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 Posted: Sat Mar 28, 2015 8:49 pm
For Benitoite teleportation was something he was used to by now, knew intimately really, so the sudden vanishing and reappearance didn't throw his balance like it might for others. he'd had years to get used to it and as he stepped back, letting the Lieutenant go, he glanced about their surroundings while letting his senses expand to pick up on anyone who might be within the main home of the Negaverse. "Follow me." Nodding his head he headed off toward the doorway which lead into the Rift.
"The hallway down into the Rift...you might want to mind the walls." The walls were...eerie the first few times going down. The people one could see through the walls but never touch, watching them with open silently screaming mouths. It was a sight that some might put into a horror movie, or expect to see in one. Walking along his heels clicked on the floor as his hands buried themselves into coat pockets. It was only when he needed to brush his hair from his face did a hand leave his pocket, his hair had been grown out so tended to get into his face more now.
The doorway itself was...intricate in design and yet seemed to lead right into darkness. "Shall we?" Looking towards the other with a bit of a smile in place as he motioned the other to the door. "This'll lead us down into the Rift. We can't actually teleport into the Rift, though for meetings the General Kings and Queen's can teleport us, by force, down into the Rift." And to the door he headed , figuring the other would follow him.
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Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2015 9:28 am
Unfortunately for Umber, such reacquaintance with immediately shifting surroundings was no mere second nature. Half of him wondered if being the one who teleported offered an advantage over playing tagalong to the whole affair. The other half was busy focusing on reacquiring his bearings so he managed to stay on his feet and avoid vomiting from the vast shift in space.
Once Umber balanced himself, he swallowed heavily and approached Benitoite. The liberal height difference between them afforded a grand view of the door itself, which bore no indications toward any dangers within. He was familiar with such a practice - often at his home they left traps undisguised to those who might fall prey to them. And as the general opened the doors, his gaze strained to adjust to the lighting conditions within, though only a few scanty ambient light sources offered any vigil. Many traces of movement caught his attention through the length of the hallway, with red dots buzzing around like fireflies in the night. He approached, but one last glance was cast backward toward the ornate room before the doors closed on the pair of them.
And then Umber became intimately aware that the fireflies he noted before were truly eyes and each set of hungry optics focused on him. The creatures beyond the walls squirmed and writhed with every obvious intention to devour every piece of him that held sustenance. In response, Umber placed a hand on Benitoite's shoulder that echoed a vice grip with the amount of nerves he struggled to suppress. The amount of stark fear and entrapment left him feeling that the hallway trailed on for an eternity, or that his guide deliberately walked a snail's pace to provoke further suffering. Inwardly he knew that neither scenario was the case, but abject terror skewed all perceptions.
Only after they exited the blackened abyss did Umber pause to take heed of the general's earlier words. So it's not possible to teleport directly inside, but those of higher power can force others down here. That implies both an incredibly powerful barrier to those of General and below, as well as great power possessed by General-Kings or -Queens. I imagine anyone would thirst for the power that circumvents that hall of nightmares.
"So this is where Youma live," he spoke at last. The nerves had not yet fully ebbed from his system, but the curiosity for his surroundings stifled their sway. His gaze traveled from peak to shattered peak, dotted with black shadows that darted between crevasses. Along the blanched landscape lay violet crystals of differing sizes, each sporting a small collection of youma nearby. And as his gaze traveled toward the ceiling, Umber noted that the impossible distance housed great stalactites which jutted downward, in some cases uniting with the great mountains below. It lent a sense of awe when he realized that no mountains existed in this area - only massive stalagmites formed over however many millennia that such a place had formed. Only afterward did he notice the suggestions of buildings appearing in clusters, as if a town resided down here some years before.
"Is this the heart of the Negaverse, then?"
