Chapter 10 - Impending Damnation

[Jack]

(Cynric)
"I suppose we should be heading out. I'm not really the type for long, thinking moments, and you don't look the type who needs to rest and set up camp for a night." Cynric was a little troubled at recent events, and getting himself moving again might clear his mind a bit.

"Indeed. Let's get on with this."

It was only as they were exiting the building that Evelyn noticed the gem in Cyn's hand as he rolled it around amidst his fingers. "What happened to your allergy, your weakness from earlier? Before I made my move, I noticed your aversion to the precious stones here."

He glanced down at the jewel. "Oh, this? It's an amethyst. These things rock."

Evelyn cocked an eyebrow.

"Hehe, yea, amethyst's are like... uh... reverse kryptonite or something. In fact..." He reached down and snatched up an emerald, holding it close to his face. "As long as I'm holding one of these violet beauties, my little allergy gets significantly dulled." He flicked the green stone away, almost in disgust, then gazed into the amethyst in deep thought as they walked, then looked over as his new companion. Cynric's expression was a narrow glare. "Can I trust you?"

Evelyn was a bit miffed by the question, it seemed. Hadn't we been over this already? "I don't mean to be like that. I just have trouble trusting anything recently. I didn't exactly intend to wake up in hell for no obvious reason." She nodded in response, and Cyn decided to let the subject rest. Evelyn wasn't completely stupid in this regard, though, and knew he had more to say that he wasn't saying. She made the conjecture that she wouldn't learn much more about him without proving some level of trustworthiness. Didn't care much to know all about him, but it was information.

"You think those people are dangerous down there? You know, the greed-slaves?" Cynric motioned towards the mournful dead hefting the castle bit by bit.

"I doubt it. They can't really be interrupted from their torment."

They both felt it, just after her words. A pull in the back of Cynric's mind, and a very real call to attention in Evelyn's new Hell Lord section of her brain, the alert was fairly strong. Some newcomers had entered this circle of Hell, and not the usual kind. Sensing the depression of the dead here was quite a contrast to the vibrant life pouring from the four entities that had just passed in. A flash of recognition crossed the meta-Gourein's thoughts. Is that... Valerius?

"You feel it, too, I see." Evelyn glanced around at the abundant ornate weapons in their current room, just before the exit of the palace. "What do you make of this?"

"I say we check it out before we move along. Maybe they're some living people in the same boat as me."

Everyone can use more help. This is good for us.

Evelyn looked at Cyn strangely. "What's with your eyes?"

He popped back into reality from the voice in his skull. "My eyes?"

"They were... different there for a second. You were grinning. Do you know something about these people?"

"Oh, uh, I think I might know one, but otherwise I'm just curious." He glanced out where they both seemed to feel the visitors. "Shall we?"

"It might be beneficial." She then began perusing the armory of precious metals more closely, considering what she'd like to take with her. No sense being caught unawares.

NRP: Erg. I really don't like my writing here. I might re-write this post later, but I won't change the content, so replies can be made. Just might refine the details.

[Jack]

(EvelynXandii)
Evelyn tossed Onizuka's discarded clothing and grasped the belt, from which hung a scabbard and sword. Not that she needed the sword, or the extra weight, but it was more that the power of the Styx needed this sword. To her surprise, it wasn't really heavy at all, perhaps an effect of being the sword's new owner. The belt held all manner clasps, folds, and small pouches, most were empty, except for one, which held a small talisman hung by a cured leather strap. The runes upon it seemed significant, like this was some sort of letter or scroll, complete with a wax seal at the bottom. Evelyn tied it to neck before moving on.However the push forward was yet again halted by Evelyn's curiosity. Evelyn had a small obsession for useful items, especially weapons. A commodity that seemed more than necessary for this place. She detoured into the depths of this armory they were in, finding all manner of weaponry, but mostly iron, steel, brass, and gold hand-to-hand items. One small fold of cloth caught her attention, as it seemed to be hid from the inattentive or distracted eye. She unfolded it to find 13 silver pins, four inches in length .5 inches in diameter, and needle sharp on both ends. Some of these were tucked on the belt and the remainder where strapped to her back with the cloth she found them in. She inspected the contents of another small jeweled box ; five steel and fairly sharp throwing stars, and six vials of serum in various colors that were marked with ancient runes, and each a different color. She also whisked up a whip, 35' long and another small, and more plain looking box, in which contained the most interesting of all her acquisitions : a pair of Colt 45 pistols, and a plethora of cartridges, enough for a small war. She tucked the bullets wherever she had an unused pocket or clasp and managed to secure about 500 total. She also found a pair of sheathed throwing knives, and she strapped one to each of her forearms. She then realized that she was much more heavy than before. She decided that she did not need the sword of the Styx.Cynric stopped her before she could discard the sword, and diverted her attention to the hilt of the sword. He had noticed it only by pure luck himself. There were more runes upon the sword, some nearing being worn off and all were beyond their comprehension. However, it was not what the runes could have said that was interesting, but what had happened when she noticed them...The sword ripped the talisman off Evelyn's neck and tied itself over the hilt of the sword. They both noticed that the runes matched. Evelyn had not been touching the sword this entire time, and even now it was levitating in front of her, bobbing up and down and rotating with a dark purple aura.Cynric wasted no time in identifying that she must take the sword and in bringing this to her attention.But before Evelyn could take it, it crashed blade first into the ground, sinking itself in the ground within six inches of the hilt. Cynric's eyes lit up like a child in a sweets shop, and was stunned by this display, immediately drawing parallels to several video games. Evelyn grasped the sword, and tore it from the ground. The sword then completely transformed into the purple aura that surrounded it and then moved onto Evelyn, dissipating into each of her weapons and her armor, making them into something as wonderful as the sword was. The Colt pistols grew slightly larger, lost two of the six chambers in the revolving clip while the remaining four became much larger in diameter. All of the bullets swelled to the size of small soda cans. The throwing stars became much sharper, and the long whip grew thorns. This all remained unnoticed until the haze was completely gone and Evelyn noticed that she felt lighter.After the transformation of the weaponry, Evelyn also noticed that Cynric was trying to fit his bokken with the Flawless Amethyst and an equally Flawless Topaz...He also had a new small satchel on his belt that bulged slightly and appeared to be filled with something like chips of wood or tiles....

