Topic: An Escape of the Front Lines

Aya Mahara-Ravenlock

Date: 2008-06-10 15:39 EST
(Author's note: the chatlog of portions of this write up can be seen here, here. and here.)

The door was left ajar as she stepped out from the acclaimed marked 13A, removing herself from that presence with but a single agonizing thought: Rid of the evidence in hand. The evidence in question was a singular bowl that resembled salad tupperware, something that she had merely discovered in the room after the exchange of words, and heated conflicted. Within it contained the remaining ashes of but one of two important figures in her life in Rhydin. The other, she knew, lingered just below, tending to an afternoon drink.

Emerging from the narrow hallway, to the break within the wall that descended to the commons below, the faint noise of buzzing conversation could be heard. Mismatched eyes scaled the wall nearby, keeping her line of sight devoted to something other than awkward glances that threatened to break her subconscious; the layers of her reality. Sliding onto her bottom, she sat atop the stairs and watched through the banister, and the conversations being had. Yet, she couldn't shake the feeling of her own conversation; something biting at the back of her skull like a venomous snake. Something she could recall they discussed some time ago?

"What's the point of these statues, anyway? Why are they so important to those at Somul that they need to guard them with their lives?" Alex asked, his own research being set aside as he inquired his youngest daughter.

"Legend has it that they're ancients from another world. Ancients that possess such vast magical power, they could possibly be what gave us the existence of it, to begin with," she half-responded with, resorting to pulling her knowledge from a notepad that was spread out on the desk they shared. "They say that once upon a time, they lived normal lives as we do now. But they were transformed at the will of the people they governed."

"Governed? You mean they're leaders?"

"Some seem to think so. They're the patriarch's and matriarch's of their world, and when they were transformed, so was the peace they guaranteed. Forces of the Gods, I assume."

A slow blink acknowledged Alex's understanding, swirls of emerald focusing on the two they currently possess within the basement of the Villa. "And there are more of these?"

"There are four, if we're judging them from what history has laid out for us. They manipulate the control of Fire, Water, Earth and Air, respectfully." Ayaka explained, her well of eternal understanding yet to cease where magic was concerned. "If the four were ever to reunite, some believe their shackles would be abolished, and their reign reestablished."

"I see. Then they're?Gods, that Maho is attempting to revive?"

"Maybe. Or maybe he's attempting to reunite them for something much darker. He is siphoning magical power from students at the school? killing them? to power his own creations, as we speak." Ayaka's teeth gnashed together as she dared to speak aloud about the terrible things she'd witnessed before now. Her gaze lowered away, the book in hand snapping closed and tossed to the table. "Regardless, with the power of Gods at the fingertip of the possessor, the limits are endless?"

A thin smirk crossed Alex's lips as his gaze moved to settle on Ayaka, a broad hand resting atop her hand to ruffle blonde locks messily. "Then let's get our act together? together, we'll find the means of accomplishing it."

Ayaka's hands clutched the container within his grasp firmly. So firmly in fact, her knuckles had begun to whiten; the underneath of her fingernails a mixture of blue, red, and ivory. She had little desire to lose what it was she carried with her, without the understandings of why. But with little time to realize her actions, and ponder them, such would be left to the mystery of her own reality, and merely be forced to accept that for when the time came around.
Mismatched eyes darted toward the door, back to the altered Trueblood, and back again. She had the urgings to whip and run, never look back; wash her hands of something she didn't want to be tied up in, anymore. But that was the makings of another somebody, and she was not prepared to accept something other than what her destiny cried out for her.

Ayaka watched as Lain turned her attention upwards towards her position, never skipping a beat, and observed as Lain circled around the siding of the stairs, and stood at the foot of them, looking up and far to where the taller, newly developed blonde sat. Even the singular calling of her name didn't startle her, despite the fact that Lain, of all people, shouldn't know that Ayaka was? Ayaka.

"Gee, Mommy. You're brighter than daddy," she obnoxiously announced, coupled with a brief hint of disappointment. She was amused, tickled to her very core, when she was able to get the jump on somebody merely because she appeared different. She rose to her feet, ever certain to keep the bowl, and it's contents, within her grasp.

"Way-way-wait, mommy?" saying that last word a little too loud, and dislodging a hand so she can wave it side to side, the rings along her fingers glinting. "I'm not'cher 'Mommy,' don't call me that." Although her mind is furiously tossing the mention of Alex over and over itself, and it shows with the pursing of lips, and flaring of nostrils.

"Maybe not matroclinal, you're not," mismatched eyes rolling, her annoyance always flaring to the boiling point when Lain found things so literal to respond with. Just for that, Ayaka decided against altering her wording to appease her false-mother. "How are you, mommy?" Ayaka asked, her posture dipping as she relaxed a leg.

A roll of her own eyes matched Aka's, however Lain's weren't two colors, and neither were Aka's the last time she remembered. She spared the bowl she was carrying a moment's worth of attention before zeroing it back hardcore on Aka's, visibly older, face. In fact... "God, what did you do.." as she shakes herself from her daze and back into motion, continuing with her plan of going up the stairs, albeit a whole hell of a lot slower than before.

Ayaka's disappointment progressed, "Not so bright," Ayaka restrained as she spoke; remaining watchful as Lain ascended. "You care?" she inquired, words pronouncing her flabbergasted feeling.

