Albion

[Aiden]

Albion

An island from which man ruled the sea, once. Dockyards the size of cities maintained an armada that could overcome any opposition, outcompeting anyone who sought a piece of trade along the southern coasts or up the rivers. The riches of a thousand districts flowed to the shores of Albion in its cargo holds, and distant lands paid fealty to its goddess: Britannia, She of Waves. It was a time of glory for all who bowed to her magnificence.

That time has passed. The Albion of today is a shadow cast over the heavens, a place of competition turned inward rather than outward while its people lose faith in all that made them great. The armadas of yesteryear are no more, unable to match the might of mainland economies of scale. The sea has become a place of horror, and only the waters around Albion itself yield to their fracturing will. Britannia sits alone on her throne, weary with age as songs of prayer fade one by one from her ears.

Twilight has come to the people of Albion, and they cannot even see it.

Politics

Albion is officially controlled by a constitutional monarchy, whose sole representative is the goddess Britannia, reduced to a physical form by the steady decline of her people’s faith in her power. While still a formidable force in a face to face encounter the people have had enough leverage to push through a constitution limiting her to a role that is largely ceremonial. The day to day governing of the district is overseen by a parliament that is a mix of hereditary seats and political party appointments. Over the course of time representation has begun to skew more to the latter as the great and noble merchant houses die out one by one. Divine interference in politics is viewed with suspicion, rather than joy, by those most benefitting from this new status quo.

Culture and Demographics

This district feeds on a foul mixture of nostalgia and misplaced blame. The stereotypical Albioner takes pride in their impressive naval traditions, blames a combination of ‘sea monsters’ and ‘foreign interference’ for the downfall of both them and their district’s place of prominence, and refuses to recognize their own role in the decline of the many blessings which enabled the former and protected them from the latter. They view citizens of other districts with condescension and bitterness, and insist that they would be better off without them. They may even go so far as to say their nation has been reduced to poverty and anarchy as a result of their alien influences.

The reality is a little different than that. Albion is still a safe, stable place to live relative to many other places in the Nexus. Its people have food, shelter, and basic healthcare on a reliable basis. Its coast guard can overcome almost any threat that tends to come its way. Its police are effective, but not overly cruel. It has a supernatural defender who would die to defend it despite the fact that almost half of her citizens don’t even believe in her divinity anymore. Longing for the past has limited their ability to appreciate their present.

The economy is driven by a mixture of services provided for and by their own citizens, the fishing industry, and a number of old shipbuilding businesses that have managed to stay afloat despite Albion’s reduced prominence. Other industries abound, but these are the ones people talk about the most. Of course, their cuisine can be a bit of an acquired taste…

Most citizens of Albion are human. Many of them have distant faerie ancestry, the result of generations of sailors taking on alluring amphibious brides in the days the seas were calmer. Non-humans aren’t explicitly discriminated against, but often will receive strange looks the first time they visit any given part of the district. They may end up being hit on.

While the Church of Albion is still nominally the district’s official religion, more and more people have been driven from their faith in the face of hardship, rather than toward it. This can be attributed in part to the death of Britannia’s oldest avatar generations ago in a great battle against the most terrifying crew of pirates the Nexus has ever seen. Mortality ill suits the faithful, and the power vacuum that followed also saw the rise of secular influences who undermined belief in the goddess in her time of weakness for their own benefit. Still, a stubborn core of believers made of both old traditionalists and sympathetic youngsters remain.

Magic used to feature quite prominently in their society, and modern translations of old sea shanties still echo with remnants of power few still know how to harness. It is one of the lost splendors of Albion - much like its self-respect.

Landmarks

Albion’s capital, Brittany, is a tarnished jewel upon the seas. Its ports welcome ships from all along the southern shores of the Nexus. The Palace of Waves, seat of Britannia’s royal authority, glimmers on the horizon as if to say ‘come, behold the city of our world.’ Once the initial impression fades what truly remains is a sense of awe for the sheer size of the docks. Despite the lapse in profitable shipping over the years they remain almost entirely intact relative to their glory days. Each year the Church of Albion makes a concerted effort to keep beautiful the first vision visitors receive of their once-mighty nation. Gazing upon it from her balcony, visible from the water, is one of the few things that puts a true smile on Britannia’s face.


