(Guess who's going to have to leave you on a cliffhanger because I got things to do and errands to run!  MEEEEEE!  I'll send a reply later.)

As Leonidas places his hand on the door, intricate patterns swirl, twist and turn around.  Forming what seemed to be a story of death, rebirth and the loss of oneself.  Leonidas body shimmers in an outline of gold.  His voice resonates in the hall as the lullaby continues. 

"The story that locks Crimson behind this door speak for itself.  But for those who do not know, I shall tell.    A man broken by his past, forever damned to relive the sins he committed and the people he had killed.  Reborn again and again no matter how many times he tried, death would not take his hand.  Reaching a point to where all goes numb and senses turn dull, the man alone sought help from others, which he relies upon heavily.  A Shield whose devotion goes Infinite.  A shining Comet, Azure in color whose magic restores, consumes and rounds out the imperfections.  The Wolf whose Fang sink deep into those who challenge its Alpha.  And a Beacon of fire, whose Flame leads the path which to walk upon.  These aspects Incarnate serve and bow before the Kyng whose fate was created by his own hand.  Much pain was seen, given, shared.  These 4, whom are called the Inheritors of Rebellion and Emperors keep this contract of Life and Death intact.  This contract is forged by Crimson himself.  It is burned upon the X you all have, or have seen.  Its story is this: 'To those who bear this Curse, my Curse, one of pain, lacking in mercy, heed my call.  Seal this town which I had burned and created the City, the Silent Flame of Hanai (roughly means One who suffers pain alone) and lock away my body.  For when the sun burns the brightest and the moon crumbles, shall I relive the tragedy I had wrought upon the innocents, my family, my friends, my home.  I give you Rebellion to kill me, to maim me, to destroy me in all ways, all to keep me...no, to keep you all, my new family, safe'.  This is what Crimson taught us to carry.  Just as he himself is a Weapon, so shall we become ones for him to wield, and ones to be wielded.  We created this door, only opened by the spilt blood of those who carry the mark of Rebellion, as the final safeguard and lock to keep Crimson's orders.  Beyond this door, you will hear voices, feel emotions, sees things, all of which Crimson had.  It's overwhelming, oh so overwhelming.  Those who do not bear the Rebels mark will die due to the sheer force behind it, over 78,000 years worth of pain kept to himself.  However, since you, Aestus and Caligo, are Incarnates of the Sun and Moon, I have faith and confidence that you will be able to stay alive.  Keep your minds on one another and you should remain safe." Leonidas took a deep breath in and stood tall and proud.  "Heed my call, O Rebels.  Spill thine blood upon the door.  Break the Seal and let us once more, kill the Kyng's Insanity.  Let us deliver Judgemet's Will as we see fit against Life's Order." 

Infinity, Fang, Agni and Flare all took our a vial of blood, Aster joined them too and placed their vials to the door.  "Thy Will shall be Forevermore." they all replied and shattered the vials, pressing the freshblood of their palms and the old blood of the vials onto the door, staining it.  

