[CRP] Fragments of the Phoenix

[TheStoryTeller]

The Chambers

The chamber was covered in obsidian, dark elegantly craved pillars held the glass ceiling above them which it itself had what Jenova thought to be magic floating in it. The room wasn't lit by any kind of torch, she found it confusing and strange that the light seemed to be everywhere and yet have no source. At the far end of the chamber stood a circlur metallic frame of a doorway, it had no door and Jenova could see through it and see were the chamber ended. Next to it was a circular pedsetal with various symbols, most of which Jenova recognized from previous temples and shrines she'd visted.

"What were those things Jenova ?" he asked, as he sheathed his silver sword. There was little in the chamber, it was filled with a few old trinkets and rusted weapons. A tribute to whoever had survived the trails in the past she thought.

"Kelonian Crystalites." she quietly repeated, her sense of confidence wavering at the thought. "Only one was made by our creator yet it was found to be ...too ruthless and destructive...so then she made Novajen..another failed experiment as that one lacked a fundamental flaw." she shook her head. "Crystalites are a by product of the Kelron using the blood crystal...once their souls were shattered these ...creatures were born from the hatred and used local structures to create more...they follow their pack leader...of which I guess is attracted to the scent of their Queen...my mother...Karcier's Goddess...she has many names...yet her goals have always been the same."

"How did they get through the ceiling, I thought this place was made to last."

"Their made of the same material and drawn to it like moths to a light. They become part of the material again and slide through it...the only reason their so focused right now is because of the scent." she took a few steps forward and felt her hand be gripped and held back. She turned to see him holding her arm, a questionable look on his face.

"What do you plan to do ?"

"I don't know...anymore..."

Then the symbols on the pedestal began to light up, each flickering on and off as each symbol on the doorway turned on. Once all the symbols were activated the once empty doorway burst with an ocean like wave and fell back into the ocean which was held by the metallic doorway. Jenova felt a wave of dizzyness hit her, magic she thought.

The Phoenix Lady ((ignore the gameplay its only one i could find which had the song))

Then a lone figure stepped out of the ocean, Jenova's eyes widened and she felt Reavers had slowly letting go. To the naked eye she would of seemed like an ordinary human, she clicked her neck then fingers and stretched out her arms letting out a soft laugh. Her long blood red hair burst into flames as her entire body was consumed by fire and then died down leaving her anew.



"Tis such bliss to feel thy blood." her hair was a blood fell past her shoulders, her face showing a distinct pleased look as she eyed Jenova. "Thy child hath returned yet I feel you are not alone...there are more of my children soon to join me in our reunion...." she grinned widely, it sent shivers down Jenova's back and it must've shown when she backed into the witcher as her grin faded, replaced by narrowed questioning eyes.

"Do you fear me child ?" she asked, her voice sounding almost godlike. Jenova wanted to cower behind him but she had to stand up to her mother, she had to be free. "Why hence have you come forth...fulfilling these trails and waking up my being."

"I came...I came to be free !"

From behind them she heard the doors open, a hiss following and dying down as the doors sealed again. The Phoenix lady looked past Jenova, smiling softly.

"Ah, another of my children have come forth....you I remember...your fathers of generations ago sealed me...and you so kindly freed my being...isn't that so Karcier Aisu ?" she laughed. Jenova turned hissing at Karcier she was about to lash out at him, her instincts kicking in she had one desire but to be the only one who held her mothers attention but she soon backed down as she realized how foolish it would be, Karcier however kept his rapier up and aimed at her as he walked closer. She spotted another being, the little boy she kept her eyes on him then turned back to the Phoenix lady.

"Mother...please..."

"Enough, I am not your mother child !" she shouted. "I am your master and creator, you will obey as all hath done for thousands of years. I am her shadow, I am a fragment of the Phoenix Etaine, Fallen Mage." She smiled at the confusion on their faces.

"What do you mean you are a fragment...arn't you Etaine ?" Karcier asked.

The phoenix lady laughed "I am and I am not. I am her will, her power and desires. Do you not see ?" she asked. "Do you not see that I like all of you am a fragment of her being...a piece of the puzzle left behind to fulfill her desire. I pity you both...you have lost you way...one of you is a memory of the former self...and the other...tainted by individuality ...come if you dare...I shall show you" she said slowly stepping back into the portal "Come face your past, present and ...our future."

