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Post by citizenmike on Jun 2, 2009 12:23:50 GMT -5
Veronica continued firing shots into the patches of skin as the Ogre began to stumble. "Its weakening him, but we're gonna have to hit him something stronger."
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Post by cyansky on Jun 2, 2009 18:15:25 GMT -5
Syl flew onward higher and higher into the sky, first starting towards the direction where the demon headed. It flew for a few of minutes, before its senses could pick up anything useful. A huge ominous aura... it was difficult mnot to detect, and then again, it was only barely within Syl's range. Syl's senses quickly deteriorated in accuracy the farther away the target was. At close range it could track movements and precise location effectively, but at max range it was only capable of detecting the target's general wherabouts. This demon's aura was massive. As Syl flew forward, it only grew in intensity.
It alighted on the flat roof of a building. It was roughly a quarter of a kilometre away from the esitmated location of the demon. Its aura was glaringly evident in its power. Syl sat down and trace as a circle around it with its finger. Glowing runes formed from the parts of Syl's aura that were still in the air. The rest of its disappated aura returned to it, although it taxed Syl to do so. It had floated around in low concentrations while it flew, invisible and hidden. Syl gasped at how much it drained it, but it knew that it need all or nearly of its essence in one place to cast spells.
It sighed and focused. It needed to find out what was going on there. At least, before it could go chat with the cloaked figure.
The circle glowed. Syl focused its will as much as it could to pick up what was going on down there. It was going to be a bit expensive energy-wise, but Syl didn't want to be seen or detected. It was already taking a risk becoming fully tangible again.
I'll do it, thought Syl.
The air around it pulsated with power, as Syl poured its strength to gain some clues as to what were going on. Long-range analytic spells were very useful, but expensive as well. It was why their duration had to be short. Slowly, over the course of about two minutes, an image slowly formed. It was that of a dome... and the demon standing near it, doing nothing. Inside the dome, Syl recognized Myzrael's aura, barely visible in contrast to the power of the demon. It poured more power into the spell, trying to track their movements. Naturally, because of the dome, their mouvements as depicted by the spell weren't very accurate, but the message was: they were fighting. Myzrael was weak in comparison to the demon, but he appeared to be putting up a good fight. Beyond that, Syl could detect little else, aside from the fact that the demon was beating him to a bloody pulp.
Syl sighed and let the spell fade away. So this was the threat the Black Goat sent after them. What it didn't expect was its power. Although Syl's data was sketchy, it estimated the demon's power to be comparable to that of a PL-6 or PL-7 demon - in other words, a very powerful pit lord. Syl didn't have enough information to determine the demon's type, but due to its aggressiveness, its mouvements and its oppressive aura, it was likely related to a pit lord in some way... but nothing was sure. Syl was trying to draw parallels between the two demon types, even its information could have been inaccurate...
Still, its findings were reasonable in amount. The circle and runes around Syl vanished. It turned away from the conflict. Myzrael and the rest can handle that demon, it thought, I'm not needed. I don't want to fight. I know that the demon is very powerful, but I'm confident that they'll find some way to beat it. Syl leapt from the roof, as winds began to swirl around it, blowing at its hair and coat. As it sped away in the opposite direction, Syl increased its altitude, to reduce the chance of being seen by the still-active denizens of Animus below. A wind shield comprised of swriling winds formed, reducing drag and protecting Syl from being knocked off course. It also helped absorb more energy from the surrounding air, slowly recovering the energy Syl had lost.
It would go speak with this cloaked figure, and it knew where to go, a place where it didn't have to spread out its aura to avoid detection. While useful for sopying the downsides was that it was quite expensive energy-wise to pull itself back together. Syl had tried it and realized that the moment, it was inconvenient. It would have to go elsewhere and keep its energy level as low as possible if it wished to minimize its chances of being detected and found.
Syl flew around for a few more minutes, until it saw a street where a bunch of humans had been opening a manhole for some purpose. Curious, it landed on a nearby building and watched the operation carefully. Were they conducting repairs? It noticed that one man was giving the others orders to the others... was he the boss? Syl cocked its head ass it sat at the edge of the roof, its legs dangling in the air. Several people gave it strange looks, but Syl didn't care. There was much to be learned by humans due to observation... it just had to figure out what those men were doing in the sewers below the manhole...
Syl cocked its head in confusion as it observed them.
It was at that moment when the cloaked figure reappeared beside it, smiling.