The giant and ancient door illuminated the hallway in a white light before vanishing.  The room before you wasn't horribly large.  A 5 x 5 meter cube is the easiest way to descrbe it.  Crumbling statues of people on their knees, seemingly praying or worshipping lined in a 3 x 3 collum with 7 rows each.  Some statues were still whole, others, clearly not so much.  Moss and what seemed to be blood covered the ground and the statues themselves.  As you walk into the room, the tough rock from the hall way turns into dirt and loose gravel on the ground.  The walls here are lined with wires of all sizes all leading to the back of the room.  An eerie glow of red, green and cyan come from them.  You can walk between the statues easily, empty spaces are left in the right, left and middle.  In the middle row, a woman kneels on both knees, singing the familar lullaby you have heard.  Infinity and Azure split and stand in the back corners of the room.  Fang and Flare simply take the lower rows of the statue and stand beside them, blocking the left and right sides of the room respectivly.  You wouldn't be able to walk to the back of the room if you wanted.  Lastly Aster and Leonidas come in, walking behind the woman in the center and standing at her left and right.  The back of the room, where all the wires lead to, was a man standing.  If you looked around the room, where Infinity and Azure are, above them are extremly large machine guns, with barrels pointed at the center.  Chains from the back wall, deeply rusted and soaked in blood bind the mans feet, arms and neck and hands.  You can see a faint glow from what is attached to the chains from the energy running into...giant clamps.  0.30 meter thick clamps hold together this mans feet, arms, shoulders and neck.  Or what is even left of his arms...his right arm is seemingly...just gone.  Shoulder and all.  Though a familar mask lays on his face.  The mans body seems lifeless and rotting.  Thin, pale and bloody.  Likely from attempts to escape.  Even as you look at the room, an overwhelming feeling of...everything, pain, suffering, hatred, joy, all of it, is thrown at you, disorienting you momentarily.  You feel oddly sick to your stomach and your body screams to run and run and run, far away from whatever this...thing is.  Though if you got closer to the man, Crimson himself, a extremly dense and heavy Veil covered the Kyng.  You understand by this, that whatever, or whoever is singing this lullaby is preventing this Veil from being rasied.  That means that only a fraction of that of which you are feeling is just a glimpse of what 78,000 years does to a man.  The atmosphere is cold, heavy and overall hard to read.  No one sares to say anything or move.  They just listen and watch.  The heavy stench of decay and blood floods your senses.  A room used for years and years.  It makes anyone sick at just the thought.  No wonder Leonidas warned that people would die at the sight of the room.  It's hard to even look at.  

This is what the city is named for, the Silent Flame that burns and suffers.  This is Hanai's heart and soul himself.  This is Crimson Kasani, this is Rebellions Incarnate, rival of all Natural Order.

(Safe to reply now.)

Last edited by wolffighting3768 (February 5, 2024 15:50:19)

(That works beautifully.)

A tired voice came from Crimson, well, it sounded more like a groan than a voice.  Infinity and Azure took a step forward.  Ready to strike or defend as ready.  Crimson's body slumped forward for a moment and began to gently shake.  Infinity placed her sword on her shoulder and wiped her bloody hand over it's blade.  "Infinite Chasm." she whispered.  Her voice echoed deeply into the walls and seemed to get...farther and farther, before them...no, wait a moment, it felt and looked like Crimson was falling down and further from them.  Leonidas placed his hand on the woman's shoulder.  It was rather hard to see her face from where Aestus and Caligo were standing, but they could easily tell that as soon as Leonidas did this, the woman stopped singing and looked at him.  "Must you do this?" she said, her voice was hoarse and soft, quiet and soothing, all at the same time.  From the glimpse you had seen, you could tell she was wearing a hood but her eyes were unlike anything else.  A deep and beautiful purple color.  Leonidas helped the woman up and Aster took her other hand.  Together the two...with the woman in hand, exited the room and went back to the platform and waited.  

-----------------------

From the seemingly sudden chasm, a great and horrid cry of pain and thrashing was heard.  Fang began to cry and mumble incoherently.  She was scared, horrified and paralyzed.  She hated this, she hated killing this man whom she cared for her whole life.  Every fiber of her being wanted to run.  But no, Flare held her hand and softly whispered something to her and jumped into the boundless chasm below.  

(So Infinite Chasm is really a cool thing.  It bends material around Infinity.  If you wanted a visual, think of it like a rug folding on itself, the statues and dirt is still on the ground [now a wall] but a giant depth is there in the center.) 

No one says anything, Fang and Flare jump in, hand in and, followed by Infinity and Azure.

(No worries, I've grown accustomed to it.  The only problem I have with switching pronouns is that it's hard to refer to a specific character by a simple she or he or whatnot and not just a name.  But I've learned to work with it.  So it's alright.  If anything it adds a bit of depth to them.)