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Posted: Wed Apr 08, 2015 2:50 pm
The red eyed bodies within the walls, forever trapped there, hadn't bothered him. They had at first, how could they not? But he'd been down there often enough that he paid them little notice though he had noted the other noticing them and seeing what they really were. He could have spoken but he didn't. The others hold on his shoulder was a surprise, one which had him casting his eyes back to the other. "Do not worry. They are eternally trapped behind the crystal walls. I do not believe they can be freed." Less someone one, or something, were to break through the thick crystal walls. he didn't say that, he was sure the other could figure that out on his own. But who would break that wall and why? Why free them? They would devour everything in their way, he was sure, considering how hungry they looked. No, it would be unwise for anyone to release them. "They once were people - normal civilians. A youma is what was once a person but no longer. They are doomed to remain as they are now - a youma. Mostly devoid of humanity and in many cases memories of being human." Though some he knew retained memories, like Bazzite. Some had some humanity, or at least human like behaviors, like those at that bar. But many were feral sort to speak.
As they exited the hall and came out on an cliff that looked down and out to what was once the palace of Earth, but was now the Rift, he felt a smile tug at his lips. This was both a calming place and also a place of nightmares and where danger was everywhere. A place which he could, and had, gone to when he needed to escape and a place that held painful memories for him. Tugged away from his own thoughts he nodded his head to the other.
"Yes, it is. As you gain in rank more will listen to you and can be used to assist you in your endeavors. Some still sleep, some of enormous power, they are sleeping giants which should remain as such. Some of us officers have bonded with a youma...perhaps in time you will also." His words were spoken slowly while he let his gaze return to the vastness which stretched out before them both. The crystalline spears which pierced the darkness and the shadows that seemed blacker than black. Movement flitting here and there the place was a lively sort of darkness with some light but not as much as a person would want in such a place.
"It is...the heart of the Negaverse. It was the palace of the Earth and it's surroundings. It is many things discovered and undiscovered." With it's vastness he was sure many things lay hidden within the Rift. Things waiting to be discovered and also things that were best not ever found nor seen by anyone - living or not. "Come, lets walk and you can see more of the Rift."
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Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2015 8:57 am
And there's that confirmation. It looks like Marinus was right in his suspicions. Youma were people, and somehow they've gone through a metamorphosis to become these creatures. But how does this happen? "Do you know what causes them to undergo that transformation? Is it something latent in every human in existence? Or something we can control?" The ability to make more youma at need seemed an important one - especially if the creatures obeyed Negaverse command. But the confirmation that humans became the monstrosities that they so feared offered natural considerations that Umber would have to study on a deeper level. 'The nature of man' promised many long nights of rumination before he concluded on a satisfactory explanation.
'Bonded with a youma' held some connotations that reminded him of Cinnabar and her predicament. "Bonding with one - is that what you call the event when an officer merges with a youma?" While he could surmise some advantages to inhuman appendages, as what naturally left man at the bottom of the food chain when lacking tools, he found no need of it currently. And considering that it would strip him of means to interact with others, placing him in a similar conundrum to Cinnabar, he figured that the whole affair would put him at a disadvantage.
Then again, he was assuming on the phrase 'bonding'.
Having assistance would give us an edge in battle - especially if the officer is closely matched with a senshi. Are there not times when an officer patrols with a youma in tow? It would upset tenuous relations with the Destiny City public, but if all duties are to be hidden, then being seen while patrolling violates that code regardless. Once broken, a rule cannot be more broken.
"The palace of Earth doesn't bare the same regal architecture that I am used to. It looks abandoned. What do you know of it and the surrounding area?" A once-over confirmed crumbling symbols decorating its once smooth walls, and some of the architecture gave way entirely. If the building sported any flying buttresses before, they were gone now. Youma did not mind the place, as they crawled or slithered or writhed as closely as they pleased. "Does it have any use for us anymore?"
But the general had already started on a different path, so Umber fell into step alongside him. All the while his gaze roamed the vast plains between mountainous stalagmites before tracing the equally rough ceiling of the vast cavern.
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Posted: Thu Apr 16, 2015 2:10 pm
"I do, unfortunately. I created one." He answered calmly. He was proud that his voice didn't shake or somehow show emotions that it would have months ago, a year ago, he wasn't as emotional over it. he had come to accept it slowly and to be honest he was busy with so many other things. He didn't see Bazzite as often as he should and wasn't so bothered by it as he had once been. "he was a Captain, Bazzite, and now he is a youma. Crushing a persons starseed whilst it is inside of them causes it. you can over power a starseed and it will shatter." If it wasn't inside the person you simply dusted the starseed, he knew it from experience. If shattering a starseed outside the body caused it than there would be a lot more youma created by officers he was sure.