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Post by childofthehunt on Jun 3, 2009 0:16:19 GMT -5
"Its weakening him, but we're gonna have to hit him something stronger."
Bremmen was getting tired throwing and pulling his scythe. His attacks were merely wounding and making the beast lose blood. Veronica wanted bigger. The scythe vanished, Bremmen flew higher. He shifted his body in a fetal position and wrapped his diamond wings around his form. He started glowing.
Bremmen forcefully opened his wings and diamond like daggers rained towards Moloch's direction. Some of the daggers plunged into the demon's flesh.
Moloch growled in pain. Using both his hands, he tried swatting his enemy. Bremmen was able to dodge his first few attacks. Moloch threw his hand up the air again, and this time Bremmen was hit. He bounced hard off a building before landing smack on the ground.
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Post by cyansky on Jun 3, 2009 6:14:44 GMT -5
“Well, you’ve chosen a surprisingly conspicuous place to carry on our conversation,” said the cloaked figure.
Syl shrugged.
“I don’t care. It’s symbolic anyways.”
They looked down at the men at the open manhole. Syl was sitting on the roof of a rather tall building, one that appeared to be an office building. Its flat roof provided a nice place to sit and contemplate the world.
“Sitting high, looking down upon the world, contemplating the actions of their residents as if they’re ants,” said Syl, “and seeking knowledge through observation. Knowledge… that’s the sweetest food that I can ever taste... so long as it doesn’t involve some horrible truth around my past.”
The cloaked figure chuckled. Well, it sounded more like an evil cackle, but Syl didn’t mind.
“Ahahaha! Syl, you’re hilarious!” it said, “yet, I understand your sentiments. The world works according to the laws of physics and chemistry that its creator set for it, and the rest is determined by other influences, especially those of flesh-beings like humans and common animals. While the laws of the world still hold true, the way the world is perceived by its denizens is dependant other denizens and the past and history they share, on the society and hell or heaven that they build themselves. Whatever the residents in this time did to make Animus into the desolate place we came from… well, let’s just say that the Almighty didn’t do it; it was most likely a powerful force within the city… but that’s just me. Ah, me and my ramblings. The reason why I wanted to speak with you is… well… to talk about you.”
Syl blinked and tilted it head, eyes widening.
“Hmm?”
A sudden gust of wind blew at them, almost revealing the cloaked figure’s face. Syl brushed some of its out of its hair out of its face, to prevent its view of the cloaked figure from being obscured.
“Animus had muddled your wits, it seems,” said the cloaked figure, “I suppose that may be a good thing in some ways, but suffice to say, it frustrated me when you express feelings of… what shall we say? Ah… liking… towards that dark angel. That’s why I taunted him, to show you that he can only help himself and that it’s not a good idea to get involved with him. It was to snap you out of dreamland and back to reality, and as far as I’m concerned, it may have been immensely risky, but it’s worked.
“Yes, I know that it’s true that we’ve helped some other fallen angels in the past, but Syl… just keep in mind that there are some that are just beyond saving or those that don’t want help. Those strange perceptions you had showed me how disillusioned you were when you awakened, naïve… almost innocent… Animus didn’t just mess with your memories, it messed with your way of thinking. Emotions for you come and go. You felt fear because you wanted to, you felt genuine attachment to miss Veronica, and yet now your mindset has changed. You can’t feel guilt because you reason it away; you don’t think much of leaving them to fend for themselves… you’re almost as logic-driven as in the past.”
Syl smiled at it. This one was observant. It knew how to read people better than it did. Strangely enough, its outgoing manner and friendliness made Syl feel oddly at ease with it.
“Well, thanks for admitting that,” said Syl very softy, “I am grateful for your help, now that I’m free of my muddled emotions. Now I can control them more easily. I can now manipulate my own emotions to pull of expression that deign a human-like way of thinking. I made myself feel fear in the church for Myzrael to consider me less of a threat, and I gave false assurances that I would ‘catch up’ with them, implying that I would help them, even knowing that there will most likely be a fight. I don’t like to fight, so it’s only natural for me to avoid such occurrences. That’s why I didn’t go to help them; I don’t think they’ll need me. Hence, my assistance was not required, so I will not help them. Besides, miss Veronica said that she would be able to defend herself, and I trust her words. She’s going to be fine.”
The cloaked figure put a hand on its face, groaning. Syl looked at it curiously. It swore that its mannerisms were familiar, but it didn’t remember how. Could it be… no, maybe not. Syl probably knew a wide variety of people in the past. The cloaked figure could be any one of them, maybe even one of the fallen angels it had helped.
