Page 292 of 371 FirstFirst ... 192242282288289290291292293294295296302342 ... LastLast
Results 4,366 to 4,380 of 5560
  1. #4366
    Voice of the Authorities Cleric of Hell’s Brigade's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Location
    House Deathstalker
    Posts
    13,202

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Monstrous Bird of Qin, Ou Ki View Post
    OOC: ....man, Kevi should've just kept on the down-low until she could escape to Earth and start up that orphanage/all-you-can-eat buffet she always wanted.

    Instead, she picked a fight with a group that includes Ochazuke. lol
    I know.

    If Parsley had t shown up I honestly was going to have her lay low.

    However, the Princess is a bit too insightful.
    Black Knight of SO
    Owner/Operator of SO’s Item/Weapon Shop
    Claimer of the original Rumbles 2,000,000th post
    CBR GM/DM

  2. #4367

    Default

    ...what?

    Awakening as if from a dream, Voyavoda was taken aback as Totoma... teleported away. Not just teleported away, but teleported by way of shadows. Seeing as the boy didn't have any (significant) Nosferatu blood and didn't give one single... **** about magic, that was impossible.

    The not-so-old-now soldier sighed and rubbed his temples. "This is not the sort of 'interesting' that I like..."

    His eyes burst with a red glow as he activated his Shingan and tried to sense where Totoma had gone. Whatever was going on, he'd have to beat it out of him...

    ...assuming he could do such a thing? Hm, well, one never knew until one tried, ja?
    The poster formerly known as Daiyoukai Ramza.

  3. #4368
    Voice of the Authorities Cleric of Hell’s Brigade's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Location
    House Deathstalker
    Posts
    13,202

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Monstrous Bird of Qin, Ou Ki View Post
    ...what?

    Awakening as if from a dream, Voyavoda was taken aback as Totoma... teleported away. Not just teleported away, but teleported by way of shadows. Seeing as the boy didn't have any (significant) Nosferatu blood and didn't give one single... **** about magic, that was impossible.

    The not-so-old-now soldier sighed and rubbed his temples. "This is not the sort of 'interesting' that I like..."

    His eyes burst with a red glow as he activated his Shingan and tried to sense where Totoma had gone. Whatever was going on, he'd have to beat it out of him...

    ...assuming he could do such a thing? Hm, well, one never knew until one tried, ja?
    He’s with Sasheem.

    Drinking his magic.
    Black Knight of SO
    Owner/Operator of SO’s Item/Weapon Shop
    Claimer of the original Rumbles 2,000,000th post
    CBR GM/DM

  4. #4369
    Lin Kuei Grandmaster Sub-Zero MKA's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Location
    Earthrealm
    Posts
    15,732

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh View Post
    "Literally just got it, the sword." Inanna replied with a sigh; but of course, Sarada had already rocketed off.

    Of course, then she saw something that gave her pause.
    Inanna's response caught Sarada just before she took off. Parsley had just gotten the sword, so that was one thing she didn't feel the need to worry about. Totoma's corpse, on the other had... what the ****. She just saw him, just spoke to him! He was moving and talking; like, how the **** was that even possible? Magic?

    **** magic. She had said it before and she would keep saying it until the end of time itself. Magic was stupid and led to nothing but trouble and problems. Learning magic turned Parsley into an even bigger know-it-all assclown than she already was, which was saying a lot. Inanna kept bleeding all over the place when she did her "blood magic" and it was weird. And she probably shouldn't have even gotten started on those smug, no-account dickheads that milled about in that magic school that Etrina graduated from, or whatever the **** it was. She felt that she was still waiting in that goddamn waiting room even five years later.

    She sighed and landed near where Parsley was landing. "What the **** is going on?"

    Her sister sighed heavily and turned her attention from wherever she was staring. In her hand was an ornate looking straight sword. That must be the sword Inanna was talking about. "I'm not sure, but Totoma's corpse has been possessed by some kind of shadow creature. She can eat magic and... seems to have an affinity for children."

    That... those five words conjured a memory that Sarada had long forgotten about. About a creature she hated with everything she had even though she never once met her or faced off against her. A creature she thought was dead at the hands of Asha'rah. "Kevi." A witch who ate children and magic. Anyone who targeted children earned her ire, no questions asked. "Where is it now?"

    "I don't know. She disappeared via shadow magic a few moments ago. I'm trying to find it."

    Sarada sighed and touched down. "Kevi can eat magic. There's a lot of magic users with the others."

    "..." Parsley lifted off and rocketed toward the group.

