Pine Garden

[yinsukin]

Aruna

Aruna's voice echoed through the portals.  "Zeke, i've called you a false demon before, told you about the burden of fused minds.  Ironic isn't it?  For one who wants to impose his will on the world suddenly is having his will crushed by another.  Last time you attacked me in a human alley way and took me captive, humiliated me, but we came to an understanding, you even helped me find my way.  Don't worry.  I won't be such a bad host."

Steel walls emerged from the ground around them, encasing the two in an air tight box.  Within the darkest void, there was no escape from the light.  Even then, you could hear Aruna's voice through the steel, but at this point it was a mere whisper.  "Would you accept that outcome as natural selection or would you fight that fate?"

"Lulu, can you tell me what he knows about the grace?  What is his game?  Why did he help me?  This information is as precious."

[Kotomine_Rin]

A-702

"I'm afraid it's not something anyone wants to hear. But fine." And with that, he let go.

"Follow me."

Continued in the slums.

[Kotomine_Rin]

ZeKEBAB

Zeke was wide-eyed as his arm swung at empty air, but before he could tell her form in the corner of his vision, the blade punched straight into his gut and slammed him into the wall. A pained gasp ripped from his throat, and the pain shot through his whole being. This wound was different - it felt real. Just like that vampire's weapon... but without the protection of a battle within a match. This was a true fight to the death.

Sweating and squirming in pain, he tried to pull the sword out of his gut and cast a spell - only for his magic to flicker away. At that same moment, walls of iron smashed through the floor and caged the two. And that damnable demon's whisper...

"Aw, thanks for the hospitality. It's so wonderful getting to play with the two of you that I might puke." He sweated and experienced the struggle firsthand. But even with the cards stacked against him, even with his this weapon lodged into his core and killing him inside, even with the angel shoving her way into the recesses of his mind-

He smiled heroically and denied them the satisfaction. He wouldn't surrender.


Earlier today

I guess that's it huh. Well, whatever, I had a great time. Nothing in this place gets me more satisfied than the feeling of fists colliding. And so, ZEKE just walked among the city's sidewalks, taking a bit to breathe in the city. A shame the vampire king just ditched him so coldly, but eh. He'd live through it. Maybe I should let Aruna know about the brat... and that other thing. It'd be bad if the cute little demon gets blindsided already. I bet she's just fooling around unaware of anything. I wish I could be that blissfully ignorant.

As he enjoyed a quiet stroll, he noticed something sticking out.

HAYABUSA'S VENGEANCE - A tale of PASSION, ROMANCE and BLOOD THRILLING ACTION!!

"Heh. What a waste of time." Was this what humans referred to as a cinema? Oh, right, he heard that a lot of romantic intrigues pop up in those places. Man, now he really regretted not dragging Val there. Maybe he should get Serana and Joseph some tickets. It might actually be fun.

5 Minutes Later...

"Have a taste of my folded steel, brother!"  *clash* *clang* "No! It is you who shall die! Witness my technique!" *slash* "Aieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!"

Staring wide eyes at the multicolored screen that blared all these cacophonies, Zeke blushed through the whole thing. This emotion, this intrigue... he was absolutely hooked! Was this another expression of individuality - just like fashion? Humans were truly fascinating.

Oh my god, can I do that?

Maybe he should look for one of those so-called ninjas. They looked like worthy adversaries. Or maybe...


Gritting his teeth and his every muscle, he fought to tear the sword out of him.

[Bern]

Lulu

With a flick of her hand, the shining sword slammed sideways and threatened to pull Zeke into a corner.

"No, not that. Earlier.." She pretty much ignored the movie visiting experience it wasn't relevant to what she was searching but it revealed some clues. That's why she pushed further in and looked for his last memories together with this so called Vampire King.

" His mind is truly disgusting, I feel dirty just looking at his recent memories..... I don't want to look deeper..... Please." Her thoughts came to Aruna yet she sounded meek, all her usual bravado was gone as she pleaded with Aruna to not have to expose herself a second longer than needed.

