Description: Objective: Sating curiosity. Obstacle: A mountain. Alias: None. Summary: An elaborate trap? A weird charity front? Ayame has had nothing but time on her hands as of late, so she decides to pursue the offer made to her by the apparent guardian angel she met in the park. What she gets isn't exactly what she expected, to say the least. She comes away with a lot of new information, but whether any of it is pertinent remains to be discovered.
As much as to the young Ayame's surprise, the tickets that Jesen presented her was real. It was not needed to be said of who it came from, as the staff already knew. At least, one of the staff members knew enough to show her where to go.
In fact, one of them was able to tell her, 'Good luck'.
After landing in Albania, where the beaches and resorts were at, she was directed to see a driver. The driver had escorted her to the vehicle and drove to the Mountains.
It was a safe passage.
It is still the afternoon in Albania, the atmosphere is a little more cooler as the mountain is approached. When the car opens up, the driver approaches the side of the door and opens it up for the young Ayame to come out.
He, just like the ticket manager, wished her good luck.
That is a sign.
Finding out that the tickets weren't fake was kind of a surprise. Finding that everyone was really interested in escorting her from place to place, and they WEREN'T trying to slap handcuffs on her in the process, was even a bigger surprise. She takes the flight. Her curiosity burns too much to ignore the opportunity. Fortunately she doesn't have to deal with anything resembling security as she's shown her seat on the private plane.
That doesn't mean the girl relaxes at all the entire flight. This is too weird. Too creepy. There's a catch, but she can't figure out what it is. But she also happens to be someone with not much of anything better to do. No school, no job... just a wandering spirit with free time on her hands. Ayame is in the nice nation of Albania now, driven up into the mountains. Again her mind wanders, drumming her fingers against her cheek as she watches the land pass by.
And then finally she is dropped off. Slipping out of the car, the girl rises to her feet and glances around in circles. Yet another person wishing her luck. "Great," she replies, sounding a little annoyed at the entire tour. "I think I've seen enough, I'm ready to go home."
"Welcome to Albania."
It's a reply from someone as the driver leaves. The driver is driving back to his place, which will leave Ayame alone. As for the source of the greeting? It's Jesen, and he's about ten feet behind her.
He's dressed similar to when she first met him. His hands are tucked into his pocket. His eyes are actually focusing on her direction, awarding her travel with a bright smile.
"... I trust that your journey here was safe?"
Ayame turns around, the driver stepping away and taking his leave. Now facing the very source of this quite strange adventure, Ayame leans her head to the side. "Yeah," the girl remarks. "Exceptionally so. What's the deal?" She rests one hand at her hip, her other hand coming up to brush her hair back over her shoulder before she folds both of her arms over her chest.
"Why would you bring me all the way out here? It doesn't make any sense!" The girl exhales, arms unfolding as she seems to calm down a little, appearing less unapproachable. If Jesen is lucky, she won't try to just attack him when he gets close. No guarentees though!
"You were looking for the opportunity, right?"
Instead of getting closer, Jesen turns away and starts walking towards the mountains. He is expecting her to follow him. As if there is much of a choice.
"Sometimes, such an opportunity can be difficult, if not grim."
His eyes focus up towards the mountains, running a hand over towards the rocky path. His eyes shut as he contemplates over what he is going to put her though.
"To find the opportunity to those riches, you must undergo a trial. ... It is a true of yourself." His eyes focuses towards her, "This is the Cursed Mountains." He continues. "Within this trial, you will undergo a reflection upon yourself. ...And you will have a choice to make in this trial."
Pause.
"You will not die from this trip. I will make sure of it."
Be stranded on the side of the road or follow the creepy kid. Ayame isn't left with a lot of options here and as Jesen starts to walk away, she stomps forward after him, her expression hardening. He's still toying with her. Maybe she needs to smack him around a little to- "What?"
She closes ground as he talks about a grim opportunity. Slowing to a stop as he gestures toward the path, Ayame frowns, "I think the only trial I'm on schedule for is with the penal system," the girl mumbles awkwardly.
Cursed mountains, eh? He's still speaking mumble-jumble as far as the girl is concerned. "Riches, huh?" She breahes in then exhales slowly. She can't believe she's going along with this ridiculous charade. "Sounds like you have me walking into a trap," she remarks with a shake of her head. Curious still. She can't help that. But she also begins to feel a bit uncomfortable - a little nervous, an unusual sensation for her.
"This better be worth my time," she adds, pointing at herself with her thumb before lowering her arm again. "Though I guess a breath of clean air away from a city for a change can be its own reward..." she finishes with a faint grin and shrug.
Although Ayame is very irritated with Jesen, he is quite pleased that she is still following him. Sadly, he has to be the manipulator in things if he expects her to get some things that should concern her. There is something not right.
It is why...
... This must be done.
"Good."
The young boy explains once, then he looks up the mountains. "First, you must climb the mountain." He shuts his eyes, "You will find me soon." His eyes focus towards her direction.
"Before I leave, I must warn you that the cursed mountains draw upon you. ....Your guilt, your past, unresolved dealings." He shuts his eyes, "But I will throw one hint for you to live by." He smiles.
"Within the world of darkness, there is a glimmer of light."
With that, the shadows around Jesen form up, becoming black mist of energy before he is washed away by the energy, seeping into the ground and the mist fades away.
What is left for her to do is travel up the rocky path that leads up the mountainous range. The path looks a little treacherous. The way up to the mountain is quite high.
Ayame is quiet as Jesen speaks. Her hands aren't quite clenched, but she doesn't seem relaxed either, as if she could really enjoy smacking the heck out of him at a moment's notice - a coiled snake ready to spring. But she holds back, some small amount of self-restraint it seems.
"Climb the mountain? Is this some kind of new workout regimen? I'm perfectly happy how I am-" She falls quiet as he continues. Guilt? Past? Unresolved issues? Ayame's eyes narrow at the boy as she gets suspicious all over again. "Who are you?" she demands, but she's speaking to nothing but the collapsing pillar of mist before her eyes. "Mmph," the girl grunts, turning toward the path.
This is starting to sound like a worse and worse idea, yet still, she goes with it. Right now there doesn't seem to be much of a choice. "I hope I'm not on some kind of Totally Hidden Video show..." the girl grumbles as she heads toward the path and begins the climb. Fit and athletic from her own energetic hobbies, she's able to hike quite a ways. But something tells her it isn't just a long walk uphill ahead of her...
It is an unfortunate path that the young girl would have to take. The surprises behind it, the strangeness that the area offers. It is a wonder that Jesen had even made her take the path. But the mountains seem to be a bit peaceful for the most part. At least, the walk way seems to be peaceful. It is a clear road as far as her travels have taken her. She is very close towards the part that needs to be climbed up to proceed.
However, it is then that the mountains are glimmering and roaring to life as the earth breaks apart from what binds it close. And it is soon that there is a descension of boulders smacking against the ground and falling straight at her direction.
Well, it is called the Cursed Mountains for a reason.
The walk is quiet for a while. A peaceful nature hike. Ayame shakes her head. She hasn't been in the woods for years and the mountains even longer. A city urchin, the dark alleys of Southtown are her stomping grounds, not some green path with birds singing and the bees a humming. It's an interesting departure from her norm. She doesn't not like it, but she isn't sure it's for her exactly...
But the mountains are restless it seems. Ayame hears the noise before she sees the cause. Rocks, supposedly immoble, stable things, bounding down the mountain side on a collision course for her. "Oh jeez, what the-" A leap to the side is made, but it doesn't take her out of the entire rockslide, merely buying her a moment's reprieve as the initial portion barrels on past.
Leaning against a tree, she realizes that isn't going to be safe for long - and indeed, just before the trunk is shattered by a particularly large boulder, Ayame has run to the side, finding a rocky ledge out over a cliff. Scooting out on it, the girl hugs the wall of the cliff as much of the rockside begins to fall down over her, missing her head by inches due to the sharp incline. Of course, the ledge itself is hardly the bastion of safety, her feet barely fitting on it even though she has them turned to the side instead of sticking out straight. Holding her breath, she hopes for the best.
There are times where it is safe for the girl to not get hit by something. That's a good thing that she did lean to the wall as close as she could. As the rocks continue to fall, the boulders immediately smash to the ground just a centimeter behind her.
....It is a good thing that it was just a centimeter. If there is one thing that's for sure, the passage up the walls would be a treacherous one. In fact, the only way to proceed up the mountain is actually climb up until she can get any sort of footing to be able to walk through the incline once more.
Ayame whews as the last of the rubble seems to fly on down the cliffside. "Crazy kid," she remarks with a shake of her head. She can't exactly relax, as her feet are barely on the ledge as it is, and any movement could spell a fall. She seems nonplussed about the drop, however, as if confident enough in her balance to not stress too much at the predictament.
"Okay..." Okay. Now what. She's stuck on the ledge. The way back was crushed by the rocks. Ayame looks upward... He said she had to get up the mountain, but she didn't know ROCK CLIMBING was part of the deal. Still leaning against the cliffwall, the girl reaches to her side, uncoiling a wire-thin cable. Strong as cables much larger than it in size, the thin wire has a clip on one end of it.
From a black velcro pouch affixed to the belt around her skirt, Ayame fishes out a small metal weight and clips it to the wire. "Here goes nothing," she muses, twirling the weight a few times before throwing the weight up and over her head, further up the cliff and out of sight from where she can see. It comes back down a few times and she throws it up again, until finally it catches. "Heh." she grins, "Stupid mountain."
Tightening her leather glove clad hand around the cable, the girl starts to climb up the face of the cliff, using the wire for support during the portions where no footing or hand holds are to be found. The process is repeated, until she can find a place where she can walk again.
The climb up the mountain is a long one. For the most part, after the got connected to the mountainous top, she can climb up with no further problem. But, as she realizes, each step could spell a bad fall. It is actually a good thing that she has some support.
Because...
As she steps on one of the rocks, it remains stable for some time, until it suddenly -drops- off. This would likely make her lose what footing that she had and earn a few scrapes along the way.
Erk! Ayame's foot was counting on that rock for support as she tried to work her way up to the next landing where she could toss the weight up to another tier. But in the next moment she has no place to put her foot and the girl is left hanging, her hand wrapped up in that wire. She dangles as a deadweight for a long moment, perspiration forming along her hairline as she questions whether or not the rope will hold. If that weight slips loose, well, there's no recovering from the fall that would happen. A steep drop before the fatal conclusion.
Her trust is in her rope now, and for now it doesn't fail her. Elbows and knees scrapped by the sandy surface of the cliff, she winces a little but is able to brush off the pain. She's had worse. Slowly she tenses her arm muscles and starts to pull herself upward, ever so careful to not jostle the rope too much. If that weight slips loose from whatever wedge it has landed in...
"I wish I had known," she mutters, her legs flailing for a moment as she struggles to find another sturdy landing. "I'd have stolen some body armor somewhere first," she grunts. Her city blouse and skirt aren't really mountaineering material.
For the rest of the way of climbing the mountain, it is pretty safe. As she does get a sturdy landing, she can continue climbing up the mountain until she can get to a sort of landing. But after she climbs up?
She will find the grounding that will allow her to walk a path through would would be an opening for what appears to be a cavern. The way looks.. not too inviting, it's as if it was a creature with fangs are on it.
Well, there would be continuing to climb, but the cavern looks like the best way to proceed.
Ayame stands outside of the cavern for a long time. This while experience has been something she wasn't really prepared for. And that's saying a lot, since the girl does prepare for almost every contingency when she sets out to do something. "Walk into the gaping maw of the mountain or keep climbing up to see if it wants to throw me off it instead of swallow me. Great choices," the girl grumbles.
Her hands are busy coiling up that cable and slipping it up over one shoulder, leaving the metal weight to dangle down her back. Something tells her she'll be using it again sometime. Her hands freed, she reaches to a small outside pocket of the black pouch at her side and withdraws a thin, black object that looks like a pen at first glance. A pen-light to be more accurate.
As she steps toward she twists the light, turning it on. It isn't a very bright flashlight as things go. She normally uses it for inspecting tricky locks to pick or checking out a dark room when burglarizing a home. Penetrating the mouth of a pitch black cavern is a little bit beyond it's capabilities. But hey, it's better than nothing, right?
Ayame's steps are cautious now as she steps into the cave, shining that little light in every direction, but especially at the floor. "That kid is nuts. What IS this..."
The Cursed Mountains.
There isn't much story to it, other than those would had told her to stay out of it. But, at least, there was a reason for those who escorted her did wish her good luck, right?
Well, either case, the cavern itself is a dark place. Marked by the trenches of darkness, there are some stalatites and stalagmites about, giving it that maw-like look to it. But the residue inside the cavern is a little wet, showing some puddles along the path every once in a while.
Should she shine the light, there are some skulls around, and there are some bodies of skeletons in some sort of tattered, barely visible clothing that was, if inspected, part of a military uniform.
The girl isn't squeamish about bones, but it does make her have to wonder about what has happened here before. Nothing about the skeletons suggests that they are recent. But that doesn't mean that she doesn't inspect them all the same, crouching down, shining the little light over them, looking for any indication of why the people died. Trauma, broken bones? But that's not all. She can't help but look to see if they have any jewelry. Rings, necklaces, watches. She can't take a lot with her, but if she does find anything small, she'll try to slip them into the pouch on her belt.
Her foot steps down in another puddle, and once, when she's not paying attention, she bumps her head against a stalactite when she was looking down instead of up like she needed to, but all in all the girl seems to be able to navigate the darkness reasonably well. Any time the floor seems to turn into a pit she veers away. She's not taking any chances next to long drops if she can help it.
Even a risk taker like her knows that if she were to slip and fall, it's possible no one would ever know what happened to her. "Not that anyone would care," she fehs, continuing on her way. Sure, the creepy kid said he wouldn't let her die. But he's a creepy kid. The hell does his promise matter?
The workings of the cavern is that.
There is no possible way to know how did the men die. For some, there are indications further ahead. Arrows and what not. Those by the entrance, however? Hard to say. There is some badges and old pens and coins that the men would have.
So the treasure hunter can snag a few medals and coins that they had. Admittedly, if inspected, they existed part of the late 90s, so it may not be worth too much, if that. Unfortunately, everything else is simple. Maybe a wedding band or something, but... They're military men of what is perhaps a poorer area. Not much of value.
But further ahead the cavern, it seems like a safe trip. At least, there are some parts where the ground had long ago gave out and revealed the spikey pits, especially filled with skeletons of those who fell through the trap so long ago.
She does happen across one of the spike filled traps eventualy, Doc Martin clad foot coming down precariously close at one point before she catches herself, hand grabbing hold of an outcropping of rock at the last moment. "Whew," the girl breaths a sigh of relief, shining the thin light down. It's hard to make much out in the pit, but the white glimmer of dry bones is hard to mistake.
"Sucks to be you guys," the girl remarks as she pushes herself away from the pit and continues onward. "Looks like a lot of nothing," She continues to no one in particular. Maybe she just likes hearing the sound of her voice echo against the cavern walls. It sure beats the silence...
It does suck to be them, doesn't it? It is a good thing that she isn't joining them. But it is just outside that the path would seem to be clear and it would lead her somewhere. Right?
Right. That path is a good indication that something's out ahead that should lead her to the next stage of her trials. However, it is unfortunate that there is a trap that is immediately set up.
Step.
The cavern walls actually releases what appears to be thin, sharp stick-like arrows out towards Ayame's direction, aiming to piece any part of her body or clothing it gets in the trajectory of.
Something tells her the instant before the arrow flies off. A click, or an instinct - the senses of one who has traversed ground she wasn't supposed to time and time again. Of course, usually it's someone's house or store in the dark of night, but hey, same idea kinda, right?
Instincts or not, she's tripped a trap that she should probably have been more careful in spotting. And the problem is, she doesn't even know which direction it's coming from at first sound. A whistle in the darkness, an arrow launched from a secret place. The poor girl is helpless to account for it other than to move in a random direction and hope it works out.
It kind of does. It kind of doesn't. An arrow grazes her arm, leaving a red streak of torn flesh. Another one pierces her leg but not with enough force to go all the way through - perhaps it wasn't sprung with full strength. Most miss her entirely though as she's managed to move out of the line of fire. All but one final one that flies right through her skirt as she just barely sidesteps it, pinning the cloth to the cave wall.
"Ow! Ow! Jeez," the girl gripes, reaching down to pull the arrow out of her thigh, only to realize she's been snagged as well. Well, it could've been worse. One hand reaches down to pull the arrow out of the wall to free herself so that she doesn't end up pinned there.
The girl looks at the arrow closely, holding the pin light to inspect the end of it, perhaps looking to see if she can find traces of poison. What seem to be minor wounds could end up being a lot more severe if she's unlucky in that regard... She rubs the place she got grazed, but finds it isn't bad enough to worry about. The puncture wound on her leg, however...
Her hand fishes into that pouch of hers again, this time pulling out a very small, round tin which she screws open. "Doctor Tran's miracle salv," the girl mutters. That's what Elle called it. And she had to admit, the stuff really seemed to do the trick. Rubbing just a small portion of it into the wound, she re-seals the tin and slips it back into her trusty pouch of tricks. Something tells her she'll be needing more of it before long...
"Okay, no more arrows... hard to dodge in the dark," she remarks as she leans forward and continues on.
Upon inspection, it would reveal that there is no trace of poison found in the arrows. It's a perfectly safe situation for her. Well, at least, otherwise that pain and puncture one of the arrows made.
As she continues on, however, she is back outside. Away from the mountains, away from the cavern. What she stepped into is the woods. The trees have long since decayed, edging on the essence of life.
There are two roads available for her.
There is the easy path to the left, where the plantlife appears to be more beautiful and fresh. Full of life, those trees have sprang forward to become as bright as a sky.
Yet, there is the other path. There is the dark forest where the entire blackness has encompassed itself. The darkness is the overly abundant thing.
Yet.
There is a speck of light in that dark forest.
Which one shall she choose?
At last the girl finally steps out of the darkness back into the light of day. Her hand rests against the edge of the cave... she had been touching the walls a lot just as a precautionary guide, and now the thought of moving away from them seems to give her cause to pause. Forest. Trees. The blonde snorts as she clicks off the pen light, slipping it back into the outer pocket of her pouch of stuff.
Finally moving away from the cave with one last glance over her shoulder, the girl's eyes come to rest upon the two paths presented. Quite the choice. One route looks quite inviting. A peaceful trail through a tranquil portion of the forest. Flat, level, easy to see surprises coming from a distance.
Then she shifts her attention toward the other direction. Dark, the forest laden with shadow, the branches grown close. The route looks claustrophobic, packed tight, definitely not welcoming. Back and forth she glances. Of course there's a catch, she ponders. A choice to be made, each with its own consquences.
She's quiet, biting her lower lip in contemplation. It's not by accident that she begins to think about the things that have brought her to this point. The words of the boy who seems so interested in her going on this crazy adventure. The sights and sounds. The traps and bones in the cave behind her. "Heh."
"Within the world of darkness, there is a glimmer of light," she recites the hint proffered unerringly. Her memory is very sharp. "Only one way to find out if this is what he meant," the girl states finally, turning toward the other path. The path that reflects her own choices. The harsher road taken in hopes of what lies at the end.
And so she shall take the sight that leads through the darkness. It is a very peaceful, if a bit creepy of a travel. The darkness leads to nowhere in particular, although there is a straight road. Just continue going straight.
It looks endless, as the darkness fully encompasses the forest. No substance of light... Even the entrance is shut off of the light. As she made the decision, there is no turning back.
There was one thing that is true... It is a reflection of her own being.
As she is traveling through, one of the things that she can see is herself as a young child. So young before she ran off, as she was outfitted as a miko.
As the route becomes darker, Ayame almost considers pulling out the pen light again. With no light coming in from the world outside, she slows down, eyes widening as she adjusts to the darkness. A half-nervous glance over her shoulder toward the way she came shows there's no changing her mind here. No going back to rethink this. "He said he wouldn't let me die," she mutters, sounding like she /really/ hope that the odd promise really is true. Right now she has her doubts.
Looking forward again, she continues on, half wondering if maybe it just became night really quick. No forest could be THIS dark, could it? Then she sees someone else with her in the woods and she freezes mid-step. Not alone. Or, rather... she is alone, with only herself for company it would seem.
She recognizes the younger girl. Long, blonde hair with a reddish tint. It brings a faint smile to her lips. Garbbed in the traditional red and white clothing of a Shinto priestess. Was she happier then? Not really. Even younger, she looks skeptical, her expression reflecting the discomfort she felt at the lifestyle prescribed for her by fate's dominating hand.
All she wanted to do was carve out her own lot in life. Even as she goes through a ritual kata with a long bo staff, young Ayame has an eye turned toward the world abroad. A world full of opportunities that had to be far more interesting than a stuffy mountain shrine.
Older Ayame shakes her head, bringing her hand up to rest against her forehead. "Maybe that arrow /was/ poisoned," she murmurs, wondering if she's having some kind of hallucination. Perhaps she really is simply lying back on the floor of the cavern this very moment, destined to join the bones of those who had come through before.
It would not stop there. It would even go as far as going through the memories of her parents prepping her for her time to become a shrine maiden. Excited about their young girl's destiny, perhaps? ... There were a lot of people counting on her destiny, were they not?
The forest tells the story of her past, even going as far as depicting the day that she made her great escape from her what she ran away from.
Slowly, there are several wisps manifesting from the ground, tendrils of them snaking along the air as it coils over towards the young girl's arms. It seeks to snake about her arm, echooing the words....
...Vagrant... coward... runaway....
....Accept your fate...
The tone grows harsher with each word.
Comforting visions of a girl being taught to fight with a staff by a proud father, impressed and somewhat humbled at how fast his daughter was able to pick up the family art... curious images of a girl picking apart appliances in the home, toying with combining parts from different devices into new and interesting creations within the confines of her bedroom... angry images of a child who felt her world was controlled by everyone but herself, frustrated at the world, at her parents who thought her path was already laid out so clearly... altercations at school... a propensity for stealing things she wanted...
The determination of a girl that had decided to run away from home for good the night she spied on her parents discussing sending their wayward daughter to a boarding school...
Ayame swallows, eyes sweeping over the memories from her past, each retold with flawless accuracy - each word, each color perfectly restored. "Why is this happening..." she whispers, turning around in a circle as if to seek escape. "Who is doing this!?"
The wisps rise up, wrapping around one of her arms, eliciting a gasp from the stray girl that ran away from one entire chapter of her life in order to write her own. A vagrant... coward... runaway... The harsh words are met by a cold expression, the nervousness bleeding away. "Those are what I am... But I refuse to accept someone else's decisions for me!" She wrests her entrapped arm back, turning around circles, her jaw set. "I won't be controlled!!"
Although there is a struggle from Ayame as she attempts to escape the grasp of the tendrils, but they remain coiled as steel, stretching out like elastic to keep her in place. They aren't letting go of her.
The word return.
Puppet... you are a puppet....
You only run away... you are a slave to your own fears.... and will forever be a slave.... if not to your destiny...
...THEN TO YOUR FEARS!
Slowly, forming in place is a large, gaping maw consuming where Ayame rests, before it aims to shut, depicting those images... Over and over... Her own childhood laid out in front of her, her parents dressing up...
....It even goes as far as her being in the streets. All alone. No friends. No family. No sense of belonging.
When the pesky retraints refuse to let go, the girl falls back on the things she trusts more than anything else. Her weapons, her tools, her skill. From a horizontal sheath on her belt she slips out a metal butterfly knife and slash at the wispy tendrils while still trying to pull free. "What is this. This isn't real! None of this is!" Having her movement limited seems to aggrivate her more than the voice itself. Unable to behave how she pleases with the shackles on...
The voice comes again. That same detached, disemobodied voice that seeks to tear her down verbally, but the girl doesn't seem to care, her jaw set, her mouth a tight lipped, neutral expression. "Stop messing with me!" she exclaims, shaking her head, squinting her eyes, still struggling against the vapors that seem far too solid for how they appear.
The life of a wanderer. A desperate thief who feels there is no alternative to stealing to scrape by in life. Hostile to anyone who has ever tried to help her out of her horrible plight in life. A hostility that remains in the forefront of her reaction.
"Show yourself!" she yells at the emptiness. "Voices don't come from no where! Show yourself and face me! You think you know about me?! Then show yourself and I'll prove how little you know!!"
However, there is no one out to fight. No manifestation. No figure. Nothing. It's just that... the binds -do- release her, however. Not through her weaponry, but because it done its thing. The wisps, instead, reaches out for her.
Faceee... yourself... or ruuunnnn...
But through that dark path.
A brief flicker of light. It's faint. It blinks. But it's there.
Nothing to stab. Nothing to shread. Nothing to kick, punch, or tear apart. Nothing to con, nothing to trick or fool. All of her normal mechanisms for coping are denied in this dreamscape that refuses to conform to the world she knows. One of physics and math, one of suckers and prey, one of victims and predators. In this darkness there is only herself and that voice. And a choice to be made.
But is there really any choice? "This is a nightmare," the girl insists, shaking her head, squinting her eyes closed. "Or I'm already dead and none of this matters." Poison? Drugs? Maybe something in the air? None of this seems possible. None of this can be happening.
Opening her eyes just a sliver as she takes another look around her she catches sight of the glimmer further down the path. A flicker of hope at escaping all of this. Slowly she begins to struggle against the bindings that would keep her back. Is it really a choice when faced with no alternative? The desperate attempt to find someway out - to leave the darkness behind.
"I know who I am," she hisses. "I know what I can do. Destiny has nothing to do with it. I'm not running from anything. I'm running toward what I want. That's how this world works... Grasp the moment, and take what you want, because no one else is going to give you anything," she hisses, "I'm not ashamed to claim what I deserve. A chance."
Struggling toward the light, the girl grits her teeth, refusing to stay restrained.
And so.... although it is a very teacherous trip, the young girl does head towards the light. The darkness is trying to reach her, pulling her back.
... Stay...
But as she is stepping towards the light, there are other visions slowly making their way through.
Her place in life. What she wants...
...And, the hope of a place where she belongs to. With actual true friends. The faces of those people are silhoutted through the face, leaving in mystery who those true friends will be.
..But there is the light, and it is actually growing more and more as she presses forward.
"I don't know what you are doing," Ayame hisses as she tries to twist, tear, pull, strain toward the only sign of escape. This must be a nightmare, but if so, why can she not wake up? If it is a dream, why does it refuse to conform to her control? Is this hell? Impossible. God is dead. Religion is a myth. For there to be Hell there would have to be an Opposite, and she believes in none of that.
As she moves toward the light there are blurred, muddled visions. Aspirations of making something of herself. A glimpse of a time when she was happily working someplace that looks like a laboratory where she could invent and be left alone by other people... A hope of finding another life like that someday...
But then there are other bodies. Faces of people that should care about her. That will care about her. "Impossible," the girl growls, still struggling to move, holding back nothing now as she struggles toward the light like a drowning victim would thrash to reach the surface. At Any Cost.
"A hoax, a dream. Mind control... Impossible!" That sense of belonging somewhere. A hint of the pain her parents felt when she disappeared from their lives. "Irrelevant," the girl insists, pushing all other thoughts aside besides the one first and foremost - It won't end like this. She isn't FINISHED with her life yet.
It is then as she steps into the light....
It is a blinding light where she can see nothing but the ivory hue blinding her vision.
But soon, that vision is slowly fading away, her line of vision actually showing that she is no longer within the dark forest.
...No, she's within a plain of a village. However, it looks like that there is something going on in the village. Fire is the most apparent thing. There is the sound of screaming, villagers; both men and women, are fleeing from the incoming gunfire from men in tattered uniform. It all seems so real.
...The European, or specifically, Albanians were fleeing their burning homes, one woman protecting a small, burning house house.
..But slowly, it would appear that the woman is grabbed by one of the men in the dirty, ragged brown military uniform and tossed out of the way, before he turned to face her.
...It is then that a little boy steps out of the house dressed in a short sleeved white shirt, dirtied by the soot and dust that the village often sees. It is a blue haired boy with yellow eyes. He's barely eight years old. That look on the little boy's face is actually filled with fear.
It looks like that the cursed mountains is telling the tale of someone that isn't Ayame.
Out of one dreamscape into another one it seems as Ayame travels into the blinding light, eyes squinting, hand raised in front of her face as if it might make any difference. But then other sounds become apparent. Violence. Fire. A village burning, people screaming. The hand in front of her face is lowered slowly as the girl takes in the scene quietly.
Her mouth twitches a little at the sight of the soldiers pulling people away from their burning homes. The worn, ruined uniforms of an army that looks like it ascended from hell moves through the streets, one of them grabbing a woman away from her home and tossing her to the side.
Ayame shows no inclination to interfer. She's quiet, passive, observant. The boy exiting the house with a look of fear is noticed next and she turns her head in his direction, eyes narrowing a little. "What is this," she mumbles, realizing that things have changed. The story is different now, the track has shifted.
She begins to walk slowly toward the home, eyes on the soldiers, on the guards. "Something from the past, a glimpse of something that was," she states quietly, thoughtfully. She stops once she has drawn nearer, facing the boy directly, looking him up and down before glancing toward the woman she presumes to be his mother. "Tough break, kid," comes the expression of sympathy that fails to sound too sympathetic.
"Such is the world. You have to make your own life, or others will take the opportunity away from you." She shakes her head slowly, half closing her eyes as she exhales softly. Why is all of this happening? Why is she seeing this?
It was then that the mother took a look in shock and fright of the boy. Not of the boy exactly, but for his safety. With the guards pointing their guns out, she shouts. "Sanel! Run! Ru---.." Before she could finish the next word, one of the guards shot her in the head. Blood splattered from the impact to even stain the boy.
The young child could only stares at the soldiers, or rather, what is left at what can be called soldiers. Already had lost the Kosovo War, the men are noe acting out of fear. Fear... of the boy. That fear grew as he started to glow, cocking his head to the side as he utters, "Mother always said that some humans are demons in disguise."
One shot was made to the boy's chest, releasing the blood to splatter. Then, they took another shot at the boy.
He could only stare at the blood on his chest, then towards the villagers that were all slaughtered. His eyes lift up to the men, then he flicks his hand out. A resounding light flushes over the men, placing them in a coma.
The other soldiers, seeing that the kid is still alive, start running away.
"Is this what compassion reaps?"
...But the kid isn't alive anymore. Or at least, he doesn't feel alive. Instead, a hymn echos from his lips as he stares at the sky. Just waiting while the blood trinkles down.
Slowly, the images fade away...
What used to be the burning village is now a rubble of what the fire had wrought. There had been a set of bones etched on the ground where the men used to lie at. For no one was there to tend to them or pick them up, so they withered away.
The land is an empty deadland..
...Except one place.
Further ahead is a faint building, but upon closer inspection, it is a white colored church building, set up of old brick. The top part looks completely damaged, but the door is open.
Ayame is there to see it all. The shots. The burst of light that drops the soldiers to the ground. The murder. The slaughter. The village razed. "Sanel," she whispers to herself thoughtfully, eyes staring at the child intently. The remaining men begin to scatter at the sight of the lone boy who is faced with such a cruel realization.
"Sometimes," she remarks out loud, her voice distant, her expression neutral. "Sometimes that's all it reaps." She turns away as everything begins to fade. The vision of times past giving way to a dry wasteland, a scene of ruin, a memorial of death. Her company now are the bones of the soldiers and the skeletons of what had been a village.
Not cold, yet Ayamme hugs herself all the same, shaking her head slowly. "Visions and daydreams. Quit screwing with my head," she hisses, expression once again falling cold. The building ahead is gazed at for a long moment before she glances over her shoulder, perhaps considering whether she has any choice but to continue.
In the end, she continues forward, hands open, eyes wary as if expecting a trap. Stepping up to the outside of the church building, the girl doesn't wait for long before deciding to head inside. "Might as well..." Trying to sound flippant yet knowing quite well that there is far more at play here than she has been able to quite figure out.
As the young woman makes her way towards the entrance of the church, the first thing that she would see are a set of white lillies. Beyond that are white roses that stretch out all the way to the altar. On the left side is a large row filled with orchards. This place is filled with flowers. However, the church has a few small pews left, but most of it had been tattered and destroyed.
Upon observation, there are various paintings of various fighters, landscape, and everything else. There is even a painting of her right at one of the side of the walls.
Of course, she is not alone. Company is not too far, dressed in the same set of clothes as she saw earlier. The pristine white clothing glimmer through the light as the blue haired child considers.
"No, it won't be for a long time... No, there will be someone to take care of you all." He murmurs, "...Ah, company. How rude of me."
Slowly, the Angel of Mercy turns to face Ayame, beaming brightly towards the woman. He can see the state and what she been through in her trial.
"Congratulations. You passed the trial. The Cursed Mountains... has a mind of its own."
"What is this," comes the demanding question from the girl as she steps closer. Her eyes stray over everything, no detail is missed. The paintings of fighters... the painting of /her/. Well, he was an artist... she saw that much in the park not long ago.
She draws near slowly, hearing him speak yet not understanding to whom. And for a moment she spends time trying to decide if he's even more insane than she has come to think.
When he turns to face her, however, Ayame's approach quickens, one hand slipping up to that shealth on her belt where one of her knives is kept, not looking like she's going to be giving him a hug of gratitude or anything at any time soon. Taking two heavy footed steps toward the boy as he smiles at her, Ayame glowers back, so very ready to conclude her business with the kid even if it means being completely lost in the middle of no where as a result...
But then he speaks of the test and the approval of the Cursed Mountain and she stops short, just a couple feet shy from him, fingers just lightly touching the end of her knife. But the weapon stays holstered and she doesn't attack after all, the blonde pausing long enough to relax for a moment.
"I did?" A back and forth glance is made. "Well then." she focuses back on him, mouth curling into a faint smile. It's hard to tell if she's amused or seething with the strange way her expression manages to reveal nothing in the way of any true emotion for just a moment. One hand comes up to rest against her hip, "What was this about? Sanel."
There was a large amount of faith that the boy had in her. He looks genuinely happy to know that the young girl had made it through the test. It gives him a sense of accomplishment to know that he choose another right person.
He is about to regard her curiousity about her prize until she mentions a certain name.
..
..
There is no look of surprise on his face. However, both eyes do immediately shut with a more sadden look. "... The Sanel you saw died shortly after. I am afraid." He is aware that the cursed mountains tell the story, but he felt that none of her concern.
"Those who escorted you here too took the test." He smiles, turning to face her, "I am sure that they wished you good luck. The test was not easy for them." He shuts his eyes, "They are not part of a cult, if that was on your mind. I... just helped them overcome their past and inner demons. All what I asked them was to extend that help to someone who seeks that opportunity."
"I see," Ayame states as the boy insists that the Sanel the mountains showed her has already been dead and that this is not him. It's hard to tell if she's convinced or merely brushing him off. She's skeptical that he's even told her the truth half the time anyway, so maybe she doesn't really give much creadence to anything he says. Even if he IS being honest.
"I'm not so sure about that," she remarks when he says all the people she encountered on the way here aren't part of some kind of cult. "Just doing all this to help people just because you threw them through a terrifying dream experience and now they're happy to do whatever you want for others you drag up here? Hmm..."
The girl clasps her hands behind her back, leaning her head to the side now as she peers at the boy curiously, "So you said there was a, what was the word... /treasure/ to be found in this mountain... Ne?" Eyebrow raising slightly, she grins faintly. "You can be whatever little angel you want to be, as long as I'm getting something out of this." Maybe she's not quite aware of what she already /has/.
Well, it is true, in a way. The identity. His name as Sanel is no longer. His life as Sanel was no more. To him, Sanel died in peace. ...Only for there to be a new one. The one she has no clue of.
"Call it however you see it." He smiles. "...I have reasons for doing what I do."
"You already gotten part of your present." He smiles, "Part of it was being able to face your inner demons." He considers, "There are three presents. That was the first one."
He actually looks amused at this point.
"The second one is this." The young boy slowly extends his arms upward, manifesting the psycho power to surround him. Radiating with a bright glow, the aura becomes a pair of wings.
"...You've had intentions of honing your aggression towards me. Here is your chance." The boy smiles, allowing her the chance to make the first strike.
"The children..." He gestures his hands out towards the flowers around, "Have waited to see something like this for a while. Won't you entertain them? It keeps them happy."
COMBATSYS: Jesen has started a fight here.
COMBATSYS: Ayame has joined the fight here.
Ayame bows her head in acknowledgement as to Jesen's reasons, "As do we all, I suppose." He has his reasons for helping people. She has her reasons for, well, maybe not being so helpful. Though she really has to wonder after all this. The trip out here at no expense... the offer to teach her something and provide something... What's he getting out of this? "Is this some kind of penance on your part? Making up for something really bad you did? Kinda like community service?" Ayame might be familiar with that...
He mentions helping her face her demons and Ayame frowns faintly, glancing to the side, eyes tracing along the portaits on the walls. The paintings of various people, including herself. "Demons? Inner or not, they're just figments of imagination. Myths people make up to explain why bad things happen. No such thing..." Ah, she's such a skeptic. "But... I think I understand what you're getting at."
But then comes the second part. The offer to vent her innate aggression against the youth, and Ayame's eyes widen with a bit of surprise. "Are you sure that's what you want?" He gestures at the flowers and she looks at them. Children? Entertainment? Peering back at Jesen, the girl frowns faintly. "You won't like the way I fight." she states. "There's nothing friendly about it. I don't spare, if that's what you think..."
And then as if to show him what she means, the girl steps forward, one hand reaching out to grab for Jesen's throat, though that isn't really the attack - she's just setting him up for a punishing knee to the stomach as if she intends to bend him in half and crumple him right there in one hit. "You might regret this, but you asked for it!"
COMBATSYS: Jesen blocks Ayame's Light Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Jesen 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Ayame
"... Purpose."
That is all that was said. It is Jesen's answer for doing what he has been doing. Never looking back at his actions, never given it second thoughts. He just looks at the path just as it is. Whatever consequence is made, it is made.
And just as this challenge is made, Jesen offers her a smile, especially as she as she starts to step over to grab the throat. Tightening his neck against the grab, he notices the knee aiming for his stomach.
The hands lay down against her knee, aiming to smack across it to put it down.
Then, Jesen merely expels his left hand out, twisting his body to the left as the inverted fist aims to smash against her. ...Not only that, but the psycho power pierces forth, aiming to pierce through her entire soul.
"There is more than physical pain."
COMBATSYS: Jesen successfully hits Ayame with Medium Punch.
- Power hit! -
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Jesen 0/-------/------=|===----\-------\0 Ayame
Her knee slapped aside, Ayame plants her foot back down on the floor, an elbow coming up as if that's what she's going to pop him in the face with next for his trouble. Sure, he defended once, but there's a lot more where that came from. She notices his punch, and while she considers that avoiding it would be a good idea, she doesn't try too hard. After all, what's the worst that can happen? What's the little enigmatic kid going to do with a single punch?
Quite a lot, apparently, as his left hand smacks into her stomach. A straight gut punch can hurt, but she's been hit harder... But then there is that power he wields that tears into her as well - she saw it but didn't sense it, unable to manipulate her own aura to fight against it as it rends right through her defenses, bending the girl forward and causing her to stagger backward, in much the same way she had meant to do to him seconds ago.
"Bastard," she spits, her face paling as she tries to cope with the pain. She was trying to give him a warning with the kick, but now the gloves come off, as the saying goes. Pulling her hand away from her stomach, both of her hands reach down to her belt, slipping out the twin butterfly knives she keeps sheathed there.
Both weapons are flicked open in the same gesture as Ayame steps forward, stabbing outward with both of them, aiming to stick the poor kid in the chest, "That's it!"
COMBATSYS: Ayame successfully hits Jesen with Medium Strike.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Jesen 0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0 Ayame
As the soul-rending punch fades away, Jesen merely keeps a smile towards Ayame, looking a tad amused at her. "I warned you." He considers, "There is more to strength than the physical."
With her stepping in place with the twin butterfly knives, he attempts to take a step back, but he feels the blade piercing against his chest. With the blades penetrating, blood is forming, but the boy the made wound no mind.
Instead, he actually lifts his hand up towards her face. The black and white swirling energy glows briefly, then it forms a ball. ...A ball that is growing rapidly until it creates a thunderous explosion from the hand, aiming to rapture against her face.
COMBATSYS: Jesen successfully hits Ayame with Guilty Shine.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Jesen 0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0 Ayame
The twin blades skewering into the kid, Ayame pauses, hands holding the weapons in place, brown eyes searching Jesen's as if looking for a sign that that's all he can take. After all, she's not really expecting much from the kid, and she isn't sure what the profit would be in striking him down right now. After all, what do the flowers care?
But he isn't relenting at all. In fact even as he begins to bleed out of the two stab wounds, his hand comes up, powerful energy swirling around it at near point blank range. Ayame pulls the weapons out of his chest, staggering backward, but that doesn't do a lot of good when the attack blasts outward as well in pursuit.
Struck in the face, the girl cries out in pain, stumbling further back as she loses her balance, hand coming up to brace against the wall to keep herself up. One of the knives is sheathed, flicked closed and returned to its place on her belt, and then the other one, as the girl just glares back at Jesen.
"What are you doing," she snaps, sounding furious at the way she can't identify the nature of the energy in his attacks. It should be trivial for her - chi sensitive as she is - to combat it, but her defenses are failing rapidly. Her breath a little haggered, the girl hangs back, grimacing as she attempts to focus more clearly on the deceptively powerful youth.
COMBATSYS: Ayame focuses on her next action.
As the blade retracts, the boy watches the blood run down his body, tilting his head over in curiosity as if a child is staring at a whirlpool draining a coin into the depths. Or perhaps an old, unwanted toy.
He merely smiles at Ayame, especially as she asks him over what is he doing. The boy merely steps over towards her. But he disappears.
And he appears a little more closer than he should. Then he disappears once more.
What is left is an image of him.
Before he's right beside her.
"Introducing you to the other side."
He weeps his right leg out, aiming to kindly kick at the back of her ankle for a standing sweep.
His intention are to have her on her back.
COMBATSYS: Ayame interrupts Quick Throw from Jesen with Harvest's Reaper.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////// ]
Jesen 1/----===/=======|=======\=------\1 Ayame
He's at a distance at first and Ayame's knives have been put away... because right now she's got another surprise in store. Her right hand slips into a that handy black velcro pouch affixed to one of her belts and draws out a six inch long metal tube looking object. "Other side, huh? Very well, let me introduce you to my best friend... My other side..."
There's a hydraulic hiss at the same moment Jesen begins whisking through the air toward her. At first she tries to make sense of it - to follow his movements, but he seems to be moving too fast to even track, so the girl falls back on something else. Instinct.
As he appears at her side and begins to sweep his foot out toward the girl's leg, Ayame turns into him, bracing her foot to absorb the painful impact. But more importantly is the vibrant, violent red aura that races out from her hands to coat the six-foot long bo staff she's now weilding. And before he can recover from his sweep toward her feet, the girl swings the weapon from low to high in an upward arch.
The force striking his chest is enough to take him into the air, and as Ayame follows up with a second upward strike form the other side against his back, she takes to the air as well, raising with him, her teeth gritted, her jaw clenched. She has him now - stuck in the Reaper, her most vicious combination of strikes. As she rises, she pulls the staff up and over behind her head as of readying an executioner's halberd. "I've had about enough of you!"
The yell is punctuated by a vicious forward slam of the staff in an axe-chopping motion, slamming it into the boy's shoulder from above, an explosive discharge of that angry red chi filling the air around the two like sparks flying off hot iron being stuck. The slam is intended to drive him back down to the ground with vicious intent before she starts to fall back to the floor as well.
There is the fact that the boy was caught up by the first strike of the staff. It was probably a bad idea to go close to her while she was chaneling her energy. No matter. Jesen is now in the position of sailing through the air, soaring highest as the impact has him going.
His eyes remain still, even as she follows up with the second strike from the other side. And when she finishes it with a smash towards the shoulder, the boy finds himself falling staight towards the ground really hard.
It doesn't look like that he's moving for some time. In fact, he may be out. Or worse.
But then, there is a faint laugh. "That... was good... I was hoping to see your energy." His eyes lift up, then he slowly staggers back up. He lowers his head, "...It is perhaps true about the penance. ...Perhaps. Since we are showing our other sides..."
His hand places over to his heart. "...He wants to meet you..."
He?
~ Sanel. I release you. ~
Slowly, a claw is expelling from the aura. A glowing black claw slowly roars to life as a glimmering creature is forming up. Those wings become a mere aura, and then the aura shapes itself into a massive figure. Draconic by the face, the crimson eyes of the beast open as the wings expand.
'Grrrrrrrr...'
The creature actually fixes the female with a baleful stare, then it launches out of Jesen's body, leaving the little angel in favor of rushing towards the woman. With a massive claw winded back, the energy formed daemon roars before it launches forward, aiming to press its claw straight towards Ayame's path, aiming to impale her where she stands.
At the same time, there is a hymn being hummed out.
..Wait, that is the same hymn that was sung during the vision.
COMBATSYS: Ayame slows Blissful Oblivion from Jesen with Final Sunset.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////// ]
Jesen 0/-------/----===|=------\-------\0 Ayame
Landing back on her feet, Ayame braces herself, staff held out an angle in front of her, the entire weapon encased in that vibrant red energy as her hands continue to channel it into the long staff. A lot of it seems to flow downward along the outside of it, pouring off of the bottom end of it like some kind of liquid, dripping to the floor of the building before vanishing all together.
Ayame seems to not pay it any attention, eyes fixated on Jesen. Did she overdo it? Maybe he's not getting back up after that vicious combination of strikes. She modeled after one of the most terrifying techniques in the world of fighters after all. Maybe she did him in. Is he dead? Or just out cold? Apparently neither, as the begins to stir at last.
Rising to his feet again, it seems. The long haired strawberry-blonde gazes at him then. "Sorry," she mutters, "But you did ask for-" Wait, he's laughing? He found it interesting to get a taste of her violent chi control it would seem. Her brow creases as he speaks of his other side. Introductions are continuing on apparently, but the girl isn't sure she likes this one.
There's something dark about the boy's expression of what is to come. "Sanel." she whispers as his aura lights up. "I thought you said he died." she snaps, "How am I going to meet a dead..." And then the claw rises up. Okay, now she KNOWS she doesn't want to meet this side.
Gritting her teeth, she begins to spin that staff of hers in front of her, faster and faster, the red chi blurring and streaking, forming a red shield in front of the girl. A shield of energy and titanium... And when that thing, that dark form launches out at her, she speeds up even faster, allowing it to collide against her defenses, scattering some of the momentum of that demonic form with her own chi and aura...
It isn't enough to halt it entirely, however, as the creature's claw breaks through just as Ayame's strength gives out and she's no longer able to spin the bo staff, but the glancing scratch the claw lands is far from the impaling death that was intended for her.
Exhausted, Ayame stumbles back a couple of steps, eyes widened as she looks at Jesen as something else entirely. A creepy, mildly annoying but definitely curious entity before, now she looks at him like he's a monster. "What... what are you... what was that?!"
After the beast makes its move, the energy fades away, returning to Jesen as his aura once more. The Angel of Mercy, or the Angel of Darkness, merely looks at Ayame as she looks at him from another prospective. It is the same look that those people gave him.
So long ago.
"... I am Nothing."
That is all Jesen states, looking away from Ayame for a few moments. "Only someone who has possibly lived longer than he should." He shuts his eyes, then he smiles. "... The treasure that you wanted."
"The check is of two thousand dollars. It should do. ... This church, or perhaps the paintings may be more to your liking can be yours... Just wait a few months. Perhaps you can sell it in France. ...They will know who the painting belongs to."
Something strange. There is the brief look of his aura fading in and out.
"The fight is over."
He turns back, smiling towards the woman.
COMBATSYS: Jesen has left the fight here.
"You're not nothing," the girl replies. "That's just what you say because you don't want to answer the question." She stands up straight, finally getting her strength back, holding her staff in front of her at an angle as if expecting another attack. "If you can't even admit what you are then maybe you're the one with problems, not me."
She starts to walk toward him, her guard still up, but her tension relaxed a little. "You're something. Nothing wouldn't be standing here in front of me. Talking. Capable of fighting in a way that defies explanation even, and I've seen a lot of styles... Would Nothing go through so much trouble to help others with nothing to gain for himself? I don't think so..."
She steps closer. She can tell the fight is over. Or he's just really good at deceiving her. Either is possible, but her guard becomes relaxed all the same, the staff lowered to her side, held out horizontally on her right. Then he speaks of her reward. A hefty amount of money, especially by Ayame's standards, and an invitation to take whatever she wants from the church building?
While she can't sense it, her eyes can perceive the flickering of his presence. A waning of something that was. The fight is declared over and Ayame pauses, squeezing a spot on the center of the staff, causing the length of it to collapse back down to a small tube that she slips back into the pouch at her side. "What is happening to you?" she asks, never one to beat around the bush. "Are you dying soon?"
COMBATSYS: Ayame has ended the fight here.
Not nothing. That is something to recall.
"Perhaps. Not something that must be worried about too long. I have had reasons for remaining as I am." The young boy considers, looking up at the sky. He actually lifts a hand up to feel the moon's light draw into his hand.
"...A ghost can." The boy muses. He knows his energy is dying. One of them. Jesen. Sanel. One of them has to go. It would really do his little brother some good to have a life. At least, before he ruins it.
One side will.
"It's nothing to worry about." He explains about his condition. "Just a bit of weakening from excessive usage." The boy muses, "... The church itself, I am hoping my little brother will inherit, but... He has no friends. I am actually hoping to find him a friend." He muses.
"For now... I need to contemplate some things."
Slowly, his body forms into a mist. "I promise that we will meet again. You have a second home here, as you won't have to go through the trials anymore."
And he disappears.
Ayame listens to the boy, eyes searching him in between cursory glances around the building as he speaks. A friend for his brother, eh? Well, she's definitely not a good choice for that... Bad influence there. She says nothing after that. The church is a second home to her? It certainly beats the hovel she calls a home back in south Southtown, to say the least. But the trip all the way to Albania might be a bit inconvenient... Still, if she ever needs a place to disappear to, this might be the spot.
He fades from before her eyes, more directly this time. Last time she wasn't so sure, but there's no mistaking it this time. "We'll meet again," she repeats back, though her tone is neutral. Whether she thinks it's a good thing or a bad thing that they'll meet again remains to be seen.
Another glance is taken around the building, her attention coming to rest on the painting of her. There is a faint flicker of a smile on her lips before she finally turns to walk away, her long hair trailing behind the movement by a half second. Step by step, she walks out of the chapel, mind reviewing everything she's seen and experienced in this mountain.
As soon as Ayame actually steps out of the church, she will actually make her way towards the exit of the village. But something is approaching before she can even make an exit.
Slowly, a more omnious figure is slowly descending. He is rather tall, muscular, and yet, there is something incredibly fearsome about the figure. Garbed in the entire crimson suit along with a cap with a skull. The man's face... The chin. It is unmistakable regarding the news, as the Thailand event made him infamous. The former Emperor of Thailand, Vega.
... The man is actually walking towards Ayame's direction, and past her...
Should she look over, the area is actually raining now. The large man is approaching the the blue haired boy with an oversized shirt.
Walking along slowly, hands clasped behind her back, Ayame's head is bowed at first, lost in thought. Until she becomes vaguely aware of movement out of the corner of her eye. She's not alone. Or rather...
With her memory she identifies the figure as Vega without even having to strain to place that distinctive face. Deceased, or so the reports said, fallen in Thailand as his empire crumbled to ruins. What's he doing here? He walks toward her, then past her, and Ayame turns around to stare after him, brow furrowed. It seems the mountain has something else to show her.
Oddly enough, the little boy is still singing that song. The hymn that he had sung earlier.
o/` Tei roo de fe ne ro tei... o/`
"There is a potential in you," muses the older man, who stares with a bemused look. "Cease the song, child. There is no need for that." And the song had ended, leaving everything in silence. The older man assesses the boy. "You are left to die, everything and everyone killed."
"... You... are the one who answered my prayers?"
"What is it that you desire?" asked Vega.
"..Purpose." replied the little boy.
"Hrm. I can take your broken body, mind, and soul and mend it. You will have a purpose of acheiving my dream. But know this. You will be nothing more than a tool, boy. ... A mere tool to my power. Do you accept, or would you rather fade without achieving anything of your life? It is far too valuable to waste."
The boy reaches out his hand towards Vega's direction.
"I... seek... purpose... for humanity. End... the destruction that they case. ...Lord." uttered the eight year old.
"Excellent." The older man reached over for the boy, placing an arm over the back. "....You are now my agent..." His eyes look around, then he grins in the most malicious way.
"Jesen."
Another vision. Another invasion of her mind, her thoughts. Memories implanted of the past, of a story yearning to be told. And it's being shown to the girl with a perfect, flawless memory. Every detail observed, every word uttered recorded. Is it the way things truly happened? Maybe, maybe not. She isn't in the position to know for certain. But what is the point? A tyrant extends his hand to a shattered soul and claims it as his tool. The same thing has no doubt happened countless other times to countless number of .
"Tough break, kid," she remarks, hand resting at her hip as she watches the deal be made between orphan and would-be dictator. She ponders how it compares to the arrangement she made with Elle... only to find it completely different. The woman may view her as a tool or maybe she doesn't. Ayame isn't sure yet. Either way, her boss has been smart enough to not suggest that their relationship is nothing like what Jesen had with Vega. "Jesen is it then. Jesen... Huh."
The girl taps her cheek thoughtfully. Does that mean the boy is still connected with that Shadaloo organization after Vega fell? If so, how does he get away with all this charity work he seems to have time to do? Ayame shakes her head, "No more visions," she mutters, turning to walk away slowly. "No more memories." Too many questions, too many mysteries. Right now she's just eager to go home.
Log created on 00:09:49 11/12/2007 by Ayame, and last modified on 13:10:16 11/18/2007.