    Sasheem, Etrina, Nevanlinna, Inanna. Four immensely powerful sources of magic. Only one of them was immune to draining. Sarada followed after Parsley. "Inanna will be okay, but Sasheem and Etrina are easy pickings."

    "I know, but she's moving via shadows. So can I. If I can get the drop on her, then I can end her with this." She held the sword aloft so Sarada could see it more easily. "Geistbane, Auroc's enchanted sword."

    "Tch. How is Totoma dead, Parsley?"

    "I killed him," she said easily. "The Wolf God allowed you to kill him so he could get after Inanna's uncle in Otherworld. With her preoccupied, I was the only one who could get there. Totoma offered his life to give me a signature to lock onto." Despite the macabre recounting, she offered a small smile. "Right now, he's training with Vocado and Rutaba."

    It... wasn't as bad as she thought. Hearing that Parsley herself was the one who struck the killing blow stung, but it was for a good reason. She knew how important Sihn was to Inanna. If he was lost, then that was one less family member for a woman who had precious few relatives to begin with. "Fine."

    The sisters landed with the group, with Parsley keeping her distance. "I think Kevi is somewhere around here," Sarada said so the others could hear her. "She eats magic, so Etrina and Sasheem, watch out."

    Parsley scanned the area with Observational Focus.
    DBM | Sarada | Parsley

    ROLL TIDE ROLL!

  5. #4370
    Lin Kuei Grandmaster Sub-Zero MKA's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Location
    Earthrealm
    Posts
    15,732

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Monstrous Bird of Qin, Ou Ki View Post
    Totoma's jaw dropped as Vocado entered a super saiyan form beyond even the second level! He had never sensed such awesome, raw power... heck, it even looked pretty cool! Well... okay, the lack of eyebrows looked a bit weird, but it looked very fierce, almost... primal? The excitement he felt to learn this power was almost overwhelming!

    ...although it was tempered by Vocado explaining the form's limitations. Namely, extreme energy drain... so much that, while it could be mitigated, it took someone like Vocado a half century to get it down to a third, which Totoma assumed was about the lowest one could get it. He, uh... didn't have fifty years, but at the same time, Vocado could probably teach him some things that could speed things up. After all, learning from a teacher was usually a hell of a lot faster than working out things on one's own.

    "Super Saiyan 3... wow... I had no idea a level beyond Ascended even existed," said Totoma, his tail wagging back and forth excitedly. "Hehe, even if it's got that huge drawback, I definitely want to learn it. Even if I can't get the energy drain down to reasonable levels, there's always the option of switching to it for a moment to attack and defend."

    The comment about the true power of the saiyan being gained through the Oozaru form was... interesting. Though, more precisely, it seemed that the true power of a saiyan was brought out through a combination of the Oozaru and the Super Saiyan, which... made sense. The Super Saiyan forms were incredibly powerful once trained--way stronger than the oozaru or hitozaru--and most would think to just abandon the latter, because Super Saiyan gave more 'bang for the buck'.

    Never mind the issue of finding a source of blutz rays. Most Saiyans knew how to make a false moon, yeah, but those could be blown up. You needed a technique like the Blutz Flash to really make good use of Oozaru or Hitozaru.

    Thankfully, he had all the tools he needed to take both his Super Saiyan and Oozaru powers to the max, then combined them into the ultimate saiyan form! Heck, maybe he wouldn't even need to learn the god ki stuff. He was a prodigy among prodigies, even by halfbreed standards.

    Haha... probably not, but a guy could dream, couldn't he?

    "So, uh... figure we can start once Rutaba wakes up? Your Super Saiyan 3 seems to have knocked her out from... seems to be excitement." He walked over to Rutaba and kneeled down. Yep... definitely out cold.

    Standing back up, he scratched the back of his head. "...so... gotta ask. Can you use that god ki stuff, too? Or just the normal, um, mortal saiyan stuff?"
    Rutaba groaned softly and started to stir.

    Vocado turned his attention from her to Totoma. "God ki?"

    He powered back up to Super Saiyan with ease. "I have a mastery of the Saiyan forms. All of them." He smiled slightly and gave a small chuckle. "I... haven't had much to do besides train. You mother showed me far better training techniques. If you utilize those instead of the outdated ones I had been using, you should be able to master SSJ3 far more quickly than I managed."

    He kneeled down and gently helped the stirring and groggy Rutaba into a sitting position. "Tell me. How is the race faring these days. Your mother told me of a few who were attempting to change the culture. Maiz, I believe her name was?"
    Last edited by Sub-Zero MKA; 01-07-2021 at 06:19 PM.
    DBM | Sarada | Parsley

    ROLL TIDE ROLL!

