The water was calm, effortlessly and continuously moving as it made its way down the stream carved into the earth. As her boot drive her further and implanted itself into the dirt, the young woman knelt, taking quick steps glances around the area- and then deciding that it was clear. Her fingers began to move, standing up straight, her stance was hard like a rock as she dug her feet deep into the ground below. It gargled as it obeyed her commands, bending it to her will, the way she breathed was similar to that of those who utilized the Peace of Mind/Absolute Concentration technique.
Eyelids shut right over her heterochromatic pupils of red and blue together, the breath hissed out of her nostrils, arms moving with the calming flow of the liquid so she could guide it right into the bucket she'd brought with her. Splash... it went gently, and as she smiled at the sight of such a magnificent feat, she couldn't help but giggle to herself at her very own growth. Now that one of the buckets had been full, she just needed to do the other three patiently waiting against the dirt. She copied the same moves over and over, calmly and peacefully guiding the fluid right into the buckets for two more times- and as she reached the third, something changed. A voice called out to her,
"So... are you a waterbender or something?"
It was almost as if it were a gentle greeting, but the way it'd quickly shocked her, she grunted and spun around at breakneck speeds. Using the stream of water around her to shoot icicles as the liquid circled all around the woman, bright red hair having untied from the kept-up style, just as he was about to catch them- he'd heard the cracking of fire. Chuckling at the deficit on he'd just come to after noticing what happened to the ice, he jumped forward with his arms flailing behind him, using his legs to kick through the destructive flames.
Diving right through one of the blasts, then as he rolled right onto the ground, he smirked, using the pressure he had from his feet against the ground to push him into the air and backflip over another of the blasts. Generating some of his signature green lightning, he used the sonic boom he generated from throwing his feet back to land right on top of her, about to catch her by her throat- Kristina had swiped her hand with the intent to freeze him right then and there. The water had been guided right out of the buckets to freeze around his frame, or rather... so she thought. As she peeked out her one eye, the block of frost was still there despite there being no captive in there.
"It's me,"
About to throw another batch of water onto him, she jumped away and aimed it right at his throat. But widening her eyes, she gasped in surprise and shame, getting on her knees and interlocking her fingers, as if giving the illusion she were begging for mercy,
"I'm so sorry, Mr. Rivera! I couldn't see you cuz of the... the dark," Kristina clarified, but he couldn't even keep a serious face, all he did was just smile at her patting her shoulder. Uncrossing his arms, he just rubbed the back of his neck and closed his eyes,
"Well... actually, yeah, that was completely your fault,"
As she began to stand up straight, they shared a chuckle with one another after August had just said that sarcastic comment. Hand on his chin and doing a sort of thinking pose, Tina had been doing the water thing all over again seeing as how she wasted all of it. The only things that entered the forest were the chirping of the crickets and the heavy breathing of the redhead, August staring at the back of her head about to grab her shoulder- before the whispers yanked him back. Clenching his teeth together withholding a scream, he slapped the side of his head, and as she turned around, she put her fingers to her chin examining his face.
A blush appearing over his cheeks he attempted to hide with some of his lightning, she couldn't help but laugh at his try. Holding the buckets over her shoulders and arms, she was about to head home, waving bye to him... but then, once again, behind her- he rubbed at his temples. Her voice increasing and getting louder and louder as time gradually went on more and more, the Reaper's red eye was kept right in check, spinning around to cry out to the fleeing woman,
"Wait..!" As he yelled out for her to stop, she turned around with that signature smirk over her lips as if she'd expected this. Dropping her buckets, it was like she knew that he was too much of a nervous wreck to say anything more, and as he began to continue, she walked toward him, to which he was oblivious to, "I wanted to ask... if you could maybe... show.. showmesomeofyourmoves?"
All the while he'd been acting so nervous, she had been walking toward him with a smile over her face and eyes shut. Walking right past him, she took grip of his collar as she prepared to step by, August falling on his ass and being dragged along by Kristina,
"Smooth, now let's go, before you dig a hole for yourself,"
Shrugging, Rivera let himself be dragged seeing as how he didn't really have to use his feet or waste energy warping. The Reaper began to let out a fresh breath of air from his lungs, bottom dragging against the dirt, just as he'd closed his eyes and reopened them to see... the vision of her. Floating with his body having emerged out from his chest, 'Celine' glared at her lover, leaning against her knuckles with her chin resting against them. Quirking a brow, he scoffed and turned his head, a tear dripping down from the corner of his eye to stream down his cheek, about to break down and sob just as he did earlier, he whispered and pleaded to the spirit of the girl,
"Leave me alone... I'm forgetting you,"
As she spun around to face him, the mist-like form the part of her spirit had taken moved away into the wind... or rather, maybe it was never there at all. Stepping around his body, she kneeled in front of him, sliding both of her hands against his cheeks so her thumb would caress his skin riddled with nervous bumps. Flinching away about to teleport away, his pupils shrunk, breathing slow and raggedy, just as he was about to flee, he turned to face her and they locked eyes together. And from Kristina's perspective, she could make out one certain thing in the way he'd looked at her-
"You're afraid.."
It was like an instinct, the way he threw himself onto her body and entangled his arms around her body, embracing her in a hug... what kind of person was she to deny him any sort of support? Before she could even give him a sort of motherly reassurance that everything would get better, he'd realized that his breathing had once again shifted. He'd fallen asleep in her neck, and maybe... it was for the best. He was dragged deeper into the forest, and his back was placed against the leaf-covered trunk of a tree, the memories of the man he named his brother, and the woman he loved all flashing rapidly in the depths of-
The Void.
He was shirtless, muscles against the headboard of the bed, and his chest reflected in the glass of the mirror. The photo they'd taken when the Castle was built, of the family he was proud to have, his brother, sister, daughters, son.. wife. A legacy. Something that'd be left behind, people that will tell people of the person he was; and yet, part of him regretted it. The person he was, no longer human, the lives he'd taken for the sake of some self-righteous reason like freedom, or justice. Ridding the world of all remaining humans so that their cells would be the same as Matt's, Henry's... Ella's. Everything seemed so tiring and useless, he pondered about the point of going on any further.
To end those who stole the people he'd loved from him, but with them... with the power they held and the power dormant inside of him that they seek; wouldn't it be so much easier? To end it all right then and there, disappear from this world and end all the suffering so that one else has to die. Ben yanked the blade from the sheath as the steel began to sing out a usual metal sound, reflecting in the moonlight as the white peered in against the metallic sharpness from the open window.
His featured reflecting in the electrical conductor of the weapon, the memories of his brother training against him and his older sister reappeared. From years ago, it was like a dream as the memory resurfaced from the back of his very mind. The tip of the katana making sparks as the Emperor's knuckles hit against it, the Hunter tripped his baby brother with a craze smirk over his peached lips. Ben used his hands, about to fall flat on his back, flipping back and spinning in mid-air. Throwing off his glasses, he unleashed two laser beams from the center of his optics, the heated energy burning up from the ground about to slice his brother in half.
Madi sliding between her brother's legs from beneath him, she grabbed him by his collar and slammed him right down extending her palm. Using her fingers to absorb the energy in the tips of the extremities, she pushed it right back at her baby brother, who'd already disappeared from the hovered ascended position he'd previously been in. Widening her eyes, she was punched right in the throat, knee meeting her gut and the side of her head getting a kick to the cheek as she twirled turn falling unconscious with her tongue out, blood oozing out from her nostrils.
Jason smiling at the sight of it as he circled around his brother, Ben's chuckles still entering the air with his fists held up into the air. Seeing as how they hadn't been using any energy-based attacks, they just kept it one on one together against one another. Charging forward toward the other, The Emperor was ready with a smile peeled over each side of his lips as the Hunter of Justice spun the Ketsueki right over the top of his head. Sliding the tip along the metal ground, the front of the katana and the front of his fist had collided against the other- and just then...
The present had become clear to him. The purpose of his life and the reason he'd kept fighting, he'd left for a purpose. Not to just leave and die, but to bring the fight to them, he kept moving forward with the wills to slaughter each and everyone of those demons without hesitation. To avenge Ella, Henry, his mother, all of those people that the Incarnations and Almighty had taken advantage of just for the sake of the mission. There he was, reflected in the blade, blue eyes and all, beard still there yet without glasses... Ben scoffed. He had to end this cycle of hate, with such a motive as True Happiness for every remnant of humanity across each of the universes in the vastness of the multiverse- maybe if it was went about a different way, he would've complied.
Maybe if he was never brought into this at all, he would've never done anything to stop them... but they brought him into this. They brought his family and friends into this, so he took it upon himself, it wasn't anything less than a desire- or rather, a need. A smirk peeled over his lips as the azure tint of his orbs began to darken by the bloodied coloration of red, snarling with that distinct raspy nature in the front of his vocals,
"I'll... kill... you... exterminate you from this world. Rip you apart, tear you limb from limb... SLAUGHTER YOU... FROM THIS WORLD!!!"
What a wonderful gift from his brother he'd gotten, maybe it was something g the fine even Jason knew about the Ketsueki. Holding his head after he regained his sanity out from that rage-motivated burst of craziness, Ben shook his skull from side to side. Standing upright, with godlike speed; he ripped the katana out from the sheath to show the blue coloration it had over one side of the light blade. The tip pointed outward at the mirror and its reflectivity, the Emperor spun it over his head and over his back before putting it right back into the cover.
As he gazed at the sheath, he wondered about the energy he was currently sensing as it was radiating out from it. It was familiar, however, as he'd realized that time was accelerating further into the night, he needed to take a break. So as he stepped out from his pants, he pulled the covers onto his body and stared up at the ceiling, the beautiful faces of his wife, and the cuteness of his daughters... their welcoming arms. Jason, Madi, Matt, Ryder. He did this for them, and just knowing that they'll be okay, warmed his heart long enough for him to go to sleep.
Her hand, as if made of a golden mist, brushed against his forehead... moving back as he moved away in his sleep, she couldn't help but laugh. Feet gliding against the wood, the blonde sat at the end of his bed and watched as he began to fade away into his slumber. Ella smiled, just as she managed to disappear, time accelerated once again and the sun had begun to rise hours later.
Stretching his arms into the air after a good night's sleep, Alex dramatically yawned, met with some of the townsfolk with bodies over their shoulders. Tilting his head, an imaginary question mark appeared over his head, about to head over to one of the civilians before he gagged at the smell. Bending over to puke onto the dirt ground, he wiped his mouth and shook his head; flicking both his nostrils so that the Requiem energy could protect him from that horrifying smell. Memories not his own began to wander into his mind, maybe because of his blood wriggling around inside of his flesh and veins gifting him with this Requiem connection.
The very first smell that the young Fool, Ben Rivera, had dealt with when he'd arrived into the Kingdom... burning flesh. Alex wasn't in any rush to really see this scenery, so he just rubbed his neck, awkwardly walking through the crowd to spot what he'd thought he'd been sniffing all along. A pile of bodies burning, and among the plethora of corpses, of course, there sat none other than the three that'd been killed by those demons he and his party had slaughtered.
Honestly, it was horrific to see, yet it made sense, with a town as small as this, sure enough they didn't have anywhere else to put these bodies. So he just stepped back and went along his day, maybe deciding to get something to eat at the restaurant August had went to. Amara shrugged, about to make his way up there before- something stopped him, the sounds of chanting belonging to that of an occultist group,
"Hóstias tibi, Domine Magi diaboli. Purga de hoc mundo purissimum ac reponere non solum est peccatum,"
It sounded like gibberish but it was as though he'd heard something like that before, nothing seemed to happen as a resulting of the changing. Maybe they were just weird like that, and had their own way of doing it; different cultures do have different ways of... doing STUFF so it made some sort of twisted sense. Pushing out his hair so it could rest against his nape and back, Alex took his seat at one of those tables, interlocking fingers together.
Ten minutes later, his teeth had torn off the skin of the meaty food, munching so that the shiny bone marrow would slide down his throat and hit his stomach acids. Eyelids shut over his whitened pupils, the Judge moaned in delight still holding the drumstick in his hand examining it slowly,
"God, I just love the food here-"
But the second his eyes had shot forward, he'd managed to pick out the imperfection or rather- the abrupt change in scenery. The gathering around the burnt carcasses had ceased and the bodies were nowhere to be found, as if they'd been vanished out of this world. Yet bones don't just disappear so suddenly, they're hard to even... break, right? Jumping from the steps so his feet could stomp right onto the area they'd been piled up on, the Judge held his head; the sting entering his forehead.
Where had he felt this before... and why? Why was this feeling so familiar? And why did it make his head hurt so badly? Maybe something from the past that from the memories of his so-called Warrior ancestors, then it couldn't be? He had to search closer to the present, but when? Fingers brushing against the dirt, the residual energy attached itself to the tips of his extremities, sparking and comforting unnaturally as if it were still alive. He could make out the color; black and red. This was Takyr, the energy from Hell itself, but it wasn't weaponized or anything of the sort. It felt extremely pure, how could he had not noticed it when it was right outside the damned restaurant where he'd just been eating at?
It required further investigation, and considering he was less trained than his master and his father, he should bring it to Ben. As he turned his back, his hood was pushed down from over the peak of his messy strands, and he returned to talk out this issue with the Emperor himself. Just then, though, unbeknownst to him... there he stood, watching him from the sidelines with his orange-fiery eyes glowing with the burning sensation of Hell itself glaring at him. This town wasn't what it seemed, and for one, it wouldn't be boring.
Back at the forest, her fingers gripping against the handle of the wooden bucket, the water filled the insides and she breathed out carefully. Using her breath to heat it up with her nostrils, she turned around so she could carefully place the bottom of the bucket against the dirt-riddled ground. Slowly waking up so one of his eyes would pop out from the darkness belonging to the man's closed lid, August glanced around gently, the haziness of his sleepy vision gradually beginning to fade as he made out the rest of her features.
After dipping her hand into the bucket of boiling water, she couldn't help but since at the heat, putting her hand to his forehead. Letting out a gentle groan, though he wanted to flee so he could have a nice shower at the quarters reserved for him in the quarters assigned... that part of him overtook the emotional side which HER side had taken control of. As she began to slide her other hand into the other bucket she'd had at her side, August noticed her resisting her body and turning around... but part of him was too weak to raise his hand.
The tendril of darkness entangled itself around her wrist as if it had a mind of its own, knowing it be best that she didn't unleash a sort of Yelp to give him the wrong vibe... she just turned. It wasn't tight and if she just slid her hand out, there was no doubt she could've gotten out of its grip, but she let it stay around her. Because that was what he'd wanted, and as she turned her neck so she could face him directly, he let out a very groggy,
"Please... stay with me,"
The fear that she'd seen in his eyes, it'd begin to fade and she could make out another emotion, not shaky and full of fear like the other time earlier. It was a desire, and though his fingers were shaky as they operated the tentacle-like projectiles. She leaned closer, resting her head against his chest- it was what she'd wanted, and knowing what he'd asked for, this is what he'd wanted to. But, just then, she began to sit up straight and grab each side of his face so they could make direct eye contact,
"Why did you cry?"
Scratching the back of his head, August sat up and squished both of her cheeks, watching her puff them out; the duo shared a stupid laugh together. The young woman inched closer, a hand on his cheek, to search his memories just by reading his features and all. The micro expression he gave off said it all, the way he just gazed deeply into her heterochromatic eyes, the same as his own, about to lean forward so their lips would be destined to touch; August shook his head with a grunt slapping away her hand. He liked her, she seemed nice... pretty, and their eyes were sort of the same despite their shade being differentiated- nevertheless, as they both wanted to have their lips touch against one another, he was reluctant,
"I had someone, her name was... Celine. I really liked her, ya know? And we- I guess we were together for something like 20 years, after I 'died'. But she's gone now and only I remain, here. I always loved her- so thinking about her, about trying to move on continuously, it just felt wrong. Like I was untrue to her and her spirit. But... I want to try, my father told me I can't spend the rest of my days just wandering about, thinking of something that would never happen. I like you, and I want to move on with you... if you're willing to try it,"
She didn't object at all to his suggestion, all he did was smile at the thought, and inch closer so she could peck her very own lips against his cheek. Rubbing her chin, seated on her knees, she closed her eyes, continuing to think about a scenario that could aid and abed in his quest to finally move on entirely from her. Stepping along the blades of emerald littered across the pure ground of nature, he groaned, cracking his knuckles and the joints in his neck. Letting out an exhalation for some air to push out from his nostrils, he splashed more of the earth's water into his face so he could wake up completely and yawn once again,
"Ow!" He jokingly cried as her fist met his arm, rubbing it through his suit, his neck turned so he could make contact with her lower figure against the floor. Continuing to rub it, she decided to speak now, with a smile over her lips,
"We can go on a date, just casual and have some fun together. How long's it been since you been on a date?"
August thought back to the time he was younger, in his teens, rubbing his nonexistent beard as he sang to himself with a casual hum. Seeing as how he was about born in 2020, and he met Celine in 2035- it'd been about 23 or so years since he'd met her. And after explaining to her about that date, it was like she'd died momentarily, Rivera turning his head as she vibrated crazily as if having a fake seizure,
"You okay?"
Twirling her arms above her in the air, Kristina babbled as if a baby moving her arms shaking slowly, causing August to shake his head at the sight. Chuckling, he bent his knees and bent over so he could speak to her and reassure her of something he knew would make her interested again,
"If it makes you feel any better- I'm a virgin~"
GASP! It was like a breath of fresh air had been thrown out of her mouth from the air in lungs sliding up her throat. Using her some water to throw her further into the air, she turned into a ball then stretched out her arms and legs, falling right on top of him for them both to just collapse onto the ground. Ruffling her hair and laughing together, Kristina began to stand up at once extending out her hand so she could yank him into the air beside her,
"Alright, Auggy, we meet in front of the restaurant together where we met. I'll take the night off, then we can go home-if the night goes well-and we can... see where it goes, okay?"
He remembered the way it progressed, him and Celine, so slow and gradual together. The way she broke into his parents' house, who he helped her and gave her the aid she needed with a couch, a warm place to sleep, everything... the way it went Kristina, now- it seemed so fast. They didn't even know one much about the other, before he was called 'The Reaper', he couldn't help himself, he couldn't help but think about her. Tilting his neck so he could stare at the running water they'd been standing in front of, her fingers grabbed his chin so she could snap his head to face her features,
"I like you- and I believe in you. I'll help you and if you're not ready now then I'll wait, okay?"
In a way, he'd been wanting this for a while... maybe she was destined to die, and maybe he was supposed to be with Kristina. His head nodded up and down at a rapid rate, then another thought came up, running out from the back of his mind so it could hover in the forefront of his brain,
"But we don't even know anything about one another, how are we even going to do this?"
Kristina smiled at the question, rubbing his back, she rested the side of her head against his shoulder. Taking his hand, their fingers interlocked using her grip to bring it up to her lips- they crouched together and fell onto both of their bottoms. Sitting together, the sun began to shine on both of their faces, August couldn't help but notice her eyelids shut over her red and blue eyes... his were still. The calming sound of the running stream had sent a relaxing feeling throughout the res for his body, following that, his eyes shutting the same as hers.
A sea of memories adrift in time, some he could never forget, but maybe they weren't meant to be forgotten. Maybe we use those memories from times that we cherish in the past to move forward with the future, shape it utilizing the actions you make in the present, another familiar part of him was hesitant. But Celine wasn't the type of person, the girl to be such an asshole and not want the boy she'd loved not to move on... but he couldn't do this for her, he needed this. If anything , he needed this for just himself, and spend his time with someone that he wouldn't have to wait for. That was-
His destiny.
Ben was a man of action, using his words didn't really work out for him all the time, so he decided to act upon his suspicions. Seeing as how there wasn't much he could do without being seen or thrown out of the town, he decided to be sort of sneaky, and by sneaky, that meant the whole flow of time for the entire universe had to be stopped so he could examine the Headman's office. The heartbeat had somehow been the motive for his strutting inside, fingers throwing some of the clutter on the desk onto the floor- he hummed to himself warping behind it so he could sit on the chair and sort through some of the folders pulling them out of the drawers.
Gently flicking through some of the papers in their casings, he playfully licked his thumb, most of them seemed like usual daily reports- but he knew there was something irregular. He could sense it in the pit of his stomach, and it felt... like it was calling to him from the beyond. Then again, he could be going crazy, he was over 60 years old in a 30-year-old body, but these things usually didn't lie. Considering he was the first Requiem in the multiverse ever, since the Holy Benevolent War of Demons and Angels, for 20 years before his son was born, it'd be ridiculous not to consider some part of the spirit word or maybe beyond that reaching out to help him.
Just then, as he searched through all the papers, nothing came to him and part of him felt stupid, shrugging it off as another baseless suspicion that'd gone nowhere- he stopped right as he was about to exit through the open door. Time resumed for just a second, 25 seconds had been spent up before they then resumed once again, with the abrupt chatter of the townsfolk grinding to a halt so he could clear his mind and make a distinct sound audible to his eardrums. Whispers. Maybe if the damned, breaking out of their confinement of Hell to contact him from their tortuous prison? Making use of his limited time utilizing the Universe, he simply stuck out his hand for the book to fly right to his grip.
Eyes radiating with that signature dark blue coloration, the lightning generating from the speed he flipped and absorbed the information inked onto the paper. Just then, he stopped at the end... there was a page ripped out, and he grunted in irritation, there had to be something he could do. Then, he'd realized something, he didn't even need the page to figure out the truth, up until this point- it'd just been about the way the Incarnations had come to visit the town and how they all developed from their newfound power. They had ask for something in return for infinite power, and since the Headman likely had contact with all fix of them, it was likely that he could access his grandfather's memories to see what'd really happened.
Throwing the book back onto the desk, he stepped out and went at such a distance that as time resumed and he passed the Headman, nothing seemed amiss. Arms tucked into his pockets at each side of his body, he watched as the Emperor walked nonchalantly, the Requiem even giving him a silent glare as he went into the restaurant to order some breakfast for the morning. There was a certain scent the older man had given off, something repulsive that gave him such an irritation, the Headman held his head in agony as he felt the sting of his other self begin to crawl out. Collapsing in an alleyway, the transmutation circle on the back of his hand began to transform into nothing but a pentagram, glowing as red as the infernos of Hell itself.
Ripped wings snapping out of his back unnaturally, he screeched in terror, the sight of the town beginning to disappear so he could transported back. Back to the feet of the Almighty where He sat above the poor subject, peering down at him with some sort of emotion that resembled maybe.. pity. Satan's claws began to shine against the brightness of the sun that moved from the behind of them Royal Seat. The Embodiment of Evil couldn't help but let out a sinister giggle, Moriah widening her eyes, childishly jumping up and down, palms then hitting against each other as she witnessed the creation of another!
Apostles began to form out of the ground, their hardened figures made of the stone substance of this rock they stood on. Demons popping out of hellish gateways to crawl along the top of the Throne and the feet of their Almighty, more monsters and everything from the shadow realms gathered around to witness the birth of something anew. The Death Tarot was willed right into existence above the palm of the Evil Incarnation, the Devil's red lined-up eyes peered from the side to gaze upon the Insertion.
"With the power vested in me by the Right Hand of God and the Left Hand of Satan, I call upon thee ancient power. That which was bore from the stomach of Mother Nature and Father Time; we use this power you gift us to uphold the value of Happiness and Order in this chaotic universe. This nocturnal date shall not go unnoticed, as the demons gather around to witness the birth of their new brother and the Sixth Annual Member of the Incarnations of Obliteration- we await the destiny of you, our Grim Reaper, and as your spiritual form is made physical in the body of this insolent human, we allow you; guidance.
For the night is long and dark, bring Death to those that oppose our will, and give us... the Chosen One..."
To Be Continued!