Welcome to Gaia! ::

As he moved past the young girl she didn't seem to say anything, he closed the door behind him carefully as he took a good glance around the room, it was so old, so vast in knowledge. He had certainly come to the right place, but would this old man be worth the time? Time, it was a pity it moved so fast sometimes. "im in search for a very special area, and i just so thought that you may be able to predict where the next Full Moon will appear" he paused for a second, slyly looking down by his shoulder where he could almost make out the girl holding closely to her weapons. He wanted to smile. Cotninueing he said "You know... where it will stare directly down to, on the ground".

Horad took his time to reply, there was an obvious tension in the air. "I couldn't tell you, i'm a scholar not an astronomer, Michael..." ((ooo, sassy Caiin)). He narrowed his eyes at the old man's protest. "But you seem to take note of them very closely" he said, looking over to a parchment unrolled on one of the tables. It revealed patterns of astronomical alignments. Then Horad paused, and he didn't want the conversation to go on any longer. This was not Michael Maues, he knew right from the start that this was Zoltan Maues. Most had forgotten his face, and even though he must admit it has changed slightly, he could never forget it. He caused such an uproar! Made people think they could stand up against the Guildeam! Well last time that happened... the Injustira Syndicate was less than tolerable.

After some long seconds to think the old scholar sighed, eh then blinked slowly before answering "... Why are you here... Zoltan". Then Maues raised his head in slight shock. He then grinned and chuckled slightly under his cold breath. "guess the oldest are certainly the wiser" he commented. "I'm here for exactly what i asked, old man. " he then turned to the girl and scornfully glared whilst warning "And you're not going to stop me from getting an answer, either".

It seemed like Horad wasn't going to speak, what a shame, it would be unfortunate to have to torture him for answers. Then the brat spoke, and she spoke as if it were actually possible to be a threat to him. Exhaling cheaply, his eyes became slits as he looked over his shoulder again and said immediately after her comment "- a pale-faced girl and what army? I know who you are... The Girl With No Name, you've been dubbed in the papers." he chuckled, turning to face her completely. "Last time i checked... you three don't travel alone. Oh, what a pity" his tone grew dark and sinister, Caiin's gaze became more worried at that precise moment. "looks like another Truesdale is open for fire and the airy one is drifting by i presume. ". He spoke about Truesdale like he enjoyed the sound of destroying her, he obviously knew something about Alexis and her family.

Horad then spoke up, after whatever it is Ruby might say and spoke wisely with "They will..." he stopped to pull together his mind before admitting "... find you... " it was like he was admitting his own defeat already. "Whoever they are, Team Elixer, the syndicate, heaven forbid the Casters or better yet the Angels themselves!"

But then Zoltan spoke without looking back to the old man and said "I hope that they do"
((btw, feel free to make a lethal blow on him, i have some tricks up his sleeve xD))

As soon as he had finished speaking, he saw something move before him, the brat had fast reflexes and now he could perhaps begin to understand how she managed to defeat the Maiden of Torment once upon a time. Wide-eyed he saw a flash, like an angel's descent before his skin boiled with heat. Amongst the flames Horad cain covered his eyes with his arm and when the heat dulled down he was greeted by a massive flurry of ice. It was beautiful in its own right, a moment frozen in time, but inside it concealed something horrible, something evil. For a brief moment he believed that she had succeeded when he witnessed her blade cut straight through the ice chunk, like a glacier's iceberg cut in two. Then he began rummaging for something amongst his scrolls around him on tables and shelves that he could reach from his chair.

As the ice cold smoke seemed to settled, after the block of ice had hit the ground and smashed into a thousand pieces, Zoltan's body still remained intact. Though, he wasn't without his wounds. His waist seemed only intact by his spine, the slice kept together by strands of what would seem thick blood. His body flung down as his arms and hands kept himself up like poles against the bottom ice. As his skin tightened under his constricting muscles, flesh of his forearms exposed, like very clean muscles. Then he looked up and stared at her, with a grin. But one side of his face has exposed muscles, however, there was one uncertainty. There were no normal skull beneath his skin. It was like a mask made of bone beneath his flesh. Then as he sighed all his wounds seemed to heal. For someone so youthful looking... almost handsome, he held something ugly beneath what appeared.