[Jack]

(Thanatos)
Thanatos was flying ahead of the other three companions, partially because he could move faster through the air than Valerius or Haveti could safely move on foot, partially because the ghost-like qualities he had demonstrated made him able to escape back to the three if trouble arose, and partially because he had volunteered to scout what lay ahead of them to give himself the solitude he liked to think things over in. He was unsure what to do with his new companions. For now, they would serve well to aid him in escaping from Hell, and they might aid him in reaching the Queen, but he had no idea what to do with them afterwards. Could he bring them along with him to the next dimension? He knew Haveti, at least, would delight in the thought of unending bloodshed.

He slowed down and landed, walking along for a short ways. He grasped at a shadow, plucking it idly from the ground and forming it into a long whip, tying small sharp stones to the frayed end. As he walked, he struck at the souls around him with disinterest, occasionally grabbing a decently strong one and placing it into his armory. Most of them seemed totally oblivious to the addition of pain to the torture they were already undergoing, and the few groans or screams he could manage to extract hardly amused him. Seeing the women with their cold, disgusting flesh depressed him even more. After a short time he sighed and took again to the sky.

The first thing he saw when he was airborne once again was the two massive halves of a castle. He swept in for a closer look, his curiosity getting the best of him. He thought he could recall seeing the place before, but it had been a long time ago in a dimension far, far away, and he couldn't reFighter going inside. Getting in was easy enough - after all, the great chasm in the middle made it pretty much impossible to keep anyone out. The owner probably thought that the stronghold's location in Hell would be enough of a home security system.

He found himself wandering through rooms full of various treasure. Most of it was hardly of any interest - Thanatos' only interest was really in those items he could wear and carry souls in, not in cups and coins and home décor. Even then, he wasn't particularly interested in items that were overly gaudy, unwieldy, or bulky. He did find a relatively nice silver chain that - by making the object ethereal in the same manner he did his body and clothing - he attached to the Styx's horn, making it much more comfortable to hang from his belt.

As he continued on, he did notice what looked to be a rather nice timepiece - the kind more modern societies designed to be worn about the wrist, and in many dimensions seemed to be produced by the Swiss. As he reached down to get it, he heard a soft metallic click and the unmistakable feeling of a large gun barrel being pressed against the back of his head. His hand froze inches from the item.

"Who are you, and what are you doing here?" a woman's voice demanded from behind him.

Thanatos grinned in spite of himself. "I am whoever I want to be, and I do as I please."

He suddenly dove forward, into what the woman probably thought was a solid pile of jewels and other assorted riches. He passed right through it, but not before his hand grasped the watch he had been reaching for. He landed softly on the floor a story below as an explosion from above shook the ceiling and sent dust cascading down around him. He inspected the watch quickly before slipping it around his wrist. Much to his delight, it seemed to be made of mithril - his favorite metal not because of its hardness, but because he found it easiest to store souls in.

His wings unfurled themselves, and with an almost super-human quickness he shot upwards. He drew his own revolver as he did, cocked it before he passed again through the floor, and sprung up behind the woman. She was still staring at where the pile of jewels had been - the artifacts now scattered and some apparently melted around a scorched spot in the floor. Thanatos' weapon seemed small in comparison to the one the woman still pointed at the floor where he had disappeared, but he pressed it into her skull just as threateningly.