"Well obviously, otherwise I wouldn't be even payin' ya any mind, schway?" Lain stops on the second to last top stair and grips the handle as she leans and catches a better look at Aka. Yeah, this was it... she didn't feel like she used to, hardly at all. Everything that now assaulted Lain's sense was hot. Humid, searing, burning. "Good fricken god, kid'jer like..." waving her hands to illustrate 'taller than her,' words spoken softly.

Humidity was always an issue when close to Ayaka, for it was part of whom she was, now. She herself could barely remember the extension of her own person, and it commonly lead to humorous results. At least, where she was concerned. "M-hm. That's all you got to say?" Granted, Ayaka was taller than Lain, now. But, for some reason, resorting to conversation of height was not the pinnocale of interest. A small jiggle of the container was given, eyes flicking to it before rising back to Lain.

"Words ain't my forte, gimme a second.." still in disbelief at all of this, then with a vengeance, her mind snaps back into something resembling working order. Softly, she said, "So you DID blast th'bejeesus outta that place.." thanks to a bit of mental tweakage from Kidlet #2, Lain's able to recall such an event. " .. God, Alex is gonna be.. no-" shaking her head. "No, you've already seen him, haven't you? What did he say?" the beginnings of a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

There we are? precisely what it was Ayaka was hoping this stretch of interaction would reach towards. A momentary turn of her head over a shoulder kept the slacking masquerade intact, as though she was half expecting her father to appear at the landing. "Blast?" eyes drifting to one side in wonderment as she asked, before turning back around to Lain. "Nah, that place had it comin' since before I showed up." Her words reflected a recent encounter, rather than that of which Lain spoke differently of, for sure. "'n, yeah, I did. Speaking of, think you can handle this for me?" The clutches of that sealed salad bowl was lobbed granny-style to the trueblood. Ridding of it from her grasp, she immediately began flexing her fingers to work the feeling back into them. She was rather grateful.

A bit startled at that, she nearly topples down the stairs trying to catch it, but inside swings around and not-so-gracefully crashes into the railing. It squeaks with her weight. Loud. "Uh.. suuure.." peering at it at eye level, looking at it through the bottom. It's what looks like... "Dirt," looking from the bowl to Aka, back and forth, then continues to study the bowl. "This is a bowl of dirt.." confused in tone.

A slender, blonde brow lifted to Lain's confused observation, lips churning downward into a frown. It wasn't the optimal direction she was hoping for, at this extent. "Uh, yeah. I guess. Put it with the other dirt. Don't mind the color," waving a hand a dismissal as she began to walk down the stairs to the ground floor.

"The color?" blinking. Another lifting of the bowl so she could look at it through the bottom. It all looked like a sickly gray to her, fine as sand, and light as hell. Shifting in her lean, she braced the bowl against her stomach and pried the lid up with her nails. It burped a cloud of dust and magic that hit her square in the chest like two ton weight. A sense of foreboding trickled over her like water, and her throat closed as she continued. It was nearly a minute before she could look properly inside. Green, gray... lavender. Her hands shook so violently, she almost dropped it when she whirled and stared bloody murder after Aka and bellowed in a voice that was as high and shrill as a banshee's. "WHAT DID YOU DO?!"

Even though she was being shrieked at, she took it quite like a champ, eyes moving towards Lain as she whirled about, "I handled a situation. I have another following this one, if you don't mind?" Innocence was key. Briskly spoken, she inferred haste.

She had to put it down, or else she would drop it. It, not HIM, she willed herself to think. Once she got the cap secured along the rim, it tumbled out of her hands and bounced a few steps away, spinning around on its base. But Lain was preceding it by a good mile having launched herself from the top of the stairs with such speed she only left a trail of red and black behind her. One foot hit the ground and pushed her into the air, the other unfurling from its curled position. She didn't know what she was trying to kick, just something, ANYTHING.

She'd refute some mentioning of violence, but was being blindsided by a fast trueblood. There was a vivid streak of vulgarities as she fumbled backwards. A wall was her net, catching her after but a few steps, and leaving in plain sight charred streaks in her wake. Nothing but a mere touch was required to sustain such marring. She left a vast imprint of her presence, the caked heat that dribbled off of her, present on the wall. And she didn't even seem to notice?

The top of her shoe was hastily being eaten away, but she didn't care. She was lucky she loved heat as much as she did. A pained yell was forced from grit teeth as she spun round and bounced off a leg to propel her once more into the air, this time a fist pulling back, but it wasn't just a fist. Invisible balls of concentrated force spun around over her knuckles, her fierce, pissed anger becoming more than merely evident.

Mismatched eyes widened at the continued onslaught, reacting much like a rodent would and ducking beneath Lain. Scurrying some feet ahead, she snatched up that tupperware, and danced her way onto the steps once again. Facing Lain, she scowled loudly, "You do know violence is of the uneducated, poor mindset?" Ayaka accusingly proclaimed, fingers tightening immediately as the container rested between hands.