Glancing to the other he shook his head. "No, bonding with a youma is different. i'm not sure if there is a name for when an officer merges with one, aside from just merging. But bonding is when one bonds to you. They will take your orders, follow you about down here at times, they are like..a familiar or a pet to best describe it. You might be able to order most youma around here but they are random. A bonded youma isn't random and will answer you and only those ranked above you. They can accept or decline others. But there is, I suppose, I certain amount of loyalty. it's different for me with Bazzite, because he has intelligence, can talk as we do, and was once human...well in recent years. So it's different." It changed some things and others were the same. But he'd never sat down with someone to compare notes about their bonded youma and his own in order to discover these differences. "I've heard that the youma picks the officer they want to bond with, not the other way around, I could be wrong however. But I'm sure they have to approve of it. You can't force it, especially against a stronger and more intelligent youma." Like trying to make a pet of a dog vs. a dragon or something else. There were degrees that varied and made some things easier and some things harder or impossible, such as trying to bond with a great youma.
Casting his gaze toward the former palace he shook his head. "No, it doesn't have that regal a look. I suppose it might once have but time, and being down here, have changed things. Chaos also warps things, or maybe it's the dark taint to the chaos which we follow. It might have once been lovely - I don't know. I've no memories of it if I ever would have known in the ancient past." he knew he'd once been a knight or he descended from one, he wasn't sure which nor did he care, but he hadn't a single memory of it. "The palace isnt' abandoned. We use it for gatherings, files are housed there. General King Zinkenite used to work in there as well. So it serves a new purpose, ironic I suppose." Seeing as the Earth's Kingdom had been their enemy, and it's knights still were, and yet they used the palace now to help their cause against Earth's knights and such. "The surrounding area used to be homes and businesses from what I can gather. There is a bar, deeper in the Rift, run by some youma. I wouldn't ask for anything to drink though - it's a risk on what you'll get served." Shrugging, or rolling, his shoulders as he spoke. Making his way into the Rift and down the first street there.
"This is the home to the youma. The palace serves as more space for us. I don't know if it serves as any other significant thing for us. But it is a nice prize to have and for people to see."
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Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2015 5:54 am
You created a youma, yet you don't seem perturbed about it. What does that say about you, Benitoite? Are you a cold man? Did you think it was necessary? And what does that say of Bazzite?
"So you turned an officer into a youma. I can't imagine the Negaverse condoning that choice." It might have, certainly. The Negaverse may prefer an army of obedient monsters to men with the potential for treachery. Youma certainly sounded like they served their purpose for grunt work - as he'd encountered them a couple times already, the creatures proved fierce and destructive. Benitoite's next points, however, gave rise to some questions over the mechanics of creating a youma. "But unless he was a particularly terrible officer, why thrust your hand into his chest and crush his starseed? Unless - is it done indirectly somehow? Like with chaos energy?"
I suppose that would be a trophy over anything. If an officer was a traitor, or showed frequent failure in performing their duties, they could simply youmafy them and either attach them to their superior officer as punishment, or to the officer that ratted them out as some kind of reward. I don't know. By Destiny City standards, it should disturb me, but... He wanted to assert that it seemed useful, that it held exemplary value to keep potentially deviating officers in line if they ran a frequent problem of it, but there seemed no time or place for that declaration. And if Benitoite fostered some kind of compunction about what happened with officer Bazzite, then stating something of that nature promised problems. There also lay the question of if these sudden youmafications just happened with gaining rank...
Umber kicked at the collection of dust and gravel at his feet and loosed a pale purple cloud that matched the crystals beyond. They sound barebones useful, but at the price of a life that could be devoted to the Negaverse as an officer, is it really worthwhile? "So there is a chance that, by being in the Rift, a youma will find interest in you and start following you around? And then you can, by whatever means, bond with this youma? And how is bonding with any other youma different than bonding with Bazzite? As far as I'm aware, all youma were humans and therefore all youma did have intelligence at some point. So what makes Bazzite different? Is it because he is - or was - an officer?" It seemed the most likely explanation; Umber had not yet met a youma with the ability to speak or exhibit anything beyond basic animalistic actions.