[yinsukin]

Aruna

Aruna's eyes widened.  I understand.  I apologize. I suppose we must do this the old fashioned way.

Sinking into his portal, he emerged from the ceiling, landing on the top of the box without making a single sound.  Still holding his dark blade in hand, it began to glow, its overwhelming glimmering light obscured by the cold steel trapping both inside.  For a moment he looked at his blade.  So you can't do everything huh?  Or perhaps.... Ezekial has it, the power of a human...

Then lets cut off his limbs....

The glowing blade of darkness, now coated in light, grew to the size of three men.  Aiming for Zeke's arm, he thrust the blade into the box, severing the limb.  "So you refuse to accept your fate so long as it happens to you huh?" the demon said, its voice still muffling into a whisper from the steel.  "That sort of spirit will make it hard for me to interrogate you, but that just means I will have a challenge to match the conquest of the so called heroes of old."

 

[Kotomine_Rin]

ZEKE

Damn! Not even an inch of respite! Pinned by the blade that churned him from the inside, his reaction to Aruna's sword was far too delayed. It was only the hardening he applied on his limbs prior that saved his limb, but the blade still lodged next to his bone painfully. It was like a demon's fang, nibbling and slowly sinking into his massive arm through the hard exterior.

"Haaah.... kh.... Has asking nicely not even come up in that skull of yours? Cruel bastards..." He flexed his muscles to try and pin the demon's sword inside the hardening, all without stopping to try and dislodge the angel's blade. But that tenacity wasn't shocking. No. It was the intensity of his glare... pointed straight at the one outside the box. Even as his thoughts were being violated, even as his mind was splitting, even as the whole world raged against him and cursed his existence.

He was still smiling.

"Even if your fate's set in stone, you still have a responsibility to do everything you can. That's what it means to be a man." His shadows bubbled and took the shape of birds... only to melt and crash into one another as their life waned immediately. Behind him, the sun was setting through the wrecked hole he appeared in, overshadowing him slowly through gorgeous orange rays.

Was this the end?

Uria pulled back their hand slowly, a slight grin on their face as they received the slightest information from his network. "You're so... fat. Fatty uncle. You take up all those dreams, and bonds, and people and shove them all in your mouth! If you keep eating like that, then one day you'll get your fingers on someone else's plate. Then they might punish you..." There was a cruel glint to the brightness of their eyes now.

"You better be careful! Or someone might reach in your belly and yank everyone out. Then they'll stuff you in a chest and push you right into the bottom of the sea." They laughed, and it wasn't so much a threat as a warning.

If you keep going like this one day you'll lose, and there won't be any more story.

I'm not going to die. Dying is the one thing I'm horrible at. I can't die... I have to get to that place no matter what. I want to see that other side no matter the cost!

Hella cute....

"EEEEEH!...Are you even trying?" Valerie huffed and tapped her right in annoyance, her red eyes sharpened just a touch as fearsome pressure crashed down on the man who had belittled efforts so.

"You- You.... You little rascal.... Do you have any idea how much effort I put into getting the colors to match, Huh DO YOU? HELLA CUTE MY ASS.... I wanted to impress you alright! And you just stand there nodding like a dummy and repeating what I said earlier. DID YOUR BRAIN TURN TO MUSH FROM ALL THAT MUD???"

I... I want to do fun things, unpleasant things, annoying things, even they're all just painful to deal with. If I'm going to struggle, I'd rather do it my way.

I want to live my way, no matter how damnable it is.

But I don't want to do it alone.

"See? It's much better to smile like that! Looks great on you too! Besides, when you're hurting, it's always better to have a good laugh. Sure, crying your heart out helps, but to smile and laugh is simply beautiful. Tears don't suit you, so..."

Being alone is painful. Being alone is annoying. Why? Why? Why!? Why am I always the one who's left behind!? Why...

Why didn't I save them?