And thankfully the inn was self healing, for the six foot wide explosion of wood, stone, glass facing into the alleyway wouldn't have boded well for tourism. Lain stayed in that position, watching the wall crawl back into its previous formation, and she stared at it, willing the warm water pooling in her eyes back where it came. Her head turned towards Aka with crystal blues flashing a brilliant white like a dying light bulb. "Then what does that make you? You were the most violent and pissed off out of all of us!" Her eyes narrowed as she watched Aka pick It back up, silently cursing herself for not gluing it somewhere to her person or stashing it somewhere safe before she flew off the handle.

"Base~less!" she sang to Lain, holding the container like a makeshift shield before her in protection. "Maybe not the best person to take this rubbish out to air dry."

"Baseless..?" dry in tone as she turned about slowly. As if by a breeze, her blue-black hair whipped back from her face and neck, followed by her over shirt. Her previously raised fist lowered to join the other by her side and they both clenched with enough force to cut flesh. "Clueless more like, but that doesn't matter now. Because you've obviously matured," sarcastic, "didn't get your way, SO YOU KILL HIM?!" As she made her way forward, the tables and chairs in the immediate vicinity began to rattle and vibrate in their places. Her shifting eyes were locked on one thing, and one thing only - the bowl. She needed to get it back.

"This only ensures it, mommy," smiling innocently as she holds the bowl up and over her head; simulation of a bully enticing the smaller. "You have your own objectives to settle for, and are of little bother to me," she declared to the trueblood. "So deal with it, and stay outta' my situation, schway?" Mockingly. The tupperware was lobbed once again, this time towards the center of the commons. It'd settle as a distraction, she'd assume.

Oh no, the Nexus didn't. Any who'd previously known Lain would consider some kind of miracle that she was able to calm herself down given the circumstances. With eyes still flickering between blue and white, she thrust her arm out to the side, and instead of just falling right down, the morbid bowl flipped over and over itself before it zoomed into her outstretched hand. Her long fingers closed protectively around it, and she brought it to her chest like a schoolgirl would a book. Lain couldn't muster anything resembling coherent speech, and just hugged the tupperware to her chest. If Alex was... if he was REALLY in there, then she didn't have any reason at all to deal with this girl anymore. She was more than happy to wash her hands free of her existence, but found it hard to do so. Because in reality, Aka didn't do anything wrong save this. And this... this was like kicking a newborn baby in their mouth to Lain. She wouldn't forgive this. Ever.

Ayaka quietly 'har-umphed' as Lain caught the object in question that was thrown. Lifting two fingers to her brow, she mimicked their salute in greeting at Lain's back. Parading back down the stairs, she heaved her way for the door and made her escape. "Let daddy know his statues will go to a better purpose, Lain-doll!" she called over a shoulder. And once she was outside, with a flimsy door between she and just about everybody present within that didn't seem to give much care to the two causing a ruckus, she sighed a simple breath in total relief.

Ayaka made her way from the porch, pivoting on a heel to observe either direction of road that crossed on by her. Connor was already at the Villa, more than likely working the statues together. Snatching the radio up that dangled at a hip, she pulled it close to her mouth, clicking the button so she could talk. "How's it going?"

Sssssssssst.

"Damn, must be out of range?" she uttered, twisting the volume down to low before releasing the square device. Taking one, final glance over a shoulder, she briskly took off down the street to head to one other location within the city.

Aya Mahara-Ravenlock

Date: 2008-06-12 23:28 EST
A darkened alley was not the first location Ayaka chose as considerable destinations within the city. Not only were they usually cluttered with filth, but some of the downright dirtiest scum took refuge in nothing more than cardboard boxes. ?and usually requested someone else to join them for enlightenment.

However, one particular alley had taken Ayaka's interest previously. One only several blocks down from the Red Dragon. Counting heads; one, two, three? she could recall seeing them. And she had grown more curious by the second.

Rooftops were not Ayaka's forte. Heights were questionable, causing squeamish stomachs to churn, and balance to become a dastard responsibility. Like twins, together they were a menace that forced her mind traversing in ways she'd prefer not; the objective lost. After all, at this point and time, only shortly following another of her misdeeds, she had herself to look out for.

Selfish girl.

Leaning over an edge of cement, to the tunnel of darkness before her, the remainders of certain people could still be made out.

"This is ridiculous," a female's voice spouted, impatience clear in her tone. "Twice now we've lost sight of our goal. He expects us to keep this rat race going indefinitely?"

"Does it matter?? As long as we establish a link, we can come and go as we please," another, equally impatient female spoke.

Taller than either, a third emerged from the shadows. Peridot was the only evidence it were something of a humanoid, and not that of a beast that consumes the living while they sleep. "Be mindful, children. Prying ears observe," motioning upwards. "You are one with the lavender haired male, are you not?"

Ayaka's mismatched eyes narrowed, sliding from the rooftop to land between the three. The sudden appearance forced the two women back several steps, hand signs at the ready. "Then you are the ones they were talking about?" she acknowledged, eyes bouncing between the trio expectantly. "You'll be sorely displeased to hear that he's no longer in commission."

A fuzzy brow rose from the male, peridot narrowing in evidence of heightened annoyance. "Explain yourself, child."

Ayaka's shoulders rolled gently, hands rising in the air as she did so. She stepped between the two females, moving out from the alley. "What's to say? But if I'm on the ball, you were the ones that took him? Maybe I should be asking you some questions?"

One rose to a defensive shout, "Like we have anything to shar-"

"Let her speak, Quan. Little shall we gain rising to arms so quickly," Zanzan consoled. "Continue."