“What I fear, Syl,” said the cloaked figure, “is that you underestimate your own power. You have these large reserves of spells and supernatural knowledge at your disposal, and yet you avoid using them. There’s a reason why you have them, you know. To use them. To make sure that your efforts to learn them were not in vain. You must use them when necessary, but not restrain yourself when your companions truly need it, otherwise they will not help you as much in the future. It’s a fact of survival.”
Syl gazed at it impassively. Survival? That was what it aimed for in this crazy, and that’s what it was concerned most with. In the end, it was that goal to survive that made Syl concur with the cloaked being.
“Your logic is sound,” it said, getting up and dusting itself off, “I suppose I’ll go back and check up on miss Veronica. Thank you for your advice.”
The cloaked figure bowed.
“It was my pleasure to help you, my dear Syl. Just remember, there’s plenty more for us to talk about, such as my identity, my purpose and the Lord we serve.”
The word ‘Lord’ made Syl shiver. It served a higher power? Well, that explained the large amount of power it had at its disposal. What higher power would want to let a neutral being with this power walk around on its own? They would try to claim if they could. However, Syl knew that great power did not equal great fighting ability. Syl’s powers were more tailored towards long ranged combat, or, much more preferably, support. It wasn’t built for being in the thick of the battle.
“Our… Lord?” it asked.
The cloaked figure nodded.
“There’s no time right now. If I tell you its name, we’ll be here for a long time discussing it. Suffice to say, it’s not someone you mess with.”
It waved its hand at Syl, as if to shoo it away.
“Now fly, my little bird! Fly! I’ll find you later! Fly!”
Syl nodded and took off, winds swirling around it, producing a wind shield that reduced drag, protected it, and as a result, increased its speed. It hoped that it would make it just after the fight. That way it wouldn’t have to demonstrate its powers.
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Post by citizenmike on Jun 3, 2009 9:18:27 GMT -5
Veronica reloaded her pistol as Arqus' daggers pierced through a patch of the Moloch's flesh.
Veronica drew her gun and began firing at the spot. She took her time with her shots. With one eye closed, she aimed directly at the patches of skin hoping to tenderize it enough to pierce all the way through.
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Post by childofthehunt on Jun 3, 2009 10:41:07 GMT -5
"Are you alright?" Arqus asked the demon who was controlling his body. "Bremmen?"
Bremmen was faced down on the ground. He staggered to get up, looking like a moving crystal statue in his diamond form.
"Let's see, the giant demon almost swatted me unconcious." Bremmen advised, as he finally got to his feet again.
He dusted himself and added sarcastically, "So yeah, Arqus, I feel GREAT."
Moloch's fist was about to pound him, when the diamond demon looked up. He swiftly avoided the attack with a jump. He landed on top of an old house as the scaly demon's fist met with the ground. The earth shook.
"Will me out Arqus." Bremmen ordered, his robe and long glistening diamond hair getting blown by the wind.
"No!" Arqus replied. "If I let your demon self out, you would destroy the entire city."
Arqus saw Veronica, "Including her and all the residents! I won't have that!"
Moloch howled again and pounded the roof of the house where Bremmen was standing. Bremmen was quick and was able to avoid it again, jumping to the roof of an abandoned building.
"Would you want to beat this vile creature or not?" The demon asked jumping from roof to roof, constantly avoiding Moloch's attacks.
"There has to be another way! I won't WILL you out, not yet Bremmen!" His host shouted.
"Damn it human!" Bremmen yelled out, loud enough that it echoed.
He took flight. The diamond demon waved his right hand over the space before him in mid-air. Something sparkled. A needle shaped and sized diamond shard materialized.
"What are you planning?" Arqus asked, curious.
"Watch." Bremmen said.
The diamond shard shifted it's position from vertical to horizontal. It was pointed towards Moloch.
Moloch was getting frustrated. Using both hands, he laced his fingers together and started randomly hitting the roofs of the houses around him.
Bremmen held the needle using his thumb and pointing finger, and then he blew it, bound for Bremmen's exposed flesh.
The needle entered the bleeding wound. It was so tiny that Moloch failed to notice.
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Post by citizenmike on Jun 3, 2009 11:08:01 GMT -5
Veronica noticed the needles as it pierced through the Moloch.
