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 Posted: Mon Jul 01, 2013 2:16 am
Similar to the top floor of the Sin Tower, this room is a simple room with a single table with two chairs under a hanging light.The room seemingly has no limits in terms of area, yet it feels so contained. If one tried to run, they would find themselves back in front of the table.
In this test, all skills of the element, class and subclass are negated. All offensive skills of the Incubus bloodline are also negated to ensure no attempts at violence. Talents are useless here.
The second Tribunal member hosts this herself. Her name is Odessa, and she is able to use all class skills and the shapeshifter's ability to skinwalk. This test is not a combative test, it is a verbal test.
"All Succubi or Incubi are part sex, part cunning. Demonstrate your mastery, Incubus."
This would ring through Raphael's mind as the portal let him into the room before closing itself.
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Posted: Mon Jul 01, 2013 3:08 am
 X
Seduction. Cunning. Guile. Sex. Lust. Easy, all of it. He was slightly alarmed when he saw that the person he was to be... demonstrating with was a woman, but that was just a part of the test. Considering how self-absorbed he was, he could always just focus on his own body rather than hers. It wouldn't be the first time he had to, in the face of this most "female" form of adversity. "Hello there, my lady," he faintly smiled. "Do you know why I'm here?" He tilted his head, staring into her eyes. "I'm not sure, but --" he kept his hands at his sides. "That's okay. I like surprises." He assumed that she wasn't a regular person. He tried to keep most assumptions out of his mind, though. These people may have been capable of mind reading, and he didn't feel like exploding like Fenrir and his hooker did.
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Posted: Mon Jul 01, 2013 2:08 pm
When Raphael made his appearance, Odessa's facial expression had not changed. Incubi were perhaps her least favorite species, and that was saying something because Odessa hated nearly every creature in Axiom. She remained silent, not responding to Raphael's lame attempt at seduction. If the boy thought that he could ******** his way out of this test, he was dead wrong. No, Odessa had something else coming for him. This test was a test of guile, to truly see how cunning this boy could be. Not everything in this world was about fighting. The Tribunal could not afford to let other people run around as Sages who didn't deserve it. Suddenly, Odessa's body began to morph. Slowly, but surely, her body shifted in to the body of Cherry Lovette. Her black hair had easily changed to a deep pink, and her apathetic face changed into Cherry's sympathetic face. "It's been a while, Raphael." It was all the woman could say at this point, as there was almost nothing to say.
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Posted: Tue Jul 02, 2013 6:59 pm
This woman -- uninterested as she was -- obviously morphed right in front of him. So how did she expect for him to believe that it was really Cherry? Especially not with how screwed up this realm was in the first place. Needless to say, he played along. He wasn't going to blow this by being impractical. He took a seat, inviting her to sit next to him. "Yes, Cherry, it has," he smiled brightly. Cherry had always been a dear person to him, even if this wasn't really her. For the sake of the test and for reminiscence, he'd treat her as if she were real. "In fact, years. The last time I saw you was months before you passed away. And the last time I heard of you was only a few days before it was over. Lust told me everything." He didn't know exactly what else to say. He was sorry that things didn't turn out with Fenrir, and that everything devolved so quickly for her. But she was a hero to many. Everyone who Fenrir had ever hurt, Raphael being one of his most tortured victims. "You were always the one who gave me guidance when I was young. I felt safe in your presence. I really wish you could return to us." This was how he really felt. Maybe he wasn't supposed to be going off like this in a test of guile, but he didn't care. If he could meet every single soul from his past, he'd tell it all to them. He'd tell Elizabeth how he missed her, how sorry he was that she had passed away. He'd tell his first love who he couldn't even recall the name of that his heart was shattered when he jumped from that tower. All of the people from the past could never return to him. Even though he missed them all so much.