  6. #4371

    Default

    Ochazuke listened to Inanna, and the callous manner she used to describe the oni he knew. Things that had yet come to pass, and yet were inevitable, and the burdensome lot for one who had the mantle of Destroyer forced upon her.

    Zurvan the Aspect of Time saw it all as he'd set Ishtar on that path, one she described as one determinate to judgment.

    Cold. Impartial. Deathly.

    That she would have turned to enact in such a rash manner even after she had faced down Asha'rah and taken her ambivalent design to task was a reveal he was not prepared for. The bitterness spread through his being as he realized that these thoughts remained Inanna's, and the knowledge drawn from Ishtar's memory all the same.

    Such a burdensome lot to bear, yes. But it also remained that the fate of this very universe by her assessment omitted something rather significant.

    Quote Originally Posted by Cleric of Hell’s Brigade View Post
    She cannot.

    Mostly because the creature has been siphoning power from everyone present in very subtle and minute ways, but enough that it’s claws had gotten into their energy reserves and now they cannot power up unless it lets them.

    It is not letting Parsley. It does sense her attempt though.

    Totoma smiles at her.

    “I wonder......”

    He concentrates, and a Void Lens appears.

    “Hey! I think if I try hard enough, I can use this to get home. Hmm.....but I need line of sight. Ahh, I bet I can use the Lookout as a focus.”

    He mutters and starts concentrating on the Void Lens.

    Praxat nearby is also unable to transform or power up either.
    Ochazuke was about to respond, his tight breaths slowly loosening in meditative focus where he stood, yet no matter what it was, an irritation seemed to spread through his bearing like a sickness.

    In awareness, he had focus. He did not, however, find calm. Rather swiftly he found another twisted plot emerging from a hidden shroud.

    And it had chosen Totoma.

    He exchanged a brief look at Inanna, the corners of his eyes trembling as hard lines spread over his face, shaking to match his intensifying pulse.

    He silently set Auroc's chronicle down, then turned and walked a few paces, deep in thought.

    Quote Originally Posted by Cleric of Hell’s Brigade View Post
    Totoma’s leg would have been destroyed utterly.

    If it hadn’t been listening to Parsley’s thoughts and knew something was coming.

    The afterimage is ripped apart even as Parsley, unable to move, watches as Totoma appears in front of her.

    Smirking he leans down and lays a gentle kiss on her cheek.

    “What interesting friends you have. And your magic tastes....delicious. Unfortunately, I prefer them...younger.”

    He leans back and storm clouds gather overhead. He glances at the hypnotized Praxat and jerks his head, sending her flying into Dash.

    Shadows subsume Totoma and he vanishes.
    It started mildly at first, a mild itch while their guard was down, but when this creature began to move and prey on their group, immediately it began to magnify like a sickness coursing into his joints.

    Ochazuke's footfalls were heavy, and he continued pacing irritably over the ground until he happened to find a small earthenware jug there near a pile of small stones kicked up during the combat. A few drops of water clung to the edge. Ochazuke meticulously shook them out, then picked up a piece of rubble, measured it to the mouth of the vessel, then grumbled something under his breath as he scratched something into its surface with a ki-enforced finger.

    Quote Originally Posted by KingofPie View Post
    "Bad keeps turning into worse it looks like," Sasheem stated, chowing down on a muffin. In honor of Totoma, who was not quite him. Or, perhaps just a happy coincidence. Either way, Sasheem appeared in no hurry to save him. In fact, he took a few more bites and asked, "Hey, can we kill him? ...Again?"
    Quote Originally Posted by Cleric of Hell’s Brigade View Post
    He’s with Sasheem.

    Drinking his magic.
    There you are.

    Setting the jug and the sealed stone before him, Ochazuke took the measure of thus infernal thing that had taken Totoma, where it had stopped its movement to torment the Majin. Just as it had affected the others and himself, the creature seemed quite taken by Sasheem's innate magic.

    A single glimpse was enough.

    With a furious roar, Ochazuke threw his hands before him, and suddenly the shadows became awash in a flood of spiraling, green light.

    Mafuba

  7. #4372
    Voice of the Authorities Cleric of Hell’s Brigade's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Location
    House Deathstalker
    Posts
    13,202

    Default

    Was it just remarkable luck?

    A good memory for a passing story told long ago?

    Or perhaps, just perhaps, a faint echo of long ago masters helped guide his hands as he made the ancient seal and cast out one of Earth’s deadliest techniques.

