Chronicled Time: A Bloody Fight I
Papers flutter down from the sky, some strangely cut in half. Most are burnt or singed from Azreth's fire. They float down, only for some to be caught in a playful breeze. The breeze blows them out across the garden. Some are scattered on the zen rock garden, some fall on the plants growing here in there, a few end up floating down onto the water's surface of the koi pond, startling the fish. Those that didn't get scattered across the garden fall into the room, or what's left of it. It's as if half of the room was suddenly cut off and taken away. It's completely disappeared. Zexion's illusion has vanished now that he is no longer here. The bookcases on the remaining walls have reappeared. Everyone is missing, along with half of the room and Yuu-chan's desk.
As to where they are, that is a different story. They are in another dimension, the dimension of the creatures who came to take Yuu-chan away. They're returned to their world along with half of Yuu-chan's room. Everything is settling as a voice complains, walking up to the front of the building. "I still don't see why we have to go check on her," the voice sighs in aggravation. "Just because Yuuko thinks something's wrong. Yuu-san can take care of herself."
~x~X~x~
Zen and Azreth look around in surprsie. They hadn't expected to return to their world so soon. Azreth smiles and begins to laugh, the sound cold and chilling. His laughter echoes around them. The other half of Yuu-chan's room is in the middle of a clearing, green grass surrounding them, sprinkled with wildflowers. The world appears peaceful, save for the huge pillar of black smoke threatening to block out the sky in the east. It's an ominous cloud, dark and forebodding of what's to come. Around the edges of the north and west ends of the meadow is a long line of tree, the beginning of an extensive forest. It's enchancted, and stepping inside is not recommended. The wall faces to the south, blocking most of it from view. However, the window reveals an extensive dry land that ends at a large desert. Had Yuu-chan cared, she would have noted that she'd been to this world once before. That explained how she knew that there was a large ocean beyond the west forest and the just beyond the edges of the north trees was a small pond in an enchanted clearing. Getting there was hard but once there, the enchanted water was worth it. It could heal any wound, cure any sickness, even bring the dead back to life. She glanced around passively. The orb had struck again. At least this time it had chosen to return them to these creatures' homeworld.
Around them, papers flutter down, some scatter by a gust of wind. Yuu-chan looks around passively, taking it the landscape. Much has changed since she last visited this world. Much has changed, yet not enough. Truly, she wished to never return to this world. She stands on the scorched floor of her room, near her desk. She's cradling a book to her chest. It's the ancient book that she had been writing in, the one that had been on her desk. She holds the precious book as it it's an infant, not hugging it too tightly but not so loosely it will drop. She sighes and looks at Zen, who is looking expectantly at her. He expects answers and he assumes she has them. She does but she has no intention of folding to his silent command. "We've returned to your world." She tells him. He crosses his arms, clearly not impressed by her stating the obvious. She doesn't care. She continues talking as if the danger level hasn't risen from number eleven to number eight. "I have no intention stay long. Once I..."
She trails off, noticing that there is another guest for the first time. The blue-haired boy. She can tell it's his clone, as it has no aura to speak of, but she has no clue where the real one is. And one thing she knows about the orb is once it transports you to another world, it dispells any illusions you had unless you accompany them. For the image of his clone to be here means he must be hidden from view her as well. She feels a pang in her heart at the thought of dragging him into her fight. She had no desire to subject him to something like this. She feels a spark of annoyance at the thought. Honestly, though, it was partly his fault. Why couldn't he have left when she told him to? Why couldn't he stayed away like she asked? Infuriating boy. What was he thinking? What would he do if one of these creatures turned on him? Fight, no doubt. Her fear for him, frustration, regret and anger all in her voice making it tight with emotion called out to the clone. "Ion? Is that you?"