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Posted: Tue Jul 02, 2013 11:40 pm
For all intensive purposes, she was Cherry. Odessa had access to all of the souls that Narathos governed, and their memories. It wasn't wise of Raphael to not believe she was Cherry. If she wanted to make it feel legit, she would have just summoned each soul here. But this was just easier. In just a few seconds, Odessa had accessed Cherry's entire life. From their first meeting, to their last. "Even to this day, my soul still guides you from beyond. Do you remember the first time we met? In Uuma? I believe that was when you also first met Lust. She took a liking to you, and fast. That was when you changed. It wasn't noticeable at first, but after taking a mistress, your life didn't play out too well, did it? You are not the only Incubus I know. Once he took a mistress, his life went downhill from there, too." She extended her warm hand to grab a hold of Raphael's. "I can tell you are saddened, and you always have been throughout your life. This is what people ultimately don't understand about your species. They feel more than any other species known to man. A single tragedy would tear you down, and so you cover it up with sex. I know better than anyone that a nonchalant grin will quickly fade after experiencing life... and so I must ask... Why are you here? What do you want today? To grow strong? To be ready for Fenrir? You have proven that already. What is the use now? If you keep going, you will die... and you won't be brought back. Your soul will be lost in the realm of the Tribunal if you die in beyond the first phase. Turn around now, for me. I don't want to see you die and be stuck here. When your time to pass finally comes, I want you to want to pass. Not die in a battle for power. Your soul will never find peace."
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Posted: Wed Jul 03, 2013 12:31 am
X
He remembered everything that happened in Uuma. It was strangely the high point of his life, could you believe that? Connecting with his dear matron, and discovering what the world beyond Fraxen was really like. Everything was so exciting; a breath of fresh air in his dull, dull life. Why was it that the most happy time of his life descended into the death of his lover, the loss of his own life, and the murder of his people? Perhaps ever poking his head into other's business was a bad idea. He used to be so young and innocent. And then what happened with Fenrir, by his hand, corrupted him. Broke him. He'd never, ever been able to recover. Not even knowing that Cherry was still fighting for people like him made him feel any less loss. Even when he was with Sabal, he still never felt like he used to. His life, all of its essence, was gone right now. There was a hollow in his soul. He couldn't even feel sad, reminiscing on this. He just felt nothing.
It was all held in contempt, this life. "It's okay, Cherry," he stated silently. "It's okay that all of this happened to me. I've never been a petty person. There are others out there who have suffered far worse than me -- so, why should I wallow in my own self-pity when I could be helping them?" It was hard to say all of this, in truth, because it wasn't really okay. It still stained him. But... "I'm glad that I came across you guys, in Uuma. You awakened me to how horrible the real world is. I couldn't conceivably have just rested in my throne, ignorant to all of the pain caused by that man. I had to do something." He bowed his head down, and sighed. "Even though I failed, in the end. It wasn't me who defeated him. Someone else. Someone smarter, more talented, less of a shadow than me. Me... I've felt so worthless for all of this time. Because my only purpose in life, to kill Fenrir, was done as a side-hobby by someone better." Someone stronger than him. Someone who was sought after, who commanded the lust and envy of many like a puppetmaster's strings.
Everything he was had been shown up by people better than him, passing by him like nothing. All of his suffering granted no return. And he was tired of that. Tired of being the under dog. "I don't want to become Sage for the power. I don't care about power anymore. It's a curse that kills. You, Elizabeth, Liliana, and Fenrir... you're all gone. It's only me now, Cherry." He knew that she wasn't alive anymore. The entire situation was becoming far more clear to him now than it had been just fifteen minutes ago. This was the present. All of these shadows from the past were gone. "I have to become sage because I'm the only one who's fit for it. I have to become sage in case someone like Fenrir ever comes across my doorstep. I can't let innocent people suffer like they have been for this whole generation. It's time to use power to protect the people, not to terrorize them." His head rose, and he looked the girl in the eyes once more.
"I'm not afraid to die anymore. If I win, then I can bring peace and balance to our world. In the face of that, nothing matters." Raphael was a scarred man. He'd lost all of the love he had for himself over time. An empty vessel looking for an ideal.