    The Mafuba spiraled out and struck a stunned Totoma, busy gorging on majin magic. For a brief moment, Ochazuke sees a long line of possessions and take overs, of entities drained and beaten and eaten. Children, masters, even a Guardian long ago.

    But real fear fills Kevi the Stalker, Widowstrife, the Witch of the Moon’s phantom eyes as she is ripped from Totoma’s body and pulled screaming into the small jug. It closes with little fuss, and once more like long ago, Kevi is contained.

    Totoma’s body falls unceremoniously to the ground. Alive, breathing, but most certainly no longer possessed by Kevi.
    Black Knight of SO
    Owner/Operator of SO’s Item/Weapon Shop
    Claimer of the original Rumbles 2,000,000th post
    CBR GM/DM

  8. #4373
    Astonishing Member KingofPie's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Posts
    4,514

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Cleric of Hell’s Brigade View Post
    Sasheem’s shadow writhes and suddenly tendrils rip into the majin and starts...drinking his magic!?

    A low voice in his head murmurs in Totoma’s voice.

    “Quite the stock of magic you have old fellow, though not exactly my cup of tea. Still, quite a feast.”
    "H-HEY!" Sasheem began to protest. "NOBODY GETS TO EAT SASHEEM! ...usually it's vice-versa."

    Quote Originally Posted by grampagen View Post
    There you are.

    Setting the jug and the sealed stone before him, Ochazuke took the measure of thus infernal thing that had taken Totoma, where it had stopped its movement to torment the Majin. Just as it had affected the others and himself, the creature seemed quite taken by Sasheem's innate magic.

    A single glimpse was enough.

    With a furious roar, Ochazuke threw his hands before him, and suddenly the shadows became awash in a flood of spiraling, green light.

    Mafuba
    As if his words about things going from bad to worse coming back to haunt him, a familiar spiral of green light had shot forth, instantly giving him vivid memories of porcelain hell.

    Quote Originally Posted by Cleric of Hell’s Brigade View Post
    Was it just remarkable luck?

    A good memory for a passing story told long ago?

    Or perhaps, just perhaps, a faint echo of long ago masters helped guide his hands as he made the ancient seal and cast out one of Earth’s deadliest techniques.

    The Mafuba spiraled out and struck a stunned Totoma, busy gorging on majin magic. For a brief moment, Ochazuke sees a long line of possessions and take overs, of entities drained and beaten and eaten. Children, masters, even a Guardian long ago.

    But real fear fills Kevi the Stalker, Widowstrife, the Witch of the Moon’s phantom eyes as she is ripped from Totoma’s body and pulled screaming into the small jug. It closes with little fuss, and once more like long ago, Kevi is contained.

    Totoma’s body falls unceremoniously to the ground. Alive, breathing, but most certainly no longer possessed by Kevi.
    Luckily, it was not aimed at him. It would be a foolish attempt to do so, but instead whatever malevolent entity inhabited Totoma's body. Meaning he couldn't kill him. Great. And now he felt wiped out thanks to the stoopid ghost, trying to eat his stoopid magic. The Majin collapsed onto the floor. "Bah...how long we gonna stay in this turd tunnel anyway? Shouldn't we head back home?"

  9. #4374
    Lin Kuei Grandmaster Sub-Zero MKA's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Location
    Earthrealm
    Posts
    15,732

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by grampagen View Post
    There you are.

    Setting the jug and the sealed stone before him, Ochazuke took the measure of thus infernal thing that had taken Totoma, where it had stopped its movement to torment the Majin. Just as it had affected the others and himself, the creature seemed quite taken by Sasheem's innate magic.

    A single glimpse was enough.

    With a furious roar, Ochazuke threw his hands before him, and suddenly the shadows became awash in a flood of spiraling, green light.

    Mafuba
    Quote Originally Posted by Cleric of Hell’s Brigade View Post
    Was it just remarkable luck?

    A good memory for a passing story told long ago?

    Or perhaps, just perhaps, a faint echo of long ago masters helped guide his hands as he made the ancient seal and cast out one of Earth’s deadliest techniques.

    The Mafuba spiraled out and struck a stunned Totoma, busy gorging on majin magic. For a brief moment, Ochazuke sees a long line of possessions and take overs, of entities drained and beaten and eaten. Children, masters, even a Guardian long ago.

    But real fear fills Kevi the Stalker, Widowstrife, the Witch of the Moon’s phantom eyes as she is ripped from Totoma’s body and pulled screaming into the small jug. It closes with little fuss, and once more like long ago, Kevi is contained.