"Sorry to deny you the pleasure of killing me..." he muttered "I know you would enjoy it" he then commented with one final act. Everything suddenly seemed to move in slow motion, though not in real life, but to him he could move with such speed. He broke from the ice and swung behind him and round again to deliver an elbow to Ruby's side, forcing her out of the door and onto the cliff edge street followed by wooden debris. As if he had never been hurt in the first place he glanced over his shoulder to see Caiin who had muttered already "I'm sorry, Ruby." as one scroll unfurled just like Lucas' had before into an oblong blue portal before he vanished through it and the humming hole in space closed shut. "uhh!!!" stressed Maues as he scornfully glared at the doorway and ran outside to find Ruby, not hurt too much by his fast but not too powerful attack. Now he was irritated, that old man knew where the last moon will directly touch the earth, Zoltan will have to work it out by himself!

"I'll murder you just like that worthless Truesdale! And his daughter will be swiftly after you!" he shouted as he summoned forth a shadowy blade from his wrist. He then charged for Ruby, but the girl was way ahead of him as she jumped down the cliff and landed without any injury! Quickly following he jumped over the edge and landed with his blade thrust into teh sand. With it, the sand rippled and as if it had become as light as dust it joined the air. It spiraled around him as he tried to focus before him with glaring eyes, finding his target. "He was a waste of space" he taunted. "He simply didn't see through the perfection the others were trying to accomplish... and you, strangely enough, remind me of him. Being in the wrong place at the wrong time.". He then banished his blade as runes covered the sandy floor and took control of the flying sand. Before it had time to settle it was condensed into shards of glass that all surrounding him in an orb, revealing his angry face before all slowly turning to face her, and then... they attacked! Each and every single shard, hundreds of them hurling towards her to get their own taste of her flesh blood.

Zoltan thought that getting rid of an Elixer early would weaken the team... he couldn't risk the others stopping his plans. He had only one... singular chance to make this happen. If not now then he would never be able to attempt it again and may as well give in and join Hell itself.

The shards of glass rained down upon her like stormy weather on concrete. But her skin was not as tough as rock, and with each shard not deflected by her blade she would suffer another wound, some more and then some. He was however surprised, the girl still stood and deflected a good amount of them, with her stand came the shards' death as the glass turned back to sand. You could say this would ease some pain, but all it would do would leave filthy, sandy, grinding wounds like sand paper. And she still had strength in her, her own will was something to be feared, Zoltan would porbably realise this later in his life.

The Girl With No Name was much more than a simple lost child, she's special. She's un-ordinary.

He could almost see it in his eyes before she swept up the sand as it smothered his face. "Ah!", Zoltan tried to wipe his face down of moist sand from his lips and eyes, squinting as he suddenly saw something hard to see, but surely pointed coming right at his chest. With a gasp he felt her blade pierce his flesh and through his pure white bone. As it escaped through his back he could admit he was winded, lost for breath for a second whilst his vision returned to him. Mouth wide and surprised his stared up at the girl and chuckled as blood began to drip from his lips, holding onto the blade with his hands he coughed before he began to speak quietly. "Wrong place... deffinitely the wrong time. If not- t-those few years ago... i wou...ldn't be able to do this".

He then began to cry out in agony as he pulled the blade from his flesh and took some wobbly steps back. Shaking his head he then added "Darniér kre-shin". He spoke in some demonic language that sounded different to that known to be spoken within Hell. Then his flesh began to rip and blood began to seep from his body, bone appearing in deformed shapes and a skull appearing as he straightened himself, standing up right. Crossing his arms the blood from his body conjured into ravens of blood that flew away. He was nothing but mutated muscles and bone... whatever curse he had befouled upon himself it was not of this world. "Let's not waste our time, nameless girl" he began. "Any last words before we end this?"

Finally, his pain was gone and he was able to stretch his legs in his true form, well... his altered and now true form. It's what dabbling in magic from another universe does to a person. As his red eye sockets tared forwards, his teeth like a menacing grin watched as the young hero... fled. She fled in terror, in fear, and even though she tried to fire back only one or two bullets hit or scraped him. She was the symbol of weakness in all humanoid people, she might as well have been a mundane human from Non-Magic Earth!

"hm" he thought to himself as the girl ran through the sand and tried to gain some distance. He then reached one hand over his skeletal shoulder as his hand pierced his shoulder blades flesh, from it, he pulled a sharp appendage. It was like a blood stained yet polished long bone spear. He was about to throw it to finally end this, and as he brought back his arm to let loose his final attack he found himself attacked.

His wrist was tangled with an arcane rope with two heavy arcane orbs at each ends, they spun around his wrist and tightened before suddenly becoming ten times heavier and pulling his fist to the groud, grasping a hold of his wrist with his free hand he cursed under his breath, through his grizzly teeth. His fist hit the ground as the arcane power buried itself in the smashing sand.