Britannia



Physical Attributes

Strength: Fantastic

Agility: Heroic

Durability: Fantastic

Magic: None

Magic Resistance: Very High

Willpower: Determinator

Other Abilities
Britannian Stoicism: To know the love of Britannia is to know the love of the parent - the single earner who breaks her back to provide for you, who puts on the strong face so you are never hurt by her pain. Those who pray to her share in a shadow of that strength, experiencing increases to their Willpower which help them endure their day to day hardships when they might otherwise falter and fail. The more devoutly they believe, the more of her strength they share until they realize it has become their own. The increase is by one rank per level of their Intimacy toward her, with most of her active and involved church members having lesser intimacies.

Divine Admiral: She of Waves. In the realm of all things nautical there is no better to be found than Britannia, and give her one good crew and a decent ship and she can likely find a way to sink a fleet come hell or high water. She can keep a vessel together against everything short of complete disintegration, preventing it from taking on water or faltering because the wind was against its sails. She can invigorate its crew and protect them from the ravages of long voyages, and extend this to any crew that declares for her name.

A Sailor’s Sailor: Gunslinging, sword swinging, cannons and all, there is no respectable form of fighting which Britannia cannot masterfully manage. A death of a thousand cuts, or bullets, is all too readily a reality for those who thought themselves a threat. In addition to her excellence in a fight she can give form to all manner of swords and firearms that can at least compete with her Strength rating in damage output, calling them forth from her worshipers’ dreams of wars long past.

The Sun Never Sets: There was a time when a sailor’s death on the waves was but a break from their duty to the glory of Albion. Britannia in her prime could call forth from the depths the wrecks of all who’d sailed beneath her flag, and project her loving memory of their fervent spirits to have them take up their ropes and raise their anchors one last time. Those days have long since passed, but she can still invoke this ability at a price. Britannia could, in theory, sacrifice her body to bring forth the Endless Armada one last time. Should her people keep her in their hearts and memories then one day, years later, she could be born again in glory.

If only.

Intimacies
Greater Intimacy: The People of Albion (Devotion)
Lesser Intimacy: Belfast (Self-Loathing)

Avatars
Once, Britannia was a holy spirit pure in presence. She could not appear in person to her followers, so vast and glorious was her greatness. Instead she acted upon the world through her faithful, through miracles worked through them in her name, and through a series of divine sub-selves who were expressions of her personality and desires at least on the level of her current body. Those days are passed, and the only avatar she can sustain is the one her diminished self uses to act upon the world now.

But one still endures, negligent in her duties to hearth and home and sustained by the will of another. Were it within Britannia’s power she would hunt this being down, strip her of flesh and bone, and reclaim from her every scrap of divine essence to stave off her own inevitable decline just a few years longer. It is not yet within her power… personally.

[yinsukin]

Aruna

Continued from The Great Sea.

A light bounced across the water, the people screaming and rushing about to flee.  The white light flew across the water eventually crashing into the sand with a bang, a geyser of sand birthed from the impact.  Aruna gasped as she hit the grainy uneven ground of a beach.  Within the geyser of sand, she looked up only to see Mael was already above her, his strikes coming down on her hard and fast.

"It does feel good, that power....." she said, deflecting the hail of strikes.  Even though it was a flurry, the sheer power of those strikes broke her guard, one or two causing her arm to stagger and the hand holding her blade to fall to her side.  A chain emerged from her shoulder as the flurry came down, attaching to a pole at the boardwalk.  Like a grappling hook, Aruna's chain retracted back into her, pulling her closer to the pole's top.  "But a blessing.... a curse.  Those are two sides of the same coin."

