Early Morning Training

[Johnathan]

Erebus sat with his legs folded beneath him comfortably. His hands were loosely cupped together in his lap forming an 'O' shape. Starting at three in the morning, he had been meditating silently for the following two hours, calling on the stillness of the night to help ease him into the mindset he desired. Following his experience with the chemicals in Stein's lab, Erebus's desire to attain mastery in his control flared once again. He had learned that his body only suffered backlash when his power was released and restrained in instantaneous actions. With a calm and confident mind, he could control the flow of his power, and dissolve away his chains instead of shattering them in an instant. After the two hours of meditation, all but the final inch of chain at his wrists and ankles had dissolved away. It was nowhere near as efficient as it would need to be in order to be of use; however, it was progress nevertheless.

As the last of the chains slowly dissolved away, Erebus could feel the force of the void pressing against his will. Calmly, he forced it back, commanded it to obey, and at last, his power was unleashed. With a spark of shimmering magic, the final links vanished and Erebus's might was unleashed; however, the normal chaos that should have followed was absent. A deepening in the darkness of early twilight was the only repercussion suffered, as the void pressed hungrily against the will of its master. In return, Erebus's senses grew by great magnitudes. From his position in the academy's forest, he could now sense the life force of every being within Savale. His body, previously tense and restrained, now had the subtle grace of the grand master assassin.

In a deft spin, Erebus twirled gracefully from his crossed legged position into a stand. In the same action, daggers of shadow were thrown from the depths of his sleeves, impacting every tree that stood along the immediate border of the small clearing in which he stood. From the points of impact, they dissolved away into black flakes that danced for a moment on the still morning air, before fading into the depths of Oblivion. At that moment, three hundred magic tags that had been prepared before hand surged to life. As the animation magic of the seals acted on the ground and trees, three hundred golems pried themselves from the scenery. A murmur of splitting earth and tree echoed out, as the magic guardians affixed their attention on Erebus. With a slight, seemingly amused smile, Erebus slowly drew his katana.

With his free hand, Erebus gracefully supported the hilt of the blade as he swung it slowly to his right side. In time with the steady arc of the blade, he lowered himself into a ready crouch.

"Crescent of the Waning Moon:" In an instant, Erebus vanished from the center of the clearing, reappearing a moment later behind the farthest golem. There was a faint groan from the three hundred magical dolls, before they crumbled apart, each magic tag cut cleanly in two. "All of Creation in a Single Step."

Erebus turned back to face the clearing, and with a snap of his fingers, the final tag he had prepared activated. With a thunderous crack, that surely would have woken the entire academy were it not for the forest's magic, a massive earthen arm rose from the ground. Two hundred feet in length, it soared far to Erebus's left before the massive hand impacted the ground with immense force. A second arm erupted near the same location as the first, and it too stretched two hundred feet straight up, before reaching out far to Erebus's right and connecting with the ground. The shattering of roots and the rumble of the soil foretold a great disturbance, as the massive golem forced its way out of the earth. Rising quickly to stand at just under five hundred feet tall, the enormous earthen doll glared down on Erebus with two brilliant pools of arcane fury.

A cacophony of shattering wood was the only warning two house sized hands gave as they toppled the forest with the force and speed of an explosion, slamming together on the spot where Erebus stood. The resulting shockwave of displaced air knocked over more trees in a one hundred foot circle around the point of impact, and sent a thunderclap echoing throughout the large forest.

As the dust began to settle, a small-by-comparison figure could be seen sheathing his sword on top of the two stony hands. At this point, Erebus wore an openly pleased smile as he met the creature's glare, eye to orb.

"Be pleased, golem, as you will make an adequate target for my unpracticed technique." As Erebus finished sheathing the sword, he lowered himself into the stance for battojutsu. "Infinity Step:" Erebus's appearance blurred as though it were a hologram suffering from bad electromagnetic interference. "Point of Convergence, One Hundred Thousand Worlds."