...wait. Why am I thinking that all of a sudden? Who'se... what memories are these?

Smiling, he waved goodbye and disappeared in an infernal explosion. In that one instant, there was anger. There was fear. There was sadness. There was regret. There was hope. There was joy. There was despair.

He accepted them all, he accepted who he was and what his life had amounted to. And so, the pirate vanished amidst a wave of destruction.

No... that's just father. But I'm me. This is me. He can't be me. I am only myself, belong to myself...

A skeletal fist slammed on the counter, nearly toppling the wine over. His hand was only clenched harder than his teeth.

"No." He growled, and for a second the flames coating his body burnt, hot enough that even the man near him might feel its burning fire. "I will not give up on what is rightfully mine. If death is to plunder anything from me, I will simply have to steal it back. That is what it means to be a true pirate. Do you understand!?"

I want to journey and thrive eternally! Quit complaining! You rascals should be grateful you can pave that way to my dream! You're just aliens, you're not even from my world!

"Hah! Then again, if you're not going to come quietly, I guess you are asking for it after all. But relax, if you do kick the bucket I'll make a toast in your honor nonetheless." He added with the same friendly tone as always.

"It's time to sing the most wonderful song..." The pirate grasped his head and the flames flickered with teeth grinning so widely you could almost make out his battle-hungry face. "A song composed of your death screams!!"

I never changed.

But that damnable tower... it took everything from me.



Zeke looked down. His feet stood over a mountain of corpses. Some he recognized, others... were probably friends. Others nothing more than a reflection of his warped self.  Moving his consciousness again and again and again had warped and split his mind... but even so, he kept fighting. Even if I'm a bastard, my ambition is just as good as anyone's. I'm... we're not losing to those bastards any longer! We will overcome our fate our way. I will clutch at my eternal paradise with every fiber of my being!

So I'm not dying. Father... begone from my world.

"I promise I'll come back, you can bet my soul on that. Cause I'm the strongest pirate of the seven seas. And this is a promise I ain't breaking."

Oh, and totes sold the knife. Did it for a mountain of cocaine too.


I won't die.

"We're not going to lose... to some second rate slaves of God." ZEKE... the collective itself grit its teeth and fought on to deny the two with everything he had. Unable to remove the blade from themselves, they ripped themselves out of it, severing a chunk of their side and bursting with the full power of their body - to burn and activate their magic.

To escape the cage and shatter it with power beyond their limits!

[Bern]

Lulu

"What did you say?..."

Any thoughts of informing him, of informing Aruna that she'd acquired the information fled her mind as that being, no creature uttered such blasphemous words. Her mind grind to a halt as a white hot fury ignited from deep within.

"HOW DARE YOU?"

Her voice echoed through all of their minds as her mental restraints crumbled and all her anger poured into both of them. It wasn't something that could be comprehended with words, or even with imagery. No it was nothing but pure unfiltered emotion, her glowing rage and it was all laser guided on one thing.

SLAVES.

This...this.... this couldn't be allowed.

The Angelic blade swelled with power until it cracked and burst apart. But instead of fading away, it was being eaten from the inside by something, it exploded violentl, pushed apart by something BIGGER growing from within.

The true Blade of Reckoning.

No.

Streaks of darkness perverted it's form and it's purpose had changed. No longer was it a tool of justice but rather-

Lulu appeared in a burst of speed that eclipsed even what she'd been capable a second ago, she grabbed the it the new sword and swung it at the heart of hers, no their anger...

It wasn't her blade anymore, it was their blade now, a blade fueled not by justice but vengeance.

[Kotomine_Rin]

ZEKE

I see it. I see it now. The origin point. It's so clear...haha...hahahahaha! His grin lashed out wildly as he exploded backward with the power of the sun. He never even experienced this speed himself - and yet...

SWISHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

For a split second, breaking out of the box slowed him down. And thus, slashes flew forward with unparalleled speed to kiss him all over with a furious slash. This massacre of wounds was nearly fatal, and with that weapon... certainly, enough to put him down like a dog.

