Halloween Town

[Elf]

Forest

"Well, it depends on if the music is good.  Like there's a difference between DJ Glitter Tits and New Retro Wave."

Forest pounded her right fist into the palm of her left hand to make her point.  "Bloody DJ Glitter Tits . . ."  She shook her head before looking at the looming building.  "This is almost cliche.  The whole club in an abandoned factory thing.  Could be fun though!"

[Panda]

Nanako

Good news? Ivanna seemed content to listen for the moment, hadn't lashed out at either of them. Yet. Bad news? She was closer now, interposing between the squirrel girl and the taller man. That Zeke was still smiling about all this was kinda weird, but she didn't think to question it. As things were, the tension in the air only rose with each passing moment, the only other voice being that growing presence in the back of her mind, the one she could only assume was the Grace.

_{...was born into this...}

Before she could think to respond, however, a new voice entered, much louder this time. Zeke, to her surprise, but resonating the same way the Grace had. She didn't have time to question it or wonder how he did it, however. She only ground her boot into the dirt, digging in and all but saying that she wouldn't leave him. He'd made her a promise, after all.

[SINIB]

Ivanna

Ivanna could tell from simple observation and her keen senses. Zeke had said something to her through a channel Ivanna was not privy to—she'd heard the small tells of surprise from the girl, and felt the small vibrations through the earth of the other woman digging her feet into the ground, readying herself for combat. If she needed to, she would kill her without a shred of empathy. Ivanna readied herself to enact justice without mercy, to bring the executioner's axe down upon the foes of her lord once more. She steeled her emotions and prepared to deaden her heart, however...

She knew it was wrong. Ivanna could feel her instincts screaming at her to act now and remove the girl's head from her body. It would be so easy to catch her off guard and purify the sin dwelling in her soul through glorious combat. Despite all of that, Ivanna didn't wish to be the one to take the first move. If Nanako chose demise, it would be her choice alone.

I don't want this. But if it must happen, I shall be His blade once more.
"Young child whom has simply been caught up in this: I implore you to close your eyes and to avert your gaze. I do not wish to bring harm upon you, despite what you may think of my, my motives, and my actions."

With her back facing Nanako, Ivanna's wings unfurled to bare her vulnerable  body to Zeke, preparing for combat. From behind, Nanako could only see her immensely large wingspan, two meters in each direction, with six glorious wings granted to her by heaven itself as a mark of her station. From the front, she had the form of a small child with hair the color of gold itself, shining from the sun held within her body, and without a single blemish upon her perfectly pale skin. Ivanna stood tall, balanced perfectly on her toes to gain just a couple more inches of height while glaring up at the immensely tall monster.

"Do not presume yourself fit to lecture me, beast!" She pointed an accusatory finger up at his face. "I shall not stand to be guilted for doing that which must have been done! Do not presume to lecture me! Now tell me what you have in mind without deception and half-spoken truths!" Her fire burst out from within her, wreathing her body in its protective cloak as her voice grew ever more enchanting and beautiful, taking on her true form as one whom sang. "Quickly!"

[Kotomine_Rin]

Zeke

"Lectures are for those with a mind to listen. Those who have time. Those who have options. You have neither." A cruel gleam flashed in his gaze, now far sterner. He towered over the holy creature, but even that didn't make him seem greater. No, this was something beyond physical appearance.

Like two titans baring their maws at one another.

"Hmph." Yet, he shook his head and laughed it off, along with the finger pointed at him. "I've only shared facts, It's not up to me how you interpret them. But know this, I have toiled with the likes of these Graces, learning their secrets. I know them. Do you?"

He smiled at her. His arrogance and avarice were self-evident, but his heart? Not so.

"I know of a ruin in the far reaches of the sea, but I'm unable to unlock its chambers myself." He brushed his silver locks back with a pensive look. "Without the knowledge locked there, you cannot truly kill those tools. You cannot even understand them. As for me... there is something I'd like to confirm. A theory."

It was a shaky premise, an uneasy alliance to be sure. But even Ivanna could tell he was sincere in his own way. In his own words, this was a win-win.

"It might also hold the answers you both seek."

[Hibiki]

Nika

"Cliche to you, new to me." She shrugged as she walked by Forest's side to their destination. "But what's exactly the difference between the two? You don't look like hyped about the DJ whatever the face. Or at least as much as about the other option."

She didn't acquire any taste or opinions yet about the music she heard in the distance. New was new, you got to dip yourself in the stream, go with the flow and just form your own tastes and opinions. Such was life.

[Panda]

Nanako

Nanako's eyes narrowed as Ivanna asked her to stand down, shaky resolve hardening into something else.

