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Post by DanteMGalileo on Oct 6, 2018 16:40:32 GMT -5
"Alright... This should be far enough... Imago says he'll only talk if it's only us..."
A back alleyway, somewhere behind the club. At this hour, everyone was either still asleep, or away. Percy looked around, confirming that he and Kelsey, and their inner demons, were the only ones present. "Nox..." With a wave of his hand, a shadowy aura covered the alleyway, obscuring the pair from sight.
Good. You've found out that I prefer a dark environment.
"More like, that's the only way you'll behave..." Percy glanced at where Kelsey would be in the shadows of the alleyway. "Oh, yeah... It's not me who wants to talk to you... Imago wants to talk to your demon." He shot her an apologetic look. "And... that he'd rather not have anyone eavesdrop. Including us... I'm sorry, but this is the only way he'll agree to completely cooperate."
Inside Percy's head, the shadowy beast with red eyes formed in his mind's eye, grinning.
"I'm... going to lie down for a bit... So... see you when we both wake up?"
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on Oct 6, 2018 17:23:18 GMT -5
Dark alleys like these were clearly not Kelsey's comfort zone. Something about these dingy, neglected, cavernous spaces rubbed her the wrong way. She knew she shouldn't have been concerned, considering she not only dealt with greater horrors on a regular basis, but she was also a college student who lived on a big, often sketchy campus. Disquieting environments had become her bread and butter. But then again, maybe her rattled nerves had less to do with the location and more to do with the situation itself...
Once she and Percy were alone, she warily stared at the young man in silence, letting him speak. Then when it was made clear that Imago was the one who wanted to speak and Tri was the one he wanted to speak to, Kelsey couldn't help but reel back slightly. "O-Oh... Uh..."
"Aw, he wants to talk to ME?" Tri crooned, his astral projection leaning on Kelsey's shoulder. "I'm flattered."
Kelsey simply huffed at his quip, then stared at the ground and rubbed her head. She wanted to say that this wasn't a big deal, but the fact that Imago didn't want her or Percy to know what they were discussing filled her with uncertainty. After Percy's episode back there, she couldn't shake the feeling that his inner demon was going to be difficult, and this ultimatum did not make that notion any less plausible to her. She couldn't honestly say that she trusted Tri to spill the beans to her later either. In this moment of crisis, just what was so important to the demon that she and Percy weren't allowed to know?
"Well..." Despite her lingering doubts, however, Kelsey acknowledged Percy's comment on how Imago would only cooperate under these conditions. If there was a chance it would alleviate the situation at least a little, she begrudgingly concluded that she may as well accept the terms. Besides... there was something she wanted to do. Something she would have to handle alone and detached from the outside world.
With a long sigh, Kelsey leaned back against a wall. "Fine... Just... don't do anything weird, okay, Tri?"
"You honestly think that little of me?" Tri joked as Kelsey's spirit seemed to retreat inward, allowing him ample space to slip into her body. "Kelsey, honey, you really need to trust me."
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Post by DanteMGalileo on Oct 6, 2018 18:03:23 GMT -5
"... Hmm..."
When Percy's eyes reopened, they were red instead of purple, slanted pupils replacing the normal diamond-shaped ones. The blue marking faded, replaced by a red one, all the while more red, stitch-like markings appeared along his body. Imago glanced around, as if to confirm that they were alone. "... Good. You're quiet."
With a wave of Imago's hand, the darkness thickened. "Well, well, well. I see I'm not the only one not used to being made out of flesh. Such a fallible material, would you not agree?" Chuckle.
Once Imago was certain the two were alone, and that their vessels were not aware of their conversation, his tone became serious. "No need for introductions. I know you know who and what I am. Good. We can cut to the chase..." He swirled a hand, the darkness forming vague shapes around him. "I know your vessel fears I may consume my vessel's soul completely and claim his body as my own. Well... she's not completely wrong. Our queen was gifted with the Third Eye..." One of the shapes formed into a humanoid figure, clad in a helmet. "She foresaw two paths. The one we are on now is marked by a fleet attack... This, is the path of Nemesis."
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on Oct 6, 2018 18:22:06 GMT -5
"Imago. Sweetheart." With his vessel's consciousness neatly tucked away and her horns, fangs and claws properly released, Tri looked up with a coy smirk and ice blue, snakelike eyes. "Maybe you'd disagree, being out of it for so long, but this is nothing new for me. The tits and the higher-register voice are one thing, but you should see me on a good day. I got flesh for days."
With one hand leaning against the wall and the other on his hip, Tri slowly nodded as Imago immediately got down to business, a much appreciated gesture. His mention of Kelsey's concerns about Percy was right on the mark. "Believe you me, that girl worries that I'm gonna do that to her one day. Pfft... Like she's ever gonna stop being useful to me."
He chuckled when Imago briefly described the current path they were on. "Yeah, a.k.a. the interesting path. The one where my girl actually gets s*** done without me forcing her into it." He then folded his arms and leaned his back on the wall again. "And the one where that dang time angel doesn't stick his nose into my business so much 'cause he knows everything's going to hell in this timeline anyway. No sense in having a hand in that, the sanctimonious pussy."
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Post by DanteMGalileo on Oct 6, 2018 18:57:32 GMT -5
"Ah, yes... The one where the one who would be useful if he was not bound to some fickle god's plan actually does something useful." Imago formed one of the shadowy shapes into an angel. "And by useful, I mean he stays out of the way."
He dispelled the shadowy angel, kicking back against the wall. "I know not what you intend to do with the girl when she has outlived her usefulness, and to be blunt, I care not." Imago swirled a hand, and a second angel formed from the shadows, this one more aggressive. "Back to business, hm? Our queen foresaw the birth of my vessel... As I am sure you are aware, this human carries the blood of an angel- more specifically, the blood of their filthy king." He bit into the skin between his thumb and index finger. His blood, while red, had a faint tinge of blue. "If it were to be, ah, tainted with demon blood, we could destroy the seal with a drop."
The angel collapsed, and the shadows reformed into what appeared to be a seal. "This is the timeline where we shall be free, and just in time." The seal violently tore itself apart. "For as disgusting as I find humans, we still feel a bond to them as fellow Earthlings..." The shadows formed into a humanoid figure, resembling Percy. "And now, back to the vessel..."
The shadow-Percy collapsed, but stood up again, eyes glowing red. "There will be an event that strips the vessel's soul from this body. I will then assume full control, and I will free my people..."
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on Oct 6, 2018 19:19:49 GMT -5
Tri chuckled at Imago's description of the Angel of Time, then he nodded at his dismissal of Tri's plans for Kelsey. "Yeah, nothing you need to worry about. We'll be out of your hair by then."
He observed Imago's shadow puppets with reserved interest, simply nodding along without interrupting. When Imago had said his peace and vocalized his intent to take over Percy's body and free his fellow demons from the Inferno, Tri simply shrugged and responded, "I'd definitely say that now is the time to do it. Not gonna lie, for all the powers that angel blood affords him, I'm looking forward to seeing it purged outta his system. Mixed blood like that tends to over-complicate matters."
He pushed away from the wall and started a slow pace. "One question... Why tell ME all this? Yeah, I'm an archdemon, but I'm clearly of a different variety than your queen."
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Post by DanteMGalileo on Oct 6, 2018 19:38:16 GMT -5
"I fully intend on purging this mixed blood from this body. Even when the vessel returns- yes, spoiler alert, I will not be in solitude for long... That angel blood will be no more."
Imago clenched a fist, closed his eyes, and smirked. "And why you? To be frank, you interested me. We both have human vessels, although not specifically bred for us- and yes, I can tell." He cracked open one red eye. "We're both more aware of things than our vessels, and we both clearly despise angels."
He opened his other eye, and his smirk faded into a frown. "But more importantly, you will not spill the beans to your vessel. How will my vessel lose his soul? I will not be involved- our queen foresaw an angel with one eye..." The shadows formed into another angel, armed with a pole-type weapon, and back into the shadow-Percy. "This angel will steal my vessel's soul in attempt to purge me." The shadow-angel raised something, and the shadow-Percy collapsed. "I know this is to happen, but if your vessel, or mine was to know... well, let's just say weird time shit could happen."
The shadow-Percy kicked the shadow angel, knocking it down, before collapsing itself. "My vessel's soul will be weak upon return. We will effectively become one being. He will see things my way... As I am sure, your vessel will slowly see things your way."
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on Oct 7, 2018 17:55:53 GMT -5
Tri let out a stiff chuckle. "Heh... Kelsey and my business is a little more complicated than that, but yeah, I get the gist of what you're saying. Can't say I'm fond of either your or my variety of angels." Although, to be fair, maybe he was a little more... open-minded when it came to angels. That certainly didn't mean he liked them, though. But one thing at a time.
He nodded as he started twisting some shadow matter around his own fingers, twisting them into tiny figurines of his protege and an angel. "Yeah, I wouldn't put it past Kelsey to try saving that kid's soul. Hell, I'm almost tempted to drop the hint to her just to see how that dang time angel reacts. If this is how this series of events is supposed to progress, it'd honestly be hilarious to see him throw your boy under the bus for the sake of timeline stability. But I'm not gonna do that. Too much of a hassle for you, too much of an annoyance for me."
The shadows now seemed to crawl around Tri's hand like some sort of tiny lizard creature. "Nice to know you and he will eventually settle. As for whether or not Kelsey will come around on me... well, that's a little tricky. I like to believe we get along fine, but she's stubborn. If she's gonna do something, it's because she wants to do it. And yeah, that usually works out in my favor in the end just because she's such a people-pleaser when you get right down to it... but I think she's only helping me because... well, it was either that or become the puppet she was originally conceived to be. I know she's worried about the true extent of my intentions."
Smiling at the little shadow dragon he had crafted, Tri lowly murmured, "What do you know about soul names, Imago?"
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Post by DanteMGalileo on Oct 7, 2018 18:43:51 GMT -5
"Soul names..."
Imago chuckled, a dark sound. "Now that's something I haven't talked about in years. It's a bit cliche, no? Know the soul's name, and they're putty in your hands..." As if to emphasize that, he took a piece of shadow, molding it into a humanoid shape, and then allowing it to melt into the darkness again. "There's no pattern, but all souls have one... I'm sure you can read mine, and the vessel's, but redundant as it may be for you, saying my vessel's soul name causes... something to occur."
The red-eyed individual actually shuddered. "But that's a topic I haven't heard in years. What prompted this question, anyway? Was it our discussion about souls, or is there something else?"
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on Oct 7, 2018 19:43:07 GMT -5
"Well, it's pretty simple, really..." Tri mused, shaping the shadows around him in a manner that almost resembled cosmic dust. "Interesting thing about Kelsey is that even though her spirit is strong and her body contains my blood, her soul was intentionally crafted to be weak. The perfect vessel for an archdemon to control. I could very easily twist her soul name around and compel her to do my bidding, but it's actually better for both of us if I let her make those decisions on her own. No sense in stunting her growth like that."
He smirked at Imago. "Last night, I gave her the soul name crash course. It'll be useful to her, considering one of the powers I gave her is consuming outside souls to empower her own weak one, granting her instant knowledge of that soul's name. As of today, she only has two soul familiars at her disposal. One human... one angel. One of the variety you're more familiar with."
Tri shrugged. "You and I may not care for the feathery f***ers, but so long as their souls are a part of hers, they're her slaves. What better way to take down an army than by turning their own forces against them?"
A low chuckle. "But I think we both know there's more possibility here than simply turning my girl into a one-woman fighting force."
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Post by DanteMGalileo on Oct 7, 2018 20:03:33 GMT -5
"Hmph. Those feathery hypocrites... How fitting. The slaves of an archdemon's vessel..."
Imago smirked, before bursting into a grin. "Oh... OH..." If it were possible, the grin grew wider, almost painful-looking. "I see where you're going with this... oh, that would certainly make her more formidable, even if she remains a blubbering bleeding-heart under it all..."
He laughed, his voice fully dominating his vessel's, echoing in the dark alley. Once finished, however, Imago frowned, rubbing his face. "Ah, flesh. I see you still have a vendetta against laughter, despite its proven health benefits... Normally, I'd be made out of a delightful patchwork of scales and fur..." Once he deemed his face fine enough, Imago resumed smirking. "So... who do you plan on having her splatter first?"
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on Oct 10, 2018 15:52:35 GMT -5
"Eh. Sometimes ya gotta learn to work with whatcha got..."
Tri's face suddenly split open into a grotesquely enormous Glasgow smile, complete with fangs, a writhing snake tongue, blue flames streaming from his eyes, and an ear-splitting screech that sounded more like a million universes dying all at once than it did laughter. And just as suddenly, all of these features retracted, restoring his face to his host's smirking, semi-demonic form.
As if that hadn't just happened, Tri casually continued, "So I know for sure her numbers will go up the next time she goes head-to-head with a force that size. That first wave really woke her up. She's not gonna hold back on 'em after that. (Snff... I'm so proud of her.) Hell, even if some of her new buddies die, she can keep their souls around a little while longer. That's part of the reason I'ma be hush-hush about your deal with Percy. Trust me, if Kelsey thinks it's for the greater good, she will get in the way of your plans. Probably best if she's restrained while that's going down..."
Black, inky tendrils dripped from Tri's fingers like strings, wrapping around the shadows as they twisted into angelic shapes. "But let's think outside the Page for a moment. Why should she be the only one to have fun with soul names? It's been a while since I've attempted soulscape infiltration. Sure, there's always the risk of evoking unfathomable madness in my wake, but in this case, that might just make it even more fun." The ends of his lips were almost curled, he was smiling so hard. "Besides, it's tempting to ponder what Caladrius's soul name is."
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Post by DanteMGalileo on Oct 10, 2018 16:26:37 GMT -5
"Hmm. Impressive," was all Imago had to offer on the sudden face change. It was was though faces routinely erupted into fiery, shrieking monstrosities on a regular basis. "Going to have to experiment with this material a bit more, it seems..."
He resumed smirking. "And I'll agree to keep your plans about the girl silent. Let it be far from me to screw up this natural progression you've got going... I will trust you to uphold your silence, of course. (For all I could do if you did break it.)" And then, the name...
"Caladrius... Caladrius..." Imago's expression soured. "Ah. That thing. Caladrius was not the one who lead those feathery hypocrites to our planet, but he was the one they had when they pissed off with the landmass formerly known as North America. (I would like it back. Being hatched in Nuevo Nuevo San Fransisco after all.) ... But by all means..." The sour expression burst into a grin. "If at all possible, I would love to tear those filthy wings from his body. He created the seal that bound my kind to the Inferno, after all... But I suppose unfathomable madness inflicted on him would make me giddy, perhaps even make him beg for death..."
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on Oct 13, 2018 19:04:27 GMT -5
Tri suppressed a giggle. A genuine one, to be sure; Imago's enthusiasm seemed infectious. "Definitely will be an amusing sight."
He continued to play around with the shadows like a child sculpting random shapes out of clay. Whatever he was forming seemed a bit random and all over the place, yet meticulously detailed at the same time. "I would like to ask you... one little favor, though. In exchange for me getting my hands on his high and mightiness' soul name. Don't worry, I'm not gonna drag you along to help Kelsey and me deal with my own pest problem. What I need more than anything else is... suggestions."
The entire mass of darkness surrounding the two demons writhed like a tangled web of thousands of tentacles. Tiny flames flickered here and there like stars against the inky blackness. The shadows themselves seemed to whisper to each other.
"See, I can't use this same strategy against the things I'm trying to get rid of back home. Their soul names are keys to gateways of pain and madness, much like mine, so manipulation is out of the question. The best option available to me right now is to banish them to oblivion, beyond the realms of time and space, light and darkness. But I'm curious to explore the possibilities of... soul destruction..."
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Post by DanteMGalileo on Oct 13, 2018 19:47:07 GMT -5
"Soul... destruction..."
Imago frowned and glared, his expression greatly sour. "... Well, I'm not sure how souls in your world work, but for most creatures back in my world, when a body dies, their soul goes... somewhere, and will then either pass on to some afterlife (not that I believe in such), or be reborn as something else..." The red-eyed demon shut his eyes and put a hand under his chin, as if thinking. "Angel souls die with the body."
Imago took hold of some free shadows, molding them into a vague shape. "But, to my knowledge... There is a way to, ah, destroy souls..." The shape formed into a long-limbed, winged beast. "... When we consume souls, we integrate them into our own soul, and it will reincarnate or pass on with us..." The shadow creature flapped its wings, creating some din in the alleyway. "But there exists a creature known as the Destruction Father... When a soul is consumed by it, it ceases to exist... While I disapprove of such a method myself, maybe those things you battle deserve to be fed to it. Maybe you'll even manage to destroy it."
The winged creature reintegrated into the shadows. "How to form such a connection? Well... There's the one that's always next to Caladrius..."
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