    Totoma’s body falls unceremoniously to the ground. Alive, breathing, but most certainly no longer possessed by Kevi.
    Just like that, it was over. Sarada and Parsley watched the small jar Ochazuke produced rattle and shake for a brief moment, then settle into motionlessness. They weren't sure what happened, but the latter realized soon after that Kevi had been sealed away.

    "That jar needs to be given to Sihn and Shek'hinah so they can properly dispose of Kevi for good," Parsley said. Her eyes fell to Totoma's body. "And his body needs to be preserved with Hozon so it can be ready for when his soul returns."

    Saying that made her realize that she might as well get the explanation out of the way. "Totoma's soul is in Otherworld right now, training with Vocado and my younger cousin. I... had to kill him to send him there so we could stop Wolf God from killing Inanna's Uncle. I needed a signature familiar enough to lock onto from where and Totoma offered himself."

    It was an abridged version, but that was all there was to it. Had she known of the oath Gallows Lord made with Binder and that he had broken that oath by taking advantage of the loophole death offered, she wouldn't have bothered worrying about it. Instead, Totoma was dead and his body had been used as a puppet. What a bother.

    "He's training with a legend, so he's not too broken up about it " She shrugged.
    DBM | Sarada | Parsley

    ROLL TIDE ROLL!

  10. #4375

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Sub-Zero MKA View Post
    Just like that, it was over. Sarada and Parsley watched the small jar Ochazuke produced rattle and shake for a brief moment, then settle into motionlessness. They weren't sure what happened, but the latter realized soon after that Kevi had been sealed away.

    "That jar needs to be given to Sihn and Shek'hinah so they can properly dispose of Kevi for good," Parsley said. Her eyes fell to Totoma's body. "And his body needs to be preserved with Hozon so it can be ready for when his soul returns."

    Saying that made her realize that she might as well get the explanation out of the way. "Totoma's soul is in Otherworld right now, training with Vocado and my younger cousin. I... had to kill him to send him there so we could stop Wolf God from killing Inanna's Uncle. I needed a signature familiar enough to lock onto from where and Totoma offered himself."

    It was an abridged version, but that was all there was to it. Had she known of the oath Gallows Lord made with Binder and that he had broken that oath by taking advantage of the loophole death offered, she wouldn't have bothered worrying about it. Instead, Totoma was dead and his body had been used as a puppet. What a bother.

    "He's training with a legend, so he's not too broken up about it " She shrugged.
    "Vocado, huh," said Nevanlinna, as she descended from the sky. "How... nostalgic."

    She had only seen him briefly in that spirit vision, but the sheer admiration and respect her past life had for the man was... something else. Given what she knew of the man, it was likely a sentiment that most saiyans of the time shared... and a fair portion of the saiyans living now, albeit to a lesser extent.

    She looked at Totoma, or rather his body. "...he may be a buffoon, but I suppose his willingness to make that sort of sacrifice is... admirable. Now, to ensure he has something to come back to..."

    Walking over to his comatose (?) body, Nevanlinna kneeled down, and touched the half-saiyan's forehead. Concentrating, a gentle light covered Totoma entirely and in a bright flash, he was gone! "I've sent his body to Vaikuntha, to be kept safe and preserved until he returns from the otherworld."

    "...in fact, we can all return to Reshlan by way of Vaikuntha," she said. "It was beyond my abilities before, but now I can travel anywhere there's a key... provided nothing is interfering with my doing so, of course. Shall we?"
    The poster formerly known as Daiyoukai Ramza.

  11. #4376
    Lin Kuei Grandmaster Sub-Zero MKA's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Location
    Earthrealm
    Posts
    15,732

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Monstrous Bird of Qin, Ou Ki View Post
    "Vocado, huh," said Nevanlinna, as she descended from the sky. "How... nostalgic."

    She had only seen him briefly in that spirit vision, but the sheer admiration and respect her past life had for the man was... something else. Given what she knew of the man, it was likely a sentiment that most saiyans of the time shared... and a fair portion of the saiyans living now, albeit to a lesser extent.

    She looked at Totoma, or rather his body. "...he may be a buffoon, but I suppose his willingness to make that sort of sacrifice is... admirable. Now, to ensure he has something to come back to..."

    Walking over to his comatose (?) body, Nevanlinna kneeled down, and touched the half-saiyan's forehead. Concentrating, a gentle light covered Totoma entirely and in a bright flash, he was gone! "I've sent his body to Vaikuntha, to be kept safe and preserved until he returns from the otherworld."