Thats right.  She couldn't forget the lesson she learned before from him.  It was embarrassing, a lesson she should have learned a long time ago.


"What is a demon?"

Aruna blinked, staring up at his creator with eyes of curiosity.  "Someone who resides in the dark and is protected by its power, its culture."

"What is an angel?"

Aruna tilted his head and responded, "One who resides in the light, god's herald and one who guides humanity."

"Then whats a human?"

Aruna scowled.  "A human is someone who gets drunk on light and darkness but fears darkness."

"And what are you?"

Aruna looked down at his own body, then at the thing talking to him.  "I am a demon, a denizen of the dark."

"Is that all?"

Aruna nodded.  "Yeah."

"You don't really think a person can be boiled down to something so simple do you?  What is your job?"

"I am a guardian, someone who protects promising humans until they can protect themselves."

"Why do you ignore that other part of yourself?"


Aruna hung from atop the pole, her limp body bruised and bloodied.  Red liquid trickled down her lip.  A purple gash colored her normally pristine flat belly.  Her entire body felt weak while a pain radiated through her entire body.  That one fight with Zeke, that moment of resolve.  She couldn't forget that here.

Because I don't want to be a monster, not anymore.

Aruna thought back to all those times she had fed on humans, the look of shock and horror as she ripped out their souls and fed on them.  It was exhilarating seeing the look of fear and powerlessness.  There was an undeniable high to it, the sort of power she held.  However, all she fed on was the stress in their soul, the angst that weighed them down in life.  In other words, she played the part of a monster, but never truly was one.

The demon's chain, once wrapped around the pole slunk back into her shoulder, letting her fall into the vulnerability of the air.

Aruna thought back to the angels, those creatures laying waste to hundreds of demons with a single slash of their mighty light infused blades, all while talking about the just nature of god.  The demons were enemies to humanity and must be purged for their sake, but only because of the multi millennia long narrative they spun.  Maybe she was weak, but she wasn't a monster.  Maybe that weakness was too much to bare at times, but at least she could call herself a proud demon.

I don't want to be a monster, not like them.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Mael

The black knight blot the light of the sun like the coming of judgement day. The sand rippled in the air in the incoming explosions, each blow was an eruption of power that threatened to break Aruna's very foundation.  And yet, ironically, though each strike was certainly a fatal one, Aruna didn't die.

And as their blows came to touch, they came to speak to each other. Even as his blade started to crack and break, and even as her body began to split and bleed.


I told you not to misunderstand. As far as I am concerned, both [ WHITE ] and [ BLACK ] are equally shit, none of them go beyond being hopeless farces. They kill hopelessly, fight pointlessly, lie hopelessly, love hopelessly, all to feed a cycle that never ends.

Angel and Demon, Light and Darkness, and so on... what the hell is such wordplay supposed to be? Worthless, it disgusts me to no end. Do not dare to speak of me in such a shallow perspective, which fickly, frivolously changes positions!


BOOM!

The final strike should have split her in half from the bottom up, but miraculously she evaded it. Miraculously... what a spew of vomit. He understood now, wielding a cracked sword that'd break at any moment. Part of him still wanted to see what she had to say. But his rage, the fact that she had to die... it wouldn't change.

Dragging the crying sword on the ground, he let a stream of sparks as his face twisted in rage and indignation. A convulsing monstrous face that was more terrifying than anything at all. Because it was just a plain expression.

"Everything, all of heaven and hell is equally shit to me. I will slaughter it all. I will annihilate it all. This sickening balance, this system of control that we're playing by, I'll cut it without exception. And for the sake of this, I must go beyond duality. I have neither the duty nor the need to be dyed to your tastes. Aaah, shall I say it just one more time? I am me, do not dare to judge me the same as you, you worthless sham!"

Teeth clenched murderously, he reversed his grip and took a low stance, his sword arm swung to his back. With a glare that burned like the sun itself, he hurled the breaking sword at Aruna like a curveball, letting its arc swing down at her hungrily. But that was was a feint.

