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Post by DanteMGalileo on Feb 9, 2019 20:05:39 GMT -5
"I doubt it's anything you did. I'm pretty sure your archdemon's type of destruction would be a bit... different than complete and utter desolation of everything that lived." Imago took one last look at Percy's body, before turning away. "I'm sorry. I think it's best if we leave and try to get back to our world."
Sighing, Imago began to walk down the stairs and make his way towards the exit of the bar. "Everybody's dead. Everything is dead. I don't know if it was some futuristic raygun, or false vacuum device, or some life-destructive lab project, or something beyond the scope of us mortals, but it's all gone here." A sense of finality. "If we want to honour this dead world, we can at least keep our world from becoming its twin."
As he was about to leave, Imago noticed something. He wasn't sure if it was there before, or if it had just appeared. "The hell? I think I know who this belongs to..."
In his hand was a single, dark, faded purple feather. "Valravn... the right-hand woman of the angel king..." Imago looked up, eyes having regained their usual spark. "It's still warm. Like it was just recently shed." He passed the feather to Kelsey- he didn't want to have any of them on him for any longer than need be. "That bitch... I remember her... she had the ability to tear souls from their body. I don't know if she used them for nothing, or if she just enjoyed the screams. All I remember is that we couldn't touch her. Our weapons went right through her."
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on Feb 9, 2019 20:32:25 GMT -5
After loudly swallowing the lump in her throat, Kelsey again watched Imago leave the scene before casting one last glance at Percy's still form. Clearly Imago intended to leave this place immediately, and for the sake of not blindly running around in circles, looking to see what other horrors might've been hiding behind closed doors, and letting their friends back home walk the path towards destruction, it was probably for the best. She had to concede that much, even if it meant she would have to leave her friend behind.
"I'm sorry..." Her whisper was directed at the dead, blue-eyed Percy on the floor for lack of anyone else to apologize to. Perhaps there was some slim chance that the soul of the Percy she knew would hear it too. She doubted it, but for the time being, that thought seemed like the only levity her conscience could cling to.
With her hope all but abandoned, Kelsey darted back down the stairs, rejoining Imago by the front door as he picked up what looked to be a purple angel feather. Hearing who it likely belonged to sent a chill down Kelsey's spine, one of many she had experienced that day. As if those feathery monsters couldn't get anymore terrifying, one of them actually collected souls? Whatever this Valravn did with them, Kelsey had a feeling it wasn't as gracious as what her own soulscape provided.
Casting those thoughts aside, Kelsey accepted the feather and curiously studied it. It was warm. Strangely fresh. She had to wonder...
She switched her true vision back on, looking around for any disturbance in the astral plane...
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Post by DanteMGalileo on Feb 9, 2019 21:20:40 GMT -5
Emptiness.
Nothing but emptiness on the astral plane. Only Imago and Kelsey remained, the two living souls in this dead world. Imago himself snarled. "Show yourself, you monster! Cagnazza, Draghignazzo, Lord Malacoda, and the rest of my good friends! I will have vengeance for us thirteen!" The demon's eyes burned with rage, scanning the area for any signs of this angel.
... Silence. "... I suppose she's not here." Imago shook his head. "This world is getting to me. Let's get back to our world before we join the dead."
And yet, the demon couldn't quite shake the feeling that there had been a third living creature in this world with them...
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on Feb 10, 2019 15:49:42 GMT -5
Kelsey blinked away the glow in her eyes, shutting off her true vision yet again and slumping with defeat. Aside from a nod, she didn't know how to respond to Imago's words. After taking one last look around the abandoned club, she swallowed her regret, gave up the search, and headed back outside. All she could do for Percy now was keep up the fight.
She looked down at the jar in her hand. The remnant from their world that would get them home. The glass broken by her own hand.
The seal...
...........................
The seal... What did that even mean?
Upon exhaling the breath she didn't even realize she was holding, Kelsey turned to Imago mid-walk, her expression soft and sad. "It's that bad, huh? What the angels have done."
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Post by DanteMGalileo on Feb 10, 2019 16:46:22 GMT -5
"The world would be better off if every angel except maybe a few died," Imago replied. "You're lucky you only witnessed mundane invasion. I was witness to their war crimes... hunting us down... consuming our bones as aphrodisiacs... And the one I told you could steal souls..." The demon involuntarily shuddered. "By the Mother, I hate that I have a face to put to that. Alichino, Barbariccia, Cagnazzo, Calcabrina, Ciriatto, Draghignazzo, Farfarello, Graffiacane, Libicocco, Rubicante, Scarmiglione... Even Lord Malacoda himself couldn't stand up to her."
As they began to approach the cemetery, Imago paused for a moment. "My apologies for unloading my personal baggage onto you. I just felt that you needed to be aware of how dangerous that angel is in particular." Looking down into the cave, something made him pause.
"I saw something shimmer for a moment... or was it just my mind playing tricks on me?"
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on Feb 11, 2019 15:28:16 GMT -5
"You're alright," Kelsey sighed, not looking especially discomforted by Imago's descriptions. Merely frustrated by both the old and new information. She remembered him sharing a few of those details after she crashed the angels' ship, and everything else he said... Well, as if she needed more evidence that the angel species on the whole was a blight that needed exterminating. Darn it, she was starting to like Imago, and knowing how badly he'd been hurt by the angels only added fuel to her fire.
"Well... I guess we'll just have to set things right. If any of those angels... if anything tries to lay a finger any of my friends again, I swear on my parents' grave, I will tear the life from its chest and swallow whatever shred of a soul remains."
She came to a halt next to Imago, taking a peek inside the hole in the ground for herself. For a split second, she swore she could see a faint black shape amongst the darkness before it faded back into the background. "Y-Yeah, I... think you might be right." The air around her hands distorted as the temperature drastically rose. "Hell with it. If there is something down there, I'm not afraid to face it. I've had it up to here with monsters toying with me."
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Post by DanteMGalileo on Feb 11, 2019 15:43:11 GMT -5
"Now THAT'S an attitude I can get behind." Imago's grin came back at last, the usual manic spark returning to his eyes. "Well, if we run into it, I'm all for tearing them to pieces with tooth, claw, and lash. Shame we don't have a pit of boiling tar nearby." He shrugged. "Oh well."
Shuddering for a moment, the dark space wings returned. "Let's go." With a jump, Imago plunged into the cave, apparently unfazed by the darkness around him. No shimmering, no distorted shapes. It then occurred to him...
"By any chance, do you remember how to return to our own, hopefully not-dead world?"
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on Feb 11, 2019 16:30:11 GMT -5
Against her better judgement, Kelsey spared one last look back at the dead and abandoned world. The desolation no longer made her stomach churn or her skin crawl. She felt hardened by her experience. Impassioned. That much more prepared to combat whatever injustice awaited her. There was really only one thing about this place that truly tugged at her heart by that point.
We'll find you. I swear.
Just one more thing to fight for.
With her wings unfurled, Kelsey dove into the cave after Imago, unperturbed by the environment, anxious just to get back to familiar territory. She heard him question if return to their island was possible, prompting her to hold up the jar she had been carrying. "I've been led to understand that... going through this cave, carrying a piece of the world you want to go to will lead you there. I'm just not sure if the one who passed on this knowledge is especially trustworthy."
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Post by DanteMGalileo on Feb 11, 2019 16:40:01 GMT -5
"And just who passed on this knowledge to you?"
Imago paused briefly in the cave, wings only flapping enough to keep him suspended. "Was it a dubious old book? An associate of your's? Or hell forbid... one of those feathery hypocrites?"
Still. This was all going according to what the queen foretold. All according to plan.
"By the way." Imago had resumed flying. "I need to go back to my home world after we're back. I will be gone for, at most, two hours..."
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on Feb 11, 2019 17:00:30 GMT -5
"That's fine..." Kelsey mumbled, nodding in response to Imago's request. The day was barely halfway over. Two hours hopefully wouldn't be an issue.
She cast a scowl at the jar, returning to his earlier question. "No, I... was told these things by this... cat. I'd seen it before, but she decided to show herself to me right before I found you back there. Black, green eyes, multiple tendrils for tails, sh*t-eating grin... Not sure if any of this rings a bell to you, but by all means, if it does, inform me whether or not I can trust her as far as I can throw her."
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Post by DanteMGalileo on Feb 11, 2019 17:23:59 GMT -5
A cat with green eyes, tendrils for tails, and a shit-eating grin...
Oh...
OH...
OOHHHHHH...
"That cretin you speak of is called Mara," Imago replied with heavy disdain on the name. "To cut a long story short, we were collectively scapegoated for her actions thousands of years ago. I assumed she died in the war, but to hear that she's still alive..." His markings came out in full force, eyes maniacal. "Now, here's the thing. We demons will never outright lie to you. This includes the wretched cat. However, we are not above omission, or telling things that are metaphorically true." He glanced at the jar in Kelsey's hand. "I suspect she may have a reason for giving you- us- an easy method for returning home, but as it stands, we have no choice but to take this gamble."
There was a light coming into view. "By the way, if you see her, don't kill her. Give her to me. I want to hear what she thinks I'm going to do to her. B̴̲̈́È̵̬C̶̯̆A̷͚̐U̵̠̚S̷̝͛E̸̹̾ ̵̭̀I̶̙͌ ̶̗̒W̶̹̍Ǎ̸̦N̴̼̑T̸̟̅ ̵̝̿T̵̯̈Ö̵́͜ ̴̦̍M̷̀ͅÁ̶̩K̶̻̿Ě̸͜ ̷͖͌I̷͍͒T̴͍͂ ̷͇̎W̸͔͝O̴͙͝R̵̯̕Ś̴͜E̵̟̊.̷̲͒"
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on Feb 11, 2019 18:00:48 GMT -5
"Hm." Kelsey narrowed her eyes and nodded. Putting a name to the face was one thing, but knowing that this creep was responsible for the condemnation and reputation of Imago's race? Yeah, that was a fair excuse to be angry. She was partly relieved to hear that her reluctance to trust Mara was justifiable, but more than that, Kelsey found herself oddly keen to figure out what Imago could come up with for her new stalker. "Duly noted."
After a moment of silent flight, as they approached the light at the end of the tunnel, Kelsey softly spoke up, "She told me Paul is destined to die. Is it technically a lie if the future is subjective? Because I'm not letting that green bastard near him again."
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Post by DanteMGalileo on Feb 11, 2019 18:20:33 GMT -5
"Hmm... a prophecy..." Imago wondered aloud. "Now, unless they're from our queen, prophecies can be fallible. Maybe they're a glimpse into the future, maybe they're just bullshit intended to scare small larvae." He placed a hand under his chin. "Paul is the blue dragon man, correct? Now, here's the thing with prophecies..."
Upon reaching the hole, Imago flew through it. Searching the immediate area, the trees and plants were alive, and he could hear the birds and bugs. "If this isn't our world, it's close enough." After confirming Kelsey's return, the demon continued where he left off. "With prophecies that turn out to be true, you cannot directly subvert or contradict them. Doing so throws everyone into what we call a splinter to die. Long story short, it's time bullshit that our queen is better suited to explain. Oh, don't look all gloomy. You still have some free will. You can indirectly go against it. Let's say that Paul is destined to die. You cannot keep him as scale and bone or everyone will die. However, if you could keep him around in an alternate state of existence..."
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on Feb 12, 2019 17:51:53 GMT -5
"Alternate state of... What, like, absorbing his soul??" Kelsey actually looked affronted by the idea. "Look, I've accepted the fact that I'm gonna be consuming souls in the days to come. Against a threat of this caliber, I'm gonna need as much of a boost as I can get. I even elected to absorb my allies' souls if they died for whatever reason. I've already had to do that once."
Granted, I found out the hard way that I couldn't absorb one in particular...'
"But Paul? I... I can't do that to him. I feel bad enough assimilating people I like. I can't stand the thought of subjecting him to that!"
Her eyes narrowed as she looked around at the city. Thriving, green, intact, bustling... and yet everything felt just as empty in her eyes.
"I'm not letting him die. I don't care what I have to do to keep those feathery monsters away from him. I refuse... to let him die..."
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Post by DanteMGalileo on Feb 12, 2019 18:06:05 GMT -5
"Well, that prophecy might have been false. Who knows?" If the idea of Paul dying bothered Imago, he certainly wasn't showing it. "Of course... I'm not going to stop you from throwing us all under the bus."
Imago felt the ground under his feet, looking for shadows. "Good luck. If you want to tear some angels apart, call me. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some things to do..." Inhaling, Imago's body seemed to integrate into the surrounding shadows, slowly sinking into the darkness. His expression turned deadpan. "This is a common ability amongst my breed of demon. Clearly, I'm still getting used to doing this again..."
Eventually, he sank into the shadows, slithering away, visible only by a pair of red spots...
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