been killed trying to escape rather than being thrown in a prison cell.

He was a young child. Short brown hair reached down to just above his eyes, pale skin shone in the cool moonlight and made him look like a phantom haunting the old cell. Deep, gray eyes stared coldly at the floor, as if some answer to his dilemma would appear from within the cracks of the bricks of stone. A look of depression was plastered on his face as he wondered what exactly the sensation of being killed would feel like.

“Boy…!” the stranger whispered, a little louder this time.

The boy turned his head away from its fixation on the spot on the floor and looked up. The sound appeared to be coming from outside the bars, from one of the other cells… was another prisoner calling him or was this just his imagination?

“Boy…!” the hushed tone was almost turned into a shout at this point.

Reluctantly, the boy answered. “Y-yes…?”

“Come here, boy… there is something I must give you.”

“W-what is it…?”

“Just come here!”

The boy cautiously got up and did as he was told, hugging the wall as he moved towards the cell door.

“What is it…?”

“I am not long for this world. My body is old, my bones are frail… but you… you still have a chance… you still have hope…”

“What…?”

“Here. This is yours, now. Tomorrow I meet my fate at the executioner’s hands.”

A small black object could be made out moving in the faint moonlight. The boy hesitated in taking it, was this a trick?

“Just take it, child!”

Finally, after moments of contemplation, he grabbed the object.

Good… now go to sleep… Everything will be alright once you awaken…

A new voice entered his mind. Without arguing, he moved back to his bed and fell onto it like a brick. In mere seconds, he drifted into a world of dreams.

"Mom why are we going to churchon a Wednesday?" I asked looking up at mopm.
"Because the Lord told us to."
But God is a lie. I glanced back slightly hearing the voice but seeing no one. My attention quickly turned back to my mother. "How did God tell you?"
'While I was washing dishes."
I thought a moment. "Who created God?"
My father's gaze quickly turned to me. "No one."
No on created him because he doesn't exist. "But God created Earth so someone had to create God."
"No one created him." Dad stated sternly. "God was always there."
"But that isn't possible!" I exclaimed. "How could God just be there? If God created Earth someone had to create--" My words were cut short as my father slapped me leaving a red mark.
"God was always there!"
See what beleiveng in God caused your father to do? You are only trying to prove that there is no evidence. The voice hissed again. I looked down feeling my eyes water.

Serin dropped down the trees with a muffled thud, the impact from hitting the ground and carrying the heavy burden on her back causing her body to ache in protest. The Redeemers wouldn't be delayed for long so it was important she set off to the nearest town as fast as possible.

But... It had been so long since she had left the forest, her mother having left years ago with promises to return to her.

It was fairly obvious how well she had kept that promise.

Regrets?

She shook her head and whirled around, the voice had whispered in her ear a soft caressing breeze but unless she was finally going insane there was nothing there. Now wasn't the time to become paranoid though, she needed to get as far away as she could!

Now is the perfect time to get paranoid, is it not?

Yes, yes it was. Serin took off across the plains and began her depature from the only world she had known since she was born, leading out into the world and into a life that would cross the boundaries of what used to be possible and impossible.

Just her, the clothes on her back- My, this is going to be... Fun isn't it? - Oh yes, and the creepy voice.

"Ow! Hey what are you doing?!" I cried out as my father forced me to kneel before the priest. I was embarrased, what was I being punished for?

"Father, my daughter has demons inside of her. Please release them."

"I have no demons! Dad please!! I'll clean my room and wash dishes!" I exclaimed nearly crying as tried moving back feeling the cold hand of th priest on my head.

"Lord, please help this young lamb. She is being possesed by the Devil, and needs your guidance back into your light."

No demons, no God. Just me.

"Daddy make him stop!" I exclaimed over the priests montone chanting. My eyes widened as my dad stood there, my mom seemed to be near tears and my sister. Why was she smiling? "Why are you smiling b***h!? Someone exclaimed. It wasn't me yelling. It wasn't me. "I'm sorry I didn't mean that! Ah!" He bible was then placed to my head.

"Demon, by the power of the lord, I command thee to give up thy possesion of this child and go back to which thee first came!"