Ayaka cleared her throat, turning around on a heel to examine the three equally. "Alex Ravenlock has been slain."

Silence was a tricky thing, especially when a bunch of people who had nothing in common, goal wise or otherwise, were gathered together to enlighten one another on current events. Outlandish brawls were the produce of these silences, usually denting somebody's insurance quite a bit.

"Then we are too late," the third spoke after several pausing moments, her voice monotone; defeated.

"Troublesome, indeed. Without him, our creation will be incomplete," Zanzan concurred with.

A quirk of a blonde brow, along with a puppy dog tilt of the head, Ayaka looked between the three with exceptional uncertainty. What was it they were going on about, now? Creation? Him? They couldn't mean? "You three don't happen to be assigned to some task at the account of Maho, are you?"

The faintest of crickets, singing their midnight serenade, invaded another momentary awkward silence, the trio looking amongst each other to either consider the possible answers, or further the questions that had arisen. "What do you know of him?" Quan inquired.

"Only that he has a certain, scum-like quality about him. But you three certainly aren't dressed for his line of affairs. And I know for a fact that his undercover units don't span this far, even if they were looking for a specific target." Ayaka was thankful for her vast studying abilities. She'd later remember to smack herself for openly discussing him in a public location, and so vilely.

A faint smirk lined Quan's lips, one that Zanzan in particular shared, as they observed each other at Ayaka's spout. "An interesting discovery. Maho's reign does not stretch this far. In fact, I'd admit that very few would be aware of his existence, at that. You're not? from around these parts, are you?"

Ayaka's head shook gently from side to side, "I used to be a student at the Magic School within the Holy City."

In unison, the trio inclined their heads, intrigued to impossible limits. "We too? used to be a part of the Holy City. Our Master was quick to? aid us when Maho intruded on our lives by attempting to eradicate us."

"If our target is truly destroyed, as our fears had been, our mission has come to an end. Yet? you girl?" Zanzan lightly rose a finger to indicate Ayaka. "You should meet our Master. I trust that if you do in fact share our disgust, he would like to meet you?"

"Hm," softly, trailing into thought. "A cause against Maho. I had no idea such a rebellion was taking place."

Zanzan chuckled lightly, "A rebellion would be putting it mildly. We plan to start? an insurrection."

Connor

Date: 2008-06-20 18:02 EST
Operatives: Connor Encrossis.
Location: A broken down house that's owned by some Ravenlock fellow.
Time: I have no idea.

Welcome... Amthras, Lain.

"Why thank you." He was lucky that the password he'd been able to receive wasn't a voice command. Connor sneered at the massive computer screen as he glided his fingers all over the set of keys before him. It was a handy skill to have: being able to sense images and predict outcomes through the pads of the fingers. It certainly helped him in his occupation, that's for sure.

The statues were nearby in the same chamber, and he glanced at them over his steepled fingers as he waited for the outcome of the process he had just initiated. A drop of water hanging from his damp bangs splashed onto the bridge of his nose and ran down its left side, but still he didn't move. He sat still like them, like those statues, his eyes the only things moving, flicking like gnats over the multiple windows that flooded the screen. This.. Lain Amthras, she was the one whom he was borrowing clothes from. Not that he had any such problem with displaying his physique under torn and dirty garments, he just didn't think that was good form anymore.

"How's it going?" Connor's eyes drifted to the communication device he shared with Aka. His eyes were dead, with no concern, or even acknowledgment shining in them. Without a second thought, he switched it off, and relaxed back into his chair.

So this is where they were holding up the statues. Not just one, but two. A smile played at his lips as he thought. He figured that either the ones who had stolen them were either extremely adept... or the almighty hold that had gripped the Holy City and those within the surrounding area was starting to slip. Hell, even the fact that Aka was able to escape from her facility proved that much. Connor had found enough security and stealthy violations to fill an entire fine print dictionary.

The console before him continued to click and beep as it opened files long since dormant. Words like 'Manaforge,' 'responds to direct stimulation from-,' 'manipulation of gravitational force,' 'Ayaka's proximity seems to-,' and so on jumped out at him, but he didn't have time to sit and read through the plethora of information. Sticking out his index finger, Connor punched in several buttons with a lazy gesture, and another device kicked to life and started spitting out the entire database of the console onto paper with thin lines of scribble and loads of diagrams. As he waited, he fished his own communicator from his pocket and activated it.

"Encrossis, Connor ... Has someone picked up my vehicle? ... Good, good ... Who are you? ... Get me your superior ... What do you mean you don't know who your superior is? ... Quit stammering, you sound even more braindead ... Just try, you might surprise me."

Connor kicked away from the keyboard, and the wheels on his chair ground into the floor. Using his feet as leverage, he spun the chair around, laughing. New Kid was taking a while to process his request.

Five minutes later, at the sound of a gravelly voice in his ear, he stopped his rotations, the rubber of his shoes screeching on the floor.

"Your lacky needs to go through the training module on promptness and comprehension six times over, but that's not what I'm calling about. I want a direct connection ... To whom? I think you know whom ... Oh, I assure you," Connor said smirking as he wheeled himself back to the keyboard. He held the communicator between his ear and his shoulder as he typed in various commands. "He'll listen to me."