Umber began following the superior officer at a leisurely clip, but something in Benitoite's phrasing stuck in the lieutenant's mind. He mulled over the phrase, hoping for some clue to deeper meanings, but found nothing more than its ominous ambience that led Umber to focus on it initially.
Chaos also warps things.
And what, exactly, do you mean? Just as it changes officers into youma, it changes buildings into broken down piles of rubble? Is it a necessary progression to the nature of things, then? Everything must deteriorate. If this is her will...
Umber swallowed hard before changing perspectives to something less cerebral. "What kind of files are housed there? I read something about a database - is that also kept there?" But surrounding a palace comes a city, and as certain as the sun beyond these thick cavern walls, they walked among old footprints of a society long gone. It looked to him like the buildings, dessicated as they were, clamored toward the sky to erect themselves again. "And these other areas," he started as he gestured to the husks of the old structures, "do they serve purpose for us now? They look primarily empty." Save for what youma lounged inside - and more often, they looked to him with a hunger that suggested the greater predator lurked there.
"General, do I have permission to speak freely for a moment?"
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Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2015 10:15 pm
"No, no they didn't condone it. Very much the opposite in fact." He answered while pulling a face. he hadn't been pleased with the lingering dislike, and distrust, he'd suffered under or that the story of his mishap had been spread around. he didn't even know how far it had been spread and he couldn't ever ask, never had. He knew it had spread to that Ever person who had turned up at his home. How much further? "Though it was no choice, of mine nor Bazzite's - I can assure you." Came the added comment while he let his eyes travel over the others uniform and then up to the others face. Turning away slowly he let his hands slip into the pockets of his uniform coat.
"A general can bring someone into the Negaverse - corrupt them. Bazzite was determined to be a General and was sure I could do it, I could corrupt a person after all. I was unaware of what would really happen. it would seem that only a General king, Or general Queen, can give one of us more power, the only other exception being Metalia. I found out the hard way...Bazzite doesn't seem upset but it's due to some of the lost humanity that comes with being made a youma." he had feared the others hate so much in the following days, and weeks, and had been happy but also angry about the others acceptance o his new state. Angry because he couldn't forgive himself and Bazzite had so easily done so. Sad because of the lost person and yet the pieces that remained, like the broken fragments of a mirror that could never be put back together. "Bazzite was a good and a bad officer. He was loyal, very loyal, but he didn't fancy the idea of killing people. He was like an innocent child or a puppy dog in some ways." And he had ruined it. The other was still like a loyal puppy dog though and filled with energy, but now there was more of a violent tendency to his energy and enthusiasm.
"Bazzite bonded with me because I turned him - I didn't seek the bond nor did he. It happened as he was turning. it's how it seems to go from what I can understand. With other youma it is their choice more than the officers - but it is a choice." Where as it didn't seem to have been a choice for Bazzite, even if he knew had the other a choice Bazzite would have bonded to him. "I would say that's the difference, but I don't know all the mechanics of how a normal youma bonds to someone, I've not seen it nor do I know a thing on it. But as for intelligence...there is a scale, a very big scale. The reason some are smarter than others, can do more, than others I am not sure. The answers might be somewhere down here, somewhere in the citadel. I'm unsure if the answer even exists." And he had gone through lots of information, found and read many things, but he still had not found that information out. There was a lot that was unknown to him and so many things he still wanted to know.
Watching the purple cloud of dust the other kicked up he found himself smiling. He liked being down here, even if it felt dark and dangerous. The lack of people, the shadows moving around reminiscent of the boogieman that scared children, kept them awake at night, and had children crawling into their parents bed. He felt comfortable down here and had for some time now.