The golem was atomized in an instant, and a soft rain of dust and moisture began to fall back to the earth from the cloud it became. With a soft chink, Erebus's sword returned to it's sheath at the same moment he landed on a newly exposed boulder. He surveyed the large crater of earth and vegetation he had created with a disinterested glance. Spinning fluidly on the spot, he descended to a seated position in the same motion in which he crossed his legs. Closing his eyes, he resumed his meditation to force back the metaphysical ground the void had gained on him during combat, and to assess the quality of his new technique.

[Stein]

Taighler and Taylour were wandering and fighting through the forest, they hadn’t awoken early, as much as never gone to sleep, they didn’t need sleep. Taylour had been manipulating rocks, fire, air, and water, everything in their surroundings against Taighler, who was currently on the defensive against a fire-rock creation. The goal was simple, cause the other twin to yield first, it was one of the few times they were not connected to each other’s minds directly, though both were also trying to penetrate the others mental barriers; It was one of the few times they did not speak in unison.

Taylour grinned as he grabbed a large pile of rocks from about 50 feet away to throw at Taighler, but when he went to grab them some other magical seal blocked his spell from affecting them. Taking a moment longer to examine the seal he recognized it as the Melanthios magic seal. He felt as the rocks formed a large earthen doll, a rock golem, that was then were shattered to dust by something, the Oblivion magic if he was correct. However the few seconds it’d taken for that to occur Taighler had seized his opening and had teleported across the grass between himself and Taylour to tackle him and knock him backwards. Taighler was now sitting on Taylours chest with a sword to his twins’ throat. “Do you yield?” Taylour grinned “I will never yield! I refuse to join the side of good, I will forever be shrouded in black and red.” but moments later they rejoined minds, and hands as Taylour pulled Taighler up and they dusted eachother off. what’s on your mind now Tay? You’re never that distracted when we duel….oh interesting, but that’s not Periculosi’s magic, but be a Melanthios we haven’t met. It must be Erebus or Eirika, and since Veronica would have killed us by now if it’d been Eirika it must be Erebus, let’s go introduce ourselves They grinned, spending only a few moments to create a plan.

Moments later they appeared by the edge of Erebus’s clearing watching him destroy the giant golem, they waited till he’d finished fighting and taken up residence on the new boulder before walking into the clearing holding hands saying. “What happened to our favorite tree/ stump? This is where we came to study quietly… why are you killing the forest and destroying our trees? They walked over to the base of the boulder and Taylour knelt down murmuring comforting words to the boulder, as if it could hear him. He quickly stood agin before they both leaned on the boulder and said in unison. “So you’re Erebus. Huh, you remind us of another Melanthios we used to know. Now what was his name… Periculosi I think. He was enigma, that’s part of what made him fun.”

let’s join him in meditation, we haven’t meditated for a while The twins both sat on the ground beside the boulder in a half-lotus position facing each other, holding both hands rested between their touching knees. They quickly sunk into a meditative state; they were aware of everything around them, but outwardly calm.

Dewdrop speed-affinity zipped through the clearing inches from Erebus’s nose followed by about 10 butterflies, she pulled up short on the other side of the clearing and turned “Butterflies, I’ll play with you later ok?...I know, but I have some stuff to do. Bye-bye” She waved as they scattered to the winds. She floated back towards Erebus and the twins, but stopped about 6 feet from Erebus, he reminded her of veronica, who she never wanted to meet again. “H-hi, I’m Dewdrop. Who are you?” She asked in a normal volume voice, she was a little nervous of what this boy might do.

[Horo]

They ran, face to face, sizing each other up. Mikoto’s dark hair fluttered behind as she tried to get a read on the eccentric Horo. ’This girl claims to have only begun her training. Yet her determination is one to be admired.’ Kari chased after the two, trying to warn them about where they were headed, but her cries fell into deaf ears. In a moment they were gone. Into the forest.
”How did things end up like this?”

::Sometime prior::

Mikoto had to awaken before the sun. Her training required that she keep her skills sharp and her discipline strong. The night before had been a late one, Kari was excited and would let her sleep until her excitement had faded. Taking a guess, she must have fallen asleep, exhausted next to Kari around three in the morning. It was now four forty five and Mikoto began her morning routine as she did every day. With some quick stretching she gave a kiss goodbye to Kari and was out the door. Her jog would be around campus, trying to reduce the time to only a half hour to jog the six mile perimeter. She was approaching the eastern edge when a loud noise rang from behind her.

