|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sat Oct 21, 2006 3:54 pm
Joshua pointed to the subcircle that he had finished before Ruuvan had arrived. Every part of this array served a purpose, and that part was for Ruuvan.
"Just like you," he said, "they wanted to bring back the dead."
Every part of this array served a purpose, and it could not function the way that it did without those parts. The purpose of this ritual was to open a pathway between the living world and the world of the dead that would not just allow someone to go there, but to return... if they were lucky. There was a subcircle intended for Ruuvan, where his body would remain until he could return to it, and a subcircle intended for D, since the boy was going along. The center of the array was the focal point, intended for the anchor; in this case, Joshua.
There was a third subcircle, but it was completely empty. No marks had been made in it, it had simply been left blank. This would have been the place for the dead; the place for the body of the person they intended to bring back. There was no body, though, and no bringing him back this time.
"There are a few things to remember," he started; placing his hands on his hips in standard operating procedure for giving a lecture, "the first is that no matter what, do NOT fight with the Reapers. Don't even approach them while you're there. You'll be an intruder in that world, and if they find out that you don't belong there you'll never be able to search freely."
"If you bring your weapons, use them only to defend yourself."
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Oct 21, 2006 4:36 pm
Well that turned out to be a stupid question; why else would anyone want to visit the realm of the dead if it wasn't to bring someone back? Exactly. Shrugging it off as nothing but an anxiety-driven question, Ruuvan focused once again on Joshua as he went about explaining the basic rules and regulations for a succesful visit, or as succesful as one could be anyway. From all the myth and religious documents he had heard about, some of them he had even read, the Reapers were something you wouldn't want to get on the bad side of, so he took Josh's words to heart.
Even though Ruu had no idea what everything on the floor meant, he figured there only really needed to be one space per person 'going under' and one for the person in charge, so why the third circle around the edge? Walter sure wasn't going, he had to stay there and take care of the real world things should it all go wrong, so what better way to find out than ask?
"I'm no expert, but why is there a third circle?" From what Josh had said earlier, with the soul becoming seperate from the physical form so it could come back, where would Maximos' soul go? "And if there's no body for said third person, what happens? Still so many questions, but he was sure Josh would understand the whole anxiety and curiousity thing.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Oct 21, 2006 4:45 pm
Joshua took a look at the third circle, then looked at Ruuvan, then scratched the side of his head.
"The third one is only still there because I didn't want to waste time altering it. That one's usually important, not this time, though..."
The answer to the second question would come as a part of this same statement.
"Even if you find him, and bring him back, there's no way that this can restore his life. We don't have his body, so he would just be a ghost, and eventually they would come for him again. We could try to stick him in something else, but it wouldn't matter. For someone like him, they would take him back soon enough. You can't hide a Reaper from the Reapers."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Oct 21, 2006 5:06 pm
"Then how did he stay here last time?" Ruuvan was getting confused now; Maximos was a shadow wraith being, a soul encased in a hard shadow body to give the impression of physical presence, "He was a soul being in a summoned body... how am I meant to get him back without a body which didn't exist in the first place?" There was still Max's hat lying about, but that was an item of clothing, not a body.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Oct 21, 2006 5:12 pm
"The difference is that once you go there, you don't come back. That is the rule... though no system is perfect. There will always be fence-jumpers like you. Even if you snuck him out, how long do you think it would be before they came looking?"
Joshua shook his head, taking a seat on the floor in the center of the circle.
"...we can start whenever the kid gets here... unless you want to die first and try to scare him or something." He shrugged. "Some people get off on that."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Oct 21, 2006 5:16 pm
There it was, the statement that split Ruuvan's mind into two feuding sides, each having their own thoughts on the matter that rivalled with the other. One side thought there was no point going if Max couldn't come back, the other stuck to its guns and said it was following through with your promises that meant the most; eventually that side won.
"We'll wait." Ruu watched Josh take up his position and looked around the runes once again, "So where do I stand?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Oct 21, 2006 5:30 pm
"That one," he said, pointing to one of the circles.
(( I s'pose we wait... ))
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Oct 21, 2006 9:27 pm
::For a kid so jolly, so jovial, so full of life, D had never looked more serious in all the time Ruuvan had seen him. Ruuvan mentioned it would be dangerous and for once the kid did not see the dangers as jokes, he looked Ruuvan straight in the eyes, and nodded. And then turned and walked off, he was acting on his own for once. He didnt turn and follow Joshua he walked down the hall the room, he had slept in and picked up the sword on the floor and stood leaned against a nearby wall.
That sword was a full 5ft tall, and 5inches wide, bigger than D himself, but he hefted it with one arm and set upright, and then began wrapping it back up in bandages, as it had been the first day he recieved it. With every wrap he stood completely serious, this was really important to him. Maybe this was his chance to see big brother again...maybe it wasnt. But he knew that at certain times in these past few months Big Brother had come to him...and in that line of thought, he kneeled down in front of the sword, and the talked.::
If your watching big brudda...I miss you...and I'm gonna find you...even if I gotta go back home.
::He spent a few moments in silence, just staring at the sword, before he triumphantly stood up, grabbed the giant sword, and was on his way. In the end, even for his moment of seriousness, he was still pretty thick and careless, and as such his coming was foretold by the sound of sharp metal scraping against wood as D dragged his jumbo sword all the way to the Gym, opened the door and then dragged it all the way to Ruuvan, and then heft it over his shoulder.::
Sowwy I'm late.