She was gone, Jenova looked at Reaver then the other two. It might of been instinct or prehaps her desire to know her own past that drove her to sprinting with all her strength and jumping into the portal. Karcier roared in anger and followed suit, the Witcher stepped in and stopped him with the point of his steel longsword. "Leave her be, she'll do what is right and destroy it. You on the other hand I don't trust you'll do that...I'll kill you if I have to."

"That was a mistake, Witcher"

[Silence]

((This post is going to come in a few parts.))

Youken cocked his head to one side before running. Something about that pounding on the door felt... familiar. Listening more carefully, it wasn't just one repetitive impact on the other side of the door, rather, it was... several impacts, so many at once that they all sounded like one unless you listened very carefully and had a few thousand creatures helping you distinguish each one.

Youken turned, and ran. Realistically, he could make himself far faster by absorbing the resistive forces of the air and the ground acting against his motion... but then he'd easily outrun Karcier. Hell, after thirty seconds accelerating like that, he would already be runnin twice the speed of a horse. Another few seconds and he'd basically be a blur, and he knew for a fact he could move faster than the human eye could follow. However, any faster, he had never tried, and today would not be the time to try it. He wasn't just going to leave Karcier behind, so instead, he just made sure that he was slightly ahead... that was, until he heard something ahead of him and stopped on the spot, not even taking a few steps or a slide to do so, just stopped instantly.

"We've caught up." He whispered to Karcier, then let the Celerian man take the lead.

He had intended to stay hidden and let Karcier take their attention, but Jenova, of course, had noticed him... had Reaver?

He was currently the color of obsidian and crouched below one of the pillars, only watching what went on on the other side with a few beetles that he had placed on the floor.

From this position however, he was powerless to do anything as Jenova jumped through a portal. He had expected the witcher to do something once he realised that it was a bloody weapon behind those doors, so had trusted the guarding of the gate for a few seconds to him in order to stay out of range and think up a plan.

The moment Jenova jumped through the portal, he stopped thinking up a plan, and instead made one on the spot. This one would only limit damage, but within the blink of an eye, he had weighed up the relative probabilities of success of each plan and discarded all the others. This one had the highest chance of success.

Reaching into his cloak, he considered using Flicker, but he wanted to use that weapon in some duels before he tried it, so instead, he removed two pre-poisoned daggers, a table leg, and a few vials of some sort of substance. He then spun to the left, stepping out from behind the pillar and sending both daggers flying towards the witcher. As he did so, he drew two more also poisoned blades from his side.

The aim hadn't been to hit the witcher, instead, the attack from somebody that he (hopefully) hadn't seen would be reacted to with reflex rather than thought, and Youken had dueled him enough to know how the man's reflexes worked. The daggers had been thrown in such a way that the Reaver he had known would reflexively step to his right when avoiding them... and that would leave Karcier an opening to get at that portal.

"Get going!"

The changeling would have thrown in a snarky comment, but this was hardly the time. Instead, he moved to intercept Reaver, throwing a few more blades aimed to separate the witcher and Karcier. Yes, a knight would raise his shield and walk through the hail of poisoned weapons, but Reaver was not a knight... he didn't let attacks hit him, those were the reflexes which had been drilled into him over all those years.

Sadly, the entire plan rested upon the hope that he could stop Reaver from stopping Karcier, and that relied on the fact that he hadn't changed too much in the time since they had last dueled and that the changeling remembered his responses correctly. All that he could do to guarantee that was offer up a silent prayer to whichever mage happened to be watching.

Either a mage was watching, or else luck was on his side, or that was what it seemed like for a fragile few seconds. Reaver stepped out of Karcier's way and the Kelron took the chance to dive through the portal and... oh hell. It closed after the kelron. Right, that complicated his plans... the idea had been to let Karcier and Jenova wear each other down, let the bug things which he'd figured out had been following them in to help with that, and then go in himself after dealing with Reaver and have an easier fight ahead of him. If that weapon was on the other side of that portal like he thought it was, then nobody should have access to it.

But the portal had closed. That meant that Reaver couldn't get in the way now, but it also meant that he had to find another way to influence things.

"Ah hell, there I go, sticking my hand where it's gonna get burned again."

"So... hi again Reaver... how've yeh been old cat eyes? There's a LOT of stuff I wanna ask you by the way, but I don't think this is the time. Say... since they've both gone somewhere where we can't do anythin about it, don't suppose yeh'd be willin teh put down the sword and work this out normally would yeh?"