His other hand  raised two fingers up between his eyes, and the whole area was enveloped with an absolute light and darkness for an instant - before a sky-shattering beam of light came shooting out of his crimson eye. The light was a heavenly perversion, but it was also an insult to anything demonic. It was both less and more. Almost human, or divine. And it soared the sky and split off into seven before bouncing all over their surroundings, hitting every surface available with impossible angles and precision. Until it all converged to swallow Aruna whole.

Dodge the sword and be pierced by the light, or avoid the light and be cleaved by the sword. She had run away for long enough.

Now was the time to answer.

[yinsukin]

Aruna

A miscalculation.

Aruna didn't consider the fact that Mael would simply hurl something at her.  Aruna held the blade in front of herself, blocking the strike, but sending her flying into the pole.  With a thud and a clap, she bounced from the pole to the sand.

"To be honest, I thought you'd have died by now, it's already far too advanced for an ordinary demon."  That was what Asmeal said to her during their earlier clash.  He was correct.  There was no denying this weight.

Sham?  Is that what you think of me?  After all i've done?  A sham?  I guess its silly of me to cling to it, a friendship that never was.  In that moment, it finally truly dawned on her.  They never really knew each other.  The burden she carried may have been his, but she never truly understood it.  Maybe she would have ripped apart the system that tormented him, but would her solution mean anything if she never knew a perspective outside of her own?  She wanted to build a world on the foundation of their relationship, but that relationship only existed in her own mind.  In that moment, she realized that she really was doing this only for herself.

Aruna flinched when she saw the divine light.  Remembering that angel who once tried to kill her for merely being a demon, she cried in pure helpless fear.  Tears rolled down her face, yet for some strange reason, she gathered to her feet, her dainty toes rubbing into the rough sand covered boardwalk.  That familiar feeling of wood against her toes reminded her of something in that moment, that she was still alive.

"NO!  I won't die, not for you, not for ANYONE!"

Spikes emerged from every surface of Aruna's body, each one that struck the light was broken upon contact.  Aruna marched forward, the spikes falling from her body.  Wings emerged from her back.  Those simple bat like demonic wings began to glow with an unmistakable light.  The grace spread from her arm to her back then wings and shone so bright they eclipsed the blinding light of the sun.

"I am Aruna, darkangel and proud guardian.  The light of the grace is no curse, nor a blessing, but a burden we must all carry as angels.  I'll show you what that means."

The silent chant began.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Mael

"So that's your answer...?" For a moment, Mael sounded genuinely shocked. He stared at the apparition before him, utterly incredulous. He could only think of one thing, as his back trembled with an unknowable feeling.

The wounds from before opened up further, letting his blood spew for a second. Was he... in pain? How long... just how many had he fought? Between that black pit and that Piece, that man had done nothing but fighting. It's all he had. It's all he ever knew.

He didn't deserve anything else.

But Aruna?

You... you...


"You poor souls."

The ashes of light smoldered an entire city, its verdant hills and livestock plunged into holy light and turned into salt by divine commandments. Among the hordes of descending angels, one soldier of God soared supreme among the carnage. Asmael, the Archangel of Death, was raining down rays of pure light down the populace, annihilating everything below him. He didn't look at them, he didn't see. As a tool of blind justice, he had no will to resist the path he was pointed at.

Even as demons and humans cried and burned eternally, clutching children and loved ones, Asmael hunted down every life, every single thing that could hold a treacherous thought, and executed it with divine justice.

The humans had housed demon refugees amidst their midst.

The demons were enemies of God's will.

The traitor Lucifer was one among the demons.

Thus he's kill them. Kill them all.

Because this was his role.

And so, the angels and demons kept killing each other, like a sick play between broken puppets. The one holding the strings looked down at its new toy, and clutched its reins tighter. Even as he cried, even as he wanted to look away, he could not move or act freely. The grace itself was like a prison.

Like a waking nightmare that would never end.

"I am sorry, little ones."


