Alasea closed her eyes and hung her head as she brought her hands up and clasped them together in a classic prayer position. "I'll need everyone to stand clear of Lee," she said quickly as she drew in the Pillar of Dawn's energies, causing her to shine in an aura of morning light. R.D. immediately backed away, letting the Dragon King Armor to fade away from his body as he did so. He kept his arms crossed and watched the spectacle unfold.

The ground shifted underneath Lee's feet, rising up to become a flat disk three meters wide with the shadow creature standing directly in the center. A magic circle appeared on the ground, glowing azure blue. A pentacle formed in the middle, the five arms lined with intricate designs. Five colored spheres of light--red, blue, purple, yellow, and gray--appeared in the spaces between each arm of the pentacle.

Beads of sweat appeared on her brow as she brought out more of the Pillar's might. Converting shadow energy back into Lee's original form might be easier than converting demonic DNA back into human DNA, but this transformation was that of Kuro's power, and had lasted a long time as it was--she'd have to go all out here.

Here's to hoping I don't burn myself out in the process, she thought wryly as she began gathering the various flows of healing power needed for the ritual.

Edited by RisingDragon on November 8, 2007 at 12:52:48.

Meta came to a halt in front of Xoquoxitill. "Before I continue to merely even think of following up some orders considering punishment and judgment and all that, I wish to know something. You said that there was no other god willing to help me with more skill and knowledge than you, except for one. I want to know who that god is, and where I can find that god."

Flows of ancient power swirled and wove their way around Lee, invisible to all but Alasea. Intricate designs were woven together and placed on Lee's body, the flows sinking into the energy that formed Lee's body. There'd be a discomforting burning sensation, but that would signify the start of the healing.

Light shone upwards from the magic circle that Lee stood within, growing brighter by the second. Soon, a pillar of light blasted upwards into the sky, completely obscuring the shadow creature from view. R.D. threw his hands up to block the light from hurting his eyes. Lightning shredded the skies overhead, each one brilliant gold in color, and several them blasted down into the pillar of light. On the hill behind them, the Pillar of Dawn was blazing like the sun.

Within the light, Lee's body would be going through radical changes as shadow was obliterated, flesh and blood replacing it as the the energy was reconverted into the original form of Lee, created from his own memory. Alasea's body had broken out in a cold sweat, but inside she felt aflame as she toiled with the ancient energies of the Pillar of Dawn.

As the light cleared, the magic circle faded to nothing, leaving particles of light drifting in the air. The ground shifted once more, lowering back to how it had been prior to the ritual, and the Pillar of Dawn grew dim. There was a fleeting movement to the side--Alasea, exhausted by the phenomenon, had collapsed. R.D. had seen this, and moved with uncanny speed to catch her before she hit the ground. The girl was out like a light, and R.D. frowned as he picked her up, cradling the girl gently in his arms.

He turned back to Lee and looked at the man's original form. R.D. appraised him up and down, studying him for weaknesses and such--a bad habit picked up from his travels with Matt, one he didn't intend to break. "So, looks like you're back to normal," he said, "Feel any better?"

X glanced casually at the man, but paid him no mind. If he was going to be an obstacle, he would die..

"I'll be fine," Alasea said in a breathy whisper, her eyes fluttering open. "I'll be fine," she said again, this time her voice stronger. Then she realized that she was being cradled by R.D., and blushed like mad. She counted herself lucky that he didn't see it.

The girl quickly got down from his arms, and R.D. backed away to give her some space. Alasea wiped some sweat from her brow and took a deep breath before looking up at Lee and smiled. "I guess I succeeded," she said, "What will you do now?"

===In London===

The amount of people who were running past him were fewer. Many men and women who were gathered near a single tower, carrying strange objects on their shoulders and in their hands. Were they weapons of some sort?