Youken smiled thinly, then stepped forward to meet his master. Realistically, he knew that that wasn't an option. From this moment, the two of them would be aiming to get to where the two had just gone, and the key to that would be those bugs. They were drawn to Eteine's power as well, so they would probably have a way of getting through themselves... unfortunately, they'd hardly let him get through as well, and he didn't want to have to deal with the witcher at the same time. Why was this sort of stuff never easy and simple?

Ok, Reaver feared fire, he remembered that much. That had been the point of the table leg and the vials. The moment Reaver was actually fighting him and not jumping through the portal to catch the other two, he would ignite that table leg using the unstable compounds within those vials. That would give him a slight edge. He could also use them as thrown projectiles which would create small balls of fire upon impact. The psychological effect would hopefully keep Reaver acting by instinct instead of thinking properly. So long as he was thinking only with his instincts and reflexes, Youken could predict his motions. After all, Reaver's reflexes couldn't have changed that much. So long as he could predict his actions, he could fight them, even if the witcher was stronger and faster than he was.

He also had a few other tricks up his sleeve. Firstly, if he got one hit, even a nick, his blades were poisoned, meaning that if he could get that one hit, he could win this battle just by lasting it out... of course, he didn't have that time, but it was a thought. Reaver, knowing the witcher, would treat the burning branch as a greater threat than the 'butter knife'.

Then, he could just remove the force of gravity from himself and move up to the ceiling. From there, he could use ranged attacks like hurled vials and daggers to fight the witcher, while Reaver was less competent at ranged combat than up close. That meant that the changeling, who was equally skilled (and compared to most, he was, but here, he was almost certainly outmatched) at both would be able to gain a slight advantage.

The witcher would probably use some of his weird runes and stuff, but they were just forces, and he could neutralise forces by just absorbing them into himself. Indeed, he could take the force contained within a sword strike into himself and have it stop against his skin simply because the force of his skin against it would be great enough to make it stop. However, there was a down side to mucking around with force. He could only take so much before holding force inside him started to muck around with his internal structure. That meant that he couldn't keep up a battle where he made all of the witcher's attacks ineffective for very long. But if he said the right things, he could trick the witcher into believing that he'd found ways to counter his attacks entirely and so force him to seek less familiar ways of fighting. If they were less familiar, they would be less effective.

Then he had the fact that he was a changeling, wielding a fragment of Damonica. He wasn't perfect at using it yet, but he could utilise his hive mindd like nature. Sword swings would pass almost harmlessly through him, he'd discard the beetles harmed by the swing, then remake his form. The process was so quick with Munay that it was almost instant, and the first time would allow him to get off an attack if the witcher wasn't expecting him to just move through his swing. It would come from an unexpected angle.

If push came to shove, he could just try and swarm the witcher or make weapons out of his own body.

Ultimately, the point of this battle was not to best the witcher in man to man combat, but instead to just beat him somehow. Youken knew he had no chance in a fair fight, so he'd have to fight dirty. He could win this battle in a few different ways, but he knew the witcher, and that meant that a psychological victory was by far the easiest. Ideally, he'd be able to weaken Reaver a bit, send in the right messages, then have the bugs appear and be able to pit Reaver against them, then somehow get them to lead him to where he needed to be... damn, this was all going to hell real quick.

((Just giving you an idea of most of what Youken plans to do. Feel free to godmod his actions as you feel fit.))

[Reaver_Silverstone]

The Witcher
It wasn't instinct nor was it experience, simply habit. The sound of the blades as they sliced through the air and the distinct sound they made as they left the users hands, he turned on his heels his steel longsword dancing alongside him as if it weigh nothing. He used his free hand to cast a sign 'Yerden' on the floor which slowed the blades within seconds of him, he was quick to tap them aside.

"Alder..." he said quietly with the same emotionless voice. Reaver knew Karcier had already gone and followed, he felt his medallion shake as the portal sealed shut. "Well done." he said with some effort to make it sound sarcastic. He raised his blade as a few more daggers were thrown at him, this time Reaver didn't move out of the way he simply cast 'Aard' and sent a wave of force against the daggers which went flying back to their owner.

"Ah hell, there I go, sticking my hand where it's gonna get burned again."

"So... hi again Reaver... how've yeh been old cat eyes? There's a LOT of stuff I wanna ask you by the way, but I don't think this is the time. Say... since they've both gone somewhere where we can't do anythin about it, don't suppose yeh'd be willin teh put down the sword and work this out normally would yeh?"

