Blood scattered across the expansive grey landscape. The chimera's form returned to its humanoid state. Sounds, smells, sights, feeling. Its body twitched like an electric current ran through its body. Memories ran through its mind, crashing upon its consciousness like waves on a sandy shore.
Twin figures dashed through the wasteland, slicing through the air like a blade in the darkness. The hollow chime of Reiju filled the creature's ears, filling its hollow shell of a body, and awakening it to the blurred sight of a distinct two. Cloaks of amethyst and emerald covering the sight of a boy with deep brown hair and purple eyes and a girl whose face remained hidden behind a mask.
"So that's what was causing all that noise? You interrupted my nap, bastard."
"I feel like your entrance was a lot louder than whatever this beast was doing, you know, Akihiko,"
Tara said, calmly analyzing the state of the creature, the centerpiece that plunged the land of Limbo into such a deep grey.
"Now don't act like you weren't also trying to show off, Tara," Akihiko replied.
"I said we need to get there, fast. If we're lucky, we can finish this Chimera off before we have every inhabitant of this place ready to kill us."
Akihiko's eyes shined with the bright royal purple Tara had grown so accustomed to as he shifted his gaze to the Chimera. Its silver eyes and hair, even how it mimicked the form of a human.
Something about it was horrifying, yet exciting for Akihiko.
"So, this is a Chimera, I'm not sure if I've encountered one like this before, let alone one this far into Superbia of all places—
He thought back to the books he read. The bestial shadow said to wander the lands of Satania appeared in a place like this. There was no way such a thing could be here naturally. Akihiko chuckled at the idea of something like that losing its way in such a manner.
—How about this Tara? I'll see if I can teach this beast a few new tricks and you use that God-given evaluation that you've always had to figure out if this one's any different outside of the rest."
"'God-given is pushing it when Mammon's people are easily at my level...but I guess it's acceptable. Just don't let your teaching get out of hand," Tara replied with a sigh. The wind blew her hair to the side, revealing the shine of her aquamarine eyes dissecting the beast's hollow shell as the time approached closer like the meticulous ticks of a clock.
Akihiko unhooked his cloak, letting it fly with the silent winds of Limbo's new state. The time of conflict ended and birthed something completely new. Reiju ignited along his fingertips like velvet fire.
"How polite. You even waited for me to prepare, Chimera. I'll be sure to teach you the difference between things like you and a Deadly Sin."
The chimera straightened up. Its blurred gaze became clear as the velvet flames flickering off of Akihiko's body.
A Deadly Sin.
The name echoed through the Chimera's head, bringing the voices within its mind to a silence. Images flickered through its head as if the lives it contained flashed before its eyes. War, death, chaos, balance in the form of a demonic presence.
"...A Sin…." The Chimera said, the voices of those it'd eaten echoed behind it in a unified voice. Its eyes flickered scarlet, emerald, pink, and violet before settling back to silver, filling with a faint glow.
"It speaks, so this should be interesting. Let's start with your hand-to-hand combat."
No thoughts, head empty.
The ground shattered before the Chimera's eyes as Akihiko disappeared.
As if carried by the force of wind, the chimera felt its body fly through the air. It couldn't see or feel anything except for the wide hand of Akihiko carrying it into the sky before being slammed into the earth below like a dumbbell.
The voices within its mind let out a roar. Cracks formed beneath the beast; its body shivered with reiju as its body repaired itself. It shot from the earth, slashing across Akihiko's face with a sharpened limb, causing the young man to take a few steps back. The chimera continued the assault, slashing wildly at Akihiko, carefully watching as the young man ducked and dodged each of its strikes.
"Instead of using your arms to slash, it'd be better to use them for piercing attacks." Akihiko shouted.
His reiju shot in front of him like pressure, blowing the beast back. The veins in his hand revealed themselves as his nails sharpened.
"Altering the body like this is a bit more of Tara's style, but I'll show you it."
The chimera blinked at the sight of Akihiko's hand piercing its eye. Velvet-soaked essence filled the air as it jumped back. Its skin warped like black ink, repairing its lost organ before it continued once more. It mimicked the stance. Akihiko took before his disappearance—like an electric circuit, reiju crackled through its limbs before it copied the movement.
An unconscious mind.
The two disappeared, exchanging blows across the battlefield, through the rocky terrain. Voices flickered through the beast's mind as it continued to adapt and evolve, mimicking Akihiko's movements until it was able to counter. The chimera planted its feet, letting a crimson hue overtake its eyes.
A pained sizzle coursed through its limbs as red symbols appeared over its body.
"—Curse Series Wrath?"
The beast shot towards Akihiko as it knocked the young man back towards Tara with a sizzling kick to his chest.
A hand caught Akihiko, bringing his body to the ground gently.
"Body modification, regeneration and—even precognition from the looks of it; you really found quite the anomaly of a chimera, haven't you, Akihiko?"
Tara smirked beneath her mask at the concept of facing such a foe, carefully watching as its eyes shifted from its blood red to the soul-piercing silver it had before.
"Wait."
Akihiko stood up, cracking his neck at the sight of the symbols on the Chimera's body dissipating.
"One more thing I want to test on it…."
Tara's eyes widened as she saw the look in Akihiko's eyes, like a lion whose pride had been challenged.
That look.
The girl frowned at the sight before simply letting a sigh rise from the bottom of her mask.
"It's not my fault if someone learns how to counter that Anima of yours."
"Perfect."
The atmosphere shifted.
An unknown energy vibrated through Akihiko's body. His pupils dilated and the air around him slowed to a screeching halt. He held out a hand as if to present something to the beast like a gift.
"I'll show you one last thing, Beast—
Velvet flames of reiju flickered through his hand before being smothered by the unknown energy like a weight crushing a demonic power with its pressure. The air swirled around the body of Akihiko Jakusha like a divine barrier. His voice changed, echoing with the wind.
—This is... my Origin Sin. Watch closely at what people think is the power of a god."
Anima.
The energy erupted from the young man's palm in the form of white crystals. Akihiko closed his eyes, calming his thoughts as latent voices filled his head, ones from a being he knew well.
"No thoughts, no actions, only instincts needed to survive."
The chimera stopped in its tracks. A feeling overtook its body it couldn't comprehend. The excitement for a battle against such a force left its body in an instant as it saw what floated above Akihiko's palm.
A blade created with pure shadow. Voices hummed within the sword through the violet streak at its center, the color mirrored Akihiko's eyes as he smiled with devilish glee at what he brought forth….
"Now this is a good one alright! I named these myself…" He silently muttered as he began the incantation.
Anima Series
Kegare
The blade followed the movements of Akihiko's hand. He pointed it towards the chimera as if it was an arrow from a bow ready to be released.
"Set."
Its movement stopped, focusing dead between the eyes of the chimera. The thought hadn't registered through its mind, the concept that it would embrace such an experience as it had endured from before. The same thing its creator had to—
"Fire."
The blade blazed through the landscape, taking away a chunk of the land in an instant. It ripped through the earth like a razor, slicing through the air with ease before making contact with the chimera.
Pain.
It felt an unquantifiable heat welled up in its chest, ripping through its throat and out its mouth. A feeling it knew all too well. Just like under the heat of the uncaring sun of Limbo. The chimera burst...into a sea of black blood.
_______________________________________________________________-
Blood scatters.
No matter how far.
Or how vast it expands upon the earth.
It must return.
Blood crept through the grey stone of Limbo, gathering together like black miasma. Tara's gaze flared at the sight despite the scar Akihiko's Anima had created on the wasteland of Limbo.
"It's already regenerating…."
In no time at all, the chimera had once again reformed, staring at the two above it as if they were gods that needed to be knocked from their throne in the sky. The chimera slowly exhaled. No longer did its breathing produce the same eerie black smoke. Its mind cleared itself of any voices.
An identity amongst the voices of the unconscious minds of those it devoured—he devoured.
Kimela.
The name rang through its head like a whisper as he remembered the last thing his creator called him. Kimela mimicked the same stance from before, as if expecting another attack from the two.
"I think it wants another go, Tara. I hope that was enough data for you."
Tara smirked at Akihiko's words.
"More than enough."
Reiju swirled around her body, blowing her hair behind her as she walked to the edge of the crater. The sight of the chimera's eyes was something Tara couldn't shake. Resolve, peace... But peace in what? Itself?
"I'm almost jealous, that something like you could figure that out," Tara said as she met Kimela face to face. Her breathing shifted like the pattern of reiju around her as her eyes burned bright emerald.
I am thou.
The two dashed towards each other, the beast mimicking Akihiko's speed and Tara surpassing such a low limit. Tara blew Kimela back with a hard kick, focusing her gaze on the chimera. Kimela's eyes shifted from silver to lime green. Like an eagle, wings spouted from his back as he shot through the air back towards Tara.
An annoyed look flashed past Tara's face from behind her mask at the sight of the ability.
"Pitiful."
Tara extended her hand as metallic wires shot from her sleeve and latched onto the chimera from above. With a single hard tug, she brought Kimela into a hard kick. The wires unhooked themselves before latching onto another part of the beast's body. Tara continued brutally beating the chimera, bringing it back towards her before plunging any part of her body into its flesh like a sharpened blade.
A punch.
A kick.
It didn't matter. As long as it continued to regenerate, the option didn't matter to Tara. She continued her assault, yet Kimela countered, as the two began a dance of blows guided by a silver thread.
Akihiko watched from afar, his eyes shimmering as he saw emerald butterflies gather around Tara's back. Reiju that belonged to Tara. A smirk grew on his face at the realization.
"He really thinks that his reserves are better than that beast's…"
The wires snapped away from the beast's skin. Tara dashed towards Kimela, slashing at the beast's limbs. Her eyes shined as she watched more and more reiju expended to heal even the most minor of cuts she dealt to it.
Black lightning shot through Kimela's body, his eyes taking on the same purple hue as Akihiko. A memory flickered through his mind at the same thought.
White lightning piercing the heavens and the sight of a boy with bright orange hair.
Kimela muttered an incantation to himself from the memory.
Anima Series
Roman
:
The atmosphere shifted, yet returned as quickly as it had.
A giant bolt of black lightning shot towards Tara's body. Her gaze flickered around the battlefield before a moment of clarity overcame her. Reiju shot from her spine towards her legs, forming a butterfly-shaped marking in her skin.
"Damn it," she muttered to herself, feeling the stored reiju leave her body as she floated to the ground below. Akihiko smirked, following Tara with his eyes as she landed away next to him. The attack destroyed the surrounding area except for where he stood.
"So close…... but you did enough damage on it to reduce its reserves…."
Akihiko allowed a smile to creep onto his lips as he saw a crack spit over Tara's mask.
"I think it's the perfect time for me to use that, don't you think—"
"Absolutely not! Using one of the seven Kegare Blades is one thing, but I forbid you from using that weapon."
The smoke cleared, revealing Kimela once more as he advanced upon the two. His silver eyes focused on the two like piercing daggers trained on the both of them. The memory of the black blade flickered through his mind. He held out his hand similar to Akihiko, preparing to mimic what the young man had done…
Yet.
On such a day.
The grey clouds of Limbo parted like it had when Roman shot down his divine lightning onto Kimela. Atop stood two figures, obscured by black of their clothes with the light of the sun above as their aid.
Guisei Ketsubo and Nabi.
"Seems like you two were having a bit of fun over here while we were out of commission, but now—
The blade struck Kimela, splitting his body in two. Nabi couldn't help but flash a smirk at the sight, recognizing the two all too well. Both she and Guisei's eyes flared with reiju as she finished his words.
"—it's time for us to dance with this beast!"