Meanwhile, a woman in shining glory and long blade hair came to Ruby's side and grasped an arm around her to stop her from running any further! "Ruby!" cried Alexis. "Alexis..."she repeated, holding her close. "i'm sorry i didn't come sooner, we should never have split up! W-what is that thing?!"

*I'm going in for the kill...*

Ruby was historical, she was almost unable to complete simple sentences from her wallowing sadness. Whatever this thing was, it caused her such distress. Looking over towards the thing, it was still trying to lift its arm from the ground and Alexis could feel her magic pulsating with a failing thrum. He won't be chained down forever. Looking back at Ruby she shook her head, wide-eyed and frantically asked "That did what?! You- no!" she reached her arm out for Ruby.

*I'm doing it for a thrill...*

Narrowing her eyes, she sighed and wasn't about to let anything happen to Ruby, she was already in a mess and her blood had already covered her own dress of lush royal blues. Pulling out her staff its tip spun and conjured its concentrated arcane orb and magic bestowed by Entei. And then staring out as Ruby slowly made her way towards the creature Alexis tightened her fists... there was a reason she was the best wizard in all of Merlin Academy. And she had all the right reasons to be confident in that, she got straight !'s, she past every practical exam with flying colours, literally, and even though some bullies didn't like the way she was, they soon realised she doesn't take sh*t.

*I'm hoping you'll understand...*

Ruby was her teammate, her friend. And they don't battle alone. Jumping into the air with a magical boom, sand burst from around her as many magic missiles shot from her staff into the sky. They came down on the creature as she landed in front of Ruby and with a stern face said "There is no 'I' in Team.". "AHH!!" roared Zoltan as he flung his arm free from the ground, Alexis swung round and released another gravity spell upon his other wrist as it was flung towards the ground again. As she finished her 360 degree spin she made sure to push ruby back some feet through the sand with her magic. Spinning her staff in one hand and landing it on the ground fiercely she let loose an arcane bomb. All around her the sand burst into the sky and formed into thousands of tiny arcane missiles.

As they darted for Zoltan she turned round to Ruby and said "We're leaving! I can feel his power from here!" and even if Ruby tried to stop her she wasn't going to let that happen. Ruby was going to die if she stayed here, that creature had no wounds, but Ruby was covered in them right to the bone. Zoltan then roared again as he brought himself free and began to lung an attack, but Alexis spun round once more and caused the side of the cliff to spontaneously burst from the side and collide with him like a giants fist. "now!" she ordered to her ally.

"up there!" she said, pointing her staff to a staircase made of arcane power leading up the cliff side. As they began to raise up the staircase she could hear all the rock and sand behind her beginning to shift and reform, Zoltan had obviously planned something with whatever Alexis just threw at him. Before them came a giant rock spear that stung the cliff wall and stopped them from climbing the stairs any further, and then Zoltan came at them with a giant rocky armour. Holding her staff out she let loose an arcane barrier, and now she was beginning to feel his raw power. Blood began to run down her nose as she ordered Ruby to leave, an arcane circle then appeared below her that would shoot her into the air.

"You're next, Truesdale!!!!" the thing warned to Alexis, she narrowed her brows however and screamed as she caused her barrier to explode and toss him across the beach and down the cliff. Joining Ruby they would both stop inches from the ground before dropping again to stop any further wounds. She was breathing heavily, and after all this time (sorry i forgot to mention this earlier) she was thankful she had warned Ruby from trying to continue fighting that thing with some gravity spells. If Ruby wasn't going to follow, she was going to make her follow whether she liked it or not.

In a final bid to get to safety, she turned around with hardly a breath and tried to get up from her knees and shouted muttered "You shall not see, hear, feel nor pass!" as she thrust her staff, spear end first, into the ground. The world around Ruby and Alexis seemed to turn foggy, everything wispy from its skin or foundations. Every living entity whispering to them as they became a part of the Arcane, invisible to Zoltan.

He arrived, and to his own disaster found that the two young girls were gone. He looked obviously distressed before letting loose an angry sigh. He stood mere inches from them, but couldn't see or hear them, thankfully. In the wind it seemed like dark foggy magic caused his skin to reappear and bring back his old appearance before he casually looked around one last time suddenly, without a blink to spare, he vanished. Alexis then finally released her enchantment, her hands sliding down her staff as she found herself sitting on the stone pavement below her, regaining her breath.

**hope this was alright, i got a bit carried away and feel bad when Ruby doesn't get enough spotlight time sad **