This chasm...dark, deep, and heavy with the stench of blood, both old and new just like the Sanctuary.  Except this time there was no lullaby to keep away the Kyng from ripping anyone and everyone apart if they were not careful.  A short hallway, only 3 meters long lead into a large circular room that seemed to get bigger and smaller at random intervals.  Infinity and Flare stood ahead, with Azure casting a thin grey fog that acted as a door for the large room ahead.  Fang sat against the wall, shaking and softly clutching the same sword from the garden...Ember as it was called.  You all feel a tinge of guilt and sorrow.  Both for Fang and for Crimson himself.  Time and time again this has happened and furthermore will it still happen.  But for now you need to focus, ignore the pain, these overwhelming feelings of his.  

"Aestus.  This is as far as you can go.  The room ahead has no aura or magic.  You will be as blind as a bat.  It dulls your senses the longer you stay in there.  You're really going to have to put on that necklack." Azure said, closing his book.  The chasm was rather dark, but not dark enough to read the expression on his face.  Pain and determination was painted over it.  Flare and Infinity had similar expression too.  Only Fang, who was scared witless, had something different to feel.  

"And Caligo.  That bracelet will have to STAY ON.  You're going to need all the mobility you can get.  Crimson may be a walking corpse at this point, but he's quick on his feet and even quicker with a blade of he gets his hands on one."
 

Infinity gently touched and veil of grey mist and walked through, followed by Flare.  "Fang...I know, but you have to get up.  Keep Ember away." Azure said to her, patting her on the shoulder.  Fang held the sword close to her and didn't want to let go.  "Cor...I hate doing this, I hate it all, I just want him safe..." she whimpered.  Her tail curled around her leg.  Azure got onto his knees and softly kissed her forehead.  "C'mon kiddo.  We're family here, we have to do this.  You know well we can't do it without you, or that Spark...or well, Ember right now.  So please, get up and let's go.  You know that he won't attack unless its a fair fight, he has that much in him." Azure stood up and walked through the mist himself.  Leaving her Aestus and Caligo all left to go through.  Silently Fang prayed or at least hoped under her breath that all would go well this time too.

Fang relaxed a tad bit and took a deep breath in and looked at Ember and whispered something under her breath and used it to prop herself up and off the wall.  The blade became shorter and shorter, becoming nothing more than a simple wakizashi.  She unsheathed the blade, still rusted and slit her hand, opening up a new cut.  With it, she wiped the blood over her eyes and cleaned the blade before sheathing it.  "Radiance." she uttered alone and walked through the mist.    

Infinity' Great sword flew past Aestus' and Caligo faces with Crimson flying over their heads.  "NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO BE LOVEY DOVEY!" she roared.  As Crimson recovered and lunged at Caligo, from overhead, Flare cane dropping down on him, naginata in hand, impaling Crimson in the back and into the ground. 

"FIGHT IN TEAMS, DON'T LOSE YOUR SANITY AND DON'T FUCK THIS UP!" Flare cried out to everyone, Crimson reached with his hand and flipped Flare and the Naginata, though while it had impaled him through the back, he easily and quickly ripped it out of his chest, leaving behind a hole and almost instanteously sticked itself back together.  With a newfound weapon in his hands he throws it at Aestus.

(So I'll spoil you a bit on that part.  Realistically, that would work against anyone, butttttttttt, not Crimson.  He has an ability called Rebellion.  This allows him to defy the natural flow and sway of life and death.  Think of him always being in a middle of this.  So yes, this will hurt like hell and damage him a lot, but it's only going to momentarily stun him.  There's only one real way to get past this and that would be Judgement's Incarnate.  Whom I have yet to introduce.) 

