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 Posted: Fri May 30, 2025 12:12 am
 tab ❧ I'm the violence in the pouring rain.
Aella stood still, as if the refusal had turned her to stone. Her fingers stayed at his cheek, trembling now. The golden breath she had summoned hovered between them — a soft, luminous thing — and then, with a single fading pulse, scattered into the wind like stardust denied.Stormy orbs eyes met his, the weight that came from knowing too much, from remembering too well darkening their depths.
“You’re still letting it eat you.” Her voice barely rose above the storm, but it didn’t need to. The words carried like truth always does- quietly and all the way through. A single tear traced down her cheek but it didn’t fall, the storm took it. She stepped back, heels clicking against stone that bloomed from the earth just for her, the path reshaping beneath her weight.
“Three weeks,” she said quietly, almost like a vow.
Then came the sensation of falling—not down, but inward, as if her soul had been inverted and flung across some unfathomable distance. Her arrival was not marked by impact, but by sudden presence. Her body simply was, dropped into place like a chess piece on the wrong board.
Aella gasped.
The breath hit her lungs sharp and cold, and she staggered, her knees nearly giving out beneath her. Her skin prickled all over, the scales still shimmering across her body like opalescent armor. They looked unnatural here—too beautiful, too alive—like a foreign element in a place that rejected wonder. Whatever wild current of magic had been unraveling inside her moments ago had gone quiet. Not gone, but hushed, like a child caught misbehaving in church.
She winced and clutched her side, fingers pressing against the wound she’d nearly forgotten in the chaos. The pain was back now, pulsing with the beat of her heart. Her body felt hollowed out, light-headed, weak—but her mind was starting to clear.
Where was everyone?
Were they safe?
Where wash she?
--From the outside--
To the boys peering into the orb, her image shimmered, the magic distorting slightly before settling. Aella’s figure emerged within the frame—slender, ethereal, silver-white hair cascading over her shoulders. For a long moment, she did nothing but stand there, shoulders tensed, her gaze scanning her surroundings. A wary pause.
Then she moved—staggering slightly—disappearing offscreen as if she had simply walked past a window and kept going. The orb’s view lingered, revealing the clearing she had landed in: a ring of gnarled trees twisted in unnatural symmetry, the ground slick with dark moss that shimmered faintly gold.
--Within the wilds--
The wind pressed close, thick with the scent of rain and ash. It clung to Aella’s skin like smoke, dampening her hair, curling cold fingers around her neck. The forest beyond the clearing was impossibly dark—so dark it felt like stepping into a void—but every shadow was laced with veins of gold, glinting like molten cracks in ancient armor. The gold didn’t warm the space. It only made the darkness feel ornate, like something gilded for a funeral.
The trees were colossal and cruel, their bark glossy black like obsidian, their limbs curling into barbed arches overhead. Thorned vines dangled like nooses. The roots writhed over the ground in coils, slick and serpentine, as if they might shift at any moment.
Something about the place felt… hungry.
Aella stumbled again, her breath catching in her throat as her bare foot sank into a patch of moss. She recoiled, brushing strands of wet hair from her face. The motion caught her eye—her hair shimmered faintly in the gloom, catching the same golden hue that threaded through the forest. It made her uneasy, like the place was trying to mark her. Slowly Aella was coming to the realization that this wasn’t a dream or an illusion, it felt real. Too real. Like a place that bled when cut, that breathed when no one was watching, a place not meant to be walked through. Not by her anyway.
Then-
A crack of something behind her.
She froze. No birds, no insects, just the rustle of something moving where nothing should. Too heavy to be wind. Too deliberate to be harmless. She didn’t turn back, she just kept moving.
--Back at the orb--
Several minutes passed with only the quiet clearing in view. The strange light filtered through the mist like tarnished gold. Then something moved into the frame—massive, silent.
A creature emerged from the shadows, not so much an animal as a presence. Its form was vaguely feline: hulking, low to the ground, its movements slow but disturbingly deliberate. It looked as though it had been carved from moss and ancient bone, its frame stitched with ivy and shards of jawbone, as if the forest itself had coughed it up. The shape was wrong—almost like something ancient had tried to remember what a lion looked like and gotten it just off.