The doors which held those creatures began to crumble under the pressure of their claws, Reaver cast a quick glance then focused on Alder again. "You'd turn your back on the murderous creatures bent on killing only talk to me, you've gotten sloppy." he said. Reaver sheathed his steel longsword and took out the silver one instead, the one made to kill monsters then he cast a sign onto the blade a trick he'd learnt. 'Aisu' he muttered as the blade took on a frost like apperance, he swung it a few times and heard the 'zing' noise it made as the ice followed the blade. He wasn't sure on Alder however, could he trust his old apprentice ?

The creatures claws dug through the thick doors and then began to stumble through slowly amassing infront of them, Reaver didn't have time to 'trust' Alder. Either he died here and now or tried to fight and he doubted Alder would argue right now. "You can ask your questions as we fight." he said bluntly. "I have my own for you, why are you helping a man driven by desperation."

Another Monster

Then he charged, he'd fight through chamber after chamber or die trying but he would never die without a fight. Four of the creatures began to zig zag their way towards reaver. He cast Quen which took effect on him seconds after he cast it, lightening sourrounded him and such would last for thirty seconds unless an enemy attacked him in which case it would redirect the attack back to them he'd need this in a fight against numbesr even his own reflexes wouldn't be enough.

He jumped and circled around the first creature slashing down as he saw the second one, his blade cut through with ease and as he landed he rolled forwards and torn down the third creature. By then the first and last one came charging in as he recovered from his roll, he stood up ignoring the one behind him and focused on the one infront. He threw a bomb in its face and cast Aard at it, the bomb and aard pushed the creature into another group and the bomb blew up leaving a mist of green goo, which quickly disolved the creatures into nothing but soggy left overs.

His Quen reacted and he saw a claw fly past him, detached from its bodies arm. He quickly turned to dispatch the first creature which had no more claws. With that done he cast Quen again and ran into the next room. "We fight our way through or die here Alder."

[Silence]

They came through the doors about two minutes quicker than Alder had anticipated. Ok, he could work with that. The moment they did, his mind went into a state of hyperactivity, the world all but stopped and he glanced around it, taking in everything. Having 360 degrees of vision meant that he could see them even though they were behind him.

Their formation was currently that of a spearhead, focussing the majority of their attacks on one point to break through the door. If they were anything like him, within the next second, they would separate, surround their prey, then close in as a single unit. That was his standard approach when split and when he knew nothing about his enemy.

Ok, now, the question was, were they a collective consciousness or a single one of them controlling the others? They clearly weren't individuals or they wouldn't be organised enough to all hit the door at once... only creatures linked somehow could move that in sync with each other.

Well, there was an easy way to see which was the case. Rather than go in, Youken started towards the fight, then withdrew the moment the witcher engaged. Now, there would be one which they protected if it was a single entity making all the decisions, even if they masked it, one of the entities would be in slightly less danger at all times than the others... there.

A few of the bug like creatures converged on him and Youken just grinned, then split apart, his beetles using each other as climbing frames then as spring boards to send two beetles flying towards each of these crystal bugs. After all, he outnumbered them, but his avatars were almost certainly weaker, so he had to match them two to one and stay away from the main hive until he knew how to approach it.

About half of the bugs coming were downed by his minions. The others were fast enough to shake off the beetles, or evaded them, or else killed the creatures flying at them before they themselves were taken down. Youken allowed them to move in to attack him, then pulled them into the hive, where they had the probably novel experience of fighting hundreds of creatures smaller than themselves. Youken was very much used to being the thing around with the largest number of creatures on his side, but each being smaller than the enemy... so probably were these bugs, yet Youken's beetles were smaller, so in this case, he was the swarm.

The bugs weren't sure how to deal with the fight for a few vital seconds, and that was all the beetles needed to crush them.

All the while, Youken's mind was analysing the battle.

The witcher was claiming that it was a matter of fight their way out or die... neither was an option he much liked. These creatures too were drawn to whatever was behind those doors. That meant that they probably had a way through.

While Karcier and Jenova weakened each other, he needed to find a way through to them. If they both weakened each other, he'd have a chance to fight whichever one of them won if he didn't get too badly injured here. So, he needed to force these creatures to bring him with him... and he reckoned that he could strike up a deal... but this would all be for nothing if the witcher was supporting one of the two sides and so fought against him if it happened to be Jenova standing once he made it through.