Tanking the blow all throughout his body, Crimson was sent flying a few meters and crashed into the ground.  A roar and cry of pain was hear from him, ear splitting and weighting heavily on all who were in the room.  Everyone stood still and watched.  Eventually Crimson rolled over and got up, the spear impaled in his frail body began to melt and partially turn into ash.  The Kyngs blood has been spilt.  With his only hand he traces over the spears and zones out.  "Crumble into ash." he whispered and began a mad dash to the closest to to him.  In this case, it was Azure.  But out of the corner of his eye, Fang came flying and drove Spark into Crimson's face and ripped it out.  "KNOCK HIM OUT!  IF HE GET'S UP KEEP TRYING!" she roared and kicked off Crimson and backflipped onto the ground and lunched forward and began to furiously slash at his body. 

(Spark = Ember while in a dormant state.  This will be explained.) 

(Well you better figure out quick.  This guy isn't going to treat you like a stuffed animal.) 

The force behind the blow of the mace flipped Crimson onto the ground, spinning into the air momentarily.  As soon as Crimson hit the earth, he immediately pushed himself up and bashed his head into Caligo's chin.  Infinity immediately took the opportunity to tear her blade through his legs, ripping some of the muscle out.  Following after that was a construct of chains wrapping around Crimson's legs, throwing him into the ground.  Azure flipped off Infinity and smiled.  

Despite being thin, frail and looking horrible, Crimson broke free easily.  With swift movement and ease of travel, Crimson easily got a hand on Azure and slammed him into the ground by the neck and tossed him at Aestus' knocking them both to the ground prone.  Flare and Fang decided to launch a joint effort to impale his legs into the ground, perhaps giving some time.  However as soon as their blade met flesh, they were easily swept to the ground by one of the spears melted handles that Crimson ripped out.  Fang was the lighter of the two, so she had an easier time recovering than Flare, who took a moment to get back up.  Things...aren't looking too good right now.  Even in the state he is in, Crimson clearly has the battle experience and skills far beyond anyone here.  

Fang's eyes had a red color to them, she alone wrapped her claws around Crimson's neck and began to viciously tear away at his flesh, leaving him scampering and clawing right back at Fang's neck and back in retaliation.  Infinity watched as her comrades fell one by one and struggled.  Though as she saw Fang put up a fight she gripped her hilt as blood began to run down her body.  "She's one hell of a feral animal." she told herself and threw her sword right into Crimson's left leg, chipping and shattering the bone. 

As Crimson fell to one knee and Fang kept clawing at him, he began to become slightly overwhelmed....


(Don't worry, I did plan for Caligo and Aestus' to not have much combat experience.) 

(If I had more NSFW freedom, it would be a lot more bloody.  But I'm keeping it nice and dandy.) 

The screams of Crimson grew louder and louder, eventually reaching a point where he tore off Fang from his body and threw her away.  "DOMINATION!" he roared...

Everything went black, for everyone.  You feel...you feel a helplessness, the inability to move and to even lift up your head to see what happened.  All you see is the blackness and the dirt.  A gentle red glow grows around the room, illuminating the earth below, stained in blood.  You try to call for help...but no one answered.  

The eerie, tired, and cold voice of Crimson's echo's deeply into your mind.  Into the room, it feels like its everywhere possible  "Rebellion." he said.  

---------------------------

It feels like forever that you're trapped in this state.  You don't understand what is happening.  Or at least Caligo and Aestus don't.  Everyone else knows.  Domination is the Kyngs authority.  It forces those around him, under his name, under his world, and under his city to bow on their knees.  None can escape this, none want to, everyone feels safe somehow.  

But no.  None of this is true.  A echo, no, a thunder rings into your ears.  A voice rings to the room.  

It roars proudly, some phrase or words you don't understand or can't hear.  But regardless the effects of whatever Crimson cast falls and crumbled, and carefully you life your head enough to see the same woman from before, raising her hand with something smoking from her hand as a arc of blood and Crimson fall to the ground.  And what seemed like an instant later, Leonidas's fist colliding with Crimsons head, sending him to the ground with Aster rising as Crimson fell, driving something into Crimson neck and stands on his back as he grabs his head and pulls it, sending more blood and something white protruding from it.  Before you understand anything, you two fall.  regardless it was asleep or just sheer breath, you don't know.  But you fall.   