My magic... it's gone...!?

Each of these wounds was certainly deep. The light was cut with one strike. Then came others. Without his flames, his speed and maneuverability was short lived, and before he knew it-

His body fell even further away. Or rather, her slash cut and pushed him out of the way. Enough to delay the inevitable by a meager amount. By turning his gravity and body absolutely limp, he executed this strategy to avoid the worst of her strikes. The tension of death was about to sink deep in his heart at any moment. But with how damaged he was by this weapon, his time was running out fast.

Don't be so mad... over bedroom talk...! Without being able to perceive her, he'd try to unleash as many organisms as he could... as a cloud of ink-like beasts that would cover everything and conceal him once and for all. But beyond that...

He wasn't concealing his thoughts. On the contrary, he was sending them directly into Lucy, flooding her with more and more.

A slave to passion, a slave to light, a slave to love, a slave to the beyond... this whole world... all of us... we're nothing but PIECES on a CHESSBOARD!! I can see them... the strings that chain us and bind us to their control. But I can't reach the Gods even now! I cannot even perceive what's beyond this prison!! That is why my people fell to that thing.

AND YOU'LL FALL TOO, BECAUSE YOU'RE IN THE WAY OF MY DREAM!!

[Bern]

Lulu

"Shut up, shut up, shut up...."

SWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!

Raven wings fluttered as the black angel dissappeared from this only to reappear right in his way, blocking Zeke's escape completely.

"SHUT UP!"

SMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH!

It wasn't her sword that met him but rather her boot, in her white hot fury even something as simple as swinging her sword to finish him was beyond her and she lashed with the first thing that came to mind.

Filth like him deserved to be stepped on and ground to dust.

[yinsukin]

Aruna

"Lulu wa-"

It was too late.  Aruna was blown backwards as the heat overwhelmed his body.  He let out a hissing sound as his blood literally began boiling from the heat.  The tension from the sheer force of their wills clashing was thick enough to cut with a knife, but powerful enough that a knife would only be able to scratch such a thing.  Falling into the floor, he let his portal take him back into the safety of the basement.  That entire room was mush.  It was only a matter of time before the entire place would be destroyed.

Slave... he had a lot of gull using that word.  There was mere moments.  As long as they were in the mansion where he had portals set everywhere, he could still act.

"STOP!" he yelled, chains emerging from every postal.  The total number of chains conjured into that room came in the hundreds.  The dark chains shot into the sky, gathering more and more as they went until there were thousands of chains.  Compared to the two it was like a dog chasing a jet but perhaps by the time it reached them, there would be too many chains to break.

[Kotomine_Rin]

ZEKE

The back cloud erupted. This should be enough to lose her, yes! HOWEVER!!

Agh!

A kick worthy of a destroyer! Being ripped straight into the sky, he was helpless to the Archangel's wrath - even as it teleported to flick him back with an ungodly blow. Shards of crystal exploded! His spine, his core, his every being was rattled to the core by the impact! Mercilessly, the blow blew him back the way he came and annihilated the hardening that was left on his back.

No. Not back where he came. Left was right and right became left! He completely lost the notion of space and time as he was hurled away, away from the chains, the world... everything. The chains seeking both of them shot through the cloud of dark organisms as if it were nothing, and kept approaching them. But the speed of this brutal curb stomp was simply too high level. He could not see the ground, and the ground could not see him.

For a moment, his presence was gone. Even his thoughts were as quiet as the dead seas.

SPLASH!

Wha!? He slammed into a cloud in the sky, drowning in water particles for a moment. What emerged from the cloud was his limp body, losing speed and beginning its inevitable descent. S-shit! Where did they go!?

[Bern]

Lulu

The raven haired angel's wings ceased their flapping as she came to a halt. She saw his form blast away into the clouds and it was then, it was then that her clarity resumed. Now that the target of her fury was no longer in visual range she realized her folly...

"Aruna!"

POP.