"Can't say I've ever had an easy time just watching someone die in front of me," the squirrel girl said, tail swishing behind her as she tensed up, ready for any sudden motion from the seraphim. Instead, Zeke broke the tension first. Nanako gave him a confused look, the tension slowly draining from her like a water balloon with a pin prick.

"I...a theory?" Nanako gave the silver-haired man a wary look from behind those massive wings, "Anything else you can tell us about this place?"

[Elf]

Forest

"I won't say I'm a music snob, because I will admit one of the best heavy metal acts that came from the states in the last twenty years has been a cartoon based parody band," Forest gnashed her teeth and narrowed her eyes.

"However, what that hack DJ Glitter Tits did on what he called a remix should have him locked away for assault, battery, and second degree murder!  I have been around to know what sound musical quality and technical ability sounds like, and that bawbag did not have it!"

She pressed her lips together, looked at the other vampire and chuckled. "Maybe I am a bit of a music snob."

[SINIB]

Zeke

"Lectures are for those with a mind to listen. Those who have time. Those who have options. You have neither." A cruel gleam flashed in his gaze, now far sterner. He towered over the holy creature, but even that didn't make him seem greater. No, this was something beyond physical appearance.

Like two titans baring their maws at one another.

"Hmph." Yet, he shook his head and laughed it off, along with the finger pointed at him. "I've only shared facts, It's not up to me how you interpret them. But know this, I have toiled with the likes of these Graces, learning their secrets. I know them. Do you?"

He smiled at her. His arrogance and avarice were self-evident, but his heart? Not so.

"I know of a ruin in the far reaches of the sea, but I'm unable to unlock its chambers myself." He brushed his silver locks back with a pensive look. "Without the knowledge locked there, you cannot truly kill those tools. You cannot even understand them. As for me... there is something I'd like to confirm. A theory."

It was a shaky premise, an uneasy alliance to be sure. But even Ivanna could tell he was sincere in his own way. In his own words, this was a win-win.

"It might also hold the answers you both seek."

Ivanna

Ivanna felt a dull throb in her chest rising to her forehead. Why? Why was this squirrel so intent on leading herself to her own death? Foolishness. Insanity. A misguided sense of justice. Ivanna had the impression it was all three of those most-troublesome qualities merging into a hard-headed idiocy which was dragging her down towards oblivion.

After all, she wasn't wrong herself. This was the only way to move forwards.

A small ring of fire began to circle around her feet, and a dense white flame, pure as a sunrise, began to coalease in her hand. "Perhaps if you engaged in more than base sophistry, I would be willing to listen. I have many options, many choices which I can make at any given time. I did not need to engage in this dialogue in the first place, and it's arguably put me at quite the disadvantage. I could throw this sun at you, yet I refrain from doing so. You will speak. You shall say what you wish to say, and I trust you know the punishment you will recieve for wasting my valuable time."

As if to accentuate her words, Ivanna's entire body burst into flame, emenating a powerful heat from the core of her form. Underneath her, the asphalt began to soften and melt, boiling into a molten mass of tar and dirt.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Zeke

He rubbed his chin pensively, admiring the soft-looking wings. Would they be just as soft once ripped out of her like a chicken? As he wondered, his darkness flared to match her fire.

"You could. You most certainly could." Shoddy self-pity, making excuses for himself... that was never Zeke's style, let alone his style. It wasn't in their nature.  "But that won't fix a thing, walking calamity.  If only you knew what you've done, you'd be on your knees apologizing. Don't worry, it's too late for that."  His dark eye pulsated with burning energy, even when he stared her down like a statue.

"You've been bold, pridefully so. But it's wrath that'll be the end of you."

He learned of freedom, and he had the power to exert it now. Why should he kneel and be a slave to nature?

The darkness ate every shred of heat from their vicinity. Still, it wasn't cold. And yet...

"And you come here and enjoy spilling my comrades' blood, and dare threaten me with impunity? Just like you enjoyed listening to helpless babes scream and cry out - without them fighting back. They didn't stand a chance... they didn't even fight. I like that."

Zeke wasn't smiling anymore.

"But your prayer might be answered - if an enemy is what you want to find. An excuse. Your desire will make you correct, no matter how wrong you are. Don't lie to me, you've been pushing for this outcome from the start. Do you even have any other way to live? What would you be without a convenient enemy to save us from?"

Fangs bared at the Seraph.

"Is that what your God tells you, or what you tell yourself?"

But he did smile at the end. Not at Ivanna, but the person behind her.

"Who needs a God so fixated on taking lives anyway? If it were up to me... I'd rather everyone have a chance to live and fight for their desires. Even those who didn't have the chance to be born."