He didn't intend to let either of them get their hands on that thing, but he'd needed Karcier to get this far... and if he had to choose, he'd rather Karcier had what he suspected was that weapon Karcier had been babbling about than Jenova getting her hands on it.

By the time the bug things were broken down by his hive, he had a plan.

It had still not even been four seconds since the bugs had burst through the door. Youken moved around to the left slightly, drawing a dagger and throwing it at the one he thought was the leader. He wasn't intending to kill it, just let it know that he knew which one it was and confirm his suspicion. The way the hive moved to cover it from him as he moved, never giving him a clear line, and then the way that one of the bugs took the hit for that one told him all he needed to know.

Ok, that was sorted, now, what had the witcher said?

"Why are you helping a man driven by desperation."

Oh yeah.

"The better question is, which is better? The man who's proved teh me time and time again that he's got some sense of common sense more than most people in this damned world, or-"

Seven of the creatures flew at him and then found themselves passing through empty space as Youken created holes in his form where they were aiming for. At first, they were aiming for the changeling, then they were in empty space, then they were impaled by the spikes that Youken created in the space that he had been moments before.

Wait, was one of them still-

Youkenn doubled over and coughed up some blood as the one bug still alive started to wreck the inside of his body. His beetles destroyed it soon enough, but the sudden pain served as a reminder that these creatures were a very real threat and not to let himself get distracted.

For that reason, he dived and rolled out of the way of the next ten, calculating from their different angles which way he'd need to move to avoid them. If he had been human, this tactic would have been suicide. He'd just let ten of them get behind him, effectively meaning that he now had to fight them from two angles. However, again, he was a hive mind. Coming at him from multiple angles at once wouldn't mean much to him. He could react to things coming from all around him just as effectively as he could deal with things in front of him.

Three thrown daggers took out five of the creatures which had gotten behind him as he found his feet again, then bounced off of the wall to avoid another few, two of which hit their heads against the wall as they missed him. Hell, forcing these things to let him through might be more difficult than he had thought. Hmm, so long as he could grab that important one, he could fight his way out, then work a way back in once he didn't have his back to a wall. It was more time consuming, and time was hardly on his side, but what could he do? Somehow, he had to survive if he was going to get the rest done.

"or the creature who spent a long time killin off the people of Widu who wouldn't be missed... I don't think either of em's a monster, but-"

If he was going to fight these things, he was going to have to do better than just evade them and take them out one at a time or else they'd just surround him. He continued to weave between them and eliminate them as he continued.

"but there ain't no way I trust Jenova teh get whatever power is behind those doors. She's even more driven by desperation than he is... but the plan was teh stop em both until you let one of em slip away... now I'm improvisin and the only way I could think of teh stop the two of em short of killin em both was teh let em stall each other while I use these things teh get back there... after all, they're drawn teh that thing too. Now, if yeh'd give me a sec, I need teh do somethin that is gonna seem really stupid in hindsight."

Youken took a vial from one of his pockets, crushed it, then stuffed it into his chest, which opened to accept the crushed glass and the unstable compound inside of it and then closed around his fist. Youken made a few very hasty calculations, then released the force that he was currently suppressing, instantly rearranging himself so that the blast would send his beetles flying in the right directions.

After all, he was about to wage war on what amounted to an epic scale for a hive mind, and he lacked one advantage they had, so he had to find some way to compensate. They could fly, he couldn't. When he was looking at a battle between armies, that was a serious disadvantage when he had no ability to attack at range. So, he had to make up for it somehow before splitting up and taking them on as was his best option currently. Taking them on individually wouldn't work... he was going to find out which creature had the better army, and that meant that he needed to give himself as much of an advantage as he could... so long as the beetles landed on the crystal bugs, he could drop a fair few of them before reforming, and his only area of magical ability was force. He could damn well channel an explosion so that it did minimal damage to him... hopefully.

Well, it was a bit late for second thoughts now. The compound exploded and sent beetles flying in all directions.

They had their orders, land on the enemy, bring them down. The elite squad chosen to go after the one which was the leader was to bring it in alive to the rest of the hive. They were to reform at the earliest opportunity as soon as any bug they landed on was brought down.

As the hive's consciousness was split, the few beetles which had been granted sentience by Alexise found themselves asking one question.

'Is he planning this all out, or just making it up as he goes along?'