"The database might be, I have not looked at it. I keep my own files on senshi and knights. I've done my own research - it was part of my punishment for Bazzite. I was to read all manner of information." And he'd gotten stuck doing it for so very long. "The buildings down here, outside of the palace, do not serve a purpose for us. Aside from the palace there is a...coliseum, think ancient Rome, which we use and some barracks but that's it." There was a lot down here and so very little was used by them, so few people traveled deep into the Rift and let the areas around the palace. Pausing in his step he turned, fully, to the other and smiled.
"Provided no other officer is around you may always speak freely with me. You can also call me Benitoite. General is too formal for my taste. I prefer to be more social with those I work with. So please, speak your mind." Motioning for the other to do so with a bright smile spreading across his features. "I do not, unless need be, treat those of lesser rank as under me. So do not worry about what you say or do around me." He was liberal about that, and always had been. He rarely ever pulled rank and yet when he needed to he could, he could prove to be able to take charge and handle a situation.
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Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2015 7:40 am
"If I am understanding you correctly, you promote an agent similarly to corrupting them - by adding more of whatever energy caused this form?" The prospect paled him; the agony induced by Xenotime's corruption of him felt comparable to shooting himself in the hand, and Umber imagined that repeating that endeavor with more gusto could only feel worse. He considered it a veritable wonder that anyone lived to see General stage, both with the war's propensity for murder and the sheer volume of pain induced by gaining rank. "Does everyone know this? Yet they're still motivated to climb in rank?" The hurt of corruption lasted a day at most, in truth, and his time spent in lieutenant's garb demanded no continued pain. Maybe it amounted to little for some, but Umber found himself second-guessing his interest in reaching Captain's rank.
So one can create youma by trying to promote them - which causes that youma to bind to their existence? How peculiar. But how could that be? I would spare a glance in any direction, and by doing so, discover a hundred more of their kind. Is he telling me that all these youma have bonded officers? Are we really so great in number? That can't be. Can it? Why, then, are we spread so thin? Umber hesitated in thought, casting his gaze toward the far jagged cliffs while his superior walked ahead. The growls of encroaching youma brought him back to the general's side in haste.
Umber recognized that learning about youma would entail astronomical amounts of research, beyond what Benitoite already knew. Such tests demanded multiple participants, multiple situations which created youma, and likely tests with this Bazzite himself. But would it qualify as worth the costs? Would knowing more of the intrinsic properties behind youma justify the massive expenditures of energy and human life? Umber doubted it; general information on youma and their abilities fell flat by comparison. Discussion over youma demanded a revisit with Cinnabar, as someone with deeply personal experience of their kind.
When Benitoite granted freedom to speak, Umber cast his gaze toward the flecks of black that crowned the cliff sides in the distance - small ruins, he wagered, no different than those a dozen yards away. "Let me preface this by saying that I am not from Destiny City, so I don't share a lot of the same beliefs, so while I say this, bear in mind that it isn't meant to offend." He drew a short breath. "I think we should use youmafication as a punishment. It doesn't need liberal application, but say you find an agent who is consistently unruly, despite all other punishments... Or an agent that has a vested interest in the other side... It inspires both fear and obedience in the power that can reduce a man to chained monster." Angry gods. "I would have to look into the statistics on it, but..."
"Think about Vlad the Impaler. When the Ottoman Sultan at the time, Mehmed II, sent envoys to Vlad, he surrounded the issued forces and defeated them. He then impaled the lot of them, with their leader, Hamza Bey, on the highest stake to show his rank. What sort of example do you think that set for the opposing Ottoman forces? More importantly, what do you think that his own people thought of that sort of protection. Granted, those made example of were not Romanians like Vlad himself, but... For anyone of our rank that might pass for a traitor, or who only seeks to impede our progress, there is some precedent for those measures. He also put to death anyone who lied, stole, or otherwise broke his laws. Yet, he still remained a well-loved leader in his home country of Romania."
After a weighted pause, he addressed Benitoite on a different matter. "Can you take me to the to the citadel?"