[SINIB]

Zeke

He rubbed his chin pensively, admiring the soft-looking wings. Would they be just as soft once ripped out of her like a chicken? As he wondered, his darkness flared to match her fire.

"You could. You most certainly could." Shoddy self-pity, making excuses for himself... that was never Zeke's style, let alone his style. It wasn't in their nature.  "But that won't fix a thing, walking calamity.  If only you knew what you've done, you'd be on your knees apologizing. Don't worry, it's too late for that."  His dark eye pulsated with burning energy, even when he stared her down like a statue.

"You've been bold, pridefully so. But it's wrath that'll be the end of you."

He learned of freedom, and he had the power to exert it now. Why should he kneel and be a slave to nature?

The darkness ate every shred of heat from their vicinity. Still, it wasn't cold. And yet...

"And you come here and enjoy spilling my comrades' blood, and dare threaten me with impunity? Just like you enjoyed listening to helpless babes scream and cry out - without them fighting back. They didn't stand a chance... they didn't even fight. I like that."

Zeke wasn't smiling anymore.

"But your prayer might be answered - if an enemy is what you want to find. An excuse. Your desire will make you correct, no matter how wrong you are. Don't lie to me, you've been pushing for this outcome from the start. Do you even have any other way to live? What would you be without a convenient enemy to save us from?"

Fangs bared at the Seraph.

"Is that what your God tells you, or what you tell yourself?"

But he did smile at the end. Not at Ivanna, but the person behind her.

"Who needs a God so fixated on taking lives anyway? If it were up to me... I'd rather everyone have a chance to live and fight for their desires. Even those who didn't have the chance to be born."

Ivanna

The seraph flapped four of her wings once, the top and bottom set, generating a great gust of wind powerful enough to force lesser mortals to the ground. She rose off the ground, her small, childlike form dangling loosely from her wings. Her brow contorted; creased with barely contained fury and thin lips curled downwards into disgust. "You assume much of me, Zeke." She opened up her palm. A second burst of flame erupted into a facsimile of a sun, slowly compressing into a solid white blob of plasma in her palm. Ivanna then clenched her small fist, crushing it in her palm. "I enjoy none of this. I loathe every moment of my duty, but I do it because it is what must be done. It is what I have been commanded by my lord to do, for it is what he has said. And so it shall be—whether or not I myself undertake such a burdensome task."

Ivanna scowled, turning her head away, but never allowing her focus to waver. His words served as little more than a deception, designed to wound and distract her. Little knives which dove into her psyche and threatened to tear her apart.

"Agní Parthéne Déspina, Áhrante Theotóke, Hére Nímfi Anímfefte. Parthéne Mítir Ánassa, Panéndrose te póke. Ipsilotéra Uranón, aktínon lamprotéra, Hará parthenikón horón, angélon ipertéra, Eklamprotéra uranón fotós katharotéra, Ton Uraníon stratión pasón agiotéra."

And so, she began to sing, calling upon her greatest weapon she had in her time of need.

[Hibiki]

Nika

"I might have slept longer than twenty years. It doesn't sound to my ears like a crime against humanity, but then I'm not human anymore in clinical sense, so what do I know?"

She joked at her own expense. In more than many ways, she wasn't a human. But a different place in the food chain didn't remove her from wanting the same fun as any mortal heeding the same destination. If having fun with other people made one human, then maybe she was one when she enjoyed themselves the same fashion. But hey, she wouldn't pass on occassion to have a drink either. It was after all a place where monsters pretended to be human, so she didn't have to perfect about it.

"And you know, considering this district's demographics, any complete disaster of a musician might be just chased out by the more impulsive locals. Heh, it'd have been fun in its own way if people just kicked out a wannabe musician in front of our eyes."

They were nearing the club, crowds lining up in front of the entrance, though not as bustling with visitors this late afternoon as at the peak during the nighttime. Lots of partygoers in this district must have had downright nocturnal schedules, waking up late. It was amusing how the natural night owls like the two vampires were the early birds here.

Now all they needed to do was to take their place in the line, pay the bouncer and get in. If they wanted to wait patiently. Patience wasn't Nika's best virtue, but she usually tried to obey rules of society she was involved in. But this neighborhood was quite different from your usual law abiding society.

"Wanna just rush past in a blink of eye and drop the money by? If we can be ourselves here in the town, we can as well show off a bit. Unless speed ain't your forte. Everyone has their different strengths."