    "...in fact, we can all return to Reshlan by way of Vaikuntha," she said. "It was beyond my abilities before, but now I can travel anywhere there's a key... provided nothing is interfering with my doing so, of course. Shall we?"
    Nostalgic? To Sarada's recollection, Neva wasn't that old, so there was no way she actually knew him. She doubted she had even heard of him, since Threshlings were pretty much recluses up until a few years ago. Even if she heard of him during her recent travels, that could hardly be considered nostalgic.

    Oh, well. She was too tired - physically and mentally - to really bother thinking about it too hard.

    When Totoma's body was whisked off to Vaikuntha, she sighed heavily. "Yes, please. I'm so tired of this place."
    DBM | Sarada | Parsley

    ROLL TIDE ROLL!

  12. #4377

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Cleric of Hell’s Brigade View Post
    The Mafuba spiraled out and struck a stunned Totoma, busy gorging on majin magic. For a brief moment, Ochazuke sees a long line of possessions and take overs, of entities drained and beaten and eaten. Children, masters, even a Guardian long ago.

    But real fear fills Kevi the Stalker, Widowstrife, the Witch of the Moon’s phantom eyes as she is ripped from Totoma’s body and pulled screaming into the small jug. It closes with little fuss, and once more like long ago, Kevi is contained.

    Totoma’s body falls unceremoniously to the ground. Alive, breathing, but most certainly no longer possessed by Kevi.
    The energy that fell from his hands and forcefully ripped the Stalker from wherever it had affixed itself to Totoma, Yet in his fixation on containing the situation, again what the Guardian of Earth had left him made him privy to the nature of just what this thing was. Even as the riptide swirled, all seemed to fall away for an instant, and Ochazuke found himself witness to a strange vision.

    What is this? Thoughts? Memories? He had only the briefest acquaintance with these tricks of the mind, and had it been volunteered, the creature's current state would leave it reluctant to do it. No, somehow, he'd found some subliminal way to reach into its very essence, and with it glance at the shape of its true nature as the parasite was cruelly ripped from the Half-Saiyan.

    He steered the technique then, and with a furious bellow, coursed the spiral straight downward, slamming the Kevi the Stalker straight into the jug - unknown to him, it had stolen from the Forger to grant Totoma the water that saved his life, and today it would be the second time.

    Quote Originally Posted by Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh View Post
    There were ways she could have responded to this. Ways she wanted to. Lash out. Drive home just how little she wished for this burden. How maddening it was to know just how close they were at every waking moment to simply being blinked out of existence were it not for cosmic coincidence; and yet there was a glimmer of truth however fleeting, in what Ochazuke said.

    "In a way..." Inanna started. "There is a particular satisfaction to be found, yes. In knowing that the burden of salvaging what's left of our, and five other universes; sits... sat, squarely upon my shoulders." She stated. "That my life, after nigh one-hundred thousand years of suffering within a prison forged of my own body, might be worth something. Is it wrong to wish to hold onto that feeling, however briefly?"

    The woman took another deep breath, and this time the pain did cause her posture to shift slightly; the burn beginning to spread up that wounded side and spread. Numbness beginning to tickle at the tips of her fingers. "Even still, that feeling did not govern my actions. What you and the others seek to crucify me for in this moment, is simply due to a matter of timing. A delaying by a few hours at best... information I had only just learned of myself due to the need to tackle more pressing matters." She replied, flatly. "That book had only just been translated, the connections only just been made; before we split off to rescue Maiz, and recover the amulet. I hadn't enough time to get a grip on it all myself before, "she gestured weakly at the destruction around them.

    "So please. Save that bit of this at least, for someone more deserving... We all know my other missteps today have been far worse." Her attempted murder-suicide likely being the hill she would inevitably die on.
    With the interruption for the moment, annulled, Ochazuke turned his attention back to Inanna.

    They've fought enough today...the power of a Super Saiyan with one of this appetite...

    "...rrgh..." Little more than a grunt left his lips as he felt his legs give beneath him and he fell braced upon one of his boots. It had been a risk to use this technique; in that instant he'd given of himself without hesitation.

    "You're wounded."

    That was all he would offer as the Ruination crept up her side. He clamped the makeshift lid over the clay vessel. What was once dead that had sprung to unlife itself fell silent under his hand, where he affixed the seal.

    It trembled in his grip, but for Totoma's sake, it was a matter well worth the remaining moments left to him.

    "As if it is your life to lose alone, Oni. One hundred thousand years, yet you fail to see beyond your own reach."

    Inanna smiles again sadly.