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Posted: Wed May 13, 2015 1:43 pm
As the other sought confirmation to his words the General nodded his head. "Yes, that is how it's done. It cannot however be done by anyone but a General Queen, General King, or Metallia, as I learned." So while a General could corrupt someone into the Negaverse they could not promote them. I suppose a person could say that at least he knew, at least the information was out there. But at what cost had he found this fact out? "I honestly can't say. I knew it would hurt but I wasn't expecting the pain it induced. I can only say that for me it was enough to just..surpass everything I'd felt before it, even corrupting, and reach a level of...blankness, at least when I reached General anyway." Silent screaming in agony as darkness, more than ever before, coursed through him and changed his uniform and brought with it more power and strength. Yes despite this he knew if he were to climb that last rung in power he would do it, he would accept all that pain and more, if only so he could try and steer things down another course. Previous to seeing what could come to be he would have accepted all that pain and power and put it to use against the senshi and knights. He'd take it all and turn it on to them and enjoyed it. "Pain is taken in order to also gain power. The ability to teleport, to do more damage, a better weapon. For all that we gain the pain is worth it. It feels like it lasts a long time and yet it doesn't, you lose track of that while the chaos invades and gives more power." It was so hard to describe in words that amount of pain and he also was sure it was different for everyone. Painful it would always be but for some there was pleasure involved, he was sure of it, and everyone had a different tolerance for pain.
The other had fallen behind he noted and he slowed his step, no point in losing the other or letting him fall so far behind that they couldn't converse without yelling to each other. When the other came back to his side he smiled a bit - they had come to his side rather quickly. Did this place intimidate him? He'd get used to it, at least a bit more, in time. This was a place many had to go down to, for various reasons, so it was something which would gradually happen.
it was as the other started to speak once more that his attention was back on the dark haired male. "No offence will be taken - I assure you." No, he was easy going and it took a lot to get his temper going and even harder was it to offend him. The next words though almost brought him to a stand still. That sort of punishment...if he was found it - oh god. No, he never once would have liked the idea but now it was especially horrendous to him. After what happened to Bazzite, and Bischofite, and now his own stance on things. He didn't say anything, turned his gaze from the other and averted his eyes skyward. "Perhaps, though there are other things to take in to account. What part does the officer in question play in the Negaverse and can we afford to lose that. Some officers are tasked with...promoting our ideas or turning people against the senshi. If they are a key player on that front we could not punish them in such manner. But for some...less needed members perhaps." He hoped his words didn't in the future condemn some member. "But yes, it would make a good show and put others in line." He said with a nod of his head, his eyes distance and staring. He could still hear Bazzite in his mind, his own voice, he could remember it all. To see that once would put every officer in line...or send them all fleeing as quickly as possible. It could either help or condemn their side to losing this war, depending on how such a thing was received by other officers. "I don't know if any statistics have ever been taken..." His voice distance in thought, as if thinking on any information which may help the other, which was far from where his thoughts really were.
Hearing the others words he nodded his head slowly. "Indeed, that does make for a show. The message is rather clear. I believe he even impaled someone who was at his dinner table - they complained about the impaled bodies around them and the stink. They got a high up stake...above the others." If he remembered right. he'd heard it mentioned in history class in high school. They'd had a teacher who had clearly loved the subject and gave little tid bits of information like that. He remembered the idea had bothered him, grossed him out, in school and disgusted him. Now, years later, it was easy to discuss such things. So much had changed and how much was obvious to those he called friends and family? He doubted much, he did a good job of trying to be 'normal' around them all.
The change in topic had him lowering his had and nodding once. "The citadel, at least the one I refer to, is where we came from. We can only teleport into there. So if you'd like to leave the Rift we can return there. Unless it is the Earth's palace you'd like to see or something else." The place that they had teleported in to did fit the definition of citadel, as far as he was concerned any way, and thus the term was applied to it. What else was there to call it anyway?
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Posted: Sun May 17, 2015 2:48 pm
His guide took on a more distant demeanor, which left Umber more alert to his mannerisms. No longer was he brushing his hair back quite so frequently, as if less interested in his appearance toward present company. You are vain - your body speaks it through posture and gesticulation alone. Your appearance remains impeccable, despite being in a dark and dismal location such as this. No one else is present but an underling, yet you find reason to fuss over bangs. Why do you drop such pretenses now?