That was the last thing they asked themselves before they descended upon the enemy and the beetles, each strong enough to lift stones ten or twenty times their size due to the intensive training they had gotten from the hive's attempts to absorb more and more force each day, went to war.

[Reaver_Silverstone]

Reaver spat to the side as he dodged and cut through another wave of them, he could feel the sweat building on his forehead as he slashed effortlessly through another group. He'd never had to deal with such a large amount before and even with his skills and decades of experience he could feel it taking its toll. "She is different Alder, she's not like those skeleton creatures we fought. This one...she's almost has her freedom, she feels emotions and has learnt so much. Novajen is the one that caused so much trouble and her earlier off springs, do you know what Jenova said ? There's hundreds of them, weak and scattered and only she was strong enough to seek this trail out...to seek her freedom from the Reunion." he cursed as one slashed at him, its claws caught in his chainmail and left scratch marks on his thick leather armour, he cast Aard and saw the creature crash into others.

"Your a fool if you trust Karcier or thought you could stop anything by yourself. Karcier is a man that has schemed ever since Spirus fell, he has fought,built and played little show so well that even he believes it but it doesn't change who and what he is. He is desperate but also smart one. " he ducked and uppercut one creature, then punched another to stagger it and followed through with a sword across its face. "That portal is sealed and I'm no fool to stay here and fight endless hordes..." he said as he cast Ignii all around him, the creatures backed away and Reaver himself began to feel some measure of fear but he quickly cast it aside. No minor fear of fire would overwhelm the possibility of death. "You have failed." he said as he took a rune from his pocket. "Time to leave." he said as he cast Aard at the damaged magic conduit, a blast rippled through the room making the sstone above them begin to rumble and dirt falling down, pillars began to seperate from the wall slowly shaking. The rune activated and a small portal appeared infront of him. "Jump in or stay here with those things.." he said as the Witcher dropped the rune and jumped through.

(assuming Alder follows)

Little did he notice that the leader and two of its spawns followed him through...

[TheStoryTeller]

Memories live on

Blink, slow and unsteady. His breathing became noticeable alongside a mellow hum around him then pyrefly drifting in any direction. He took his first steps only to find himself on what seemed to by a crystal path, far ahead was a bright light. He shook his head, it hurt so much what is my name again ? He looked either side, the path only went straight he saw only darkness on either side of the crystal road then pyreflies flew to each side, they twirled and danced until they formed an image.

Thats my home, he thought. Tall crystal castles and unending water ways circling around the city and builds that resembled like obsidian. No this isn't right, there are mistakes here this isn't my home. Its...

"Its a dream." her voice was soft almost holding some pity. "This is a memory...but it is corrupt..unpurified and thus has many mistakes." there is a pause as he looks above him. No the voice was coming from the light, the end of the path. He slowly staggered forwards, why was he walking so slowly ? "Do you remember what you are ?" another pause as he looks down, he has no feet ..no body he is a pyrefly just like the rest. "Karcier...you are a vessel...an empty memory. That is why you refuse to die, you have a destiny to uphold ...a single path to take."

As he walked further along the path his body slowly began to take form, pyreflies attached themselves leaving him faded at first but eventually taking shape into the Karcier he was now. "I ..am Karcier..Cei'ra of the Fallen Kelron Kingdom...you are...you...are" he remembered it now. "Etaine..."

"Am I now ?" the voice asked. "Are you sure of yourself empty vessel ?"

He reached the end of the path, the light was so blindly he had to cover his eyes. When he uncovered them he was at the top of a crystal palace, a throne was just below a floating blood crystal. The room itself was a memory, if he walked to either side he'd only meet a fall into endless darkness. The obisdian bricks ended unevenly. He focused at the throne again, a figure sat upon it her legs crossed as she sat back observing him.

"Welcome to ...Memories end." she smiled faintly and looked down at a body of a young women then Karcier noticed who it was and Etaine saw his reaction with only a smile. "Ah yes...this child is tainted...unworthy of becoming Etaines Vessel. But you." her eyes fixed on Karcier "You are still salvageable..."

"What on earth do you mean empty vessel...taint...arn't you Etaine ?!"