If Forest had a different solution to the queue, then even better. Every bloodline and lineage had their own quirks and talents, and while no scholar of the vampiric condition, she watched how other vampires did things with interest.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Zeke

The cursed man... Zeke... watched in awe. The shining form rising, the flames, all of it. Amazing. Such power, it's even more beautiful than I thought. He stifled nervous laughter, barely restrained in its hunger. Like a convict looking straight into the gallows. Did that thing have to fight her too? Heh... I wonder if we'll survive longer.

"Ridiculous. If you don't enjoy it, why bother? We forge our own choices... our own destiny. It's what makes us real - our reason for fighting."

Slowly, the man's body started to float, barely above the ground. A single motion was enough - as he extended its arm sideways. For the world screamed, and seven blackened swords gaped open. Their shine was tainted and pure in its emptiness. Like dark portals into the nether, which he wasted no time throwing her way.

-BZZT!

A single command was delivered to his comrades. Evacuate the area. Ensure the people remain safe. Against a calamity like this... it wasn't possible to tell what'd happen to the land around them.

"All things end Ivanna. Even us."

What will you do, Nanako? A signal jolted in her head like electricity.

[SINIB]

Zeke

The cursed man... Zeke... watched in awe. The shining form rising, the flames, all of it. Amazing. Such power, it's even more beautiful than I thought. He stifled nervous laughter, barely restrained in its hunger. Like a convict looking straight into the gallows. Did that thing have to fight her too? Heh... I wonder if we'll survive longer.

"Ridiculous. If you don't enjoy it, why bother? We forge our own choices... our own destiny. It's what makes us real - our reason for fighting."

Slowly, the man's body started to float, barely above the ground. A single motion was enough - as he extended its arm sideways. For the world screamed, and seven blackened swords gaped open. Their shine was tainted and pure in its emptiness. Like dark portals into the nether, which he wasted no time throwing her way.

-BZZT!

A single command was delivered to his comrades. Evacuate the area. Ensure the people remain safe. Against a calamity like this... it wasn't possible to tell what'd happen to the land around them.

"All things end Ivanna. Even us."

What will you do, Nanako? A signal jolted in her head like electricity.

Ivanna

Ivanna continued to sing. Her voice rang out with the fury of a thousand men, echoing through the air and drowning out all other noise in the area with the volume of an airplane taking off. It was beautiful, somber, mournful and full of joy all at once, and yet, there was something more. The ground around them began to shake, reforming with miraculous intent around them. A stone arena formed out of the ground, morphing into wood, and then into marbled arches. A flame burst forth between every stone arch, pure as the angel's wings and as scornful as her glare.

Today, Ezekiel would die.

A flap of her wings send her soaring into the air. The swiping of her wings knocked the projectiles away with uncanny accuracy, sending them hurtling back towards zeke. Finally, the swipe of her hand enveloped Zeke with purifying flames.

[Panda]

Nanako

As Ivanna moved, so did Nanako, reacting to the sudden motion on instinct, darting back several paces as Ivanna and Zeke launched their opening salvos at each other. The squirrel girl almost tripped as she retreated, the seemingly changing underfoot as she moved. Surprised, Nanako glanced down to see that it had actually done just that, the urban ruins she'd been standing in replaced with a vast stadium, looking up to see marble and flame sprouting from the ground like artful trees.

Before she could think any longer on that, however, Zeke's words cut through the haze with a simple question. Clarity came with the shock and the chill that followed, and with clarity came that small voice from before, no longer pushing. It didn't have to, anymore.

_{...to live, because I was born...}

She couldn't help but agree, living was nice after all. Without a second thought, Nanako tore up chunks of ground, hurling them through the air to intercept both Zeke's reflected attack and Ivanna's fiery burst.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Zeke

The twin black eyes stared up at the [heaven], hiding nor pain nor laughter. The beauty that erected around them, the magnificent palace...

It felt like a cage.


"We're digging a little deeper!"

It wasn't common to see excavation sites in the far reaches of the wilderness. But even so, to see this much manpower focused on a single deserted steppe couldn't be normal. ZR-X2 was a mercenary front of the older days, though it saw a resurgence in the past twenty years. Few men with conviction strived to push onward and fight for whatever work they could scrape.

Even something like this.

A wise, experienced soldier watched down the excavation site, accompanied by a man of pallid ash and its scornful bird.

Just what did they find, in that gaping pit?


"Your killing intent... will never reach its target." His left eye slowly burn like ember, until its shine was filled with gold. The stone was shattered by the reflected swords, but rather than being launched everywhere, their momentum halted as if swallowed by jelly. Gravity had no effect on them, and they floated back towards Zeke, who already moved accross the arches, scattering the absorbed energy straight towards Ivanna.

In the form of searing dark suns.

We can't die yet.