--------------------------------------------------

Infinity softly picks up Aestus as Flare grabs Caligo.  Both carrying them on their backs.  None say a word to one another.  Azure and Fang both carried Crimson's body on a stretcher and onto the platform.  Leonidas, Aster and the woman all walked behind them, 

"You didn't have to." Aster said to the woman.  Her purple eyes darted to Crimson and then back to Aster.  "I know Aster.  But it's not like I had much of a choice.". she replied, in her hands she held two broken vials.  Stained with red still in both of them, as well as her hands in her own blood.  

"I'm surprised he even restrained himself so much with those two gods there.  It's remarkable he was even able to understand they weren't Arithnian.  Granted he sees differently than we do, so it's just another day for him.  But my question is what caused him to go insane?  He's not usually like that.  Last time we did this he put up some fight, but that was only because he was in a lot of pain." Leonidas spoke to himself outloud.  Aster and the woman shrugged and activated the platform back up and carried the wounded into the medical bay.

-----------------------------------------

You hear a humming noise and a beep.  Very rhythmic.  Your whole body aches and you can't see...oh gods are you blind?!....no, it's just a blindfold....a womans voice, Fangs voice actually calls to you.  

"Morning you two.  I wouldn't take them off yet.  You're hooked up to quite a bit of things.  EKG, IV, heart monitor, blood pressure.  Just relax a bit.  I assume you got a hell of a sore throat?  Aster did have to put a oxygen tube in you two.  Not an easy task with a 8 foot tall deity screaming bloody murder at you and all that.  What do you two want to drink?  Or eat at that." 

(When you finally get to meet Crimson, ask him about it.  Rebellion is a force AGAINST all Natural Order.  Doesn't matter if it's morals, Chaos, Judgement (to a degree), he can remove it all.  Oh, and Headcanon now, Aestus hates Aster and his IV's.)

"Infinity?  Two bottles please.  Chilled, not cold." Fang said to her, wherever Infinity was, she got up with a quiet groan of pain and obeyed.  Just a few minutes later she put a bottle of water in Aestus' hand and Caligos.  "I'm glad you two are ok...well one of you anyways, I don't appreciate Aestus' nearly wrecking the OR and Recovery center." Infinity said and walked off.  Fang laughed gently and crossed her bandaged legs. 

"Both of you aren't native Arithnian, nor are you native to Crimson's ability of Rebellion.  He used a special power if you want to call it, called Domination.  To all who even is near this word, they fall to their knees and lose all will to move or act against this order.   Anyways, you two never experienced it before so its effect on you two was far greater than any Arithnian, and as such, the force that sent you to your knees and ground shut your whole body down.  As in, you two died instantaneously.  The amount of shock your heart took was insane.  So once all was over, Infinity and Flare carried you two over to the Med Bay and we began emergency recovery.  Flare had to expend a few Phoenix plumes to keep you two alive until Aster managed to stabilize you medically, which is where you two are now, in the Recovery Center.  You're literally alive thanks you magic and science."   

(WOOOOOOOOO)

"It's alright Aestus, I understand why you did it...just uh, don't kill someone accidently please.  And Caligo, that is something to ask Aster, not me.  He's the doctor here." Fang replied to them both.

(Yeah, they are drugged pretty well...)

"The blindfold is just a safety precaution in case if things are too bright.  You two were out of it well over 3 weeks, so I had no idea how well your body would adjust.  If you really want to take them off, go ahead, but  I wouldn't risk getting a flashbang until Aster lets you guys discharge from the RC.  And Caligo, look at your hand.  Infinity already got you one." Fang's gentle laughed was joined with Infinity snort.  "You kids, I swear..." she remarked.