She laughed softly, "Oh you poor child, you truly are an empty memory. Fine, a few more minutes will not be my undoing...I shall indulge you and then you will become my vessel." she paused and leaned forwards, her hair tangled in some places. "I am a vessel..for decades I have carried a fragment of her power...I have created so much in her name and yet failed in most accounts...you however...are a success. You see...I am a vessel...like you...I am linked to her..she is ...somewhere in these memories ...scattered...weak and frail...but all she created...all I created and the reunion. Was to ensure that her powers were brought to her when she so desired." she pointed to him "And you are all that remains, untainted by life...and unweakened by those pathetic mages power...you are...almost perfect..."

"But...no how could you have created me..I was born to my Father and mother...our nation is like any other" he fell to his knees as his head began to hurt, he grabbed his head in pain. "What is this pain..."

"Did you never wonder why in your history...my Kelron never met other races from the Mages world...it is because you were created by me...and her powers protected you from their pathetic vision. The pain will leave...don't you worry...all your pain will begone soon." she said as she stood from her throne and made her way down. "Its already begun...I will take your body and continue my work."

"Why ?" he managed to say through gritting teeth.

"Ah arn't you a child full of questions. Why, because my body was destroyed a long time ago...incidently by my own powers but at the same time it freed me from my prison..My spirit lived on when the blood crystal was destroyed...my body however was forever destroyed." she sighed "I cannot maintain my physical appearance too far from this world...and..." the pain suddenly disappeared, Karcier looked up and saw this Shadow Etaine being held back by ...his eyes widened. Jenova, her cloths held some blood splatter and her eyes were bright with anger. Her grip was firm on the ankle but Shadow Etaine seemed unfazed "Your still alive..."

[Silence]

One beetle descended upon its foe, the blast having sent it in a perfect arc to intercept the crystal nemesis. One moment, in its minds eye, it pictured itself, graceful, falling upon the enemy like the shadow of death. The next, it impacted with the bug and found itself grasping its wing for dear life as the two small creatures careened out of control, spiraling towards the floor as the bug found that it couldn't beat its wing properly.

Elsewhere, another one drove its mandibles into the neck of one of the crystal bugs and then leapt from it as it fell from the sky, landing on the back of another. The beetle grapped the thing's head between its forelegs and yanked it into the path of another crystal bug.A gutteral war cry echoed from between its mandibles as it drove both bugs to the floor in what amounted to a blaze of glory for something of that size.

Another looked around itself from the floor, not quite sure how it had managed to miss every single bug on its way down. Well, might as well start finding a place to reform the hive.

As Youken found himself being brought back into existence, he became aware of each and every report of the beetles who had made it back to the swarm.

There were other tales though, of beetles that had witnessed their companions plucked from the sky or bashed against rocks.

Overall though, he wasn't too upset with that result. There was just one small problem. The force sent after the leader had been eliminated before they could get to it... at least he'd created enough space around himself to-

Youken's eyes snapped open and his sense of sight returned. It didn't take a genius to analyse the scanario. Yes, he'd created space, but there was no end to these things, and even though losses had been fairly even on both sides, Youken had gone for that strategy assuming that there wouldn't be somewhere in the realms of ten thousand crystal bugs... looking at it now, that might not have been the smartest move. The number of new bugs was far higher than he'd thought it would be. After all, these things were created by Karcier's people when they'd gone and used that blood thing... there couldn't have been this many that had done that... right?

Damn, this was ridiculous, everything he'd planned out so far was just getting thrown further and further into disarray by things he couldn't have anticipated. Youken had never felt a need to fall back to regroup or make a new plan, that could be done on the battle field in the blink of an eye with the speed that his mind worked at, but he could see that he wasn't going to win this fight. Hmm, maybe... Youken's beetles gave him a full report of the area and he was at first surprised that the leader had disappeared, but maybe that meant that-

Youken turned and dived through the portal after the witcher. It meant one of three things, and if it meant option three, the witcher was going to need his help.

The moment he was through, he turned to the witcher. Yes, there were more pressing concerns right now than talking, but he had to make sure that his 'master' understood something. He spoke quickly. He didn't have time to spend ages on a philosophical discussion, but he had to get the point across, which meant he'd need to say a few unnecessary things.

All the while, he kept a few beetles watching each of the crystal bugs which he'd expected to see. He counted three, but maybe he'd missed a couple or they were waiting out of sight... but he was right, one of these ones was the leader, meaning that they were planning something... he needed to know where Reaver stood before he moved forward... so long as he kept his eyes on them, they couldn't do anything before he'd alert the witcher... which meant he could afford to talk for a moment.