"Now," he said softly, "Might you be so kind as to tell me who and what you are, and what you are doing here?"

He could tell that he had just made her very angry, and she was about to speak when Thanatos' left arm was suddenly gripped by what felt like a vice. Before he could react, the gun was wrenched away from the woman's head, and a large purplish hand gripped him about the throat in a manner that expressed the ability to pop his head off like a zit. Thanatos swallowed in a manner that spoke more of impatience and disinterest instead of the normal expression of fear.

"Could we cut it out with the sneaking up on people from behind?" a voice said from directly behind Thanatos' head. "It's just not cool, and three times in twenty seconds is kind of ridiculous."

Thanatos nodded, and the being behind him released him. Thanatos stepped to the side and turned, bringing both the man and woman into view. As he looked at the man who had grabbed him for the first time, he seemed to be in the process of shrinking from whatever it was that he had been to a relatively uninteresting teenage boy.

"So," the boy spoke first, "Are we going to get some proper introductions?"

Thanatos nodded, returning his pistol to its holster and smiling a bit. "You'll have to forgive me for the way I introduced myself. Finding myself in this place has put me somewhat on edge." He bowed low and with a slight flourish, "I am Lord Thanatos Hemithanes." He stood and looked at the two of them, "And the only thing I am doing here is trying to get out. I came into this castle thinking there might be something I could find to aid me in that quest."

"I'm Cynric, and this here's Evelyn - the new Ruler of the Styx. We're on our way out of here too. You want to come along?"

Thanatos nodded, "I would, but first I am afraid I must consult with those traveling companions I have already." As Evelyn raised an eyebrow he continued, "They are still a ways behind me. I was merely scouting ahead."

Cynric's face seemed to brighten. "One of them isn't Valerius Tacitus, by any chance?"

Thanatos nodded slightly. "He is. Is he an acquaintance of yours?"

Cynric nodded in reply. "An old friend. Can you take us to him?"

In a few moments Evelyn was balancing behind Thanatos on the same smoky gray board he had used for transportation earlier, heading back along the same path he had come down whilst the large purple Cynric loped easily alongside. As they reached a hilltop, three silhouettes suddenly sprung into view across the valley in front of them, and Cynric shouted something that sounded like "woot".

In the back of Thanatos' mind, he had thought that the Cynric might be an old enemy of Valerius, but after the first few moments of their meeting in the valley he thought otherwise. The masked man seemed to speak more to the boy than he had to all three of his current companions put together. They all seemed ready to once again set off and continue their conversation as they moved, when Scuraluce suddenly brought his hands up to his head and fell to the ground with a loud groan.

[Jack]

(Telamichious)
Yellow. It was the tint of the light that powers the universe, that creates life, and warms it into being. Light’s energy affects everything, as each particle in space and time are affected by each packet of photons that collides with it. Light is also a driving force in the balance of good and evil, and for the last Darklight who had enveloped evil, the balance was beginning to take its toll.

Telamichious started to see stars as they continued walking forward, following the path that their forward scout Thanatos had explained he would take. Valerius and Haveti walked at a constant pace and passed Telamichious as the starts began to affect his walking speed. His footfalls became lighter, his legs feeling gummy and beginning to give out. The stars got brighter, causing the Scuraluce to close his eyes, but to no avail, the blinding light still remained even with his eyelids closed tightly. He stumbled to the left a bit, and caught himself on a tree. He shook his head softly, only to make the growing pressure in his head worse. He opened his eyes again, only to se that Haveti and Valerius were quite far ahead of him, and he jogged a bit to catch up, making the growing pain subside a bit from the rush of adrenaline. Valerius gave him a curious look, starting to catch on that something was wrong, but decided not to say anything, he really didn’t know about what the Scuraluce was, it could just be normal.

They continued for some time, Telamichious being barraged by waves of pain, the source the growing light that collected in his eyes and head. Valerius pointed up towards a hill, “There is someone or something up there, I can’t tell what, perhaps we should move a bit closer.”
Haveti looked over at him, nodding in agreement, and they continued the pace that had kept for the last few miles, but Telamichious stopped dead in his tracks, falling to a kneel, and putting his head to the ground, groaning in wild pain.

Haveti was the first to turn, and quickly moved up to his fallen comrade, checking to see if there was any external source to the injury, possibly some demon knight or hellhound they had encountered previously, but observed nothing out of the status quo. He looked down at Telamichious, who’s groaning became more of a whiny pant. The Darklight looked up at him, his eyes now open, and Haveti was nearly blinded by the light that was emitting out of them. The beams of light shot out like spotlights, if the light was red he could have been mistaken as an X-men, and the whimpering of Telamichious became a scream of pain. However, his eyes weren’t the only thing on Telamichious’ body glowing, as the phoenix birthmark was also transmitting a searing light, and Haveti and Valerius could see it through the Scuraluce’s ragged shirt.