~x~X~x~
Zexion watches her, hidden from a different location. He notes the change in her facial features as she glances at his clone. They flit through her face so quickly that a normal person wouldn't have noticed them at all. Zexion isn't normal. He see surprise, anger, frustration and one other emotion. Is that regret? He has a hard time identifying the last emotion but no matter. He's confident in his illusions, which take hold of the senses and twist them to his desire. Sight, sound, smell, touch, he has control of them all. His clone really does appear to be him. He's gotten good at this techinique, confident in his abilities. He speaks, his illusion casting the appearance of his voice coming from the clone as it moves its lips. "As I already told them, remain focused on the task at hand." His vocie doesn't hold the same warning tones as it did with Zen and Azreth. Instead, it is closer to chiding. The first rule of battle is to remain focused. Never give the enemy an opening.
~x~X~x~
His advice is sound, something she notes to herself. Before he has finished speaking the words, Azreth has shot forward. His speed is impressive, moving at speeds impossible for a mere human. To a normal person viewing him, he would become nothing more than a blur. Yuu-chan watches him with passive eyes, not feeling threatened at all. She's not human, never claimed to be, and she's certainly not normal. One second, she's standing before him, about to be attacked. However, just as he's pulling his hand back to attack, she disappears. In an instant, she's gone, vanished from sight. She doesn't stay gone for long, though. She reappears behind Azreth, wrenching his arm back paingully until it breaks, the sound echoing through the clearing. Some birds in the nearby tree cry out in protest at the sudden sound, taking flight through the sky. The ancient book is at her feet, between her legs and she stands over it protectively. Her eyes are cold, cruel. She wrenches his arm back further, despite having already broken his arm. She isn't satisfied until she's dislocated both his shoulder and his elbow. The damage would seem like overkill under normal circumstances. However, he manages to wrench free of her grasp, his arm already repairing itself. Within a matter of moments, his arm is as good as new, as if the damage was never done. Yuu-chan doesn't seem surprised at this result or the negation of her brutality.
"~~~~~~." She calls him a name in her native tongue, an ancient tongue thought dead on her planet long before it disappeared. "A changeling and a vampire's wreched offspring. I thought your kind had died out long ago." Despite the disgust in her tone, which causes Azreth's lips to curl up in a grotesque smirk, she watches him warily. She leans down and picks up the book. It appears to be the same book that was on her desk but if you closely at it, you can tell there are differences. This is not the same book. She is careful retrieving her prized fake, not turning her back on either Azreth or Zen. She is rightfully cautious of them.
"Well, Ion." She speaks, calling Zexion by the nickname she gave him. It was either that or Zex and he prefers the former. "Since you came along for the ride, mind doing me a small favor?" She flashes a smile at his clone, playing along, but it's a tight smile that has no warmth or emotion behind it. She's nervous, knowing that she's at a disadvantage being on this planet. Her powers are lessened here, including her speed and strength. Alternatively, their powers are strengthed, along with their speed. Still, she allows none of her fear to show. Doing so would give them a greater upper hand. She has to win this fight, no matter what the cost. It's not just her life on the line. She waits patiently for his response, eying the two of them warily. She knows Zexion isn't the type to do favors but he should at least hear out her request. That's all she needs. Once he hears it, he might be inclined to helping her. Well, maybe...
~x~X~x~
Zexion watches her fight with interest. He's been curious about her strength since he met her and now is the perfect time to size her up. He doesn't make friends easily and he only does so with people who can be of use to him. He befriended Yuu-chan in hopes she would prove to be a useful ally. So far, she is proving herself to be formidable. He watches her fighting style intently, trying to get a feel for it. The better he understands her fighting style, the better he can prepare to fight against her should she ever turn against him or should he ever find a reason to turn against her. When she poses her question, he tilts his head slightly to the left. He peers at her not dissimilar to a curious puppy. "That would depend on your question." He replies evenly.
~x~X~x~
"This book is very important to me." She admits, clutching it to her chest. She doesn't like saying this out loud, but it's no use. She can't use telepathy here and even if she could, she would have no garuntee that it was truly Zexion's mind receiving the information. "It is precious to me. However, I couldn't allow it to leave my sight." She doesn't elaborate. She's said more than she'd like, more than she would under normal circumstances. She's willing to trust him with the book, no more. It's contents and it's purpose are privledged information. She doesn't know him well enough to trust him with that information. Even if she did, she still wouldn't say. They were in the domain of the ~~~~~ and they could never know of it's true importance.
She turns toward Zexion, keeping Azreth in her sights. However, she made a nearly fatal mistake--she turned her back, even slightly, to Zen. She cradles the book to her, protectively holding it, and looks at Zexion's clone. "I would like you to care for this while I fight. It's up to you whether you fight or not. I can't ask you one way or the other." She can't, she really can't. It's not up to her to change his destiny by asking anymore than this of him. "All I ask is that you look after this book for me." She risking a lot telling him this. This book is currently her only weakness and she's taken a big chance revealing it. A risk that is shown clearly when Zen suddenly raises a hand to attack her. He flicks his finger at her chest--specifically the book in her arms. A spear of water heads for her with lightning speed and accuracy. She tries to dodge but the arrow follows her. There's no way for her to escape the hit. It impacts...in her arm as she turns aside to shield the book with her body. Her response is immediately, holding the book away with her other arm as the water soaks her. Her right side covered in water, Zen's water begins creeping toward the book. She glances at Zen and the looks expectantly at Zexion.
"Please, Ion. Please." She can't help the pleading in her tone and silently berates herself for letting it leak into her voice.
~x~X~x~
It's important, that much he can tell. It's obvious to see from the way she cltuches it and the way Zen is eying it. It's important, fairly important. He doesn't agree to take it because she pleads, though he caught a glimpse of her face that said clearer than words that perhaps she hadn't meant to plead. Still, he doesn't take it because she pleaded or he's a bleeding heart. He takes is because books are important to him. One of the few things he remembers is that he truly loved books and that's a special memory. So he takes this book because it is a book--and because he want to know why it's so special at some point. He realizes he won't learn the reason right away. He probably won't find out the real reason why for a while. But if he doesn't take it now, he may never know and he's not willing to risk that. "A strange request." But he has his clone step forward, its hands out-stretched to accept the book. In all appearances, the clone takes the book. However, in reality he's using the illusion to approach her unseen. He slips the book into the illusion, accepting it from the side. He manages not only to keep his own position hidden this way but also manages to hide the book as well. For the time being, he's staying back. He'll watch from the sidelines, hidden and waiting. If one of the two attacks his clone, he'll fight then. Until that time, he'll leave his clone apparently holding the book to its chest along with his own book. In reality, of course, he tucks her book safely away in an inner pocket of his robe. "It will be safe in my hands."
~x~X~x~
On to part two!
As to where they are, that is a different story. They are in another dimension, the dimension of the creatures who came to take Yuu-chan away. They're returned to their world along with half of Yuu-chan's room. Everything is settling as a voice complains, walking up to the front of the building. "I still don't see why we have to go check on her," the voice sighs in aggravation. "Just because Yuuko thinks something's wrong. Yuu-san can take care of herself."
~x~X~x~
Zen and Azreth look around in surprsie. They hadn't expected to return to their world so soon. Azreth smiles and begins to laugh, the sound cold and chilling. His laughter echoes around them. The other half of Yuu-chan's room is in the middle of a clearing, green grass surrounding them, sprinkled with wildflowers. The world appears peaceful, save for the huge pillar of black smoke threatening to block out the sky in the east. It's an ominous cloud, dark and forebodding of what's to come. Around the edges of the north and west ends of the meadow is a long line of tree, the beginning of an extensive forest. It's enchancted, and stepping inside is not recommended. The wall faces to the south, blocking most of it from view. However, the window reveals an extensive dry land that ends at a large desert. Had Yuu-chan cared, she would have noted that she'd been to this world once before. That explained how she knew that there was a large ocean beyond the west forest and the just beyond the edges of the north trees was a small pond in an enchanted clearing. Getting there was hard but once there, the enchanted water was worth it. It could heal any wound, cure any sickness, even bring the dead back to life. She glanced around passively. The orb had struck again. At least this time it had chosen to return them to these creatures' homeworld.
Around them, papers flutter down, some scatter by a gust of wind. Yuu-chan looks around passively, taking it the landscape. Much has changed since she last visited this world. Much has changed, yet not enough. Truly, she wished to never return to this world. She stands on the scorched floor of her room, near her desk. She's cradling a book to her chest. It's the ancient book that she had been writing in, the one that had been on her desk. She holds the precious book as it it's an infant, not hugging it too tightly but not so loosely it will drop. She sighes and looks at Zen, who is looking expectantly at her. He expects answers and he assumes she has them. She does but she has no intention of folding to his silent command. "We've returned to your world." She tells him. He crosses his arms, clearly not impressed by her stating the obvious. She doesn't care. She continues talking as if the danger level hasn't risen from number eleven to number eight. "I have no intention stay long. Once I..."
She trails off, noticing that there is another guest for the first time. The blue-haired boy. She can tell it's his clone, as it has no aura to speak of, but she has no clue where the real one is. And one thing she knows about the orb is once it transports you to another world, it dispells any illusions you had unless you accompany them. For the image of his clone to be here means he must be hidden from view her as well. She feels a pang in her heart at the thought of dragging him into her fight. She had no desire to subject him to something like this. She feels a spark of annoyance at the thought. Honestly, though, it was partly his fault. Why couldn't he have left when she told him to? Why couldn't he stayed away like she asked? Infuriating boy. What was he thinking? What would he do if one of these creatures turned on him? Fight, no doubt. Her fear for him, frustration, regret and anger all in her voice making it tight with emotion called out to the clone. "Ion? Is that you?"
~x~X~x~
Zexion watches her, hidden from a different location. He notes the change in her facial features as she glances at his clone. They flit through her face so quickly that a normal person wouldn't have noticed them at all. Zexion isn't normal. He see surprise, anger, frustration and one other emotion. Is that regret? He has a hard time identifying the last emotion but no matter. He's confident in his illusions, which take hold of the senses and twist them to his desire. Sight, sound, smell, touch, he has control of them all. His clone really does appear to be him. He's gotten good at this techinique, confident in his abilities. He speaks, his illusion casting the appearance of his voice coming from the clone as it moves its lips. "As I already told them, remain focused on the task at hand." His vocie doesn't hold the same warning tones as it did with Zen and Azreth. Instead, it is closer to chiding. The first rule of battle is to remain focused. Never give the enemy an opening.
~x~X~x~
His advice is sound, something she notes to herself. Before he has finished speaking the words, Azreth has shot forward. His speed is impressive, moving at speeds impossible for a mere human. To a normal person viewing him, he would become nothing more than a blur. Yuu-chan watches him with passive eyes, not feeling threatened at all. She's not human, never claimed to be, and she's certainly not normal. One second, she's standing before him, about to be attacked. However, just as he's pulling his hand back to attack, she disappears. In an instant, she's gone, vanished from sight. She doesn't stay gone for long, though. She reappears behind Azreth, wrenching his arm back paingully until it breaks, the sound echoing through the clearing. Some birds in the nearby tree cry out in protest at the sudden sound, taking flight through the sky. The ancient book is at her feet, between her legs and she stands over it protectively. Her eyes are cold, cruel. She wrenches his arm back further, despite having already broken his arm. She isn't satisfied until she's dislocated both his shoulder and his elbow. The damage would seem like overkill under normal circumstances. However, he manages to wrench free of her grasp, his arm already repairing itself. Within a matter of moments, his arm is as good as new, as if the damage was never done. Yuu-chan doesn't seem surprised at this result or the negation of her brutality.
"~~~~~~." She calls him a name in her native tongue, an ancient tongue thought dead on her planet long before it disappeared. "A changeling and a vampire's wreched offspring. I thought your kind had died out long ago." Despite the disgust in her tone, which causes Azreth's lips to curl up in a grotesque smirk, she watches him warily. She leans down and picks up the book. It appears to be the same book that was on her desk but if you closely at it, you can tell there are differences. This is not the same book. She is careful retrieving her prized fake, not turning her back on either Azreth or Zen. She is rightfully cautious of them.
"Well, Ion." She speaks, calling Zexion by the nickname she gave him. It was either that or Zex and he prefers the former. "Since you came along for the ride, mind doing me a small favor?" She flashes a smile at his clone, playing along, but it's a tight smile that has no warmth or emotion behind it. She's nervous, knowing that she's at a disadvantage being on this planet. Her powers are lessened here, including her speed and strength. Alternatively, their powers are strengthed, along with their speed. Still, she allows none of her fear to show. Doing so would give them a greater upper hand. She has to win this fight, no matter what the cost. It's not just her life on the line. She waits patiently for his response, eying the two of them warily. She knows Zexion isn't the type to do favors but he should at least hear out her request. That's all she needs. Once he hears it, he might be inclined to helping her. Well, maybe...
~x~X~x~
Zexion watches her fight with interest. He's been curious about her strength since he met her and now is the perfect time to size her up. He doesn't make friends easily and he only does so with people who can be of use to him. He befriended Yuu-chan in hopes she would prove to be a useful ally. So far, she is proving herself to be formidable. He watches her fighting style intently, trying to get a feel for it. The better he understands her fighting style, the better he can prepare to fight against her should she ever turn against him or should he ever find a reason to turn against her. When she poses her question, he tilts his head slightly to the left. He peers at her not dissimilar to a curious puppy. "That would depend on your question." He replies evenly.
~x~X~x~
"This book is very important to me." She admits, clutching it to her chest. She doesn't like saying this out loud, but it's no use. She can't use telepathy here and even if she could, she would have no garuntee that it was truly Zexion's mind receiving the information. "It is precious to me. However, I couldn't allow it to leave my sight." She doesn't elaborate. She's said more than she'd like, more than she would under normal circumstances. She's willing to trust him with the book, no more. It's contents and it's purpose are privledged information. She doesn't know him well enough to trust him with that information. Even if she did, she still wouldn't say. They were in the domain of the ~~~~~ and they could never know of it's true importance.
She turns toward Zexion, keeping Azreth in her sights. However, she made a nearly fatal mistake--she turned her back, even slightly, to Zen. She cradles the book to her, protectively holding it, and looks at Zexion's clone. "I would like you to care for this while I fight. It's up to you whether you fight or not. I can't ask you one way or the other." She can't, she really can't. It's not up to her to change his destiny by asking anymore than this of him. "All I ask is that you look after this book for me." She risking a lot telling him this. This book is currently her only weakness and she's taken a big chance revealing it. A risk that is shown clearly when Zen suddenly raises a hand to attack her. He flicks his finger at her chest--specifically the book in her arms. A spear of water heads for her with lightning speed and accuracy. She tries to dodge but the arrow follows her. There's no way for her to escape the hit. It impacts...in her arm as she turns aside to shield the book with her body. Her response is immediately, holding the book away with her other arm as the water soaks her. Her right side covered in water, Zen's water begins creeping toward the book. She glances at Zen and the looks expectantly at Zexion.
"Please, Ion. Please." She can't help the pleading in her tone and silently berates herself for letting it leak into her voice.
~x~X~x~
It's important, that much he can tell. It's obvious to see from the way she cltuches it and the way Zen is eying it. It's important, fairly important. He doesn't agree to take it because she pleads, though he caught a glimpse of her face that said clearer than words that perhaps she hadn't meant to plead. Still, he doesn't take it because she pleaded or he's a bleeding heart. He takes is because books are important to him. One of the few things he remembers is that he truly loved books and that's a special memory. So he takes this book because it is a book--and because he want to know why it's so special at some point. He realizes he won't learn the reason right away. He probably won't find out the real reason why for a while. But if he doesn't take it now, he may never know and he's not willing to risk that. "A strange request." But he has his clone step forward, its hands out-stretched to accept the book. In all appearances, the clone takes the book. However, in reality he's using the illusion to approach her unseen. He slips the book into the illusion, accepting it from the side. He manages not only to keep his own position hidden this way but also manages to hide the book as well. For the time being, he's staying back. He'll watch from the sidelines, hidden and waiting. If one of the two attacks his clone, he'll fight then. Until that time, he'll leave his clone apparently holding the book to its chest along with his own book. In reality, of course, he tucks her book safely away in an inner pocket of his robe. "It will be safe in my hands."
~x~X~x~
On to part two!