Aya Mahara-Ravenlock

Date: 2008-06-20 18:12 EST
"Ayaka Mahara? we meet at last. My most esteemed men and women have? shared with me their heavy interest in your knowledge," a voice rang out the moment Ayaka and company stepped foot within the large cavern mouth, something that resembled a snake with the stalactites jutting downward from the limestone just within. Ayaka was hesitant to move the very moment she could hear that voice bellow from deep within.

Yet, strangely, her ears registered the voice creeping within her mind; almost telepathically.

"You're??" she quietly queried, mismatched eyes drifting leftward and upward to the nearby Zanzan. Although she was seeking peridot, the various horizontal slashes that sculpted his appearance attracted her attention much greater than it naturally would.

The biggest of the four, seeing that their newest possible partner slowed, followed in similar pursuit. "Yes, he is our leader. Fuzin has shared with us his wishes in finding those with a similar passion against M-" Zanzan found himself cut off by the smaller girl; a trait even Nidan highly struggled to accomplish on most days.

Ayaka's voice carried distance, capable lungs barely squeezing a wince from those colorful eyes as she cupped her hands on either side of her mouth. "If you're against Mr. Nasty, you wouldn't have taken Alex like that, dee! You really should explain yourself, before I maim you and every last one of these members of yours!"

Barely a breath was managed before the sound of paper being crumpled and ripped simultaneously split from her figure, those outrageous tendrils of molten lava searing holes in the rear of her clothing; a resemblance to another time, another place. Four in total, that resembled tails due to how they were located on her person, whipped in unison in random directions, curling over her curvy shoulders to act as protective spines from the three just ahead of her. The singular sapphire eye; the very that spoke out of her childish youth that had disappeared into the faintest of dreams, washed out. Nothing but pure, dark red ovals remained. "And I suggest you tell me now, dee? I really do hate resorting to the hard work."

Neither Zanzan's aged experience, nor Quan's dexterous, youthful movements could be expend at that very moment, resorting to the three to rise their hands in slow surrender. "Why must we always be thrust into this kind of situation? Are you really that incompetent?" the corner for the elder man's face declared in spiteful anger.

"You have no room to talk, you sack of potatoes? Girl! Rationalize with us, here. Slaying us will do nothing to put a stop to Maho; and furthermore, disclose to him your very location!" Zanzan said, attempting diplomatically to both lower her potential assault, and probable defenses. Right then, he didn't care which was to drop first, but was hoping to get something through to her.

Spindles of her blonde hair ignited into pure flame that rose like a bonfire for the hot air that surrounded her. It wasn't but a few seconds before each, single lock became ablaze, setting forth the visage of that preverbal fiery mane. "You shut your mouth when you're talking to me, pops. I'm asking the questions here," she spat, hot eyes looking between the three of them before just beyond. "I'll ask you one last time: What was your purpose with my daddy? Your goon squad here said something about a creation, and I want to know what it is, dee!" Her untrusting personality shining forth brighter than the aura she propelled, tendrils of licking flame flaring to signify the anger she possessed along with the question asked.

Despite her obvious advantage, overwhelming firepower, and potential loss of several Newborne, no response came from within the cave. Its utter silence deafening more so than her shouts that were shrill to the very core. The three took solemn glances between each other, as if to question why Fuzin, their declared and possibly respected commander, was not moving in to assist them.

"Look, girl? Fuzin does what Fuzin wants. He will take and make what he pleases, as long as it puts an end to Maho's ruling. You have to understand, it was nothing personal against your? father," the word literally rolling off Quan's tongue in the form of a question. Her doubts were blatantly clear from the word, alone. Yet she did not drag her pause out so quickly as to allow judgments to be made. "He was to be an instrument of better knowledge, for we believe he was present within the company of Maho's right-hand, Ryo the Koori. If that were to be precise, Alexander possessed a vital resource that we need, directly located within his system."

Ayaka's blaring flames subsided, albeit gently, at the words spoken by the beautiful woman of younger status than even she. So much was being left unanswered, even when she was right there to obtain them. Ruby eyes narrowed as a tendril plunged within the earth in a sizzling fit, causing burning rock to steam violently from the wound being made within the planet. "A tool? An instrument? Are you people so daft as to not realize?? Ryo was against Maho from the very start! Alexander is not an instrument. He and Alexander both shared a disdain for Maho! Any object being placed, if any at all, within Alexa-" she cut herself off, realizing only then what it was they meant. "He was? safe-guarded toward Maho??"

Zanzan's peridot rose toward the girl in admiration. He had never stood within the presence of a pure-blood before; their tales only spoken in faint riddles throughout the years that flashed before his very eyes. "Ryo the Koori implanted a device that was capable of deflecting even the worst of Mizer power within your father, Alexander. By doing so, no Mizer could dare touch him, let alone do something so devious such as slay him. Which is why?" he trailed off, although expectantly, as another figure revealed itself from the shadows of the cave just beyond.

"Which is why, Sister, we are very curious to know how you were so easily capable of bringing death upon him; without even breaking a sweat?"

Aya Mahara-Ravenlock

Date: 2008-06-20 19:00 EST
Silence was the benchmark where the uncertain was going to happen; regardless if somebody was to enjoy it, or not. When heartbreaking news is first announced to an unsuspecting, waiting group of loved ones within a hospital, silence was a standard before the saddening news was given. When a funeral was being held, a moment of silence would commonly arise to mourn the fallen. And when one was receiving sudden, startling news before unknown people all at one's mercy? Well?

"Si-sister??" rounded eyes lifting towards the newest arrival. She recognized him from any distance; the way he walked, carried himself. Those soft eyes that looked down upon her whenever she was worried or scared. The muscular arms that shielded her from threats that were laid out upon her from those children?

Zanzan immediately rose to a stance, Quan and their third escort following just behind. Each bowed in turn. "Lord Fuzin!" he exclaimed both startled, and mayhap vaguely thankful, at his leader's appearance.

Two fingers drifted upwards in a flicking motion towards their formal bowing, dismissing it. Such formalities were unnecessary when his eyes were too busy drinking in the female that stood before them as though she was an acceptable candidate to roast the marshmallows they were saving for such a special occasion. "Ah, yes? it has been some time since our last?rendezvous, hasn't it, sis?" Fuzin queried nonchalantly as he approached the girl, unknowingly, or perhaps carelessly, that she was a bee at the ready to sting the assailant.

The tendril that was burrowed deep within the earth, ever sizzling and popping without warning, had grown since the initial impact. Dripping even as though its heat was unprecedented to what lay beyond, melting the warmth with something hotter. "?You're?" She questioned, looking just beyond that tail-pike of flame.

"Alive?" he asked, unaware of the nostalgia involved. "Yes, that I am. And I should add, for quite some time," spoken as he surveyed the licking flames that arose from the tendrils surrounding her; the very heat she produced he wasn't fazed by in the slightest. "I see you got your ? gift. And are using it quite well, if but flailing it around threateningly to get your way," Fuzin smiled, casting his eyes upon her after inspecting the outcome.

Ripping from beneath the earth, that tendril made a bee-line for the exposed neck that she could see, its solid mass nearly singing the hairs from his flesh as it coiled about several inches from impact. Any sudden moves would merely result in her biting down with that singular tail; his existence snuffed from the picture instantly. "Yeah, Rey? I got it. A little bird told me it was in thanks to my family? and I should tell you. I'm not amused, dee?" she darkly admitted.

Ayaka's gifts were always at the behest of somebody else wishing her to use them. Even when she was unaware what they were good for, the kids at school in the village made fun of her for them. A mutant, she was the monstrosity that people resorted to picking on, making her life a living disaster. Which would ultimately lead up to that fiery night when her village was torn to shreds, she standing before the mass of it in a fit of tears. And that sharp shard plunging deep into her spine from an unknown man? from Maho himself?

"How dare you do this to me? it was everything to me that I not have these powers? to not be the monster you and mother made me out to be!" she sneered, that hot tendril drawing closer towards Rey's neck.

Rey's eyes resembled his sisters, minus the angry glaring and obvious flame that billowed just beyond the iris. They watched Ayaka from proximity, faintly able to ebb the terror before him to see the little girl that rested just beyond; the young sibling that he cared a great deal for? "It wasn't at my request that you be transformed, Ayaka."

Another turn.

Ayaka's eyes narrowed even further, she moving forward to close the distance between she and her brother. "Bullshit, Rey? you're the only family I have left. Laura died in that fire seven years ago. And so had you, apparently, dee. You, amongst all people, weren't there the moment the fires began to ignite. They said you were at the school, the very first thing to go up!"

A hesitant glance was given to his sister, fingers slowly lifting into the air as if to ask her to wait. "Now, now. Only so soon we've reunited, and already you're flinging these things at me; yelling at me like old times? Whatever happened to that sister that couldn't wait to be with her brother? Who? wanted to share his life?"

As though a pool of water consumed the tail surrounding Rey's neck, it tapered off at those words; falling to brittle ash that was blown away at a sudden breeze that picked up. Ayaka's flaring eyes remained, however, as did three remaining tendrils of licking flame that were pinpointed in the direction of Zanzan, Quan, and the unexplained female. "W-what!? You show yourself after seven years? You, the proclaimed leader of this stupid entourage, take the only other important figure in my life because you think him some kind of tool? You admit to turning me into this? this? WHATEVER this is!? And then you want your sister to give you a hug?! Are you fucking stupid!?" She had forgotten, by this point, the mentioning of that creation they were working on; the very fabric of her agreeing to meet their leader to begin with. A carefully constructed idea turned into a complete and utter wreck. It was too much to expect she'd be allowed a chance at vengeance, especially when every time she turned around, something else was rising that she wasn't planning on.

It was evident that Ayaka was more than simply mad. That she was more than a pot of water boiling from the brim. Which was precisely why Rey pivoted around, in the direction of the three that were stuck in position lest they be impaled. Each of them watched Rey expectantly; curt nods observed when ruby eyes skimmed over them. "I suppose that is far too much to ask of my little sister?" A glare was observed from the corner of his eye as he snapped his head towards Aka, an open palm being thrust forward into her chest. The impact, which occurred in the matter of a split second; nothing more than a blur from fierce agility, let off a resounding pop that sent Ayaka sprawling backwards tens of feet to the ground in a fumbling wreck. Tendrils of hot flame tapered off before she ever began to sore, and the heat that surrounded her; the only shield she possessed, had fallen. It left her realizing for the first time, all over again, what the effects of chill sincerely felt like when cool air clashed with her broken flesh.

When the dust settled from her tumbling, Ayaka laid out upon her back; entirely motionless from the tumble. Her figure was much smaller than it was mere minutes ago, resembling a child that had fallen off of her bike after only learning how to ride it. It was evident, from the heaves beneath a bosom no longer risen as a result of being a grown woman, that she was alive.

She was? nothing greater than a child. Again.

Bent fingers curled inward just after Rey's palm struck Ayaka down. One hand remained calmly placed upon his back, and eagerly awaited for the first to join together, before he turned to step back towards the cave. "I've seen enough," quietly said as he walked past the three that observed with owlish blinks at what had just happened. "She's as useless as I presumed her to be." Rey stopped once he reached the mouth of the cave he had emerged from. Turning back around, either arm split from behind his back, and into the air, as if flagging a drag race to proceed. "Zanzan, Quan, Rinku?! Kill her!"

Aya Mahara-Ravenlock

Date: 2008-06-20 20:14 EST
"Lord Fuzin!" "Lord Fuzin!" "Lord Fuzin!" The three chimed in at the same time in acknowledgment before launching from place to travel at the near speed of light, in thanks to Zanzan's inept ability, towards the fallen girl.

Ayaka, laid out on her back, gently flickered from a smaller girl to that of her older self, that single strike acting as though what would occur were somebody to bump into a television and set off a spree of static. The distorting, capable of flickering her entire body from being visibly seen for half-second intervals, granted her a moment of freedom. As she spotted the tunneling trio close in on her person, she immediately tugged herself to the left to avoid contact, and foundered helplessly to a stance.

She could feel those flickers of Rey's attack physically, making her feel as though she was lighter than air. To some degree, perhaps he had just helped her, rather than otherwise. But when the full effects of his attack took effect, she realized it was a complete hindrance to her ability. She was a sitting duck in a pond full of hunters.

Wide, sapphire eyes looked outward towards Rey, whom she could see standing before the mouth of the cave, and gave off gentle sneers in anger. She never would have expected, in her entire life, that her brother was so quick to be alive all this time. And, moreover, seemingly be working against the same person that she was. Was it for the same purpose? And if so, what was it that he did to her to transform her, were he not the one that made the request of altering her to begin with? These questions forced her to lose her train of thought; she being battered to the ground by a sudden hammering motion of hands from behind by Rinku.

Crashing into the ground with a simple bounce, she tucked and rolled onto her back, either hand lifting with palms extended, "Icy Tremors!" she called out, resorting to her ice magic that she was prone to as a child. She could feel the surges of cold flow through her like a wave, and one that had her cringing at. It had been months since she could remember what it felt like to be bathed in frozen-like conditions, and the reminder brought painful tears to her eyes.

In an eruption from extended palms, several spurts of sheer ice beams shot forth to collide straight into Rinku. The attack was capable of hitting two birds with one stone, as cringing digits bent downward to altercate the flow of ice; it crushing Quan who was but mere feet behind her partner pressed against the flat end of the icy trail.

---

She felt at ease seeing the pair trapped against the surface of the icy pillar, but was not aware that Zanzan was just out of eye-sight with a massive rock clutched between his mammoth hands. In the slightest second of her realizing this, it was far too late; for the rock was plummeting downward and slamming into her head. She could literally feel her skull implode, the bone shattering into her brain which gushed together in a sickening goo, blackness overtaking her.

---

A sudden gasp sounded from her throat, having bared witness to her own death as though she was capable of seeing it before it happened, had her breaking the connection she had with that icy pillar, and repeated the process by flinging one upwards and outwards just above her, within the air; the same location where Zanzan was in her vision. In her actual reality, however, Zanzan was not where it was he should have been. Instead, he was ambling before Quan and Rinku to aid them.

"Do you like how I envision your death, little girl?" Rinku questioned with a sickening pleasure seeping from her tone. Judging from how she had phrased that question, it was she that invoked such a vision into her brain; and likely expected Ayaka to free the grip of their icy prison.

Sapphire eyes glared angrily at her, "Good luck, dee! I've handled people capable of doing worse than that!" Her bluff already being called the moment she was gasping for air and flinging ice at pure air.

Ayaka's body lowered into a defensive stance, observing the three who stood before her. Fingers rolled into a gentle fist, recalling her brief training with Alex when it came to the physical combat. With Rinku in the picture, any contact whatsoever appeared to utilize a vision that she wished to concoct. Quan and Zanzan's abilities she was unfamiliar with, however. Something that she was going to have to blindly accept.

Her eyes flicked over onto Zanzan, noting that he didn't seem to be so eagerly ready to assault her. And even though she scowled at him, she could have sworn that she noted a faint smile creasing the corner of his lips. "It is interesting, isn't it child? How only a few minutes before, you had us awaiting for you to strike us down with deadly force? and now those tables have turned," he muttered, possibly settling on having his words only be exchanged between them four.

She could feel it; the fear setting in within her heart. Moving her fingers together, she prepared another silent incantation, "Don't underestimate me just because I'm this size. I have vast more experience being who I really am than some monster!"

A chuckle faintly escaped Zanzan's throat as he looked between Quan and Rinku. "I think we know that much about you, dear. And we also understand your heart is not in this for the kill; sheerly the hunt. A mouse seeking cheese, but willing to pick on bugs that invade its space. But I would advise you to leave now, and quick? Fuzin's desire is to have you killed; and it's been. Little is to be gained staying with us, any longer."

Ayaka's eyes narrowed, as if to doubt his judgment. "Leave? You'd allow me to so willingly, even after-"

Zanzan's voice rose, but thankfully still remained short enough for Rey to not hear. "Like you, we are mice after the cheese; but we plan to devour it whole. Consider yourself our stinkbug, something equally as large, and capable of harming us were we even to strike. You must leave!"

Ayaka's arms lifted in defense as Zanzan moved in upon her quicker than she had the ability to defend herself. Feeling his tight, muscular arms wrap about her frame, she swore she was being strangled against her will. Flailing with one arm; brashly pumping a rounded fist against the siding of his neck, the soothing voice of Rinku swiftly and abruptly penetrated her mind. No longer was her vision sharing a death together, the ruse she planted to merely allow Ayaka to free she and Quan, but instead one to calm her tantrum. "Rest! You will not be harmed?"

And any further feeling to fight was washed away by a sudden ivory light that shone deep within her breast, expelling outwards until its warmth consumed her nerves, her vision, and her mind. So quick was it to consumed her, she was unaware of it until it would immediately end.

Her eyes closed, feeling the sudden rush of energy swell over her body. Mere seconds passed where that chill tapered off from the soft breeze that had picked up just outside the cave, and when she opened her eyes, no longer was she present before those surrounding her.

She was alone; abandoned, suspended upside down against a building within the alley where she had originally met the trio.

"?what the?hell?" she gently whispered, asking herself as frightful hands drifted over her figure in an attempt to make sure she was in one piece.

While still that of a child, she had managed to survive the onslaught of those greater than she; the note that they had actually saved her from something almost more terrible than death.

She was granted her one, and perhaps only, miracle of her lifetime.

Aya Mahara-Ravenlock

Date: 2008-06-21 20:49 EST
Stripped of her power, as though naked in bitter darkness; lost. She had succumbed to the feeling of that abandonment that had become part of whom she was; left with the strange desire of uncaring, or unwilling.

It wasn't quite as bad as she would have expected it. She didn't put much thought into that, though. Were it to happen, if it would. Or how.

Slowing outside of the inn, sapphire eyes drifted upwards to acknowledge it; in the slight wonderment if what had transpired the past week was the right action. For some reason, within the deepest reaches of her body, she didn't think so.

"?haa~" she quietly squirmed from her throat, the meek sound a faint attempt at laughter to brighten her mood.

A sound, rustling bushes caught within a passing gust of wind, startled her. Swinging to the left, hands up and at the ready (a newly discovered defensive trait), she attempted to peer through the darkness at what created the disturbance. "Rest easy, Child. I have not come to bring newly created harm to your person."

It was that horizontally awkward man, she believed his was the name of Zanzan. His looming figure, even taller now that she was a shortened half of her former self, was intimidating even more so than she originally suspected it to be. Several steps were taken backward, despite his crafty haste. "N-now what! You did what you wanted; just leave me alone!" Ayaka pleaded, fumbling in her steps that sent her down on her rump.

Zanzan's features were rugged, and any time he distorted them further with a frown, a features of a beast were evident. He was his own monster; those horizontal lines across his face that spliced colors and texture a dramatic reminder. "What we desire, and what Fuzin asked of us; they are not one in the same. We were unaware the Master and you were related. And for that, me and my colleagues greatly apologize."

His words, his stance, she didn't trust it. She floundered helplessly to a stance; ready to succumb to his job of finishing her.

"Rinku, when she tapped into your mind; she discovered the beast that lingers within you. She asked of me to present you with something. Something to show our regrets for ever placing you in such a circumstance," heavy strides moving to approach the defenseless girl.

Ayaka's hawkish stare watched as the big man approached, a single hand held out towards her. Within it, a single stone pulsed like a heartbeat, resembling a living flame that was contained within. Her gaze diverted back and forth several times between the two, uncertain what to do. "Yo-you? work for my brother. Why should I trust what you-" interruptions a plenty.

"Lord Fuzin is merely our way to gaining what we wish. You, as well, possess the heart. You are just as much a key; merely not for the door we currently wish to enter. To fulfill everybody's desire, at once, my colleagues and I must resort to his will. For a time?" he stated darkly, motioning with the open hand for Ayaka to take the stone.

Hesitantly, a hand moved to pluck the stone from his grasp; its surface literally burning her from within. Yet, like warmth reacting to cold by clinging for dear life, she was unable to remove it. It seeped within that perspirative hand, and vanished with a dim puff of light. The sudden, violent reaction forced her to her knees, as though subjecting herself to this man's will; her insides literally on fire. Yet she could not gasp for breath, nor feel the notion to let out a blood-curling scream.

"In a period of two hours, Rinku will reactivate your power; her link already within you from the events of your ice attack, before. It will be sudden; and pain is most probable. The beast within is your key, and you will accept that," he spoke slowly, carefully selecting his words for the child to understand. Turning, a blur of distortion surrounded him, and the sound of suction impacting the air was the announcement he had left.

"We will meet again, Lord Fuzin's sister. When that time is right."