She reappeared next to him but she didn't look at him, she didn't need to since she clearly knew just how injured he had gotten frö. This exchange and most notably how she had failed.

She fell to her knees before him, in fact her face met the floor as she bowed before him.

"I.... I.... I let him escape... And I didn't listen to you...." Lulu raised her head to look at him, revealing the tears that were trailing down in her cheeks....

"I'm an angel of love not hate... So... WHAT WAS THAT.... I threw away everything all to.... I don't deserve to help you...."

[yinsukin]

Aruna

Every time that fake demon showed up, Aruna found himself lying on the ground barely able to move.  The demon was was on his ass in the corner of the basement, a hole created where a ceiling once was. His body was still steaming, his skin simmering from the heat.  What was that?  He expected that from Lulu but Zeke wasn't that strong last time.  If Lulu wasn't here he might have....third

"Lulu I....  No don't cry," he said, lifting his arm to wipe away her tears.  His arm began glowing with a feint light glow, her warmth spreading to his entire body.  That energy that he so greedily took earlier spread through his entire body.  The burns became much less severe, the pain shrinking into nothingness.  It felt like the physical equivalent of a lover's embrace.  "It was a tactical mistake on my part.  I shouldn't have made you do that to start with.  Then, I made a rash decision.  I knew full well the power of an angel going in."

Aruna let his hand fall to the ground, the adreniline of the battle leaving his system.  Now that the battle was over, he simply could not will himself to move any longer.  "You know i'll tell you something personal i realized recently.  I thought the light and the dark couldn't coexist, couldn't be one, that the differences were just too vast.  But light, darkness... its two sides of the same coin.  Do you think maybe love and hate are that way as well?  Lulu?"

Wings emerged from his back, one a bat like demonic wing, the other a feathery one glimmering with light.  Soft eyes gazed at the angel, looking for an answer.  At this moment, he wished he too were a telepath.

[Bern]

Lulu

"Just shut up..." She raised her head and then slowly crawled on top of him to let her aura really si k in and close his wounds, the closer she got the better.

"You're really embarrassing yourself.... Me liking you have nothing to do with Light and Dark, I like you because I enjoy being with you, do we need a bigger reason? And I really liked the way you claimed me earlier, you were so full of passion. Did fucking me feel so good you changed your views on my kind? Heh... "

[yinsukin]

Aruna

Aruna's body had pretty much completely healed.  The burns had vanished and his blood had completely ceased its boiling.  The only thing that remained was the steam radiating from his body.  "Maybe, but every time I see the cold grip of death, I can't help but blabber on.  Even the slightest touch crushes the mask I wear and tosses it aside."

Aruna raised his hand, letting it touch her impossibly soft cheek before running it down her torso.  Those breasts, that belly, those hips, faces she had made that he created with his own special brand of touch; that came to mind as he let his hand explore her body.  "No... not embarrassed, but when we finished, as I bathed in the afterglow of the sex, I realized I used you.  You were an avatar for my hatred, a vessel of characteristics that had long since terrorized me.  Even if you betray me in the end, I can't deny you've saved my life today."

The demon's sharp red eyes began to lose its glow.  If he were in his human form, he would be crying from pure catharsis.  "But you've tortured me with the possibility that an angel and demon could live in harmony, yet proved they could fight in harmony.  I have to accept that the anguish inside of me, the light that drives me forward is merely my own anguish.  To tell you the truth Lulu, I don't want you to like me just because you enjoy spending time with me.  I want to be loved because there is something worth loving, even despite my mistakes."

THe long demonic hand that was exploring her body settled on her back, drawing circles with his palms.  "What I am trying to say Lulu is, i'm sorry too.  I'm sorry for rejecting your love.  whether it bites me in the back or not, I want to see the outcome."

Perhaps maybe if even he can learn, perhaps the world could follow.  And so he smiled at that thought, he's demonic teeth flashing a devious grin.  But she would be able to tell it was nothing short of genuine elation.