The external damage that Valerius and Haveti could see didn’t compare to the grinder his mind was going through during the vicious attack, Telamichious was feeling a similar sensation to that of two sledgehammers bashing in either side of his head. He felt that his memories were being rewritten, comparable to that of a computer being reformatted. The one clear vision he could see was of a Elemeleon sitting on a throne, and himself kneeled in front of him, with the other’s hand on his head. From the stranger Elemeleon’s hand came a purple light that Telamichious’ head was absorbing, and after a few minutes of this strange transaction, the hand was removed and was jabbed through the Scuraluce’s chest, and he burst into flames.

As the mental flash subsided, the pain continued to hold its grip over all of Telamichious’ motor skills. The light continued to blare out of Telamichious’ birthmark and retinas. The light grew more and more intense until the surrounding area was lit up by the unnatural light source, and as quickly as it appeared, the light died out, completely dissipating from the area and from the Scuraluce, what was left in its wake, however, was the crumpled mass of Telamichious, blood soaking the front of his torso and chest, and blood dripping from his eyes like tears of stigmata. Valerius and Haveti could only gaze in amazed confusion.

NRP: This post would have been up some eight hours earlier, but I have had the worst day in a long time, between computer problems, internet outages and blue screens of death, I am surprised I got anything up at all.

[Jack]

(Cynric)
The first to actually make a move at this point was Cynric. Sadly, he didn't make a move to help his new comrade. Didn't really know him much. However, looking at the ragged corpse-like body, he had a vision of his own. The damp concrete walls and raspy voices of his captors rang true in his mind again. The blood seeping from Telamichious was like a beacon of rememberance. The look of disbelief that struck Cynric's face was overlooked with all the attention on the one who was actually in pain. Cyn's right eye twitched a bit, and a small gleam in that sphere went out.

Slow motion; Thanatos could apparently see a little more clearly the meta-physical damage that was being done to the Scuraluce, and he made his move to investigate what could be done to assist his... erm, assistant. Valerius sank into thought, as usual, pondering the light and his predicament as a whole. Haveti considered what to do with himself, as the excitement at present had his bloodthirst brimming at the edges of his being. Evelyn seemed to be paying attention, but was a bit disinterested. Cynric dropped to his knees, his tears welling up, but being fought back against. He blinked, and the dam broke.

"Something snapped," Cyn heard Thanatos say through the muffled haze washing his own mind. "Unbalance is the only word I can think of at the moment. I can't think of anything we can do, though I may have some tricks I can pull with my souls."

Refusing to bring attention to himself, Cynric stifled the sobs coming from deep in his chest.

~Take~another~go~with~the~boken~to~his~spine,~Cresek.~He's~gettin'~used~to~the~face~raker~

~Way~ahead~of~you~

The faces of those sadistic torture-mongers swam among his memories. When he'd actually been there, he'd cried in pain, sure. Cynric never actually got the rest of the torment out of his system, though. Instead, he'd gone insane and beat the tormentors to death. As they say, violence never solved anything.

But it did, Cynric. The tormentors are gone, and they can't do what they did again.

"There are so many more like them." The Gourein-blooded didn't realize he was replying out loud, and he was too lost in his own pity-driven thought to hear Valerius ask what was up.

You have to stop them all. You have to rid the world of all of them.

"I can't see them for what they are right off."

But I can, and I will help you find them.

"You... you know?" Cynric at this point was completely lost to the world. He was now seeing a form to the voice he'd been speaking with. The face was shaded out, but the body wore an expensive-looking business suit.

Just follow my call. I'll point out who needs to be dealt with and when. I won't let you get hurt again.

The compulsion of the voice was indescribably strong. Just as the light behind his left eye faded, Cynric was reminded of the influence of a certain fantasy character called... Sauron, was it? And then-

-flash to reality. "Please, respond to something I'm saying. You're getting creepy, which is pretty tough considering we're in Hell." Ears were working, and Valerius' words struck through the gloom.

"Ack. Hey, sorry. That was kind of odd, huh?" Cyn tried to brush it aside. "How's the enemenlie... elemelen... the Tela guy?"

"He's resting. Care to explain your freak out?"

Cynric squinted and rubbed his eyes dry. "Bad flashback. That light there might have caused some feedback with my power or something. I still don't understand me completely yet, after all."

Tacitus nodded, taking the lie. If he has reason to explain the truth later, he will, the man thought. No use prying.