Pools of gore splashed from his body. But that wasn't why his glare was so murderous.

"You... you'd be a slave to that thing... !? You'd willingly chain yourself in bondage to Him!? You utter cretin!! That is a false choice! This system full of lies and contradictions, it's all made for the sake of control! And you'd accept to be His eyes and ears regardless!? To use his sword and keep living, even if it means spreading His disease!?"

His body twisted and contorted with killing intent, a deep black shadow erupting from him and twisting its features - until what was cursing Aruna was neither an angel or a devil, but death itself.

"Your life anchors his powers. If you will cherish that power regardless, then you are worse than a sham. You're a slave, worse than cattle." His rage was unspeakable, about to burst any moment. It was decided. The two were irreconcilable now.

"I'm sorry, friend."

[Kotomine_Rin]

Lawrence

The ashen man stood over the district's tallest tower - or rather, sat. He had a full picnic table set up, with scrumptious sandwiches and a cheese board spread out to enjoy. Of course, it all tasted like ash to him, but the thought was there. Besides, some part of him seemed to enjoy it. The winged annoying one, the one he loved the most.

It was a tragedy that the world's memories were stripped. Two foolish sides, repeating the same mistakes over and over. It was a precocious innocence, but resigning to fate's eternal wheel was also a sin in its own way.

The burning bird munched the food greedily, while Lawrence nibbled on a sandwich himself. He stared down at the bloody battle with a pair of binoculars, utterly fascinated.

"Aw maaaaaaaaaan! If only lil bro was here to see how much his pal has grown!" The bird chirped and cackled, to which he was answered in a most serious tone. "We couldn't have that, Phenex. It's better if he dances to his tune for a bit. Water a plant for too long, and it'll rot all the same. That's why we made compost to begin with."

"...I dunno. You're pretty rotten yourself."

They both smiled drily. His other half had gotten into all sorts of trouble, but he had done good here, watering this lovely flower. It was almost as gorgeous as that child's power, Uria. White and Black fight, over the very reason for their existence. Neither can accept the other's outcome, nor can they acknowledge what the other has become. They must fight.

"This..." Lawrence's smile turned hungry, as hungry as a certain someone.

"...Is the power to tear fate apart!"

"...Is the power to tear fate apart!"

[yinsukin]

Aruna

Aruna took a single step from the boardwalk towards the ocean, the waves behind him growing and crashing.  The crater from before had been halfway filled with sand.  Each step she took, the blood of their conflict tainted the sandy shore.  That pristine brown forever currented by the petty conflict of betrayal. Indeed, the glare from Asmael was met only with soft eyes and a frown.  Anything his words could do were already seared into her body, the blood trickling from her lips, the gash on her stomach, the internal damage that put a burden on her every movement.

Something inside her called at her bloodlust and twisted her rage.  God, angels, demons: everything needed to be burnt to the ground.  The grace was calling to her, feeding her natural desire to conquer.  It was like that time in bed with Lulu.  But then again, she liked that part of him too didn't she, the monster, the dark one, the conqueror?

Wait...  Light doesn't illuminate darkness, it feeds it.  The sun is just another star that even after its mightiest explosion of power becomes its mirror, a black hole.  Orcus, if I were to see you again, I would have a proper answer and something to say.  Then again, the light of god is so bright it hides in plain sight, only detectable to those who reach out to touch it.

Fine then.  The monster inside shall fuel my ambition.  Besides, we have always existed together haven't we?  Hate shall give me strength, love the will to control that strength and guide me through the haze.  Yet they are one in the same, not opposites but one singular force.  Within me there is balance.

The holy wings on her back grew and spread even wider, the light now encompassing the entire beach itself.  Dark portals, usually invisible appeared in the light, revealing that Aruna had trapped them in a dome of portals.  Even the sand they sank their feet into was just another portal, the brown giving way to a black sphere with a scratchy crimson center.

"I'm sorry, friend."

"Me too."

