Chapter 12 - The Armies of Hell

[Jack]

(Jonash)
NRP: If anyone has a problem with this post I'll delete it Immediately. I am only posting because no one else is and am following orders to post so that others can gain inspiration and give a post that is far beter then the crap below.

He placed the horn to his lips and blew with the remainder of strength he had... Nothing... all that came out was sound, there was not a great wind, or tongues of fire that leapt from the ground. All that came out of the forsaken horn was sound. And as Jonash's strength left him, he tried to bury himself in the dead bodies of the hounds he had slaughtered, hoping that their lingering body heat would allow him to stay warm in the freezing rain. He knew he would heal to the point he could fight again with-in a few hours. Even so, he would need four times that, if he were to be any use against Cerberus.

He laid there hearing the bitter cold rain pound on the bodies above him, all the while, noticing faint hints of a sword striking talons. Cynric's power continued to grow even while he fought the demon.

About the time Jonash heard Haveti cry out as he rushed towards Cerberus, Jonash realized how he could recover more quickly. Taking the horn and bringing it to his lips with the strength he had recovered he began to suck the various souls Thanatos had infused the horn with so Jonash could use them. Barrowing a page out of Thanatos's playbook, he infused the souls into his own body and used the gained energy to heal himself. As bone and tissue realigned, his body healed with in minutes. When half way healed, he forced the demon back into the horn. The other souls Jonash kept. As their energies began to give way to Jonash's will, he completely absorbed them, destroying the remaining their identity in process. He fought hard in his mind to gain control of the memories that flooded his mind, which took longer then the healing processes. 40 minutes later, when he was certain of his control, he attempted to stand up. A bit wobbly he took note of the condition of his armor. It was shattered in most places and needed desperate repair.

As he looked around the arena, he noticed Cerberus had moved back from where Jonash thought he should be. He then looked closer towards the three-headed hound and noticed it was doing its best to cover all six of its ears. Apparently, the horn had done damage after all. It’s a shame that dogs have such powerful hearing abilities. The blast from the horn had bought everyone a large amount of time.

Haveti and the others and used their various abilities to surround Jonash in a fortress Roman soldiers would be proud of. Jonash then realized the reason he was able to repeal the identities of souls he consumed was due to the newcomer’s strange powers of healing.

“Why did you help me?”
The alien replied, “A warrior capable of such a feat deserves a chance at an even greater fight.

He was not fully healed but close enough that he could walk, and perhaps fight, again, which was opposed to the crawling and fits of unconsciousness he had experienced an hour ago. He noticed the armor of the bodies he had laid under and took bits and pieces of it to repair the some of the damage to his own armor. The facemask was still split showing his “angelic-like” face on one side and on the left side his demonic facemask giving a stark contrast. Nevertheless, to most other degrees, the armor was still... functional? He worried that the slightest hit from Cerberus would send it to pieces but at least it "looked cool" as Cynric would say, or at the very least imposing.

They stood at the walls of the embankment; they readied themselves for the approaching Cerberus as Cynric battled overhead.

[Jack]

(Villeria)
I don't ever want to see another dog in my life. Villeria shrugged off the bitter resentment she felt towards the stronger, and obviously unthankful, Haveti. Healing the warrior with the horn, now known to her as Jonash, was no small feat. Villeria stood her ground firmly awaiting the charge of the freakish hound. Haveti stood middle ground with Villeria to the right and Kirimisa to the left forming a semi-circle protection for Jonash. The assumption was that any attack attempting to flank them couldn't possibly be as bad as this beast. Basing his attacks on the priniciple that screaming loudly automatically causes more damage Haveti hacked at Cerberus. Villeria simply stood her ground and waited for the fight to come to her. That was how she had been taught and how she had practiced with her sister. Haveti slashed wildly at the beast severing one of its ears. Cerberus gave an earpiercing three headed growl which Jonash combated with yet another blast from his soul infused horn. Villeria and Kirimisa stood back as the dog flinched, howled and began pawing his ears. Villeria was shocked to see that the beast had veyr little intelligence. Rather than letting blood flow into the wounded ear, which would surely have successfully blocked out sound, the beast continued pawing at the wound only making it larger.Can the creature possibly bleed to death?

Villeria turned to Kirimisa and spoke with authority. "I can blind the beast and once I do so you must hack away at the beasts ears just as Haveti did. See how the creature paws and causes himself pain?" Kirimisa nodded, slightly shocked that this strange woman had actually created an intelligent plan of attack. By now Jonash had stopped inflicting noise upon Cerberus in order to catch his breath. She spoke once more without taking her eyes away from the beast. "You mustn't blow your horn or attack until I say the beast is blinded. I know taking any order from me seems odd but... I will be in your debt if you do." Kirimisa simply nodded and Jonash spoke quickly. "You healed me earlier so I'm obliged to try this new tactic." Villeria focused her eyes on the beast and her facial expressions became very grave. Slowly Cerberus raised his head in confusion as every one of his six eyes turned completely black. Villeria's voice was void of emotion as she spoke without moving her gaze or blinking. "Attack now."