"God doesn't exist!" I felt myself scream, hearing the gasps around me. "I have seen no proof! Only winners write the books! Your book is a book of lies with no truths! Now let me go!" I screamed biting deeply into the arms of my father. I heard something clatter and I turned. My crystal. I reached out to grab it but the priest picked it up.

"A Sinful. Child. You have been holding this for how long?"

I was afraid. "I-I buried it up from a trip. It was pretty so I kept it. C-Can I have it back?" He clenched his fist around it andmy eyes watered up dramatically. "GIVE IT BACK YOU OLD MAN!" I don't know what came over me, one minute I was crying in front of himand the next I was running outside.

Society no longer accepts you. From now on your family will no longer accept you, society hates you, and you are hereby a heretic to the church.

My crystal was a Singful Angel? Why? Why did I have to stumble upon it? I turned and hugged the shadows of the walls hearing armor clank by. I let out my breath and tried to calm my breathing down. "I don't have a home." I whimpered feeling the tears roll down my face.

A black hand moved across the jail cell bars. A loud clang could be heard each time it came to a new one. The long fingers which seemingly were formed from pure darkness continued along, not stopping until they finally reached their destination at the keyhole. Ever so casually they made their way down to the lock.

The jingle of keys could be heard. The ring within its hand could be seen shaking slightly as it was being sorted through. Even through bars of metal it could be seen that he found the key fairly easily as he opened the door just a few moments after and began to approach the boy inside the cell.

“Stay away from me!” the boy screamed, waving his hand in front of him as he backed up further against the wall. His feet curled inwards as he tried to get as far away from the creature as possible. Even in his short time on the Earth, he knew that such a monstrosity was not of this world.

“Something wrong, master?” the creature asked, taking another step forward towards the boy. He kept coming, first ten feet away, then seven… then, before the boy even realized it, he had made it halfway across the room and was now looking down at the child through the long strands of black hair that hung haphazardly in front of its face.

The two wide eyes from earlier stared at him with utter satisfaction. Even through the time he had spent gnawing into the guard’s throat, not a speck of blood was visible on his white carnivorous fangs. The two features seemed ghastly in contrast to the utter blackness that surrounded them, and even in the sunlit room he still did not show any signs of changing from his shadowy presence.

“Don’t come any closer, monster!”

“Now, is that anyway to talk about your savior?” the cold figure replied, still a distance away from the boy. “Are we not both monsters in the eyes of this church, now? The holiness would have killed you if I did not have intervened.”

“You killed that guard!”

“To save lives, you must take lives to keep the scale in check…”

The boy refused to listen. He curled his body inward and closed his eyes tightly, trying to wish away the thing he brought into this world. Whatever he was, whatever it was, it still was a killer! How could he have brought such a monster into this world?! Was he considered a murderer, too, for bringing this creature here…?

No… no! I didn’t know! I didn’t know!

He waited for it. He waited for the monster to advance on him, to kill him with one chomp of its teeth and rip out his vocal cords before he had a chance to scream, just like he had done to that guard…

It never came. There was no sharp pain as the feeling of pointy fangs intruded upon his neck. There was no muffled screams as he felt his life leave him. There was just… utter silence.

He opened one of his eyes. His heavy breathing echoed through his ears, almost as loudly as his heart pounding against his chest. When his vision returned to the normal world, he found the monster simply… standing there. Why was he toying with him like this…?

“Why did you stop…?”

“You told me to stay away from you. I await your next orders.” He replied as if it was an obvious fact.

The boy blinked… was he being serious?

Serin awoke with a start, the shouts from outside the carriage drawing her attention immediately as she tried to gather her whereabouts. Before she could gather herself the curtain was thrown aside as a hand shot through it and grabbed her dark ebony hair and dragged her roughly out into the light of the setting sun.

The rest of the caravan had been halted haphazardly, merchants either lay dead upon the ground or resided in the circle of people that the man behind her was leading her towards. Hauling her off the ground with one hand, he threw her with a painful thud into the crowd of people.

Uncaringly the man turned and grabbed a short sword, more fit to be a machete really, from the man next to him and took up position around the crowd.