And that single phrase unloaded the dam of tears from her eyes.  To think that after all the curses, the accusations that it was only the moment where she found her resolve that she heard the phrase she wanted to hear the most.  Thats why this next part hurt so much.  The shining blade lost its shining flair, returning to the dark blade that could hide in the shadow of his own light.

This new balance, she only barely understood it.  The magic gathered to her body and flowed out into the portals.  Mixing the cosmic energies of light and dark like this wasn't natural.  The fact was, the burden she took from Asmeal, she didn't understand it.  Even now, she only barely understood it through her own shared experience.  The truth was, this new power would give out soon.  In the end, she wasn't strong enough to soldier his burden.  It made sense.  She could barely shoulder her own, yet she resolved to change both of their fates and the world's without his consent.

"You... we were never friends.  Just foolish losers under the same system.  We still are aren't we?  Asmael, you think god wanted us to become friends?  One angel to destroy, another to create, both who would gladly grab him from the heavens and crush him in our grip.  I think that friendship can defy fate."

A few chains emerged from the portals in the sky, threatening to come down at any moment.  Except something was different.  They weren't coated with darkness, but glowing with radiant holy light.  The style of a demon was to lie in wait and strike at the most decisive moment, but the style of an angel was to cast judgement from above.  If Asmeal looked into Aruna's eyes, he would see no such judgement, only longing for something better.

"You asked me if I would spread god's disease, be his eyes and ears.  Until I see the truth beyond my truth, I can only judge those who come before me.  The fact is, I already put my faith in something else."

[YOLF]

Orcus

"So that's him."

A passenger boat rocked in the waves. Elbows and shoulders smacked each other as the passengers sought to hold on just enough to disembark, and run from the approaching carnage. The panic reached all over the harbor, and a cloaked shadow had settled to watch it from the top of a small tower that kissed the waters. Oversight of this tip of the great Albion harbor was done here, an ancient building of stone and basalt that went back to the old conquests of Britannia.

The shadow lazily held a chilled glass, watching the liquid within swirl between the ice cubes. Looking past it, to the signs of battle that made the contents shake like a giant's steps.

"It grows faster than expected. Perhaps due to the proximity. Or have you found a trigger in your missing piece?" Deep in concentration, he continued to whisper to himself. "I wonder what kind of terminal he was, with such a misshapen frame. Adapted, but not expected to."

His drink was unfinished. But Orcus would not move. Not yet.

"Woe betide the redeemer. Death follows in his wake."

[Bern]

Lulu

"Both of you are wrong." The voice refuting them was soft and not at all as emotionally loaded as Mael or Aruna's. There was an impatience to it though, like someone watching over children fighting over toys when there's more than enough for everyone to share in it.

The arrival of the Angel was like a quiet whimper in comparison to the overblown drama of these two combatants. But at the same time her presence was undeniable, not that it made much difference where and when she took form as her being could be felt throughout the whole world regardless. But most supernaturally inclined would likely filter it away like background noise, the same way someone who lives by the ocean isn't acutely aware of it being there, it just becomes part of the background.

And such was her nature, even though it should be completely overwhelming to be near her, she radiated with a gentle warmth that sought to embrace all in joy and happiness.

"There are no true systems, there is no fate. Such things are just byproducts of the truth, rationalizations of the mind since no one wants to view themselves as weak. But the truth is that there's only power... And those who lack it. Remove this powerful being you call "God" and the system you describe crumbles, for it is nothing more than a construct by a powerful being who's exerting their power over the weak."

[Kotomine_Rin]

Mael

A holy eye and an unholy eye fiercely glared at the incoming storm. Two would were about to kill each other in earnest.

Yet just as he was about to dash forward with nothing but his fists, a light came down on them both, cradling them with their warmth. And for a fraction of a moment, Mael's wrath stilled.

"You."

He acknowledged the presence that appeared with a melancholic glance. No, even now, the blackened warrior did something surprising, he smiled. "It's been a long time... Lucy." But as the blood kept dripping down the sands, he focused back... back to the horizon.