    "Ishtar is who Zurvan wanted me to be, not who I am. Who's fault is it then, that I've been misjudged, and compared time and again to her?" Not on her, entirely, though she could at least understand why and where they placed the blame. Regardless of who Ishtar was, she was someone they had fought and nearly died with time and again, and forged strong bonds with. Now, she was gone, and in her place, was something foreign. Dangerous. It was in their nature to fear her, find any justification they could to distrust her; and she'd done little to dispel that. Had even given them ammunition... but their misjudging her character was not the discussion of the day. Her 'shady dealings' were.

    "Yet I've only truly learned one thing, in recent months. That more than anything, the only ones who suffer the 'Godly way of doing things' are mortals. Something I doubt you would disagree with, would you Ochazuke?" This struggle with Auroc. All those months searching, bearing witness to worlds in which mortal will had been ground to dust... and now, to know that for all his hard work the actions of a misinformed Darkling had brought his world, the only home he truly knew, to its knees: with a single wish.

    She could see it in his eyes. It was slowly hollowing him out; though whether or not he'd break like Ishtar... she couldn't say. "Regardless of how you see it... I meant well." But if she was to be damned for anything, it was this.

    "Yet you mentioned matters I sat upon for months and months, of which there are... only two. Neither are a burden I found satisfaction- self-indulgence- in carrying. One merely fills me with dread." Her gaze fell away, then.

    "So... I suppose at the end of it, despite all I've said, well meaning or not. I can't... refute it."
    "Two is already far too many matters to keep sequestered. If they yet need to be tended to by a Destroyer...If they remain threaten the universe we live in...!"

    More than the feeling of being lied to, a mounting disgust and frustration burned the words within him.

    "If you've already decided nobody else can change the path they have set us upon, that it should be hidden from those you know will fight, then wear the habit of suffering if you wish. But if this is your lowly appraisal of us, even after all we have been through, then that, Oni, will be the last insult I will tolerate."

    Exhaling, steadily as if it had been held in the whole time, for a moment his eyes glassed over. One new threat after another. When will this procession end? Auroc, the Ulthan, the Remnant, Sakin...and Him... Once the goal had been in common, he'd once thought it had been clear they had to rebuild what had been broken. But now, with these secrets hidden from one another, would these very same allies be but manipulators standing in their midst?

    "If the time to act has not already passed us by, at the very least see that you explain this to your Queen if you reserve your honest demeanor for anybody."

    Quote Originally Posted by Sub-Zero MKA View Post
    Just like that, it was over. Sarada and Parsley watched the small jar Ochazuke produced rattle and shake for a brief moment, then settle into motionlessness. They weren't sure what happened, but the latter realized soon after that Kevi had been sealed away.

    "That jar needs to be given to Sihn and Shek'hinah so they can properly dispose of Kevi for good," Parsley said. Her eyes fell to Totoma's body. "And his body needs to be preserved with Hozon so it can be ready for when his soul returns."

    Saying that made her realize that she might as well get the explanation out of the way. "Totoma's soul is in Otherworld right now, training with Vocado and my younger cousin. I... had to kill him to send him there so we could stop Wolf God from killing Inanna's Uncle. I needed a signature familiar enough to lock onto from where and Totoma offered himself."

    It was an abridged version, but that was all there was to it. Had she known of the oath Gallows Lord made with Binder and that he had broken that oath by taking advantage of the loophole death offered, she wouldn't have bothered worrying about it. Instead, Totoma was dead and his body had been used as a puppet. What a bother.

    "He's training with a legend, so he's not too broken up about it " She shrugged.
    When Parsley stated, rather swiftly, that she had been the one that killed Totoma, the slightest shift in Ochazuke's frame toward her carried with it a certain, recognizable lethality, but his eyes were struck wide open to the whites. That was the inication of the rage that ran through him, carrying a spike of ki as he ventured a single advance step.

    "...a likely story," he growled, "...such a desperate scheme would come from a noble fool when the moment has stolen his wit, wouldn't it?"

    Nor would he see the value his own life held before throwing it to sacrifice like this. I suppose he might recall Karine and the children only at this moment...

    Of course, this was only one of many apparent issues that stood unresolved. For now, he has Parsley's word on this, but this day continued to test his patience.

    "Who are Sihn and Shek'hinah," he asked, slowly deducing the implication. Totoma had died. Zaofan had revived him, but something else settled into his body.

    "...this creature somehow escaped the Afterlife. What other demenses have been hidden from us, has that, too, fallen into disarray?"
    Last edited by grampagen; 01-10-2021 at 11:20 PM.

  13. #4378

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Cleric of Hell’s Brigade View Post
    Spireward takes a bloodied hand from a pouch on his side and throws it at Ochazuke’s feet. Banespell’s hand, freshly cut, with a ring on its finger still.

