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 Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2007 5:01 pm
(Dara_kitten, spell check and grammar check.))
"All right, if that's how it is..." Josh muttered, growing irritated quickly with Siber. He grabbed Siber's locket and spat, "Alan, take him back to our guest room and find out what happened earlier. This is the guy who brought Leviathan." Siber slowly sank into his shadow.
"He's out of the way for now," Josh said. "Care to explain who that was?" he asked.
~~
Siber regained awareness as his sight faded in from blackness. In front of him was a man with a slender face, black, shaggy hair, and a five o' clock shadow.
"My name is Alan," he said as he placed a knife in front of Siber's throat. "And I'll be your interrogator today. Siber observed that the room was basically a big, empty square.
Alan drew his knife back and solidly struck Siber in the chest, and Siber felt his grip on his magic disappear.
"Now. Care to explain what you did earlier?"
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Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2007 6:22 pm
Siber looked around and saw that the room was basically a big, empty square.
He contemplated the man in front of him. He did not look pleased in any connotation of the word, even given the apparent smile on his face. Or was it a grimace? There seemed to be some disparity there.
It was, perhaps, Keldan's greatest threat thus far.
Siber was forced to back down and begin with the pleasantries. He realized very quickly, though, that because his magic focused on chakras, which were basically centers of desire, and because he had been cut off from his magic, all he had left was a faint trace of a desire to live, coupled with an even fainter need to enjoy life. So he worked with that.
"I'll just assume that you're currently more powerful than I am. 'Cuz any trace of magical capability I had is gone, and you can apparently suck me through shadows." He eyed the knife. "In what is usually reality, I would love to explain exactly what I did earlier, so hold on while I rewire my brain a bit to make that happen."
Emotion myEmotion = new Muladhara(explainMyDeath);
Siber.setMuladhara(myEmotion);
((I would like to apologize to everyone not acquainted with Java for that being slightly incomprehensible, and everyone acquainted with Java for having bad grammar. People not acquainted with Siber: Muladhara = desire to live))
"Okay then! I sacrificed the flesh and blood of my dying body to set free three chakra-based dæmons and trap my soul and a seventh-level dæmon's in a necklace so I might have a chance of living later. That's all I know."
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Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2007 7:07 pm
Kayla grimaced. "He's Siber, one of the Cabal. He disappeared suddendly just before you guys caught up to us. He wasn't dead though, or at least Vassily thought he wasn't and he has good instincts. Plus, he sent us Leviathan, so he was still exerting some level of influence. I don't understand the nuances of regular demon summoning, so I can't figure it out for sure."
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Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2007 8:07 pm
Alan snorted.
"Is that it? All right. Let's move on. Explain, in any order, the nature of your magic, how you came to Legion, everything you know about Legion and the forces at his command, why you served him, why you blew yourself up earlier, and whether you would now return to him." Alan inhaled after listing the items off. "Ready, set, go."
~~
"Wonderful," Josh commented. "So. Let's say I let you go right now, what would you do?" he added offhandedly.
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Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2007 9:23 pm
((Manipura = desire for strength. Anahata = desire for love. Vishuddha = desire for artistic expression.))
"Maybe you're hard of hearing. When I specified 'dying body,' I wasn't just referring to chronological regression of animal flesh from life to death. I definitely meant I was in the rather distressing process of dying. As I implied, blowing myself up was my only option."
Siber finished his answer with some difficulty, given the song playing over and over through his head. "Um... well, I don't want to give away too much. Hold on, let me test something."
He pulled out a pen and notebook from his pockets and started writing.
Here I sit, speaking to this man. Writing on paper, with a pen.
"Damn it," he whispered. Keldan had fallen silent with grave contemplation.
"Look, I know you want me to answer the question, and this is a really odd request, but would you mind if I punched you? Or kicked, it doesn't matter. I need to test something before I answer."
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Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2007 9:48 pm
Alan sneered at him.
"Do your worst."
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Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2007 10:13 pm
((PETA hates your avi, Venom. xd )) "Well, it's not as if I'm threatening you," he mumbled. He stood up, set himself, and socked Alan in the gut with everything he had, performing the basic exercise for drawing on energy he had learned even before meeting Keldan. Alan may have grunted. Even if the man had been made of muscle, though, Siber could feel he hadn't hit with any power. His physical strength had never been that great. "Well, that solves that mystery," he said shakily, and sat back down. This was frightening- he didn't even want the power. He couldn't want anything but to live, and to live without too many major inconveniences. Keldan was afraid. "So I guess I'll, ah, tell you then, Alan. I know virtually nothing about Legion, I joined him so he wouldn't kill me, I summon dæmons and play with shadows, and I don't have any desire to return to Legion." Nor do I have any desire to do anything else. He became very depressed, and couldn't summon the willpower to overcome it. His eyelids sagged and his shoulders drooped; he had never unintentionally been this desolate. He meant to perform a very dangerous mental procedure he had discovered while rifling through Siber's memories, and he sent that message with the words.
With that, Siber hardwired everything he had ever wanted into having a direct connection with whether he lived or died. He had never before put this into practice, so he didn't know if it could be stopped once started, but he knew he needed it to think properly. If he didn't smile, he would die. If he didn't talk, he would die. If he didn't get back into manipulating people, he would die. Everything was a life-or-death situation.
He sat back up and grabbed a caffeine pill from another pocket, then popped it in his mouth, swallowed, and smiled. "Anything else?"
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Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2007 10:35 pm
((PETA hates animals, too. xd ))
"Huh. My magic drain seems to have had an unintended effect on the chakras... You know what? I have a better idea." Alan placed his hand at each of Siber's chakra points and released his hold on the magic. "Your magic is unusually closely tied to your chakras. You're Keldan's kid, aren't you? Tell you what. I need answers from you being in your right state of mind. Therefore..." The knife moved audibly fast, delivering a quick slice to Siber's chin. "This is a moonblade - it channels shadow magic. I have tainted you. If you try to run - at least for now - said shadow magic will devour your lower jaw. And I'm not taking it out until Josh is back. Now. Answer those questions again, shall we? And be honest, your will to live has been restored." He grinned nastily.
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Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2007 7:36 am
He held up a finger, saying, "Just a minute."
He could feel Svadhisthana returning, and it felt great.
"Actually, most of what I told you is true. All I really left out was that Legion has a big freaking house that I doubt it would do you any good to find, given how quick he generally is about performing rather horrific feats of magic."
Manipura returned- he now had a reason besides entertaining himself to be cautious.
"I kind of want to return, 'cuz I made some friends over there, but the longer I sit here talking to you, the less likely it is I'll live if I do return."
He did find, though, that he could appreciate the subtlety behind naming it a moonblade- specifically, the waning phases of the moon. He fingered his jaw as Vishuddha returned. "I don't see any reason for Legion even to have forces at his command, given he could kill us all without thinking about it, but they do exist. I don't know how many of us there are- more than three, I think I can safely say."
Siber immediately activated his third eye and checked his chakra points. All the ones he could see were working, and his perception was returning. "Can I have a sandwich? I'm hungry. I mean, I know it's an interrogation, of course, but I have been dead for longer than most living humans. You can semi-empathize, can't you?"
The instant Sahasrara returned, he closed his eyes, inhaled deeply until he felt like his whole body was filled with air, and sighed. Then, he opened his eyes and just barely suppressed a wicked grin.
Keldan was mentally trembling from the effort.
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Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2007 2:01 pm
Alan points at a wall behind Siber.
"The kitchen is right over there."
When Siber turned, a kitchen that had definitely not been there before awaited him.
"I'm right, though, aren't I? You're Keldan's. He was better with chakra-based summoning than most. I remember when you first arrived at the Cabal..." he mused.
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Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2007 2:38 pm
((I disagree, PETA likes animals... In their bellies.
People for the
Eating of
Tasty
Animals.))
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Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2007 4:43 pm
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Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2007 6:37 pm
Kayla took her time responding, she was still trying to figure out the answer to that rather difficult question. After a long pause, her voice was a little distant. "Ideally, I'd just go back to New York, clock in for work, and do my best to forget that Legion is barely two timezones away." She grinned humorlessly. "But that's impossible. This whole mess will hit the east coast soon enough, and I'd never be able to persuade myself to block that out. Plus, I can't deny my ability to do magic. It's in my blood, not doing it would be like...heh, it would be a lot like being in the closet. I don't want to go back to Legion because that would just mean my own death. I know how he operates, breeding perfect test subjects and killing them off towards his own ends. I'll probably die when he transfers Vassily to a new vessel, or end up like Alan. Not to mention the horror and bloodshed thing. So I guess the only option left is to just...stick around with you guys. Be like i-pod man." She shrugged and stared down at the ground. She had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. She hadn't really given it any serious thought, but she now realized that she might never be able to pick her life back up again. She had been happy, if a little frustrated, but her own curiosity had gotten the bast of her and now she was in this game for keeps. She heard a little sigh of relief in the back of her mind.
Vassily sounded a little stunned at her statement. It was fairly obvious, now that it had been said. Why neither of them had though of it sooner would be forever a mystery.
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Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2007 7:11 pm
"I was actually addressing Keldan, just so you know. And as for how I got away? To be short, he slipped up. It's the only time I've ever seen it happen.
For a long time, I was his right hand. I can teleport without giving a signal because it's shadow-based, and shadow is focused around subtlety. He taught me the basics of the technique, but I'm the only one who can do it - even he can't. He's good at a lot of magic, but I'm the true master of shadow magic. As a Forsaken, he kept my soul on hand as leverage against me. When he needed to consume thousands of souls to fuel the resurrections, he consumed all of the souls of his Forsaken.
We all ran for it. I was the only survivor, because he couldn't trace me - shadow, subtlety, blah blah blah. Strictly speaking, he doesn't control us directly, but is able to force his will on us via our souls. Chakra tampering is a part of it - he alters the nature of our desires. That's why I was able to tell you were affected; I've done a whole load of research on magic. I'm probably almost as knowledgeable as Legion."
~~
"Welcome to our team, then. We'll establish a blood pact when we get back. Wait a moment..." Josh stared at a building. He placed a hand at his temple. In rapid succession three ripples of distortion emanated from his eyes. "We have a party looking for you. Alan can move them from that safehouse to another, and we'll move on to another one. I don't know why the Shadowmen aren't responding to this... All right, let's move."
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Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2007 7:38 pm
"By all means, lead on." She followed Josh closely, trying to clear her mind of her sudden fear. Her magic still wasn't one-hundred percent, but she wanted to be able to use it if she needed to. She heard a mocking voice in the back of her head, cold and female and a little amused, and it took her a moment ot realize that it was a memory of Hielith telling her she was weak, not Vassily in falsetto. It didn't make her feel any better. Her fear of death was not going to help in this fight, should it occur, but she didn't see anything she could do about it.
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