"I would prefer to see Earth's palace." His gaze shifted beyond the blonde and toward the basin that housed the great, ancient ruins. A portion of the earth symbol lay carved into its walls, while various affixed replicas remained dotted over arches, corners, points of interest. Most lay broken, if not altogether gone. Were he not already aware of its lineage as earth's palace, he would not guess its origins. "What can you tell me about its history? And does its use pertain to us?" Had any of these buildings ever fostered much use? Their state of disrepair suggested otherwise - only that they were now fit purely for youma to play or house themselves. In a palace formerly grand, what use was there but for ceremony? And how much ceremony embedded itself in a militaristic lifestyle?
Another of their creatures grumbled from the path before them - it stood a few feet away, raised on its hind legs with the frills about its face splayed outward in a blood red display. Umber only faltered so much as his accompanying general did. However, he allowed himself to fall behind some steps to fall in line with his superior. Thankfully the youma, with its incisors displayed and claws curled outward in sharp display, made no attempt to attack. "And exactly how safe is it to remain here? The youma seem averse to us." Or him, at least. The training manual suggested that youma obeyed higher ranking officers, which meant Benitoite was the safer of the two for any solo adventures into the Rift. And while Umber could not access the Rift alone, any business that placed him in the Dark Kingdom meant that he could wander through that blackened hallway and find himself here.
Or die here.
I expect I won't have much use for the Rift until I gain ranking. My duties were made clear enough - I am to learn the ropes of the Negaverse and embark on energy draining quotas. Anything beyond that is either extraneous or welcome venture. Perhaps a tour of the Rift constitutes 'learning the ropes', but what of visiting the palace? Should I have remained primarily in the citadel to learn of what it has to offer?
"And Benitoite, how often should I be visiting the citadel? Or is there a reason to at my rank?"
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Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2015 6:22 pm
"Of course, than we shall." Nodding his head he smiled toward the other. He really had to watch the discussion going on, keep track of what was said and how he responded. Not just verbal responses either but the non verbal. The topic which had come up however had him on edge and he hoped that any odd behavior he displayed could be attributed to his experience with Bazzite and other things, anything but what it really was. Anything but treachery, as they would consider his behavior and thoughts to be such.
"I know very little on it's history. The palace is just that. There is a gathering room in there as well as one for records. As for elsewhere there is a stadium, think ancient Rome, where some members can and do train, against other officers or youma. Most of the Rift is unexplored and for good reason...feral youma, ones who are unsafe. Some members have ventured far out and come back as part youma...or more unstable than they previously were. There are sleeping youma known as great youma as well." It was a vast area and how much was explored he didn't know but he knew it was likely very little, especially when compared to the size of the whole.
"Clearly we have buildings for businesses and homes here, ruined and lost to time. But what businesses I'm unable to say or guess even." He wished he knew more, could tell the other more, he wanted to know whatever he could about the Rift and it's history...the history of before it came to be this...this ruined mess. "The Rift pertains to us as it is another place for us to go, another thing we claim, it is where the youma live. Perhaps it is also where Metallia lives, I am unsure of where Metallia dwells." And he wasn't sure he really wanted to know. Metallia could be everywhere for all he knew and as curious as he was over it he also didn't want to know. The one who pulled all the stringers was not just powerful, for obvious reasons, but also scary really.
"It's safe for us. It's unsafe for the corrupted senshi who are amongst our ranks...unless they ascend. To ascend, from what I've read, they must turn over their planet to Metallia and us. They are equal to us in rank and as such have the same control over the youma as we do. Otherwise they and the guardian cats we have are unsafe and must have escort. We however are safe...though some more powerful youma are still dangerous - even to myself." Such as the great youma. he knew better than to go searching for one.
Turning his gaze away from the youma, unworried about it as he continued walking toward it; intent on walking past it. "You can visit whenever you like. But you should visit when you drop off your energy quota, since that is part of your duty. You could, of course, have someone else drop it off for you but it doesn't hurt to join them in the trip. If there are meetings...you'll know. They summon us by force, so we've no say in the matter. Otherwise visit when you please. I'm sure some members very rarely take the trip to the citadel or down here." If ever, aside from meetings.Strickenized So sorry it took so long. I lost the link and just found it.
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