”Good morning! Lovely time for a jog.”

Horo’s presence took Mikoto by surprise. For years she had been jogging around the school and never had she met someone who gave this type of impression. Pure and complete confidence. Horo took notice of Miko’s surprise and decided to pick up her pace so that they were side to side. Mikoto read Horo’s expression and realized that it wasn’t just her normal expression, it was a challenge.

”Yes, if I’m not mistaken, I’d think you wanted to race.
”I’m glad we can skip all that questioning then. I’m Horo, a first year and soon to be leader of this school.”
”Mikoto Sephora, a third year and warrior of the QiLong. I won’t go easy on you.”
A very large grin appeared on Horo’s face ”I wouldn’t have it any other way. First one to the edge of the forest and back to the dorm buildings wins.”

Horo didn’t wait for a ready, set, go but instead took off as fast as she possibly could. She expected to use the element of surprise start to gain a small heading in the race. Her face was shocked as Mikoto was still next to her. Mikoto’s powerful QiLong eyes took notice of the Anulupis’ subtle increase in speed and allowed the fighter to accelerate in turn. Miko turned her head forward and began increasing her speed beyond that of Horo. The small captain wouldn’t allow herself to be defeated easily as she continued picking up speed. 20, 30, 40mph! Yet Mikoto was still ahead of her. ’What is this QiLong… How is she so fast?’ Horo questioned as she pushed herself back up to Mikoto. The pair was running around 50 miles per hour when Horo finally passed Mikoto.

Horo wasn’t to cheer, but the QiLong had slowed down. Turning her head forward Horo remembered the course, to the trees of the forest and back. Mikoto lightly tapped a tree and began back towards the dorm buildings as Horo continued into the forest a few yards. The slightly annoyed girl jumped onto the trunk of a tree and launched herself in the opposite direction, back towards the dorm building.

”I’m not going to let you win! 我快! 我的很快!”

Mikoto refused the urge to stop and look back at Horo who must have been trailing behind at this point. The QiLong continued to push herself forward. Yet a moment later a small flash of brown fur flew past her. ’Was that… Horo?’ she asked herself as she pressed her feet hard into the ground trying to catch up. Horo looked back and placed a rather large grin on her face. She was about to bark her victory when Mikoto shouted at her.

”Watch out for that! ... Door.”

Horo’s body went crashing through the oak door at 60 mph. flipping and tearing against the shrapnel that flew with her. Mikoto rushed past the shattered door and reached out to grab Horo before she experienced another crash at 60 mph. Horo however stopped herself midflight and placed her feet onto the ground softly. Mikoto slowed down and walked back up to the girl.

”Horo, Are you ok? “
”Yeah, I’m just a little out of breath. I think we’ll call that one a draw?”
”I can agree to that. How did you manage not to crush your skull?”
”Pulse. I can mess with vibrations of the universe and stuff. Fun fun stuff! I just started learning it at the start of the year from Professor Giovanni.”

Mikoto starred at Horo in amazement. Magic had always been a foreign thing to her, being a QiLong she had no ability to use it. Horo on the other had saw Mikoto as a strange person. Her reaction time was off the charts. She would have to convince her to join the Quickstepp club.

”Mikoto, you seem to be a powerful person. I need powerful people around me if I’m going to take over this school. What do you say? Want to join my club? We have awesome fighters and cute boys… I guess?”

Mikoto took no time at all to think through Horo’s offer.

”No thank you.”

Horo’s face dropped. How could she say no so easily? To me!? I’m so great… maybe she feels like she can’t live up to my image? That must be it. I’ll have to sell the boys to her to get her to join! Horo’s thought ended as she placed her hand on Mikoto’s shoulder.

”Come on now, don’t knock it before you try it! We are all powerful and we have many available bache- ”

It was at that moment that the one who had opened the door came stumbling over. Her hair was short and brown. Her eyes were tired and her voice was soft and sleepy as she fell into Mikoto’s arms.

”Miko, *yawn* come back to bed already… Take aaaaa day off for once.”

The light in Horo’s head went on as Kari pulled at Mikoto unsuccessfully. ’Mikoto likes girls, but she already has a woman… Ok.. What could I…’ A grin appeared on Horo’s face.

”Mikoto, I challenge you to a fight! If I win, you join my club!”

Mikoto smiled, always ready for a battle and looked at Kari with her trademark determined look. Mikoto pulled her Wakizashi sized bokken from the nether and glared at Horo.


”You’re on. If I win, you will owe me a favor.” the two began right away as Horo lashed out with a kick. Her pulse powers had developed immensely since her last time battling anyone and this would be a good test for her. Mikoto however easily parried Horo’s kick and slid her Wakizashi down along her back. Her sports bra held it in place as she and Horo began a hand to hand fight.

Kari pleaded with them to give it a rest, but Miko’s eyes were filled with joy as she blocked another high kick from Horo. The Anulupis tried attacking from all angles, but the QiLong seemed to know everywhere her foot was going to land. Horo placed her foot hard on the ground and punched, expecting correctly so, for Mikoto to block. She then send a pulse blast from her fist, forcing the air to vibrate and generate a small shockwave. Mikoto stumbled back a few steps as Horo smirked.

”Ready to join yet?”

Mikoto took in a deep breath and shook her head. It was a good hit, but Horo would need to do better to defeat her. Mikoto stepped in, going on the offensive for the first time in this fight and sent a palm strike down for Horo’s shoulder. Horo twisted her body to the left, but her attention was averted and prevented her from seeing Mikoto’s second attack. A kick from her close leg. Miko’s left foot snapped up and landed square on the bottom of Horo’s chin.

Horo spat to the side and began to move the ground under Miko with pulse. Glancing down, Miko adjusted her stepping to matching with the vibrations and dashed forward, shooting a palm strike (right hand) for Horo’s head. Horo quickly back stepped to avoid, but Miko’s left foot stepped forward as the right had approached, prompting Horo to raise her arms in defense.

Miko’s eyes were warm and focused as her left hand compressed Horo’s abdomen. An onlooker would be able to see that Miko’s actions weren’t driven by hate or malice. Horo coughed as she fell backwards a few steps holding her gut.

”The void attack. You are drawn into the punch to your face, so you don’t see the attack to your stomach. Basic Bujinkan fighting.”

Horo regained her composure and created a small ball of vibrating particles and squeezed it in her hand. She launched herself at Mikoto and tried to land a number of widely thrown punches and kicks, trying to find an opening to release her pulse ball on Mikoto. Horo’s eyes grew wide as the pulse ball was slammed into her own body by a sudden kick to her hand. Miko took a few steps back and bounced lightly on her feet waiting for Horo to stand back up.

”You run very well, but you’re not too good in a fight are you?”
”You caught me. I’ve only started training in pulse, I’ven’t even started martial arts. But I won’t lose”

Mikoto’s eyes grew wide. ’This girl challenged a QiLong. Not knowing any martial arts… Is she mad?’ Miko’s thought had distracted her long enough for Horo to twist a strong blast of pulse energy into her side. Miko rolled across the grassy ground and back onto her feet, she leaned backwards just in time to miss the next large rock that Horo had sent after her. Horo began twisting her hands, pulling water vapor out of the air and readying it as a whip. Her other hand gained a whip of air, all being controlled by Horo’s pulse energy.

Horo began spinning around and lashing out at Miko with the whips, substituting her lack of skill with ranged attacks. Miko drew her Wakizashi and began dodging the whips of pulse controlled elements. Horo’s face was visibly showing her fatigue as Miko blocked Horo’s water whip with the side of her wooden blade and kicked the small girl in the face with a crescent kick. Horo landed on the ground with a thud, losing her grip on her pulse weapons and deciding on a new tactic.

Mikoto began walking away from Horo, assuming that the battle was over. Horo however picked up a small stone and threw it at the back of Miko’s head. Miko turned slowly as Horo stood gasping for air. Horo threw three more stones that Miko dodged as she began moving forward, but Horo turned and began running for the forest. Miko quickly began after her.

They ran, face to face, sizing each other up. Mikoto’s dark hair fluttered behind as she tried to get a read on the eccentric Horo. ’This girl claims to have only begun her training. Yet her determination is one to be admired.’ Kari chased after the two, trying to warn them about where they were headed, but her cries fell into deaf ears. In a moment they were gone. Into the forest.
”How did things end up like this?”

Horo and Miko traded blows while moving through the forest, dodging trees and boulders as they tried to exploit weaknesses in each other’s form. Miko noted the change in Horo’s form as she began to easily maneuver through the woodland terrain. Her eyes however could still keep focus on her and their surroundings. ’This is what I’ve trained every day for.’ Miko thought as she lashed out at Horo with her Wakizashi. Horo barely flipped out of the way before skidding to a halt at the edge of a very large crater. Mikoto stopped behind her and took a look at the big hole.

Mikoto began to speak, but stopped as Horo attempted to push her into the crater. Miko dipped to the side and with a deft movement threw Horo onto the ground behind them with her blade at the Captain’s throat.

”I win. You, now owe me a favor.”

Miko helped Horo off the ground and began to look around.

”What do you think caused this? I see traces of magic everywhere.”
”I don’t know… But I’d bet they do.” Horo said, pointing at Erebus, Dewdrop and the Twins. ”DEWDROP! What happened here?”

[Johnathan]

Erebus gave half a thought to the approaching students and whether or not he should disappear. Deciding it wasn't necessary, as his power was not yet polluting the area, he remained motionless and continued his meditation.

"The forest repairs itself in much the same way as Decidia. I expect it will have returned to its original state by tomorrow morning." Erebus' words were spoken somewhat absently, to the space around him as opposed to someone in particular. When the fairy questioned him, he responded in the same way once again. "Erebus Melanthios." His words were matter-of-fact. There was a ripple in his shadow as a strange, winged imp like creature, no more than a foot tall crawled out of it. He scurried around with his arms spread wide to float between Erebus and Dewdrop.

"Get out of here you tw-twittering twerp twairy...I mean, fairy! Do not taint Master Erebus' presence with your ooey gooey fairy nonsense!"

"A-ky-el." Erebus' tone was still flat and expressionless, however at the sound of his name being spoken by his master's mouth, the imp jumped noticeably. "Silence." With a comical cringe, the imp dropped to the ground and prostrated himself in reconciliation.

"P-please forgive this humble servant, my master. I only wished to defend you from this, vile she-beast of the hidden hollow." The imp's words were laced with spite and disgust. With a quick turn, he spun up into the air to face dewdrop again. "The master doesn't need you twitter-twatter-twerping around while he meditates, so scram!"

With a small sigh, Erebus ignored the imp and left it to do as it pleased.

[Stein]

Dewdrop turned and addressed Horo’s question excitedly “Oh, I was playing tag and I found Ereebus sitting here, he reminds me of Veronica. And I found the twinsies too!” She said pointing at Taighler and Taylour who were still sitting together before tuning and refocusing on Erebus as A-ky-el appeared

"A-ky-el!” She said glowing a slight orange color in disgust at him, she knew him; he was to root of most of the problems around the hollow she had to fix. She covered her mouth and giggled a little, sounding like a tiny bell as he bowed to Erebus and apologized profusely, “Are you actually afraid that I could hurt Ereebus? That’s funny”

She started glowing an orange color now as he insulted her your forward voice, now, is to speak well of thy master; while your backward voice is to utter foul speeches and to detract.” She smiled sweetly “I see you’re still out about though. What, hast thou not find a cavern dark enough to mask thy monstrous visage you Viscous mole of nature you!” (Dewdrop's only 6 inches tall)

The twins continued to ignore the girls, they had never actually met Horo before, but it wasn’t hard to guess this Analupis girl was her; and with her keen 6th sense she may have guessed their nature and chosen to stay away.