Veronica drew down her gun and began thinking, Wherever the needles was headed, it was going to inflict damage. If it went in through the bloodstream, it would race straight to its heart. But if the Moloch started moving, it could ger there a lot faster.
Veronica removed her shoe and threw it straight at the Moloch's face. The Moloch turned to her and growled. Veronica paced back as she reached back and slipped off her other shoe and threw it again at the Moloch. Veronica turned back and began running. She tripped over a pothole and turned to find the Moloch's hand reaching out for her.
The Moloch gripped Veronica tightly between both's hands as it lifted her off the ground. Veronica struggled in its grasp. If he wasn't holding her by the waist, she could have easily reached for her hand gun.
Whatever Arqus had planned, it was going to have act quick.
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Post by childofthehunt on Jun 3, 2009 11:10:08 GMT -5
"Do you see it?" Bremmen asked Arqus as he continued dodging Moloch's fist.
"See what?"
"Look closer." He informed, flying upwards.
Bremmen saw Veronica firing at the creature with her puny gun. He wanted to laugh at her pathetic attempt to kill the beast with bullets.
"I see it!" Arqus exclaimed, excited. Like having an x-ray vision, Arqus saw the diamond needle travelling from Moloch's right leg and up his inner thigh. It continued to travel.
Bremmen stretched both his arms open. He could also see the needle travelling efficiently towards Moloch's heart. His concentration was broken when Moloch jumped and with an open hand, tried swatting the diamond demon.
He was able to avoid the demon's huge hand. He cursed under his breath for losing concentration. Then he saw Moloch go after Veronica. Now, the giant demon's got her in his hand.
Bremmen sensed Arqus panicked. His heart started racing. He flew higher, farther, and opened his arms wide again. He squitned and saw the needle, it was almost near the target, Moloch's heart.
"Do it! Do whatever you need to do! He's gonna kill Veronica!" Arqus prodded.
"Damn it!" The diamond demon shouted, as he clapped his hands together, forcefully.
A wave of light was emitted and it travelled all the way to Moloch. The needle disappeared. All Arqus could see now, is a silver-ish fluid spreading out of Moloch's body.
The giant demon cried and dropped Veronica. He was in pain. He clutched his chest. Something was pounding hard from the inside. It only made Moloch groan harder.
Suddenly, roots speared out of the middle of Moloch's chest. Blood flowed out of the wound. The diamond made roots seperated, almost attempting to tear Moloch's chest open. The demon gave a glass shattering cry.
Bremmen saw Veronica covered her ears. Diamond veins/roots, started coming out of every opening on Moloch's body. He was finally immobile.
The diamond scythe appeared again on Bremmen's right hand. He flew lower, this time, almost the same level as the gaping wound on Moloch's chest.
He could see the demon's black beating heart from where he is. Bremmen gave out a wicked smile. He looked at the demon's face for the last time. Moloch's eyes were moving, and they were fixed at Bremmen.
"I see your heart." Bremmen spoke innocently, pointing a finger at the heart.
Moloch coughed, and blood rushing out of the gaping wound, washing his exposed heart.
Bremmen looked down on Veronica.
He twirled the scythe playfully around his pointing finger, effortlessly, and released it. The blade slahed through Moloch's heart like a knife on warm butter. Blood squirted from the wound. Moloch gave out a shriek. It was his last one, before he hits the ground with a loud thud.
A drop of Moloch's blood landed near Bremmen's rosey thin lips. He knew it was blood. The scent was too delicious.
He flicked his tongue and licked the blood off his face.
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Post by citizenmike on Jun 3, 2009 12:15:04 GMT -5
Veronica hit the ground hard as the Moloch released her, and she watched from the backside of a car, her ears covered, as the Moloch died.
She dropped her head against the trunk of the car as she panted heavily. I hope to God this is almost over, Veronica thought aloud as she ran her palms over her face.
The Priestess emerged from one of the buildings with Sara still in her arms. Veronica rose the sight of them and said, "It's over."
The Priestess looked up at slow change in the sky and replied, "No, its only just begun."
"Its how it was supposed to happen, I guess.", Veronica shurgged.
"Indeed. But at what cost?"
Veronica ran her hands over Sara's hair and said, "We have to leave. Come with us."
"I can't.", The Priestess replied as she turned her head. "There's nothing for me in the future. That is your life, not mine. And my Parishoners need me. Just the fact that I've met you tells me enough that while my destiny remains in Animus, whatever is going to happen to me, shows that my soul, as well as some of these people's souls will escape... For now, I will do what I can."