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Posted: Thu Jul 04, 2013 2:02 am
It was at that last moment whre Raphael truly tried to sell that fake emo thing he had going on that Cherry suddenly arose, her pink hair slowly changing into a firey red. It was a truly familiar sight, one surely to be nostalgic for Raphael. Her common peasant clothing shifted into near skin tight spandex, cut off at certain places to make it much more revealing. It was Lust. It certainly would not be the reunion that Raphael expected. Before she would let him even respond, the Sin's firey red hair began to grow rapidly, quickly shooting toward Raphael. They long locks of hair easily wrapped around the boy's limbs and lifted him up 10 feet into the air. "Don't you dare try that pathetic story with me! You wanna become a sage because you want to protect the innocent? Oh, please, darling. You can barely protect a trainee's a** from your d**k. Do you honestly believe you are better than Fenrir? All you do is suppress someone's will as you force your own upon them. How many people do you think Fenrir has raped? How many, dear?!" Seeing herself get out of order, Lust quickly adjusted herself. "You haven't experienced pain until you go through something like I went through. Do you think I am like this by choice? To live my life fo eternity as the symbol for all of the rape and sexual desires in the land? No. Each of us had lives before this, every single one of the sins. We were punished, with the punishments beginning with me." For the lonest time, the sins had never disclosed any information about their past life. They all lied to their hosts, never truly letting them know who they were. "You worship me, as do my other children. But are you aware that it is because of me that the world hates you?"
She paused for a few seconds, releasing her hold on Raphael's body, letting him fall to the ground as she sat down once more. "You called me Roxanne on several occasions, but that it not my name. I am Judie, former princess of the human kingdom of Fronta. The reaper, Narathos turned me into the demon, Lust after I tricked two of my friends into doing something I knew they didn't want to do. I am responsible for the curse that lingers over Nocturne. I am responsible for the creation of the sins. I convinced my Paladin lover to strike Narathos. I was deemed a harlot, evil in her ways. Using guile and manipulating men through their desires. You worship me for naught. You never truly me, only a shadow I created for view. You want power? You obtain with trickery, like I did. Only problem is that I don't think you quite deserve it! Tell me the real reason why you are here. One hint of bullshit and I will sever your blood ties as my child, making you human. So... tell me."
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Posted: Thu Jul 04, 2013 2:57 am
X
The Incubi tilted his head, and grinned. Well, well. It looked like things were getting a bit heated in here. Mother dearest may even have been angry with him. He listened very closely to what she had to say -- her story. He was interested in it, but it was similar to hearing the histories of the nations in that he only acknowledged it, and did not resent it. In fact, he enjoyed the idea of his mother once being much like him -- a mortal, and royalty of Fraxen. They had more in common than he believed. Only one could lead their people to their seat of power, however. Lust was constantly kept behind gate and lock, whereas Raphael was free. With fleeted feet, he made his way closer to her, and bent on one knee. "Matron..." he started, staring into her eyes. "I am not offended by you, or disappointed in you. All of this struggle you've been through... I admire it. It's made you great. Judie, you were always fit to control our desires. It's not a position that's degrading -- you're no less than any of the deities they worship in our Holy City." He sighed, as despite his previous attempt to evade the question, he was inclined to tell the truth now.
"I can't hide the truth from you. You're -- the best of us. I didn't mean to try and fool you, mother, I'm sorry. The truth is..." he stood up, and towered over her. "I want Sage so that I can fulfill my deepest desires. ******** when I want. ******** who I want -- whether they want me or not. I want sage so that I can show the world what we Incubus are. We're not just decorative little sex toys who can be abused and thrown away. No one of our kind has ever truly been feared. People even look at you, our holy matron, as simply an idol. But we have the potential to be so much more." His wings spread out around him, his tail perking up. His dark-shaded eyes seemed to be filled with passion, as he continued on. "This energy -- with all of its vast quantity, can raze cities and push nations into famine. I possess the potential for unlimited destructive power. I am the best of your children, mother. You've always known this -- always recognized me." He wasn't sure what he wanted, really. Her approval, maybe? Perhaps Lust wanted something else. He understood that both of them just wanted the freedom to embrace their desires. But her children were suffering, being used and sold like back-alley little hookers. And they were endangered.
"Our people need to be free. No longer should we be shackled by mistresses and masters like dogs. We were meant to be our own people." He knew that somewhere, inside of her, Judie didn't want to be the queen of beaten whores. Her people -- her children -- she wanted them to be respected, feared, known. Raphael wanted the same. "You can doubt my intentions if you so desire, but this is the truth. I have pride in who I am, mother."
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Posted: Thu Jul 04, 2013 3:16 am
Lust grinned, this was the answer she was looking for. Not the bullshit he tried to dish out earlier. She snapped her fingers and a portal opened up to Raphael's right. "Congrats..." Suddenly, Lust slapped the bejeesus out of Raphael, sending him flying into the portal. "You pass."
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