"If I could, I would have liked our meeting to be different. I... wanted to apologize. For the way I treated you, I forced you to bear the burden of a name that was never yours to bear, because I couldn't stomach my disgusting self."

And Lucy heard it. No, she could practically feel all of it. His sorrow, his regret... his all-consuming rage. And as the blackened warrior marched on, two hate-filled supernovas shot down Aruna's very soul. Her transformation. Everything that she wielded. Mael clenched his fist and burned, with a fire that was sure to destroy everything left in his heart.

"But that is where my mercy ends. Don't think I will stop just because you're here, Seraph. I'll be happy to slaughter you too if you get in my way. Spare me this wretched light, I... I deserve none of it. None of it's warmth." And so the black angel of death spreads its cursed wing, and with a murderous dash, he leapt to close the distance and eviscerate his true enemy. "If it's power that I need, then I'll rip it off Aruna's screaming throat!"

[yinsukin]

Aruna

Aruna's form shifted and grew.  Her dainty feminine form shifted into her male one.  Except this one was different.  It was bigger, taller, filled out with more muscle.  The horns on her head were larger and the glowing batlike wings enchanted by the graces glowed even brighter than before.  His demonic eyes glowed with a fury and wrath to match god himself.  With his wings spread wide, he floated upwards closer to the top of the dome.

Then she appeared.

Really, Aruna didn't need to turn to know it was her.  That massive soul of hers, he could recognize her just from that warm aura alone.  The sheer size and girth of her soul coming up behind him felt like a large creature standing over him.  For the first time since he met her, Aruna allowed himself to let the aura wash over him, calming his spirit and furthering the balance within.  Those eyes went over the angel's supple form and angelic power.  It was strange, until now Aruna spent so much time lying to himself.  Somehow, it almost felt like he was meeting her for the first time.

"You apologize to her?  I took your grace, your pain, as much as I could stomach, yet you continue to wallow in hatred.  I threw away some of my loathing so why can't you?!  If she weren't here I would rip your head off and mount it on my fireplace."

With Meal rushing towards her, there was only one option.  About a half a dozen chains burst from his belly, another dozen emerging from the ceiling.  Another dozen emerged from the ground.  With a sigh he said, "I'm not going to give up on you Asmael, but I cannot look up to you the way I used to.  You've been consumed by this hatred, just as I have been.  The grace is the burden of power."

"Its as Lulu says, its not the grace itself but the system created by god.  I'll kill him and supplant my own balance."

And so, the chant began.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Mael

0.05s

His eye flashed a hateful glow as the chains came down on him - like a demon's jaws. He jumped back and spun to escape their grasp, but even with his speed, they came inching ever closer. Closer, until they were close enough to kiss his body. That's when his blackened body turned one final time and...

BLAM BLAM BLAM!!

0.23s

In less than a second, a hail of divine bullets shattered a dozen chains. His body flowed like a storm, gunning down the incoming bindings with terrifying precision, firing at his blind spots and weaving through them to evade the rest. "Kh-!"  However, Aruna was not so weak that a few bullets could match it. Her rage. Her resolve.

0.47s

It slammed against his ribs, coiled around his arm, and choked his throat. His windpipe was crushed in an instant, his life was eroding from his body for that moment. But at that moment, he shot the chains and freed himself. He heaved for a moment, his glare burning up at Aruna murderously.

But she wasn't in front of him.

Only dozens of chains.

BOOM!!

The sands kicked into the heavens as the impact of all these chains crashed the beach's grounds with explosive force. He couldn't be seen anymore, let alone be felt. Had Aruna done it? Had she repelled the legend?

1s

"You've gotten stronger."

1.000000000000000000000000001s

A violet beam fired with unmatched speed and power fired out of the sand cloud, with such heat and power it melted the sand beneath it into glass. Even as it led the way to a torrent of blackened bullets, its message was simple.

"I won't fall so easily."