Villeria own thoughts turned inward as she struggled to maintain her hold on the beast and keep her own emotions from being darkened. Childhood memories wove before her eyes. Villeria grasped onto a single song, a lullaby, which she had been sung and in turn had sung to many of the children she had watched over for various family members. On this oddest of battle fields the three men harrassed the beast while she stood, as if in a trance, singing lowly. The battle within herself raged as fiercely as the attacks of the warriors around her. Her own battle cry came out softly, almost non-existent against the roars of the men and beast, in one of those moments when only the meekest actions reveal best true ferocity. So while the beast howled and the warriors gained the advantage a keen ear could hear Villeria sing, "Sleep my child for the red bee hums, a silent twilight falls. The pale moon hath brimmed its cusp with dew and weeps to hear the sad sweet song, I sing my love, to you."

[Jack]

(Thanatos)
Thanatos stood again atop the castle he was now beginning to think of as his own, surveying the wasteland of this level of Hell he also thought of as his. Evelyn Xandi was asleep again - sprawled out on the massive bed exactly where Thanatos left her. The fight earlier had taken a lot out of her, and Thanatos knew he hadn't really helped any.

The shapes that had appeared earlier in the distance were becoming clearer. The last remnants of Plutus' wolves were returning home, having retreated from the battle as soon as Plutus had fallen. Now they came to heed their new master's call. Normally Thanatos would have grinned at the thought of having such loyal servants, but there were so few of them left - not even a dozen, and less than half seemed fit to fight. Instead he shook his head and leapt from the battlement, flying down to meet them.

He landed softly in front of them, surveying their battered bodies with distaste. His eyes caught the eyes of their new pack leader. They were not the eyes of a servant. Instinct told Thanatos that something was horribly wrong, and no sooner had he erected a shield between himself and the animals then they were throwing themselves at it, gnashing their teeth.

A voice roared in his mind, one of the souls in his possession suddenly throwing itself full force against the bonds that held it. It was far more powerful than Thanatos had expected, and caught him completely off guard. The soul collector reeled, stepping backward and allowing the shield to falter for a split second.

Two wolves tore through, but they were hardly of concern to the man. The soul was continuing to struggle, wriggling about in Thanatos' grasp like a buttered snake. For a moment it slipped away, and forced itself directly into Thanatos' flesh. He took to the sky, flying again to the top of the castle as he fought desperately to force the renegade soul back down.

What made this one special? Why was it not like all the others that surrendered their power on death? With shocking horror Thanatos realized that the soul he was struggling against was Plutus. As Thanatos fell to his hands and knees atop the tower the wolf demon began forcing himself upon the body of his destroyer. Thanatos felt his bones and muscles being pulled at, torn and realigned. A picture from the earlier battle summoned itself to his mind, a suddenly terrifying image of the body of a wolf being changed into a new body for Plutus.


"NO!" Thanatos screamed through gritted teeth, waging a battle within his mind that took more strength than any physical foe he had yet met in Hell, and carried with it a greater consequence of loosing. "You hear me you bastard? You will not have me!"


Other souls began to slip from him, one at a time at first, and then in a mighty torrent. He didn't care. His only focus was on Plutus and the force that threatened to turn him into the master of the castle he stood upon in a way he had never desired. After a moment, he began to let them go, freeing them voluntarily. A howling wind tore across all of Hell as souls suddenly freed made mad dashes for freedom and were pulled back to their proper places.


"What boy? Did you think you could defeat me that easily? I'm not a fool, you know. And what good do you think weakening yourself is going to do, or do you hope to keep me from using your powers against your friends? I've seen your heart - don't you think you're acting a little out of character?" Plutus whispered in his head.


A slight smirk broke across Thanatos sweating face. "You have a lot to learn about me, demon." He whispered to himself.


All the tiny bits of willpower that had bound the souls to Thanatos' possession suddenly slammed themselves full force against the usurping soul within his body. Practice had made him better over the long years, and it had been many years since the full force of his will had been required. As best he could remember his willpower had always been his strongest attribute. It was what had made him a leader in that distant past, what had kept him alive through wounds that should have killed him, and it was the only thing that had allowed him to suppress the innumerable souls he had captured.

It was now Plutus turn to be caught off guard, his soul forced out of Thanatos mind almost instantly. The willpower came crushing down upon the wolf lord, and he attempted to flee the body he had so eagerly possessed. Thanatos gritted his teeth, bearing the stabbing pains that wracked his body as he held the soul within it, crushing into oblivion within his own being. His back spasamed, shooting his head upwards into the air and from his mouth the final howl of the greedy wolf burst forth and then trailed off into nothingness.

Thanatos collapsed onto the cold stone, his body cold and shaking, his breath a continuous pant. The wolf demon was no more, his very soul demolished and its tattered shards absorbed into the soul collector. Less power could be drawn off of it than if it had remained whole, but it would never fight its master again.

As his flesh shifted slowly back to its proper places, leaving him sore and bruised, Thanatos rose slowly. As he counted the souls in his possession he wanted to curse in disgust. He was even lower than he expected, and he was still pondering how Plutus had managed to resurface at all. Even during their contest, the soul had felt too solid and substantial. As much as he would have liked to keep it and study the thing, he knew that that had not been an option.