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Post by cyansky on Jun 3, 2009 16:17:29 GMT -5
Syl arrived as the gigantic demon let out its last wails. As it entered into the area, it landed and began jumping from roof to roof. It landed on a nearby roof of a building that the demon had not destroyed. There it saw the demon that looked like Arqus but wasn't, and soon after that located Veronica and the Priestess near a damaged wheeled machine. Myzrael was nowhere to be found.
It noticed that the priestess was holding a little girl in her arms. She appeared to be fast asleep, but her injuries spoke of a different fate - she was dead.
Good riddance, it thought, at least no one will be controlling her. She's a little kid, and of course human children die due to violence. It's natural that some young ones die before they get old; it's part of the brutal nature of life. The main diffference now is that this one was a prophet, and for most people, prophets are nothing but trouble. Still, I doubt that I should a happy face to miss Veronica and miss priestess.
Its eyes moved back to the dead demon, now drenched in its own blood. Personally, I'm glad I missed the fight; I wouldn't want to show too much of my power, and besides, I don't like fighting. I like talking better, thought Syl.
It watched to see the priestess saying something to Veronica, then turned its gaze back to the diamond demon.
"Well, however you killed that hell-demon," muttered Syl, low enough so that the diamond-demon couldn't hear it clearly, "excellent work. That was, or could be, one of the stronger fighters in Hell."
It watched to see if the the blond-haired man noticed it.
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Post by childofthehunt on Jun 3, 2009 23:25:08 GMT -5
"excellent work. That was, or could be, one of the stronger fighters in Hell."
Bremmen returned to his human form and his diamond wings glittered away. He was back in his white robe and long flowing blond hair. He playfully tugged the red satin ribbon that was tied loosely around his locks.
"I've fought stronger ones." The demon spoke staring at Syl with his lazy but beautiful blue eyes. "You should've seen it squirm."
The bloody diamond scythe flew back into his right hand.
His heart skipped a beat, no, it was Arqus' heart who did it. Bremmen understood him. He was ordering him to find Myzrael's body, to check if he was still alive.
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Post by citizenmike on Jun 4, 2009 3:43:31 GMT -5
"What makes you say that?", Veronica asked.
"Where are you from?", the Priestess answered back.
"Cambridge, Massachusetts."
"Do you remember your life there?"
"Vaguely."
"Then stop worrying about me. Come now, I will help you return to the future."
Veronica replied, "Thank you.", before she turned away from the Priestess and approached Myzrael's body. Looking down upon him, she said, "Johnny and I sure were wrong about you."
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Post by sacredrapture on Jun 4, 2009 3:56:51 GMT -5
'Myzrael, they killed the Moloch.' 'Thats good..''Youre dying..' 'I know.''What will become of us?' 'I still have a final trick up my sleeve.. You dont think.. Id let you die, Vittorio?''...' 'Its time.'
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Post by citizenmike on Jun 4, 2009 4:37:43 GMT -5
Veronica gasped as she watched Myzrael suddenly disintregrate. She turned towards Arqus as she asked, "What's happening to him?"
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Post by childofthehunt on Jun 4, 2009 4:39:42 GMT -5
"A dying angel." Bremmen spoke casually, standing next to Myzrael's body on the ground. "How beautiful."
He wanted to kneel down next to him and have a taste of it's blood. Just a lick would do. Not that he's thirsty/hungry or anything, he doesn't feed on blood, he just wanted to have a taste.
He remembered the first time he had a taste of an angel's blood. He was young back then, his father, Hel, has a thing for collecting beautiful beings. Whether human or not, he collects them. Bremmen saw his first angel. He was beautiful with his immaculate white wings. His curly blond hair framed his innocent face.
He remembered entering it's cage one time. The angel was kind and talked to him for hours. Bremmen saw a bleeding wound on it's left wing. He asked the angel if he could see it. The angel trusted him. Curiousity got hold of the young diamond demon and sucked on the bleeding wound and wouldn't let go. The angel was terrified and died after Bremmen broke and pulled out it's wings.
Looking at the dying image of Myzrael now, Bremmen couldn't help but remember the angel he killed.
"Just beautiful." The demon sighed coldly.
Myzrael started disintegrating. Arqus panicked inside Bremmen, he wanted to wrap his arms around the dark angel. Just atleast to see if it would stop him from fading away. But he couldn't. He's not in control of his body, for now.
"What's happening to him?"
Bremmen replied sarcastically to Veronica, "Dying?"
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