(almost-quotes from “The Tempest” and “Hamlet”)

[Horo]

Horo looked at Dewdrop with a tilted head. Horo had no clue who Erebus, Veronica or these twins were. She was about to step forward and confront the five when Mikoto took her shoulder. ”Horo, take my advice and stay away from Erebus. He is a dangerous man.” Horo gave Mikoto a confused look but decided that she was probably right.

Horo jumped away and began towards Erebus and friends. She called back to Mikoto “Dewdrop is one of my friends! If he is that dangerous I can’t leave her alone with him!” Mikoto shook her head and turned away from the crowd of people, Kari was waiting for her to return.

Horo reached the crowd and looked at the twins. She felt the area with her pulse ability and noted that there was a linking for between them, but she didn’t bother to figure out its full form since her eyes couldn’t see it. She approached the imp and gave it a quick sniff. ”You smell like skunk. You should bathe.” Horo gave Dewdrop a high five then a stern look. “Don’t even try for the tail.”

Horo’s attention turned to the others, it was time to introduce herself. ”My name is Horo Whitetail. I’m a first year and future leader of the world. Nice to meet all of you.”

[Johnathan]

The imp turned to Horo, crossing its arms and smiling proudly. "Yes, my odiferous allure can be too much for most women to handle. Not that I'd expect an inbred, halfling wolf to understand my subtle nefarious charm." Floating off at Dewdrop, he stopped so he was slightly above her glaring down. "What more, a muling spittoon of the sun's fowlest excrement couldn't possibly hope to compare to one as regal as myself." As he spoke down to the fairy, A-ky-el poked at her with one of his pointy fingers, before collecting up a ball of her fairy magic in his hand and spitting into it as if to punctuate his statement. As a result, the swirling bit of magic was corrupted to an unhealthy blackish grey. Holding it over her head with a leer, he let it go to drop down towards her.

Erebus simply continued to ignore the exchange, continuing in his own important meditation.

[Stein]

Dewdrop didn’t look concerned with Horo’s tail at the moment, she was busy glaring at A-ky-el. “Regal? Not even a worm would wish to be in your presence. You are nothing but an asses ass!” Dewdrop said as she moved out of the path of the corrupted dust he’d tried to drop on her, glowing red as she continued glaring at him “People come to this forest to relax and play, not to be horrified by the ghastly sight of your face. Please leave.”

“We’re Taighlour. Pleasure to meet you as well, leader of the world is a pretty ambitious goal for a shorty like you.” Was the twins response to Horo, they were teasing her to see what would happen.

“A-ky-el!” the twins said as Taylour grabbed the imp around his waist and arms, pinning him for a while “Do you remember us? Or have you gone senile already” They teased. Taylour was a demon and recognized the little imp, and the imp would probably remember Taighler, the only angel known to be chained to a demon

[Horo]

"Inbred... Breed... Wolf..."

Horo's anger was palpable as she clenched her fist in ambiance and rage at the little bug that floated before her. She allowed herself to revert back into her bestial form and began to growl at the bug.

"you know nothing of fine smells or true perfection of the female body. I should tear you lump from limb" Horo regained her senses and transformed back to normal. But I'll forgive you because i possess mercy."

Ignoring anything else the imp said, Horo transferred her attention to the twins. "I'm not just short, adorable sexy and I'm fun sized! My charisma will make up for rest."

Horo looked the two over with a smile. "if you need a leader, I'm available."

[Johnathan]

"Ah," the imp started with an expression as though he had a bad taste in his mouth. "You two. You haven't been caught yet?" He regarded them with an expression that wasn't quite unfriendly but easily could be taken as such. "Word in the pits is some Arch Demon purist has a pretty price on your heads. One of them spirit hunter bounty hunters took up the job." He studied the two with a speculative and slightly worried look. "Your current state might not be enough to match her, but you'll probably be safe enough in this academy place. The gods only know it was hard enough for me to-"

"A-ky-el." Erebus interrupted the little imp, rising to his feet in a fluid spinning motion. The imp jumped at the sound of his name and popped out of the twin's hands in a cloud of black smoke, reappearing over Erebus' left shoulder.

"Y-yes, m-my lord?" The imp winced, thinking back over his conversation trying to decide if he had said something that would inspire his master's rage.