::He said, adjusting a lolipop that was in his mouth. Apparently Walter had a parting gift for him. He really couldnt speak for the fox, he had just met it, but he hoped it could or would speak for itself.::
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Oct 21, 2006 9:43 pm
And this whole time, little Mister fox simply sat on D's head as if he had ever right to be there. Even while the child moved about, it simply kept it's perch atop his head. His soft yet dark green eyes looked around at all of them. His head tilted and he looked into D's eyes and barked, then grinned wildly, responding not like a wild animal at all, but more like a human would.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Oct 21, 2006 9:48 pm
Joshua pointed to where D should stand; getting to his own feet. There wasn't necessarilly an all-important order to this... at least not until everyone was good and dead. He didn't bother explaining the rules to D...
"The most important thing about this part," he said, looking to both of them, "...don't move until I tell you it's safe."
He stretched his arms behind his head, cracked his knuckles, and rolled his neck. "Are you ready?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Oct 21, 2006 10:39 pm
:: D understood, he just grabbed the jumbo hilt of his sword extra tight and closed his eyes as hard as he could. He was a little to worried about himself right now to be worried about his pet. He assumed, this was probably going to hurt really really bad. Dying is supposed to hurt, really really bad.::
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Oct 21, 2006 10:59 pm
Joshua first began walking towards the child. He held his hands in front of him, both with closed fists, touching each other. After a few steps had been taken, he drew them apart; to mortal eyes there would be nothing there, but for someone like D... a thin, silvery thread that exists only in spirit. It was a piece of the thread of fate, the thing that binds souls together, and it was invisible and untouchable by any normal person.
He pulled out more of it, making a loop and wrapping the thread around his wrists so that it wouldn't slip. He never even looked at his hands while he did it, the whole time he was watching the child for a reaction.
"This won't hurt..." he said, pulling the wire tight between his hands. Then, with a swift motion, the man wrapped the thread around the child's neck in a loop and jerked it hard to the side like a noose. The boy's body jerked violently to the side for an instant, then fell motionless to the ground.
"...much."
Invisible to mortal eyes, the boy's spirit now stood beside the body, at the edge of the circle. The thread was still around his neck, though a twist of the wrist and Joshua loosened it, allowing it to slide off.
There was, between the boy and his body, a silver thread connecting the two. This was the bond that they shared, that it was unbroken was proof that they were still one. The body and the soul, both still very alive, despite being apart from each other.
"Remember, don't move..." Joshua said, suppressing a chuckle at the almost commedic shift in the boy's appearence. He hopped back a few steps, towards Ruuvan; wrapping the thread tight again to separate the man and his flesh with one quick tug.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Oct 22, 2006 12:04 am
::Just like the little kid thats afraid of needles, D didnt stop cringing. He had his eyes so tightly closed he couldnt see the wire, but he could feel it. And he felt it wrap around his neck. Like that wasnt unsettling enough, he managed to keep his eyes closed through the whole jerking incident. He never really felt the fall, but instead he felt a little like a person feels when they're wet and cold and first step out of the shower. He felt a bit naked, and a bit cold...and a bit...bigger?
Yes, it was true. A little kid sat on the ground, and beside him stood a 6ft tall monstrosity. It was covered from head to two in jet black armor with splotches of blood across its surface, he was wearing a helmet, but it covered most of his face except for the cross shape slit which left room for his mouth and eyes. Strangely, even the full plated armor he wore had a long tattered cape attached to it, and his right arm now held a giant demented sabre. This wasnt the clean cut sword he came into the gym with, this thing was a monster, it had eyes from its tip to its hilt, and seemed like it was carved out of madness itself. Ruuvan might even recognize the form he was looking at, as the early form of The Destroyer. For a second the giant figure hulked off the small boy, examing its hands and feet, and patting its face, and chest. He had expected a difference of some sort but this...this was different, this was...::
AWESOME!!!
::As he shouted out loud while thrusting his fist into the air. Amazingly though....his voice stood unchanged despite his stature. Not just in tone, but in pitch and annunciation, he sounded exactly the same. ::
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Oct 22, 2006 12:50 am
It was rather simple. One moment the fox was on D. The next it was on the 'Monstrosity' next to D. It didn't have to be killed, apparently. It was jostled by the 'monstrosity's exhurbance, but that was about all, only giving a small bark of annoyance before settling back down.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Oct 22, 2006 5:32 am
Ruuvan watched with interest as Josh sent D off first, the boy's body jerking violently before ceasing to move at all. There was something telling him D was already there as Josh walked over, the whole switch being made successfully and as safely as it could've, but then it was his turn. Without a move taken, Josh's hands quickly removed his soul from physical form and left the Elf standing there in very traditional light Elven armour, the Decker blades replaced with two Elven swords, intricately designed with runes depicting strength and honour, and the bow on his back. Just like D, Ruu took a moment to look himself over before coming to the realisation he had reverted back to his form in Aria; the Elven general who lead the armies of Light against the Darkness.
The armour looked as sturdy as plate mail, but the truth was that it was far lighter and offered perhaps even more protection; what did this say about him? Was he afraid to die, did he need all this protection? Or perhaps it was because this is what he looked like when he made the promise to Maximos, never to leave him behind. It made sense.
Once the initial surprise was gone, Ruuvan looked up to see the black armoured figure that was standing next to D. For a brief moment, he thought a Reaper had already found them and had come to make their journey a permanent visit, but then he saw him as the Destroyer and started walking towards him, it wasn't until D's voice resounded from the figure that Ruu knew what was going on. It was strange to see such a small child having a strong image in his mind, one of his old friend's darker side, but they seemed to have a tie that even Ruuvan's couldn't rival.
"This is different than I thought it would be." Ruu wondered if Josh could see them, which would make sense considering he was the one who sent them off, "Are we simply on the dead plain within the real world? We have to scour all of Gaia to find him, or is this the waiting room, as it were, and we need to find the stairway to heaven?" Yet again, more questions, a song reference and more curiosity about what was going on, but only Josh had the answers.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