He didn't think so. If they did, they probably would've used them against the being up in the sky. Many of them, however, turned and looked at him as he approached. He paid little mind to their whispers and gestures toward him; his focus was on the threat. As it were, he could do nothing from ground level. He turned his gaze to the many square towers, looking at their lengths. The reflective bits... were they windows? Perhaps. Teleporting to places one cannot see was always a stupid, dangerous risk, but he'd done it before.

He was lucky to have studied sorcery on his quest to slay the devil, Diablo. While it took him a long time, he managed to master various potent spells, despite his relatively low mana supply. While he knew magic, he was no mage. He'd also have to be careful where he teleported; long-distance jumps were perilous if done improperly.

He cast the spell, lifting a hand into the air as an aura of ghostly magic surrounded him for a brief moment. And suddenly, he was gone from the street. He found himself in a large, expansive room with various small white walls in it, along with tables adorned with strange gray and black boxes. What was this place? There were people here, too, and many of them shrieked upon his arrival. He turned, and looked out the window: he was many stories up, but still had further to go.

Three more castings of Teleport found him upon the roof of one of the buildings, close by to floating being. This man was clad in strange armor, and looked expressionless, cold even. The wind blew fiercely up here, but he paid it no mind. He simply looked up at the man in the sky, holding up the ball of evil magic.

Edited by RisingDragon on November 8, 2007 at 22:28:37.

Meta cast a glare at Xoquoxitill, but decided not to delve further into the subject, as she deemed it likely that if a god wouldn't want to give away something that could be a secret, he wouldn't ever do it.

Her eyes lingered on the ground before her feet for a moment as she contemplated about her options now. Xoquoxitill had told her to judge and punish the souls in this realm, and she had no idea how many there were. And yet she wanted to get out of there, be gone, be done with it, and go face Hydro again and beat him into the ground.

"Say, how come so many souls are here anyways?" Meta asked the god. "Isn't Hell the place for that?"


(OOC: Just to clarify yet again, due to some trick of Akumu's, all dead souls go to the Nightmare Realm instead of Hell, right?)

"Hmmm," X coldly remarked to the man. "You don't have the insignia of the Templar on you," He sighed. "What a pity. I guess I'll have to try again at the next city."

He cracked his neck a few times, and then tipped his arm towards the ground.

"Even at a fraction of my strength, this should suffice."

"Hmm." Meta thought about this for a while, considered her options for the moment. "Say, could I perhaps help you in this cleaning up of innocents?" She asked Xoquoxitill with a bit of a smile on her face. She didn't plan on killing off their souls to never live again, but rather send them back to Earth after having promised her that they would follow her when she would come to Earth. That way, she would gain massive support from the little goody good guys, along with having her armies expand in number greatly. Meanwhile, she thought, she would make sure that none of the evil beings would be able to leave the realm to ally with any forces that could oppose her.

"And just how do you propose on doing that?" R.D. asked, a frown etched on his face as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Fighting him on your own is just gonna get you back in this position."

"R.D.!" Alasea cried, looking irritated. R.D. raised a hand, forestalling her from scolding him. He looked back at Lee and said, "If you're going to go after Donovan, then I suggest you join the only army that's even done any damage to the Seven Beasts."

Meta looked around her at the place they had arrived at, glancing at the distorted figures of the horrible trees that looked like the creation of humans gone terribly wrong, yet somehow still being capable of living. Her nose wrinkled in disgust. The feeling she got from the place felt odd in comparison to how things looked there and the sounds that made the air vibrate.

"What souls are here?" She asked her companion. "Good or bad ones?"

Meta decided to remain silent for the moment being, and follow Xoquoxitill should he enter the church and listen if he said something, and watch carefully for what things he did.

Fear was always a powerful tool to use against humans, alongside the emotion of despair. Often it was used by demons and other creatures of the outer dark to stay humans, and control them. When fear and despair failed, they used hatred.

However, not everyone could succumb to these negative feelings. Sometimes they are emotionless. Sometimes they have something to ward them. For Alasea, it was the comforting warmth of the Pillar of Dawn, a bright light that held back the darkness. As long as she had the Pillar of Dawn connected to her soul, this artificial, psychic fear could not touch her.

R.D. was not so lucky, or so he thought. Lumiya was not an omnipotent artifact of holy power, like the Pillar of Dawn. It was a weapon, one that wielded the power of destruction. It had no protection against the psychic onslaught that struck him, and thus his mind's eye saw the darkness and the blood-red eyes.

And then, just like that, they were gone.

This being had fallen into a trap within R.D.'s mind; for something else was protecting him. As the psychic emanations of fear touched R.D.'s mind, something reigned them in, dragging the entity into the depths of a different kind of blackness. For this entity, it would see a titanic shape in the looming shadows, something moving just out of sight. Except for brilliant, blazing yellow eyes that glowed in the darkness. The beast made a terrible, psionic roar that shook the foundations of this psychic prison.

Out.

===In England===

The armored man ignored X's words. The look of the armor was strange, alien. What kind of monster was this?

"I don't know who you are," he said, his voice strong as he called out to the entity, "And I know nothing of these Templar you speak of. But if you have something against this city, take it up with me. There is no point to these people dying."

"There's hardly any point in their existence, now that they have little use to me. And I tire of this host. He's far too weak-willed to be corrupted by my power." X smiled, and flung the energy ball down at the man--and the city.

"A Grados battleship you say...Maybe they detected me when I was reactivated." said Layzner.

"Positive, when you were brought back online, I automatically sent a coded signal." replied Rei.

"...Nice. I want you to tell me things like this from now on." ordered Layzner.

Rei simply acknowledged the new order. After their little exchange, Layzner continue to fly away. After awhile, he saw land.

"About time, I was getting tired of seeing nothing but water." said Layzner.

Veronica, looked down, broken of her trance of the window looking up the hill. She shook her head, smiling down at the innocent girl. It began to plague her mind, what could have this girl done to be the host to such an evil thing? It was so sad to think what hell this girl must have gone through...but it was over now if any. Thank God or whatever higher being was above them.

Bryant had felt some flash of...fear? Fear of...of something that seemed to have brushed against his shoulders. Like some demon had come by him, touched him, and Bryant knew that it was there to kill him. Brandon felt the same, both were frozen for a moment. Then it passed...as if something had come to guard them just that moment. They exhaled.

Edited by Blazen on November 10, 2007 at 18:14:03.

Frowning behind the helmet he wore, the man quickly muttered a chant, casting the Mana Shield spell. A globe of liquid golden energy formed above his head, casting an invisible barrier around him. Dropping down on one knee, the man held his shield out in front of him and angled it upward. The energy blast slammed into the shield and the Mana Shield, causing lightning to flare out as the friction between the two increased.

Grunting, the man started pushing back against the energy blast, angling it upwards, and finally cast another spell. A fireball slammed into the energy blast at point blank range, propelling the blast high into the air. It shot off and angled down into the wilderness past the city, and collided with the ground. A brilliant wave of violent light blasted upwards, blindingly bright. Shakily, the man stood up, silhouetted by the blast and his shield smoking and slightly melted, and looked up at X. He panted slightly, and reached up behind his back, grasping the hilt of his sword in one gauntleted hand.

"A host?" he finally said, anger lacing his voice. "So, you take over an innocent being and force him to do your dirty work?"

There was a rasping noise as he drew his sword, revealing a shining, silver-white blade, elegantly crafted, with runes etched into its base near the crossguard. The man brought his sword to his side and brought the shield up, entering a ready stance. "You disgust me," he said in a monotone, ready for battle.

X laughed, not caring what the man thought. "Oh, don't worry. This wasn't by choice, either of ours actually. He inadvertently forced the two of us into this relationship, and I mean to get out. In the meantime, I thought I'd make the most of it."

X stretched. He had just woken, he was weak still and he felt that this one could give him trouble. He floated to the roof and touched the surface with his feet. Now on an equal footing he slowly approached the man.

"How much do you really care about this shell?"