"Prepare the next set." The shadows began to flicker beneath the master of Oblivion, like a fire dancing just out of sight. Rising into the material world, they whisped and swirled around him, creating a smokey black cloak. Walking forwards, Erebus stepped off the boulder and landed softly on the ground, ignoring the growing crowd as he made his way down into the center of the crater. A-ky-el turned back to the twins.

"We can discuss this after. The master is in the middle of personal training. You might wish to leave the crater." He then turned to Dewdrop with a suggestive leer. "Nasty flity fairies on the other hand should make their way to the center of the crater, where their demise is most certainly guaranteed."

[Stein]

“Isn’t that where you should be then?” Dewdrop said to the impertinent imp. She them made a gesture that meant something very rude in fairy and flitted off towards the main academy grounds.

“We will let you know if we are in need of a leader, but currently I could follow no one but my brother.” The twins said falling into each other’s arms dramatically. They separated again and spoke to A-ky-el “We’re being hunted again, that’s great, but which demon-purist is after us this time?” The twins looked at eachother “I bet its Xezbeth, and he probably sent Rusalka after us.”

The twins watched A-ky-el disappear and reappear listening to Erebus, grinning when he returned to warn them “Mind if we watch you’re practice from the edge of the pit, or will we still be in danger there?” The twins didn’t want to be in danger, but they were curious to see what Erebus could do.

[Horo]

The little imp had the nerve to insult her and then ignore her retaliation, setting her fur back on edge. IT took all of Horo’s self control to keep a grip on her human form, the desire to revert to bestial growing in her stomach once again. She scoffed and turned away, the imp would be the death of her if she let him have his fun. A quick hop and she was off towards the crater’s edge, Erebus’ attack wasn’t something Horo was going to try. She looked back and thought,

The twins have no need for a leader, and I’ve been doing so research into the powerful people of the Worlds... Something tells me I’ll find something about this Erebus guy soon.. Not to mention that sword girl said there was bad energy here... I think I should leave

Horo gave the disappointed stare ”So then, you won’t accept my offer... Pitty.” Horo began to walk away from the crater and laughed ”Dew, it seems like you can handle yourself. I’ll see you later.”

[Johnathan]

Without turning to face them, Erebus called a reply to the twins. "It matters not; do as you wish." Vanishing so quickly that the air collapsed on the vacuum left in his wake with a crack, Erebus appeared instantly in the center of the crater. A-ky-el hovered overhead and his face twisted into an expression of exertion as he shook slightly.

"Here. It. Comes." He groaned out. In several hundred bursts of darkness, a myriad of dark creatures appeared over the face of the crater. "Try this on for size master!" The imp declared proudly. "Get him!" All at once, the creatures charged down the conal slope at their target in the center.

In a fluid and graceful motion, Erebus drew his blade, the tip tracing a perfect arc through the air. Composed of the deepest blackness of Oblivion itself, the blade thrummed with overwhelming power in the hands of the only being capable of wielding it. The arc continued until it's tip just barely rested on the ground to Erebus' right.

"Crescent of the Waning Moon:" An incredible shockwave thundered out in a circle from the singular point where the blade met ground. It's force was far greater than any natural phenomena of nature could hope to equal, and it's edge was so fine, it sheared through anything in it's path as easily as the blade from which it came forth. In a moment, it had passed through all of the creatures A-ky-el summoned, destroying them without protest. The deadly wave continued, and was about to breach the lip of the crater when in a motion of expert control befitting a blade master, Erebus flicked his sword up and the strike broke. It's lethal edge dispersed rapidly, so that when it reached the onlookers, the attack was nothing more than a gust of wind. "Ripple on the Water"

Re-sheathing his blade in an easy motion, Erebus turned to the imp. "Come A-ky-el, do not hold back. My control is absolute. The void will not taint this world, I will not allow it." The imp gave a courtly bow in mid air.

"As you wish, my Master." With none of the strain he had expressed before, the imp simply raised a taloned claw to the sky. "Come forth, denizens of the endless abyss. Heed the call of the Magister of Filth. Your God demands your sacrifice." For a beat of the heart, all was still. In the very next, in the course of the blink of an eye, the sky vanished behind the form of millions of creatures, never meant to exist on this plane. Erebus observed the horde and the line of his lip twisted into a smile.

