Welcome to Gaia! ::

Maximos smirked wide, nodded, and said a soft thanks. That was really all he could. Part of him sincerely and earnestly wanted Ryugi to return home and keep his family safe should these creatures not follow him back and linger in Latent. The other part of him, while not afraid, persay, really wanted to avoid being eaten alive...again and knew he needed the aid of a good friend to complete these. Despite his own conflicted nature, Maximos could see rather clearly from the look on Ryugi's face that the decision had already been made. Ryugi was coming, and there wasnt a thing he could do about it.



Maximos was somewhere between relieved and reassured when he heard Ryugi's answer. At first he looked curious, there was a lamp behind Ryugi and a lamp behind Maximos but with their angle only one should be able to reach the dragon. that should leave one weak shadow opposite to Maximos. But instead, Ryugi had two laying in opposite directions. Maximos then he spoke without thinking at all.

"Well thats odd, why do you have two shad--", and that was all Maximos had time to say. He shoved off the chair as fast and hard as his newly refreshed body could carry him and rather unceremoniously meant to crash right into Ryugi and tackle him back off of his footing to the ground a foot or two behind the dragon. All the while Maximos prayed for both their sakes that Ryugi did not have super dragon shoes or boots or some sort of power that could keep him cemented to the ground.

Unless he stopped himself from falling, Ryugi would see where his feet were seconds ago and where two distinct shadows branched out from where his boots stood. One shadow moved as he moved, the other lashed up off the ground like a hungry black snake, whipping at the air where the dragon stood before suddenly vanishing into another ambient shadow and fading from view entirely.

With a thump and a bang, both men would hopefully hit the ground. Maximos wasted no time, quickly scurrying for the nearest lamp and holding it up over his head. The natural ambient light shrunk all natural shadows back and closer to their sources. Thusly leaving, a few just slightly darker shadows branching from couches, tables, and chairs that were leaning toward the light.

"They're smart, they're leaning. You showed the possessed wouldnt work, so they've...upgraded. That was close, are you alright?" Said the Shadow, holding the lamp with one hand and offering a helping hand with the other. As Maximos spoke, the now alien shadows scurried unnaturally back to dark corners of the room. As he expected, they could hear him. If he had finished asking Ryugi about his shadows moments ago they would have attacked and the dragon would have been caught helpless. Maximos face, pulled down in a distinct frown. "This house isnt safe anymore, I dont think anywhere is. But we need to get at fourteen miles out in the dead of night, through them."

He looked at Ryugi, slipping his hand to the hilt of his katana and smirked as a banging sound began on the house doors and windows, and lines of black began seeping out from the shadows like spreading pools of water all encroaching menacingly on their position, obviously through with any kind of subtlety. "Any ideas?"

Maximos looked a bit like Ryugi had just shined a bright light in his face. He blinked a few times and then looked down at his feet. With all this thinking about magic shoes it seemed he entirely forgot about his own. Maximos' reply was a large grin that nearly split his newly healed, and yet still soiled face and the quick start of a whirring sound from his feet. Like neon LED's light filled stitching which ran in arcane patterns around his boots, across their heels and around his toes. The whirring, which had a sound very similar to a small engine, quickly raced up to the sound of a high pitch buzz.

Maximos who had designed the boots, and always held a near scientific knowledge of Lunaic, of course would have an intimate understanding of what they were capable of which he would share with Ryugi. For example, in this case...

"Well, there's really only one way to find out." ...he had absolutely no clue. But he did hold out his right arm, popping open his fist as dark imperial blue lines raced up and down the tattooing burned into his skin. The arm looked rather daunting, but with the Might of the Shadowfather, it was the only means of holding on to Ryugi and blasting out of here with any amount of speed.

And speed was off the essence, as might be seen in any sort of horrible zombie film, a dozen pale gray hands were reaching through holes smashed through the doors and windows. Jagged edges cut their skin and released clouds of hungry miasma from gaping wounds, shadows or at the very least what appeared to be patches of pitch darkness began creeping from naturally lightless places and inching their way toward both men against the lamp light.

And yet, it seemed somehow that with a friend beside him, Maximos grinning in the midst of this, his boots screaming with pent up force, and his arm arching with strength as he said. "Ready?"

If Ryugi agreed, he need only grab Maximos' hand. And then they would fly.

The sound of take off was something akin to a thunderclap booming all around them. The wood panels which comprised the quaint floor of this Latent living room would quite literally explode off of the ground and fly off in all directions with deadly force. But for Ryugi and Maximos, that was all quite literally a blur. Before the average mind could recognized the sound and sights assaulting the senses, there was a second sound of glass shattering, and then something like an elongated roar echoing down a long tunnel which started out all around them and in the span of a heartbeat echoed from far, far away.

In an instant, they were moved from standing in a living room, to bursting through a window and out into the moonlight town square. Latent rushed passed them as a flash of shapes, colors, and outlines against the night. Maximos did not expect Ryugi to be disoriented, infact, he was counting on him not to be. After four or five seconds of flight they were soaring over Latent's marketplace mere feet from the nearby rooftops, and Maximos looked back. It would seem at first he was looking at Ryugi, that was until his eyes opened wide, he gritted his teeth and then a second explosive blast of white energy poured from his feet.

Behind them, moving all at once was quite literally a black wall. It snuffed out all light and sound and simply followed in terrifying silence. Maximos tried a few sudden banks, and turns, zigging and zagging through streets in an attempt to lose the persuer. But it seemed a lost cause.

"I'm going to head for the woods, try to keep a low profile!" The white light pouring from Maximos' boots began to cool, turning pinkish, then violet, a royal purple, and finally an imperial blue just as they raced past the tree line on the outskirts of the town. Maximos pulled up sharply so that instead of flying straight into tree trunks and hard rocks, they would be soaring for the thinner branches on top. Behind them, the lights of the town were only dim glowing pools in the night which made it nearly impossible to tell if the enemy had followed.

"Brace yourself!" Maximos shouted, as his boots gave one last shove and then sputtered out entirely. With a grunt of effort, the Shadow spun and released his grip, launching Ryugi forward and up hopefully just over the canopy giving the Dragon time to work some sort of landing before gravity called him down.

Meanwhile, the act stole all of Maximos' forward momentum. His hand still arching with blue and purple energy flew to the hilt of the katana at his hip. If Ryugi looked back all he would see would be flashes of silver, and the rapid rasping sound of steel as Maximos quite literally cut a blurry path from the canopy straight down to the ground, his arm totally invisible with speed as he slashed branches, leaves and just about anything that would or could reach him before landing nimbly on his feet and skidding to a gentle stop. Following him, a rain of slice and diced leaves and lengths of wood gently pitter-pattered onto the grass.

Without missing a beat he flipped up his hood and began jogging forward hoping to find his light-touched companion.

"Yes." Maximos said rather grimly. "But your not going to like it."

And then clapped his hand on his friend's shoulder after quickly reviewing thar Ryugi was indeed alright, and began leading them off into the night.

As anyone who has seen Maximos navigate a cityscape might know, the Shadow had an impeccably bad sense of direction. Without magical aid in the form of doorways leading directly into his shop, there was a very good chance he would fail to locate it nearly every day. And yet, Maximos seemed to able to confidently lead them through the darkened woods with only the full moon high in the sky as their guide.

Strangely, this was not because of his eye, as ever since Ryugi healed it the eye remained the same shade as his other eye lacking its signature glow. Maximos just seemed to know where he was going. Likely, this was because cities did not really exist in his day, their entire arrangement was foreign to him. But travelling through miles of forest during the day or night with naught but celestial bodies to point the way was absolutely normal. Either way, after a few steps, and after looking back over his shoulder a few times the Shadow finally spoke up.

"I took a mission, a few days ago. The listing was posted in a local adventurer's guild. I visit them occasionally for inspiration and sport. This listing detailed two princesses trapped in a tower in the center of the remnants of an ancient magical civilization. The princesses were trapped by some malignant shadowy force." Maximos smirked and looked at Ryugi as if the Hero would understand what he was about to say next even before putting it to words. "A tower, princesses, shadows, how could I resist?"

Maximos stopped suddenly and looked behind them, then to either side as if he had heard something. Then shook his head and continued.

"Do you know what a Font of Magic is, Ryugi?" He asked, but then proved the question rhetorical by continuing. "Simply put, it is a point where magical leylines naturally converge. Magic is ripe there, and easily manipulated. People born in such a place usually have a natural affinity with the arcane. Cyndonia was such a place, and with said magic they advanced rather quickly."

The thought seemed to make Maximos smile, but that smile quickly turned into a frown. "But then it fell, just as quickly. I dont know if the city came under attack, or simply fell to civil unrest but its current residents live in its ruins. And shortly after I arrived, I found that the entire guild listing which brought me here...was a trap."

"I was attacked in the dead of night inside of an Inn, by men in black armor. I was unarmed at the time, so I took down one of the men by hand then called to Ankokuko and used a defensive technique to harden myself against a blow from a warhammer to the flank." Max gestured to his side where the large bruised gash was and some damaged ribs. "The technique involves taking shadows inside of myself to make me effectively sturdier. You can imagine my surprise then, when those same shadows turned on me from the inside and began trying to eat me alive. Ankokuko it appears, was even effected, as it bit my hand."

The Shadow held up his hand as if showing an injury, that was infact no longer there. "Some of my internal magical defenses ousted the creatures, unfortunately through my eye, and I effected an escape but, as far as I can tell, these creatures infested Cyndonia and appear only at night. They live in darkness and shadow, and eat the light. Thusly most of my supernatural abilities only serve to transport or strength them. They chased me several miles out into the woods and then stopped. I was afraid to summon the Caller of Darkness for fear of them following it back to me."

And then he frowned, his brow furrowed in a mixture of frustration and sadness. "Little did I know until I reached you, that was what they wanted all along. Whatever of their army clung to the remnants of what abilities I did use, stood with me. I believe an enchantment must have kept them sealed there, and the entire purpose of that guild notice was to find someone that could carry them out."

His fist slapped into his open palm. "But the source is there! If we can defeat whatever started this, we can end this. The people of Cyndonia are still mortal, not puppets like we saw in Latent. We can save them, and those poor princesses and well..."

Maximos just sort of shrugged, then looked down at the ground sort of disappointed with himself. "...you know how this sort of heroing business goes. I'm really sorry to have dragged you into this mess."

"Thank you." Maximos said, and while the response was indeed the socially and formally correct thing to say, the tone of Maximos' voice and the way his eyes did not just meet Ryugi's but actually looked into them showed that he truly meant it. The devil-may-care sort of young adventurer's grin on his face slipped to something more serious and deep. "I really appreciate that. Truly."

It was very often, that despite claiming a permanent retirement from heroism that Maximos played the part of the hero for those close to him. It was not very often that those same extended him the very same offer. And then through actions, such as the very fact Ryugi had not returned to his family, showed it. It implied. Perhaps even understood. But it held a different meaning when actually put to words. Maximos nodded a stout, firm nod. The sort of thing soldiers give to each other before rushing the front lines. The mark of a friendship, a camaraderie, even in the face of death.

"And the same goes for you, Ryugi." He returned, dark eyes still meeting red. Maximos may have said it, shown it, even done it in the past, but that was born of a sense of duty of right and wrong treatment of close friends. Maximos did not feel he had to, or that he really needed say those words to be proper. He felt he wanted to.

And then, the levity of the situation returned and Maximos smiled brightly again. This was going to be difficult, but it wouldnt really be fun if it wasnt. Together, he was confident they could do it. And then have a harrowing adventure to tell tales of later on. But first, they had to succeed. And to that effect Ryugi presented a most interesting idea.

Max folded his arms across his chest, rubbing his pale. Then he nodded a few times before finally shaking his head and looking back at Ryugi. "I think we could use that, but we had best save it for a last defense. You see, I imagine we're looking at two possible worrisome outcomes."

"Firstly," And he pulled back his left index finger with his right. "It could have very little to no effect, that particular magical effect bases itself on elemental mastery. While these creatures could have no real elemental affinity despite their appearance."

"Secondly," Mimicking his previous gesture he pulled back his left middle finger with his right index finger. "It could have too much effect. This Font is a nexus point for a great many leylines. As you know, said lines encircle and bring magic around Gaia, a hiccup in the flow lcould have wide reaching effects to those outside. Hospitals and medical facilities for instance, or anything dependent on the arcane to survive, perhaps even the people of Cyndonia itself."

There was a sort of grim frown on his face as he looked at Ryugi, pausing for a moment to place his hand on a nearby tree. "And yet it certainly is better than having Gaia devoured by those...things. I suppose we should it our last, desperate, play. But there is one more thing I've yet to mention."

The Shadow paused, looking at the tree then ahead to the distance. At first it seemed like it was checking the horizon, perhaps even scouting. But in truth, this was forest travel for those without a map. One marks a location in their mind, then walks to it, then another and then another. Otherwise the look of all the trees begins to blur together and your lost. After a few seconds, Maximos pushed away from the tree and continued walking with Ryugi. "Before I escaped I saw something in the sky. Granted, my vision was not the best at that moment, but it looked enormous, black, and with expansive wings. I believe, it was a dragon. And well..."

Maximos let the sentence trail off. He had no real idea how Ryugi felt about perhaps having to harm those of his own but, he assumed in the silence of the pause at the end of his sentence Ryugi would have space to inform him.

Maximos' expression suddenly became uncharacteristically dour. His lips pulled in a downward arch with his brow scrunched together and his head shaking side to side. And then he looked at Ryugi, with dark eyes.

"Your really making me look bad now, you know?" He said, and pulled the frown a little farther down to give it a proper measure of displeasure. "I'm supposed to be the brains, and you the brawn. And yet, you've figured out no less than two predicaments already."

As a rarity, the Shadow seemed to be enjoying himself. He placed his hands on his hips, shook his head and then pointed a would-be stern finger in Ryugi's direction. "That idea is quite positively genius, I'm going to have to insist you leave the task of solving the next quandary up to me."

He paused, then much like a punctuation at the end of a sentence added. "Even if it leads to our death. I have a reputation to keep you know."

And then Maximos was quiet, looking Ryugi rather poignantly in the eyes. For a moment, it seemed he was quite serious. And then he started laughing, not mocking auspicious laughter, but quiet friendly chuckles, his pointing finger turned into an open hand that patted his friends shoulder before he finally added. "So, Shadow Mirror, is that what you named it? I like it, it has a nice ring to it. But how do we get it to effect an area large enough to counteract the swarm without being, well, quite literally swarmed?"

Maximos had donned his deeply contemplative face, this involved a hand on his chin, an arm folded neatly across his chest and a few nods which were akin in visual function to bites or gulps in a meal. It was like Maximos heard, swallowed and mentally digested the information being presented.

He could not say that his studies or his mind frequently drifted to the subject of ants but for what Ryugi noted and he himself had seen these nameless creatures fit the analogy perfectly. By his assumption, they were drawn to him as a source of Home aka Shadows, and Ryugi as a source of food. Two things all living beings require.

This meant, that as far as Maximos could tell, and as he told Ryugi in so many words a few seconds after he posed his final question. "I think that sounds perfect. Absolutely perfect, with the exception of one detail I myself cannot quantify which may make or break the entirety of this plan."

He paused, as he had a few minutes before, reaching a hand out to a tree and orienting himself and then looked around them, and finally back to Ryugi.

"We appear to be alone." Maximos said, looking around one last time before nodding in affirmation and meeting eyes with Ryugi and giving voice to that detail. "Can you show me this Shadow Mirror in action?"

Maximos was grinning an ear to ear sort of mischievous grin. He had nothing sinister in mind, it was just that Ryugi's words run true. The sight of the Shadow Mirror with its very impressive series of arrays and magical formations followed by the slight of Ryugi's Lightdark ball, it brought him back. Angara was so long ago, but it was really such a good time. It was the last honest to goodness adventure he had been on in such a long time. The nostalgia of the memory spread like warmth into their current predicament, he was once again traveling with Ryugi across the forest toward danger and adventure. How could he not smile? How could he not meet the dragon's eyes and nod in agreement?

The Shadow even lift his hand and waved it across the mirror remarking at how oddly familiar and yet equally strange his appearance was in its dark reflection. And as the two orbs of energy came so very close, that hairs-on-end sort of chill ran down his spine. It made the stream of essence coursing through his body jostle and jump. The feeling reminded Maximos greatly of standing over a cliff, about to jump. It was the feeling of gravity about to rush you straight down, if only you were to make that jump.

Needless to say, Maximos was very satisfied with the display. He looked into the mirror, then back at Ryugi, then chuckled softly.

"Yes my friend," He said with a nod. "I most definitely did, that will do. And may I say you did a beautiful job in crafting the Shadow Mirror as well. I'll have to ask you some time what sort of runes you used. But for now!"

And with that, he made a pointing gesture down the path with one arm, while letting the other rest almost lazily over the hilt of the katana at his side and continued trotting along.

Conversation is one thing, very thankfully, that Ryugi was never short on. A long walk in silence would have grown awkward and then taxing very fast. But a good brain stimulating chat did wonders!

For instance, Maximos never knew that Ryudo had such intricate knowledge of the planes. Or that Ryugi had any knowledge of draconic runes. Maximos also found himself wondering of the friend from quite some time ago that Ryugi referenced was one of the friends he kept mementos of on his personage. But his questions were placed aside by his distinct interest in Ryugi's answers. He had never imagined a way to stabilize the backlash, or add a classy level of flair to it as Ryugi had. Of course, Maximos had thought of it more as a natural effect, like milk curdling or ice melting, than he did an actual ability for combat purposes. Still! It was fascinating. He waved a dismissing hand at Ryugi's modesty and replied with a chuckle.

"No no, you explain it perfectly." He said, and then Ryugi was questioning him, an unexpected turn of events, but fair enough all things considered. Max looked at the mirror and then back to Ryugi, grinning.

"Its actually rather simple, though perhaps a bit frightening." His pale white hand rose from where it rest on his sword, dark lines visible just past the cuff of his sleeve tattooing the back of his palm and beginnings of his fingers. One finger pointed right at the mirror and Max said, "I can feel that."

He smirked.

"Not the two energies mixing, that." And his finger nudged a bit closer, as if indicating the reflection not the reflective surface. "Whatever is beyond that mirror, its palpable...it real, its looking at me."

"Thats really what I needed to see, I imagine if these creatures planned to devour something they would need to feel it too. Still part of me wonders..." And his hand slid slowly closer to the mirror as if meant to poke it. "...what would happen if whatever was inside, came...here."

And then he stopped, smiled wide, lowered his hand and looked at Ryugi. "But I digress. You and Ryudo have crafted quite an astonishing artifact here. Containing the backlash is rather genius, I must admit. I dont imagine you've tried reversing it yet, have you?"