It paused before the orb.
Its eyes burned—hollow and endless, like twin suns smothered in ash—and it stared straight through the lens, unblinking as if it knew it was being watched.
Then without urgency, it turned and padded after the path Aella had taken, its footsteps eerily soft for something so large.
It didn’t stalk.
It hunted.
Where: floor
With: meph and errybody
Doing: not dying
Wearing:
Do not fall in love with people like me.
I will take you to museums and parks and monuments and kiss you in every beautiful place,
so that you can never go back to them without tasting me like blood in your mouth.
I will destroy you in the most beautiful way possible.
And when I leave, you will finally understand why storms are named after people.
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Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2025 6:36 pm
  The sudden teleportation had caught Shingen off guard and was brought to his knees. Greeting him was the faintly familiar smooth hardwood floor of the Sword Saint Dojo. He’d been in a similar position before, strangely centered on the same person as well, although it seemed that much gravitated around her at any given time. Shingen, hunched over on his knees and elbows, looked at his hands in disbelief. Again? It failed....AGAIN?! What did I get wrong? I did everything right! Was it the timing? It had to be! No! His hands curled into fists and he slammed them on the floor before looking up at the gem glimmering before them. No, I’m just too weak. Whatever she is...whatever has taken hold...is beyond me. He could hear Mephitis talking about turning the gem into a portal as if he had that ability stashed away this entire time. “You’re-” He mumbled defeatedly. “-you’re thinking of somebody else...” He said as he stared at what should have been a perfect sealing. The strongest one he knew. Shingen leaned back into a seated position, staring blankly at the orb.
What are they holding back from me? Did Teacher have something up his sleeve? Or did the elder’s lie? There has to be something more... He clenched his jaw tightly in defiance, struggling to swallow his failure when he heard Mephitis call on him again about going to rescue her. ”It doesn’t work like that.” He said curtly, trying to hide his frustration but still glaring back at the dragon. ”This sealing was meant to imprison her, even in the unstable condition, into a form of suspended animation, encased in the gem. It would have been easy to let her back out in a controlled environment but-” He took his eyes off him. ”-something happened. There was a some kind of magical reaction. Whether her particular kind of magic, or someone else’s, circumvented the process and changed the outcome.” Shingen looked back at the orb. ”I can strangely feel her still, not IN there but THROUGH there. At best, I can trap someone in a pocket dimension, body and soul, but not transport them from one to another space.
“I suppose I could seal you all into the gem and possibly send you off to where Aella ended up, but there’s no way of knowing if it will work.” He said before something caught his eye in the orb. ”Look!” He pointed at the image of Aella coming into view like through a looking glass. She stood in a strange world, unlike anything he’s seen before. ”At least she’s safe, for now.” He sighed, weighed down by his guilt. He got to his feet and turned to face Mephitis and the other two. ”If Zen can’t get us there then I could try to ge-” He stopped when she saw something all of a sudden blot out the light from their window. A monstrosity crawled by, slinked to the ground and moving low as if stalking something before it turned to look directly at them. It’s eyes were eerily empty, like the void. It then followed after Aella in the same direction she had left. Shingen wasn’t sure about the way time moved between the two planes and any more time wasted could lead to Aella’s death. ”I did this, I have to fix it.” Raising his hand, he covered the gem with his mana, a barrier lifting it and bringing it to them. He then began to try and manipulate the orb as if it was one of his barriers, prompting an expansion manipulation.
There was a look of surprise when Shingen began to feel the orb reacting to his prompting. He could feel the movement of his mana within the physical boundary of the orb and it began to expand. Strange mist then began to emanate from the gem and the smell of moss filled the air. He poured more and more mana into forcing the expansion until the resistance to him kept the orb at the size of a door. ”Give it..a shot!” He shouted, both hands outstretched in magical labor.
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Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2025 10:14 pm
[  ______________________________ Location: Dojo With:The othersMood:TenseCondition:GoodCurrent Outfit:[Outfit] Édouard, with everything happening, had been plotting a way to discreetly remove himself from the warehouse and all that had been going on. However, the sudden rapture-like sensation of being teleported away overcame him and the next thing he knew, he was far from the dingy and partially destroyed warehouse in a place he didn’t recognize. The décor spoke to it being a dojo of some sort but as he looked around to gain his bearings the more pressing matter appeared to be the orb.
Meph was the one to directly address him. He said he questions and he looked suspicious of his former classmate’s presence. A bit more perceptive than their school days, Édouard mused to himself before listening to him talk about getting Aella. He had then said something about trespassing and “Mother.” Those words did not bode well. Shingen began to explain something to the dragon when the wayward woman’s appearance in the orb caught his attention. He had only just managed to say she appeared safe when something slunk into view and then gaze outward as if directly at the group. For some reason it made him feel like when he had fought off that beast on the island some years back. Certainly, as it trailed off after Aella, the lingering impression fell upon all of them that it was not up to anything good.
He gave the others a quick look over as Shin began to manipulate the orb into something one could pass through. So it seemed “Operation Rescue Aella…Again” was underway. He had serious hesitation about wandering through this thing to go off to another place he did not know just to go after that troublesome girl when all of his business in this matter had been taken care of. For him, the logical thing to do was to wait until they started rushing off and then duck out. But, this hesitation didn’t last very long. It never did when it came to situations involving her…or any of the old class if he really stopped to think about it.
A weighty sigh left Édouard’s lips as removed his tie and jacket and began walking toward Shin and his opening. “It wouldn’t be very classmate-like to just leave her in there, would it?” He muttered as he reached the event horizon and basked in the glow. He took a second to closely examine the thing. Was he really just going to go in? Yeah, he was. He glanced at Shin for a moment and then looked forward, unable to ignore the peaty, mossy, aroma that emanated from the now enlarged orb. Édouard inhaled and took a step forward toward the vision before him. What was he going to find exactly? He wasn’t sure. Meph seemed to have a good idea of what they were getting into so he only could hope more than his perceptions had matured in the time since he’d last seen the young dragon.
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Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2025 3:49 am
 ﹄O, Death...Become my blade once more﹃ W-what happened? Just a moment ago, Zen was consumed by an incomprehensible pain-not the kind that makes you scream, but rather the kind that makes one completely silent after it steals the very air from their lungs. It was the kind of pain that melted away name and identity, the kind that erases the music that moves one’s ambition and instead plucks every single nerve until it composes a new symphony of unbridled agony that no creative narrative can capture. The swordsman’s entire purpose wilted away in those moments and he became a conduit of true torment… And when the Devil abruptly snuffed it all out, the man who had been writhing on the floor felt an uncanny emptiness consume him. His body hummed with a dull ache that was hypersensitive to his surroundings. The cold air stung his skin…the way the hardwood floor of the dojo pressed against him made his muscles ache… And the soft sounds of somewhat familiar voices tore at his ears as if they were part of some unbearable cacophony. Those abrasive sensations were the first things that filled the void that the pain left behind. Then came reason and recollection, both of which invited bitterness and rage to take residence within him as well. Everything that had happened thus far was because of his shortsightedness. He had looked to that abominable numbing agent he had once loathed to bury the inadequacy and hurt: He killed… not to protect someone, but rather for just being in his way. It honestly didn’t matter that they were all criminals; What mattered was that he could touch that state of mind that made him feel like a golem as he felt the cold steel in his hand separate flesh. And it worked… until it didn’t. The consequence of indulging that forbidden fruit got Aella shot…made Levi step in…caused…whatever happened to…happen! Jealousy, insecurity, and irrelevance put him on this path to guilt and fury… Get up.” Golden irises shot over to the draconic claw that reached out and took his shaking arm and then to the person to whom it belonged, ”I’m not going there alone when it's her realm.”And there was the one who put down the very first brick of his misery. The swordsaint's gaze twisted with uncontained ire. He couldn’t help but think that everything would have been just fine if this one man just didn’t fu**ing exist and yet… he did… and he was her choice; Nothing could change that. She had walked over his loyalty and his feelings to pick him and it left Zen feeling alone and discarded. Mephitis Isernia… He hated being at war with these noxious emotions every time he looked into those rosey eyes. To escape those toxic voices, he looked to anything else…and found Shingen, Ed, and one of Ed’s coworkers in the room as well…and then he looked to the gem and felt the distant echo of Aella’s presence lost somewhere within. he even caught a glimpse of her wandering through whatever alien terrain she had been transported to. He was starting to realize what was happening now…She was lost somewhere…and they needed to save her…he needed to give himself for her again even when all she gave him was spite and neglect. His eyes returned to Mephitis once more after he soaked in that limited truth. The dragon could see the man’s eyes flicker with unspoken severity in that moment. Surprisingly though, Zenith took the hand to help himself up…but once he was able to put both feet on the ground he quickly pulled Mephitis into his chiseled torso with a sharp yank and whispered low enough for his words to reach the great wyrms ears exclusively. ”Let me make this clear. I’m doing this for her…and it will be the last thing I do for her. And once it’s done, all that will be left is to deal with you. We are going to bury it all…and then I want nothing to do with either of you.”One he spat those hushed words, Zenith pushed off Mephitis and turned his back to him completely to look at the sealing gem. ”something happened. There was some kind of magical reaction. Whether her particular kind of magic, or someone else’s, circumvented the process and changed the outcome. I can strangely feel her still, not IN there but THROUGH there. At best, I can trap someone in a pocket dimension, body and soul, but not transport them from one to another space… I suppose I could seal you all into the gem and possibly send you off to where Aella ended up, but there’s no way of knowing if it will work.”Already, Zenith tried to bridge the gap between where he was…and whatever territory was beyond the gem. However, the distance across realms was simply too great for him to travel. And then, Shingen spoke too soon when he mentioned Aella’s safety…as a furtive beast slinked into the view of the orb-right where Aella once was- with predatory intent before it looked right up to them…as if it could watch them all through the orb as well…before it eventually returned to its prowl. ”Just do it…” Zenith murmured, opening his hand and summoning the sheathed blade into his grasp. That insidious dark aura was already oozing out of him…and Mephitis could hear a distant echo of chains rattling. Somewhere far off in a dimensional prison, a wretched being was smiling as the swordsman looked to the Ocean for aid. Zen didn’t care that Ed was joining…or that their chances were technically better with everyone working together…all he cared about was going in and stopping whatever dared to pursue Aella…dared to get in the way of his eventual solitary mission. Driven by his own guilt, Shingen pushed himself to limits he had never tested as he diluted the orb with his mana to change its shape until it turned into an arcane doorway. Zenith could already smell the unfamiliar foliage beyond it. “Where is she Mephitis…say it clearly…” Zen demanded, awaiting the answer he already could guess at…before inevitably stepping through the portal… completely unafraid. He didn’t fear death…because he dragged in something far worse than that in his wake.
╔══════════════════════╗
𝕯𝖎𝖉 𝖞𝖔𝖚 𝖐𝖓𝖔𝖜 𝖆 𝖘𝖜𝖔𝖗𝖉 𝖍𝖆𝖘 𝖆 𝖛𝖔𝖎𝖈𝖊?
𝕾𝖍𝖊𝖆𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖉 𝖎𝖙 𝖍𝖆𝖘 𝖑𝖎𝖙𝖙𝖑𝖊 𝖙𝖔 𝖘𝖆𝖞, 𝖙𝖔 𝖇𝖊 𝖘𝖚𝖗𝖊,
𝖇𝖚𝖙 𝖞𝖔𝖚 𝖓𝖊𝖊𝖉 𝖔𝖓𝖑𝖞 𝖕𝖚𝖙 𝖞𝖔𝖚𝖗 𝖍𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖔𝖓 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖍𝖎𝖑𝖙
𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖎𝖙 𝖇𝖊𝖌𝖎𝖓𝖘 𝖙𝖔 𝖜𝖍𝖎𝖘𝖕𝖊𝖗 𝖎𝖓 𝖞𝖔𝖚𝖗 𝖊𝖓𝖊𝖒𝖞'𝖘 𝖊𝖆𝖗.
𝕬 𝖌𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖑𝖊 𝖜𝖆𝖗𝖓𝖎𝖓𝖌. 𝕬 𝖜𝖔𝖗𝖉 𝖔𝖋 𝖈𝖆𝖚𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓.
𝕯𝖔 𝖞𝖔𝖚 𝖍𝖊𝖆𝖗 𝖎𝖙?
╚══════════════════════╝
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