Cross Effects: Rebirth (2.0): The Velvet Room

[Arch-Magos Winter]

Jack gave the Undead a hearty pat on the back. "I know. I'm going to have to throw this all up in about an hour and I can't get drunk off it in exchange either. Being undead sucks." The Gangrel cupped his hands and shouted out to the DJ in the corner, "OF COURSE, SOME OF US DENY THEY'RE EVEN UNDEAD AT ALL, RIGHT GHOST BOY"

"Hey, I'm alive! Just... kinda have someone else in my soul." Lawrence shrugged, sliding another record onto the turn table.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dj1sVQ2qdnI

"This speaks to me somehow."

[Puck-Chan]

"Quicker fixer upper, indeed," Henry agreed with another sip of his glass, "Another reminder that I should learn that art."

"Do you truly wish to learn, Henry? There are many things I could teach you, but limiting yourself to healing magic would be such a waste."

"Oh I do. Healing itself would suffice as it would be beneficial of my career," Henry replied and then hesitantly continued, "Though... I may change my mind depending how it goes."

[Elf]

Forest sighed and said, "Admittedly not having arthritis and getting old is kind of spiffy, but being eternally 19 really blows."

She then slumped against the table with a groan.  "Then there's the loneliness.  You start hanging around people who want to molest you and worse because hey, you're not alone . . .  Crazy Faerie bitches."

Then she looked up at Jack and said, "I can get drunk.  Give me a Faerie and then I'll be off my rocker and possibly climbing someone."

[MissingMandible]

"At least you vampires have a choice in the matter." The Chosen Undead then caught himself. "At least, most of you do. Sorry, that was a little rude of me. Anyways, I don't remember a time before I carted off to the Asylum, but I do know that I didn't have a choice when it came to my Darksign."

[Brahmastra]

Forest looked at the Kindred and said, "I wish I was that lucky.  No, my Sire was a Roman Bastard and there's a reason why I'm such a moral fag."  She looked down at her half empty glass and added with grumble, "And why I can't have a normal, happy sex life."

"Eternal virginity would've made you a highly sought-after woman in my time period, Bronach. You were simply born in the wrong age" came from the sun god as he downed the remainder of his glass of water. Alcohol was a sinful drink, for that reason Karna refrained from it.

[MissingMandible]

"Eternal virginity would've made you a highly sought-after woman in my time period, Bronach. You were simply born in the wrong age"

The Chosen Undead cocked his head to the left at this. "They would have sought her out so that they could be the one to claim her maidenhood, Karna."

[Brahmastra]

"What a ridiculous statement. Sex-before-marriage is among the greatest sins, only those too lost to be considered following the path of Dharma would commit as such. Many would have found such a kindly and selfless woman attractive, if not have loved her at first sight, despite her rage issues" a sharp barb of truth stabbing the heart of Law Unto Herself.

"Besides, what do you know of love, you who is but an empty corpse fighting for a cause that does the world or himself any good. You have nothing to fight for, and yet you destroy the desires of so many like you in your quest. Ridiculous."

[MissingMandible]

The Chosen Undead's face darkened. "You're right. What do I know of love? My oldest memory is sitting in a cell in the Undead Asylum. I might have been happily married, I might have only sought company of wenches, or I might even had been celibate. I can't remember.

"But don't you dare call me an empty corpse! I had something to fight for, but it was all for nothing!" The next line was uttered only in a whisper, "All I wanted to do was save my land, and now everyone I know is gone..."

[Brahmastra]

"A foolish journey to save what you may have never had to begin with is still foolish, no matter how heroic or selfless it is. I could have rejoined my brothers and ruled in a fairy tale-like story of eternal light for centuries. But to do so I would have given up on my friend, my oaths, my wife, my children, my retainers, my faithful servants and all the people of the kingdom for the sake of a select few who were already destined a bright future. I had a cause."

"You may have had a quest, one of selflessness and tragedy, but by saying you had a cause you are insulting each and every person with such a thing in this room. Know your own tragedy, warrior, or dwell in the shame of not even knowing your own pains' definition for all eternity."

The stinging, stoic voice dug into every ear in the room with those words, and then went silent as he procured more iced water from the crystalline glass bottle that held it.

"Of course, even a heroic journey with no point has it's own great beauty. My brothers should be all too familiar with that situation" finally came from the natural whitehead as he drank once more.

[Umbra of Chaos]

"Oh I do. Healing itself would suffice as it would be beneficial of my career," Henry replied and then hesitantly continued, "Though... I may change my mind depending how it goes."

"Excellent."

Grigori floated over to Henry and placed a hand on his right shoulder.

"I could teach you many things. Where do you want to begin?"

[Puck-Chan]

"Excellent."

Grigori floated over to Henry and placed a hand on his right shoulder.

"I could teach you many things. Where do you want to begin?"

"Hum, well..." the doctor crossed his arms and cocked his head to the side in thought, "Don't people usually begin at the basics?"

[Umbra of Chaos]

"Very well. Let us begin."

With that said Grigori waved her hand and materialized a large sphere of pure mana.

"This is mana, the source of all the arcane arts. It powers every spell and every ritual. For your first lesson you only need to do one thing. Master the mana, or be consumed by it. Have fun!"

With that said she clapped her hands and a waved of wind blasted Henry straight into the orb.

[Puck-Chan]

Henry cried in surprise as his new instructor had just pushed him inside the sphere of energy. As he passed through its thin membrane, oddly enough it lacked the texture and sensations offered by liquids and solids. It was of pure energy as he felt his very body tingling inside. Curiosity turned into panic as he felt the unpleasant feeling following after.

His teeth grit together as pain started to flood his very nerves. Eyes open wide, his vision flashed between white and red as he struggled to keep it together. His glasses fell off as he cringed from the burning sensation that wrecked his body. The brown dye on his hair receded to reveal the hidden snow white as his jaw opened, wide with elongated fangs, to scream an inhuman cry.

He tried desperately to drain what magic into his cavernous maw. But, the pain only increased as it merely served to attack him from the inside. His very own blood spurted out from his throat, threatening to drown him as it caused him to gag. Yet, after spitting out Henry continued to roar as a black substance started to engorge upon his very being.

"No! Stop! Stop! No. Nonononononononono--"

In the deepest crevices of his mind, he could feel it smiling at these turn of events.

As it finished devouring his body, the membrane shattered only to allow the lump of blackness hit the ground with a wet thud. Out from its dark mass, wings flapped out to splatter black droplets in its immediate environment. Slowly it rose up as his body glistened with blackness oozing slowly downwards. Its jaw opened one more time for the scream of its birth.

"WWWWRRRRRRYYYYYYYYYYY!!!"

[Umbra of Chaos]

"Such a fascinating development. The arcane energies mutated him because he was too panicked to attempt to control it. However it is following the color scheme. He seems to have proficiency in the art of shadows and draining."

As a precaution Grigori formed a barrier around her before moving close to what was left of Henry.

"Are you still in there Henry?"

[Puck-Chan]

"Are you still in there Henry?"

"WWWWRRRRRRYYYYYYYYYYY!!!"

Was this "Henry's" answer. So was the fist that suddenly smashed itself right into Grigori's pearly teeth that would send the sorceress flying back in neck-breaking speeds. The barrier that had served as a buffer shattered with utter ease as it passed through. It felt no pain as what was once part of her jaw had sunk inside its hand. The creature merely squeezed it into a fist to cause the fragments to pop out while the small wounds were immediately healed up.