"Good." He declared as the space around him blackened. A cloak of the purest darkness enveloped his form and spread behind him, fanning around him like massive wings befitting a fallen angel. When he spoke, his voice carried the twist and infinite weight of a creature from the deepest fathoms of the abyss. "This is the test I needed."

As his right arm began to raise, the very fabric of the mortal plane warped with the power it carried. Erebus was the master of Oblivion. Just beneath his surface, beneath the very fabric of his mortal shell, lay the infinite, black void. That which consumes all, envelops all, and to which all will one day return: this force had one master. There were many who borrowed it's infinite might, many who traded the very essence of their beings in order to manipulate a piece of the void in the way humans try to manipulate water with nothing but their hands. Those who sought control of a force beyond their comprehension, were inevitably consumed by it, and someday, the thing that is Oblivion would consume the entire expanse of creation down to the last demon and god. However, there was one that the void could never consume. He who became the void itself. He who sunk to the lowest plane beneath existence and claimed the throne in the palace of the Black God. He, is Master of that which defies creation, and defy it he shall.

From Erebus' hand, an infinitely branching bolt of black lightning struck into the sky, and in its wake there was nothing but blackness. The presence of such pure void energy greedily drained the region of all light energy, plunging the forest into absolute darkness. For the breadth of five seconds, the void consumed all in it's presence, and then it was commanded to recede. By the force of will of the only entity it could not disobey, the void drained from the world through the same gate from which it arrived. Erebus called all of it back into himself, restoring balance to the mortal plane down to the subatomic level. In it's wake, the sky was clear, not a single creature to be seen. Even A-ky-el had vanished, recalled to the place from whence he came.

Satisfied, Erebus released a deep, controlled breath. In a flicker of movement, he seemed to cross the distance from the pit of the crater to the large boulder he had been seated on mere minutes before in a single step. In silence, he knelt down and began to focus his essence, rebuilding the chains that bound him as slowly as they had been dispersed.

After such a massive display of power, this test on the effects of absolute control on his body would be absolute.

[Stein]

The twins nodded and took a seat on the edge of the boulder near the edge of the crater and watched quietly; They’d heard enough stories or Erebus’s power to fill a novel series, but had never witnessed his power themselves. If someone were to see them now they’d think the twins were statues build on the rock. They smiled as the gust of wind from his blade hit them, and Erebus told the imp to try harder. The crater smelled faintly of void energy, which was a rare smell to come across these days. The twins looked entirely unfazed as the sky blackened with creatures and descended on Erebus, but as Erebus preformed his next move Taighler mover in front of Taylour to block him; they’d both realized at about the same time that if Erebus was destroying demons that one of his power tendrils might target Taylour, who was a demon after all.

They didn’t even blink as Erebus sighed and ‘teleported’ to the boulder again, they were used to things appearing out of nowhere. They sat quietly and watched as Erebus reassembled his chain slowly; When he was finished they unconsciously held each other’s hands again and asked “You practice destroying demons correct? What has stopped you from destroying Taylour/Me?” They asked pointing at the demonic twin. They were very curious now; did the fact that he was chained to an angel grant him immunity of some kind?


(Usually they say everything in unison but,words with slashes mean they’re spoken at the same time by the twins. One says one word; the other one says a different word)

[Johnathan]

(It would take him two hours to re-assemble the chains completely since he's doing it slowly.)

Erebus eyed the twins calmly. Beings of immeasurable years, blessed with the curse of reincarnation, loosing a piece of themselves upon every cycle. It may not have been an exact approximation, but it was close enough to the truth. Their story was almost poetic in a way.

"Just as there are many types of humans, there are many types of demons, hailing from as many plains and dominions as there are planets with life. The entirety of Oblivion is my dominion, including it's lesser layers such as the phase and shadow. The eldritch abominations I conjure forth and do away with on a whim are born from nothingness, and to nothingness I send them again." Erebus paused before closing his eyes once more. "In short, you are not spawn from my dominion."