    “Banespell yet lives, but he will.....not Forge......again. Stripped....of power.....and imprisoned. Justice.....for now. Death....may still.....come. Our....elders will......decide.”
    Where Spireward had cast the morbid tithe, Ochazuke tilt his head as he studied the two ends of Banespell's legacy. The hammer left to him did little to soothe his fraying patience in the face of the silent rift put between their band of warriors, nor did seeing the hand that once wielded its arcane craft cast off like useless flesh seem satisfactory. Perhaps the Lord Forger had meant this to be some penitent gesture, a crude means of undoing the hell he'd unleashed in his terror.

    To resolve the abrupt threat, the Mafuba had tapped into something deeper than ki, a thing in his practice he'd been all too familiar with: Life Energy. Even worn where the fatigue shook his bones, Ochazuke still deigned to stand.

    Even a wish upon the First Dragon would not be enough to change the state of things.

    Nor would the craft of First Magic avail those who sought to use it to change fate by shackling others to it. As it had been offered to him, along with the Hammer, Ochazuke plucked the ring from the severed hand. Of the seven of them, The Forger's had been the only one who had not been marked my the Flame of the Dragon School. Moreover, he was not the one who bound them.

    She was somewhere else. They needed to find her before these fools visit their wrath elsewhere. Perhaps this would be their lead.

  14. #4379
    Lin Kuei Grandmaster Sub-Zero MKA's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Location
    Earthrealm
    Posts
    15,732

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by grampagen View Post
    When Parsley stated, rather swiftly, that she had been the one that killed Totoma, the slightest shift in Ochazuke's frame toward her carried with it a certain, recognizable lethality, but his eyes were struck wide open to the whites. That was the inication of the rage that ran through him, carrying a spike of ki as he ventured a single advance step.

    "...a likely story," he growled, "...such a desperate scheme would come from a noble fool when the moment has stolen his wit, wouldn't it?"

    Nor would he see the value his own life held before throwing it to sacrifice like this. I suppose he might recall Karine and the children only at this moment...

    Of course, this was only one of many apparent issues that stood unresolved. For now, he has Parsley's word on this, but this day continued to test his patience.

    "Who are Sihn and Shek'hinah," he asked, slowly deducing the implication. Totoma had died. Zaofan had revived him, but something else settled into his body.

    "...this creature somehow escaped the Afterlife. What other demenses have been hidden from us, has that, too, fallen into disarray?"
    Ochazuke took it about as well as Parsley expected him to. He also didn't understand what was at stake. Not surprising. The identity of the likes of Sihn and Shek'hinah were a mystery to most except for those directly related to Inanna or had spent a fair amount of recent time with her.

    "Shek'hinah is Inanna's mother and Goddess of the Dead," she began to explain. "She's the one who judges recently deceased souls and determines whether they go to heaven, HFIL, or one of the punishment Hells. She uses machines to speed up the process, but sometimes she'll take cases personally. Such as mine. It was certainly how she ended up in HFIL and didn't have to mire away in Hell for an entire year before being wished back.

    "As for Sihn, he's Inanna's uncle. He's also the Supreme Kai, or overseer of this universe. Wolf God," she gestured toward the journal he discarded previously, "wanted to kill him as revenge for Sihn defeating him years ago. At the time, I felt that I had no choice. If Sihn falls, the cosmos would fall into disarray until a replacement could be found or he would be revived." Assuming he could even be revived. "Lady Binder rendered those concerns moot when she deal with Wolf God herself."

    She sighed. In hindsight, she should have sat on her hands. The future, though, was a mystery to her. She saw a problem and dealt with it as best she could. "I don't know how the shadow creature took hold of Totoma. I've never heard of Kevi, nor do I know how she escaped." She shrugged. "You'll have to ask Shek'hinah, if you really want to know."
    DBM | Sarada | Parsley

    ROLL TIDE ROLL!

  15. #4380
    Voice of the Authorities Cleric of Hell’s Brigade's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Location
    House Deathstalker
    Posts
    13,202

    Default

    Meanwhile in Vaikuntha.........


    Totoma’s body jerks, than coughs and staggers up. He looks around, bringing a non existent cigar to his lips as one hand drifts to his hip for a gun. He frowns, looking at his empty hands for a moment before a slow smile spreads across his face.

    He flexes a bit, than throws a few punches and nods.

    “This will do. Time to remind them who’s King.”

    He powers up and walks forward into this new place, laughing quietly.
    Black Knight of SO
    Owner/Operator of SO’s Item/Weapon Shop
    Claimer of the original Rumbles 2,000,000th post
    CBR GM/DM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •