Welcome to Gaia! ::

The desk Sergeant who was in his 40s and already in a flak jacket and wearing a riot helmet blinked at the young woman's outburst, looked to her escort who mearly shrugged, shook his head with a sigh

"Suppose it's worth a shot... This here station is situated exactly in the center of town little lady. What do you need?"

The Sergeant scratched his chin for a moment in thought at her words, then looked over his should and shouted into 'bullpen', where most of the Shields in the station worked, calling out two men that came up to him quickly, both in the same gear as the Sergeant

"Get your teams together and take this one up to the second floor cell block, it's empty, move the desk into the center of the room, and do whatever she tells you. Also, protect her at all costs."

The Sergeant turned back to Alex as the two officers nodded to him

"Follow them, they'll keep you safe while you do whatever it is you do."

Alexiel nodded and just as she moved to follow the men, a large raven fluttered in the door and settled on her shoulder. Daemon, her familiar, never left her side when she was doing rituals. With him present, she followed after the two Shields and up the stairs.

Once in the room they were supposed to be in, she didn't wait for the men to clear the area she needed, she did it herself. With a bit of mental force, she pushed everything towards the walls save for one desk that remained in the center. "I'm going to create a protective circle... don't let anyone inside it... including yourselves..."

As Daemon perched on a nearby piece of furnitur, Alexiel immediately set to work setting out all the supplies she would need on the altar. She threw a black cloth over the top of the desk and set up all her tools as they should be, including an athame, a round/flat piece of obsidian, two black taper candles, a censer, and her God and Goddess symbols, a stick of incense, a red taper candle, a bottle half-filled with water, and a jar of sea salt.

Once everything was set up, Alexiel started to cleanse the area. She stood in the center, before the makeshift altar and took three deep breaths. Closing her eyes, she imagined that she was standing between two spheres of energy. The energy below her was envisioned as being black and it represented the earth. The energy above her was silver and pulsing. The silver energy crackled and started to fall around Alex in brief sparks before being absorbed by the black sphere below her.

Her eyes still closed, Alex imagined herself growing in height, moving up towards the silver sphere. She raised her arms to meet the energy and took another deep breath as she felt the silver light enter her hands.

(( Okay, a brief change of locale due to having read through the location list at the beginning of the thread... still can assume zat I was just walking leisurely down the street as those ghouls ravaged and devoured everything in their path... just that the street lead in a slightly different direction... ))



"Nande kore, Tasha?" Min asked quietly as she sat upon the steps of the Temple of Water, staring out at the fog that had suddenly enveloped the city in the dead of the night.

Her head quirked to the side when she looked to the older girl, letting her finely combed black hair fall from behind her ear and across her right shoulder. She was pointing with one outstretched hand at a light that had appeared in the distance, near the docks, though through the haze it was as indistinguishable as the stars in the sky to her.

"Chikabi, Min-chan..." Tasha replied as she climbed to her feet and walked slowly towards the child. "The docks are burning..."

"Burni-" the girl spun around with a shocked expression.

"Shh... shh..." Tasha cooed softly, sliding the sleaves of her priestess robes up to her elbows and reached down to pick up the child in her arms. "Don't worry, Min-chan. Everyone will be alright."

Her head tilted down and she kissed her little sister upon the forehead before turning her back to the fires and began to walk back towards the entrance to the Temple.

"Let's go pray for their safety, and then the waters will quench the fires."

"Onee-san!" Min shrieked suddenly, clutching tightly to Tasha and staring, wide-eyed, at the temple gates.

K-k-k-k-k-k-k...

A ghoul crawled slowly over the arch of the entrance, walking on all fours along the surface of the wall through the same supernatural means that kept its unlife sustained. The sound might have been mistaken for a curdling laugh, if the creature had still possessed the vocal cords required for such an act. Another crawled its way out from behind a tall statue on the right side of the archway; sniffing at the air like a hound before shrieking in pleasure when it discovered the two girls standing there.

"...bakemono!?" the woman gasped in shock; clutching the child closer to her breast as her right hand reached into the sleeve upon her left arm and grasped ahold of one of the holy symbols dangling from her charm bracelet. She was unsure of whether or not it truely would protect her, though her strong belief told her that it would... especially against such unholy creatures as these.

"Excuse me, priestess..."

"Nani!?" Tasha spun around; tearing the charm off of the bracelet and holding it in her clenched right fist at her side, while keeping Min clutched against her with her right hand. "Who's there!?"

Two blood-red eyes stared up at the priestess from behind the hollowed sockets of a large scull; it was being worn like a helmet atop the head of a man in bloodstained and battered armor.

"Just a petitioner, good priestess..." the man said, his voice broken and raspy. The armor rattled slightly as he took step by step up the temple stairs, tapping the end of the shaft of a scythe onto each other stair as he walked, "...here to offer my prayers for the townsmen."

For a moment the false smile that was spread upon his crackled lips behind the bone mask drew wider, as a sadistic fantasy played out in his head.

"There wouldn't happen to be a service in progress tonight, would there, priestess?"

"N-no! Are these creatures your doing?" Tasha took a frightened step backwards, only to be met by another cackling laugh from the ghouls that had gathered near the doorway.

"Min..." she whispered, clutching both the child and the holy symbol in her hand equally as tight, "...run inside..."

"But... ne-san?" the girl looked up with tears in her eyes.

"No buts... just go!"

Tasha bent quickly, setting Min upon the ground and taking her hand forefully. One last fearful glance was cast in the direction of the man holding the bloody scythe, and then she turned and ran.

"...feast..."

Kttthhhhhhhhhhh!

The ghoul above the doorway leaped from its perch down upon Tasha as she passed underneath; tackling the woman to the ground and raking its bony clawed hands across her shoulders. The white sleeves turned red and tore to strips as the woman's skin was torn, and the pained scream that she uttered was... as the approaching man would call it, 'delicious'.

The other ghouls were quick to attack as well, especially against a downed and helpless temple maiden. They rushed forewards with the lust for blood and flesh as the only things driving them. Four set in upon Tasha, so feverent in their assault that they even dug their claws and teeth into each other as they fought over the kill. Two more chased Min, who had done as Tasha commanded and kept running, eyes pressed tightly shut and screaming her lungs out...

"No!" Tasha shouted violently, struggling against the ghoul that had pinned her, "Min!"

It was hard to think about anything else, other than Min's safety or the rotting creature atop her that was digging its claws into her skin. Her left fist beat wildly against the side of the ghoul's face, but to no avail, it didn't even feel the pain of her hits, all it knew was that it wanted to tear into her. And then she struck with her right hand.

Ktthaaaaaaaaa~!

The ghoul hissed and let go, hopping backwards, away from her, and knocking back the other ghouls that were attacking as it did so. On the side of its neck was a large burn mark in the shape of Tasha's hand.

"...!? The-that's it!" Tasha suddenly cried, opening her right hand and thrusting it straight up into the air as she shouted a prayer for divine protection as loud as she could.

The holy symbol that was held within her hand burst into a blue glow that an intense blue light upon the area around her; causing all of the ghouls to scamper backwards in fright, and they quickly disappeared behind posts and statues... anywhere they could get out of the searing light.

"...oh...?" the man cooed, raising a hand to shield his eyes slightly from the light. "What a lucky girl, you are, priestess..."

"Min!" Tasha screamed again; turning a full circle as she took a few hasty steps towards the interior of the temple, wary of any Ghouls that attempted to step out from where they cowered and into the light.

When she didn't see the girl anywhere, though, Tasha quickly ran inside of the temple without a moment's delay, needing to know that the child had gotten away unharmed.

"Nee-san!" Min cried as she saw Tasha run in, running out from her hiding place to hug one of Tasha's legs tightly. "Kowaii!"

"Min!" Tasha shouted joyfully, hugging the child tight for just a moment, before her head snapped back to look over her shoulder at the cowering ghouls, and at the man who was still approaching slowly from outside.

"S-stay back! Stay away from here! Go away!" the woman shrieked as she shot up. Open doors offered them no protection, and she shut them as quickly as she could, pushing each of the massive wooden doors shut and drawing the crossbar across them to hold them fast.

The ghouls leaped from where they hid as soon as the light was gone, stupid enough to try and give chase to something they had just been cowering from, simply because it had fleshy bones and warm blood... They did not get far, however, as upon reaching the entrance to the temple the ghouls stopped dead in their tracks and began to cower again... Now and again, one would reach out, only to shriek and pull back its clawed hand as if it had been burned by the aura of the holy place.

"Get out of my sight you worthless drones..." the man said, stepping up behind the group. He struck one with the shaft of his weapon, and delivered a kick to another, not caring in the least what damage he did to the ghouls. They were worthless from here on if they could not even set foot upon holy ground. Such low level undead were barely even worth the time it took to raise them.

The man stepped up to the door...

--

"It's okay now, Min, it's okay!" Tasha said softly, cupping her hands upon the sides of the crying girl's face and wiping away the tears that ran down her cheeks. "They're gone... they can't come in."

Ktthaaaaaack!

The crossbar that held the door shut suddenly split, as the razor edge of a heavy scythe tore through it like butter at an upwards angle across the center of the doors. With nothing holding them shut anymore, they swung freely inwards from the force of the strike that had broken them free, until they bounced with a sharp clack against the edges of the archway and stopped.

Holding his scythe upside down in his grip, still raised from the strike that had torn through the door just a moment before, the man walked forewards into the temple with malicious intent.

"Hi, honey... I'm home..." he recited with a twinge of sadistic pleasure in each of the words... surveying the interior of the temple for just a moment before his eyes set upon the large fountain in the center of it, that the people prayed at for blessings from the sea.

"...now step aside, priestess..."