And as his form soared from the debris, she could feel it in its entirety. A broken chain lying by his feet like a shackle. On his left arm, a massive shattered chain, dragged along and corrupted by his grasp to be wielded by him alone. On his right, a raw degloved mix of meat and bone, its hide likely ripped open to remove one of the chains. But clutching that blackened gun nonetheless.

His wounded, bloodied body, the bones poking out of its ribs. It wasn't immortal, it could be defeated.

And the weight of his everything crashed onto Aruna. A black aura so wrathful, so raw, it'd melt everything into its immutability.

Aruna, even Lucy, could all feel it at this moment. It wasn't some kind of control of the mind, no, it was far simpler. It was the feeling of prey inside the jaws of a predator.

The true terror of the Archangel of Death.

"Kneel before me." Its attacks wouldn't cease until it died. And he wasn't dead yet.

[Bern]

Lulu

With an unnatural hissing sound, the beam of destruction fizzled out of existence as a figure appeared before Aruna. A fraction of a second later the several ploinks could be heard along with the sound of muted footsteps in the sand.

As the light show died out that figure was revealed to be Lulu who appeared completely unharmed by the beam, but that wasn't the end of it it. All around her were the crushed remains of the bullets that had hit her.

"Yeah no... Who would kneel before a tantrum throwing baby like you?" It was a rhetorical question, one posed with almost gleeful satisfaction as she advanced upon with the same nonchalance as before.


"You speak of things you do not understand boy, this power you hold in such contempt, this Grace. It's nothing more than yet another string in the fabric of reality. And like all strings it may snap.... Or it may be rewoven into something better. But perhaps this subject is too advanced for some chap villain wannabe who can only spout generic lines."

[yinsukin]

Aruna

Aruna's eyes widened as he saw Lulu appear before him, her back to him.  Those feminine hips and ass kept her figure feminine, even as the light of the beam painted her form in shadow.  However, in that moment, he was reminded of the strength of the angels, of god.  No wonder the humans prayed to them.  He was glad he didn't have to.

Strange, he talked such heavy words but as he raised his blade, the giant demon couldn't care enough about such wrath.  Maybe all that affection he had, that perceived friendship was fake, but it mattered to him.  Every single thing he had done could be justified as the cruel oppression of the angels, but in this moment, he found that the oppression bounced off the power of his spirit.    Maybe he projected a character of Mael, but he still knew him.  Somehow, with his determination higher than ever, he didn't feel like killing him anymore.

It all felt so ridiculous.

The form of Aruna vanished, disappearing behind Lulu.  Darkness covered the blade of light, concealing it with the rest of his body.  Even the brightest star could be hidden with enough darkness from the void of space.

All it took was to look outside of himself, see another person's suffering to contextualize his own.  Just as Aruna was so sure that the light could never be overcome, never mix, this man was so sure it had to be destroyed, that he had to be destroyed.  If light and darkness couldn't mix, then what was this angel girl doing fighting for his side?  No, he wouldn't reject that part of himself anymore.  A voice echoed through every portal in the dome.

"You speak with such anger, but you lack heart.  But I guess thats something we have in common.  This was all a farce wasn't it?  You never wanted to kill me either did you?  The grace..... i'm just a grace aren't i?  My balance is a world where light and dark meet and their turmoil serves only to help us understand each other and ourselves.  I think... thats the world I want to live in.  Its funny, I never asked what you wanted did I?  Does that sound like a world you would like to live in Mael?"


What struck his body wasn't a blade, but a hammer, the blunt object slamming into his abdomen with enough force to rupture several internal organs.  The strike would knock him into the air, with the chains from above moving to catch his body.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Mael

-!

He could feel it. The moment she vanished, he braced himself, his eyes zipping everywhere to find any sort of tell. Any sign of her offense. Everything tensed, instinctively, his fist shot forward to strike ahead. Mael's everything, or Aruna's. Only one would strike first. He'd do everything in his power to be the one.

But would it reach Aruna?