"Young lady, are you okay?" A merchant, she didn't recognize this one, laid his hand on her from the side.

"I-I'm fine... What's going on here? Who are they?" Serin asked motioning out towards the men.

"Bandits I'm afraid..." He replied quietly, "They ambushed the westward scout and took us by surprise. We will be lucky to make it out of this alive..."

Serin stared out towards the caravan with unease readily apparent in her emerald green eyes. She had heard stories of bandits, heartless raiders who killed their prey without a second thought just to get a few coins...

Beside her a man and woman held each other, silent utterances of various prayers encompassing each side of her. Their story ended here...

"Hey, Gralia! Come help us take care of Kar, quick!" The shout echoed out from behind the caravan train. Two of the bandits quickly rushing towards to assist.

Sounds of struggle issuing forth from out of sight.

While this was happening, a man strode towards the group of people and surveyed it absently. Seemingly coming to a conclusion he nodded and turned back to the guards with a smile.

"Well boys, pick a girl and have fun! We move out during the night, so if you feel the need to spread your seed you'd best get to it now." He smirked lecherously and walked back to go find out what was happening to the bandit Kar, moving away from the now leering guards who openly massaged their stiff problem.

Serin shrank back as the woman from before was yanked from her husbands grasp, the man being kicked roughly back into the crowd with a light crack of his ribs as his wife was led away in tears.

The bandits had been picking women at random and taking them for their pleasures, Serin escaped their notice for the most part by simply hiding deeper in the crowd of merchants. The commotion from earlier appeared to have quieted down, but she was still slightly curious as to what it was about...

Cautiously peaking out from her hiding spot she noticed the bandits getting restless, their blades being swung around in mild boredom as they waited the order to move out. Needless to say, when the bandits left the merchants wouldn't be alive.

Neither would she for that matter...

"Hey, Kar is having fits again. Mind coming to help him?" Kar... Was he sick? A pang of deep seated malicious delight shuttered through her for a moment, passing almost as soon as it had appeared and leaving behind a craving she hadn't felt before...

Jealousy? No... Anger, possessiveness. They had trespassed upon ground that was not their right to tred upon. Her emerald eyes flashed as she realized one very important fact.

The sword she had brought with her was no longer with her...

She had left it in the caravan when she had relaxed and fell asleep, it was still in there! These bandits... They were going to steal it... She would never see it again!

A throb, like a heart beat. That same pang of absolute pleasure in something elses misfortunes. It rang true within her as Serin's mind degenerated into a downward spiral of madness.

"Guaahh!!" Pain...Feel it! "Gralia, Ferin, come help me! Kar has gone mad!" Rip, burn, tear, slash. "My god! What's gotten into him!?" Blood coated the inner caravan walls, a tear in the side revealing the dripping blood mixed with shards of bone as it drooled out of the side of the wagon.

"He's gone mad!" Give it back! Don't touch it! "Bring him down quickly!" How dare you lay your hands on what is rightfully mine!

"How can he still move with those arrows in him!?" Serin curled tighter into a ball. No, she didn't feel this. These weren't her feelings, these weren't hers, they weren't!

"He can't possible still be ali-Argh!?" "Demon!!"

The merchants crowded tighter together, the guards looking anxiously between their prisoners and the commotion hidden by the caravans. No order had been given but...

A shadow was cast across the ground and moved swiftly towards them through the air. It landed no further then a few feet from the guard whose eyes widened before swearing and taking off towards the battle with an angry glare.

Merchants gasped, entire families turning away from the site and retreating closer together away from it. Serin was bumped about within the crowd as she tried to get a better look at what had caused such shock.

The mob shifted and writhed as they stuggled to get away from whatever was happening, a mere glance was all she was able to get of the object but it was all she needed.

Serin dropped to her knees in terror, her stomach churning as she bent over and wretched forth the soup she had eaten not long ago. Tears of fear fell from her eyes and intermixed into her vomit as it pooled into the ground beneath her, body shaking as her flight or fight instinct began to awaken from it's slumber.

A human head lay before her, oozing out into the packed dirt of the road...

Half a human head...to be exact...