"Min... you need to run away agai-"

Her speech was interrupted before she could even finish. The moment that Tasha had turned her eyes away to look to the child was the moment that the point of a scythe blade drove itself upwards into her chest, lifting her off of the ground to hang from it.

"Nee-san!" Min shrieked as a spatter of blood crossed her face, getting in her eyes and her mouth, and soaking into her hair and clothes.

"What a touching moment..." he spat, watching her blood run down the haft of the weapon for a moment before tossing her aside like a broken toy, with the scythe still impaled through her.

"Tasha!" the child screamed again, running after her sister and kneeling down beside the woman, unsure of what to do and only able to bawl her eyes out, anyways.

The man, however, simply walked forewards to the edge of the fountain and reached into a pouch upon his belt. A small vial of viscous purplish liquid was procured, and the man held it out over the waters of the fountain with a steady hand.

"Darkest depths of corrupted souls, undead and those whom's souls linger..." he began, his voice rough, yet it spoke the words with a smooth, practiced grace. His left hand reached up to the edge of the bone helmet that he wore and pulled it from his head, letting it drop to the ground beside him. His hair was tangled and matted down from the helmet, and in the light, his scarred face looked as if it, too, were a mask...

"Release your anger, your hate, and flow freely into this land," he continued, reciting the words as he reached up with his left hand to pull the stopper from the vial; tipping it to the side to drain all of the purple liquid into the fountain, before dropping the vial unceremoniously into it as well.

"...and let darkness consume the living."

It took just a moment... but the purple taint that had clouded in the water spread quickly, stretching in all directions through the fountain, even going so far as to run up the streams of water that were falling into it and spread to the fountainheads themselves. Within seconds the entire pool had become tainted, and a heavy fog that purveyed an evil aura began to rise off from it and spill outwards to fill the entire temple and out from it, into the city.

"Nee-san..." Min said, her voice quivering, "...I'm scared..."

"Don't say that just yet," the man said as he stooped to pick up his helmet again; a twisted grin upon his face, "...you haven't even seen the encore."

Nnnngggkkak-k-k-k-k!

The ghouls scratched and scraped their way through the doors; crawling and walking and shambling ahead with their breathless clicking laughter echoing through the temple hall. The scent of blood in the air was enough for them to know straight where to go, and once through the doorway to the corrupted temple, their attention affixed upon the two warm bodies in the corner.

"Min..." Tasha choked, each breath causing coughs of blood that rattled her body and tested that small thread of life that she still had in her. "...Min... ru-... run awa-"

Min shrieked once more, scrambling to her feet with a tearful nod, and ran as quickly as her small legs could take her into one of the cloisters in the back of the temple... the sealed rooms with but one way in and one way out.

"..." The man drove his foot downwards onto Tasha's chest as his hands gripped the haft of the scythe; pressing down upon the woman as he jerked up violently on the weapon and tore it from from the pesky strands of flesh and sinew that held it. The echoing sounds of her bones snapping in the process filled the temple, though it was such a pitty there were none present to enjoy the sound with him...

"Feast, ghouls..." he said as he shouldered the weapon and turned away, heading back towards the doorway to continue to the next site.

And from the cloister, Min screamed in pain.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Swish. Tap. Swish.

A single man in a battered hat and moth-eaten jacket walking with a large polished walking staff. He stopped within 40 feet of the coven and stopped, the silver censer swinging from his left hand streaming out a sweet smelling smoke that seemed to drive away the pervasive mist within a decently large radius around the man.

He stood for half a moment, seemingly undetected by the ghouls but easily visible to the man commanding them.

"So then... Was there some party I wasn't invited to?"

Despite the comment however, the man's gray eyes showed no mirth and his face seemed carved out of stone.

The man held his mirthless gaze for a moment before a wry grin spread across his face, but didn't reach his eyes.

"I'm sure they enjoyed it. Their kind is always partial to a little snack."

The man stamped the staff he held down hard once, before releasing his grip on it, somehow the staff balancing perpendicularly to the ground while leaving his right hand free to pull a tiny vial of clear liquid from a pouch at his side.

"But did you ask the meal if they enjoyed it too? I daresay it was unsightly of you if you didn't."

The man's fingers opened as he spoke and the vial dropped to the ground at his feet and shattered.

"Why don't you ask it yourself?" the man replied; his smile growing wider beneath the bone mask as he raised the scythe up in his right hand, before slamming the end down upon the ground with a sharp crack.

The sound echoed on the wind, spreading through the evil mist even as far as the docks themselves...

Uuh... uuh... UUAHHHHH...! A sharp moan came from within the temple; weak and unsteady, though it was the unmistakable cry of the living dead.

"Come introduce yourself, my dear..." The man grinned widely for a moment before he threw his head back in twisted laughter. Behind, motion stirred at the mouth of the temple, and a figure appeared, dragging itself across the ground with one arm, severed at the waist where the scythe had pierced it.