The wolves that had been heeding the call of their true master seemed to have sensed that Plutus was no more. They turned, tails between their legs, and scattered themselves across the horizon. Thanatos sighed and began to walk back down the long stairway to again rejoin Evelyn. He was too tired to fight, too tired to fly, and too tired to even undergo the transition to ethereality. At that point, joining Evelyn seemed like the best option available.

NRP: Just so ya'll know, I'm using this post to curb Thanatos' power a bit. I don't want to God-mode, and it was getting damn hard not to. I am also using it to do a bit of expounding upon the character though, but that'll probably all only make sense when and if I finish detailing everything that the character is. Whatever. It be late, I need sleep.

[Jack]

(EvelynXandii)
Eve's eyes cracked open, letting a bit of the outside world permeate into her consiousness. There was a large hourglass beside her bed that had been set some time ago on end, probably four or five hours, with at least 10 more hours to go. She started to sit up, fully expecting to be sore. However, she was not sore, sitting up and rising to her feet with a yet unparalelled vigor. She was not more powerful, but she was more fresh. It would seem that she hadn't recovered from the transformation into her current self, and that absorbing will until she was full wasn't the answer. What she truely needed was sleep, and to be closer to the Styx.

When she regained her awareness, she found threads of will flowing to her from outside the palace. She started to follow them, leading her to the entrance to the palace when she came to Thanatos instead. He appeared to still be beaten by the previous fighting, but then she noticed he seemed to have less will in him. It was not her who leeched it, so he must have been doing something else, causing him to loose souls. He was stumbling like a drunk and appeared disoriented. She caught his arm and helped him limp down the stairs, finally out to the open ground.

Eve knew that he was in no mental or physical condition to join the group. She couldn't cure his ailments, but he could by his own natural means if he was stronger. She sat him down, and took out one of her thowing pins. She removed her gloves and pricked her own index finger. Thanatos was too weak to realize what was happening, and then became too weak to sit up. Thanatos collapsed on his back, nearly unconsious. She unbuttoned his shirt and broke the skin on Thanatos' freshly exposed chest with the tip of her pin, about where his heart should be. The open wound contact was the perfect conductor for the giving or taking of will power.

She mashed the two spots of blood together and drew in will power from all the wandering souls in a 35 yard radius. Just a small strand from each of these souls was enough to make her entire body glow with the energy and to sear their wounds together. Eve kept no will that she gathered for herself untill he rose to his feet. Once Thanatos was at his capacity, their bonded skin burnt apart, leaving a small, asteric-shaped scar on both of them. Thanatos wasn't healed, but he felt no pain from his internal battle, and his own natural healing would be more effeciant. Without realizing, a few of the closer souls were drawn to him, and they were absorbed without effort.

Eve then continued for a short while gathering will for herself. Her thirst was seemingly unquenchable as she took on will power. She had gathered about the same amount she had after her transformation, but it felt like she only had a third of that. She rejoined Thanatos, who at this time was walking towards the third circle, 'drunk' from his new-found vigor. She grabbed his arm.

Thanatos, you need to rest. I know you don't feel like you want to, but if you don't, you will easily be overtaken. You are saturated with will power, but your body isn't nearly as strong. We need rest.

Thanatos wanted to interrupt, but he supressed himself and allowed himself to be led back up the stairs and into the palace. She rested him on the bed that she was on, disrobing him of his armaments and leaving him with only the soft clothing that he obtained here. It seemed like only a few minutes ago that she was here, but the hourglass by her bed indicated differently; There were only minutes to go. Thanatos was internally resisting sleep, like a four year old resists a nap, but his body gave in and he suddenly fell to sleep. Eve reset the spent hourglass.

Eve decided she would take the oppourtunity to peruse the armory of the palace once more before he woke up and they would rejoin their teammates. She was instintually drawn to it, like ants to candy, and before long she found the armory. It appeared undisturbed since her last visit, complete with the dust outlining the things which were taken. She had forgotten about the vials of liquid she had taken until now, and she took them from her belt, half expecting them to all be broken. Somehow, they were all intact, and still bearing the runic labels. She didn't know runes, and didn't care to, but the multi-colored liquids intriqued her. She then noticed a paper that was resting under the dust where she orignally found the vials. It too had the same runes on it, but also Latin, Aramaic, Heiroglyphs, and either Greek or Roman. She couldn't read any of it, but maybe someone in her group could decypher it, like the Rosetta Stone. She grabbed the rest of the ammo, getting almost back to full stock (490). There were no other articles which intrested her enough to take.

She then felt Thanatos comming awake. He spent less time sleeping than she hoped, but more than she realized, as the hourglass lost about a third of it's volume. Thanatos was looking better, but his body was still resisting activity. By the time Eve got back to him, he redrifted into unconsiousness. She puled up a nearby chair to keep him company, only to find herself asleep too. The hourglass lost it's last grain of sand quite some time before they started to stir.