"Look, whatever you were thinking, if you've got half the mind I thought yeh did, you didn't know what was in there... now I've only got guesses cause nobody has told me bloody well anythin, you wandered off without an explanation, leavin me teh sort out her wanderin around Widu killin whoever she could get rid of without anybody else noticin... Teide could only speak in riddles, and Karcier just babbled on. But from what I gather, there's a weapon in there, the kind that can wipe out civilisations... now tell me, if Jenova's got her freedom and all, what is she doin here? They're drawn here because their minds are the fallen mage's teh start with. Why would anybody come here without that urge if not teh get their hands on a weapon, the sort that nobody should be allowed teh get their hands on?"

"The other possibility is that they're bein drawn here because that fallen mage has some other plan for em, like they need a vessel or somethin... and these bug things are bein drawn here like all of her creations... so yeah, keep thinkin that Jenova's escaped the urges of the other creations... the best case scenario is that she's partially escaped and wants teh challenge the one who's drawin her here face teh face, which means that the compulsion is still too strong for her teh ignore and she shouldn't have been led here... the worst case, she's still a drone that's fooled you, just like Karcier or she's here for that weapon."

So saying, Youken reached for a dagger and found nothing... he'd used all of his knives that he had easy access to. So he instead reached into his cloak where he kept his reserve of weapons, a pocket dimension that he didn't have the magical energy to open or close, so after creating it, he had bound it to his cloak and then had left it permanently open.

"Now, please explain teh me how you didn't notice that crystal bug above yer head, which I notice is also the one which was orderin around all the others."

In the same moment, he threw three of the daggers that he had found in his pocket dimension and placed up his sleeve at one of the crystal bugs, then turned towards another one of them that wasn't the leader, flicking his wrist to send the remaining two blades into his hands.

"The important one's on yer right... five o clock... I'll keep the other two off yeh, try not teh kill that one, it's still the only way I can think of teh get that portal open again."

[TheStoryTeller]

((Will add more just added the base draft of it))
"Why do you persist in this pointless endeavour." her eyes locked with Jenova, a hint of disgust curled from her lips. "You are a failure, an exile to my experiment. Why continue with life ?" she knelt down and caressed Jenova's hair as a mother would with a daughter.

"Why do you lie about us, we your empty vessels" Jenova coughed, weakly she pushed aside Etaine's hand. "Are you that afraid of the end that you'd leech onto another vessel for survival ?"

"How dare you !" Etaine stood up and hastily kicked Jenova in the stomach, leaving a sputter of blue blood on her shoe. "I am her choosen one, I will descend from the skies basked in her love and render the world anew. Only I can bring this vision of hers, only I matter in the end and you are all my tools."

"I..I...we are tired of your words. Weak, pathetic and tragic. We know the truth, you are afraid of it. How does it feel to depend on another...oh mighty vessel ?"

Karcier raised an eyebrow. "So you are a vessel...like us.." he quietly said, Etaine ignored him and instead opened her palms covering them in fire.

"Insolent child !" she was to throw waves of fire at her when Karcier stepped in with his bare hands, gripping Etaines to prevent her from lashing down at the defenseless Jenova. It burned, he hadn't thought one bit. He'd just acted but in the end that summed him up, helping others without asking anything in return. The look of surprise on the Vessels face was intriguing, one of confusion and hatred. He looked back slightly at Jenova "So you and me are empty vessels" he asked Jenova "Care to explain ?"

Jenova struggled to her knees, clutching her wound at her stomach. "Like I except she cannot take me because of ...us...we are not a singular being like you. She requires a body to transfer Etaine's link too...but she refuses to die and would latch onto you as well...killing you so she can live."

Karcier sighed, his grip loosening on the vessel's hand. The vessel took a few steps back, unsure as to how to act. She couldn't be that powerful, karcier thought. Not the way she was acting, she would've taken what she wanted by now. "Tsk..so this vessel wants to take my body..and live in the real world...why hasn't she taken it already ?"

"Because you've regained your strength in the time I delayed her...remember the confusion when you arrived...when she talked...and now..clarity." Jenova replied. "She is degrading as her spirit lingers in this...void. Fears becoming a memory and fading away."

The vessel regained her composure, arms crossed and a sly smile on her face. "Allow me to leave and fulfill your reason for living. Only I can do her will." Karcier rolled his eyes, he could play ball.

"What happens to me ?" he asked

"No, you mustn't acce.." Jenova was stopped by Karcier giving her a cold stare.

Etaine turned her back to him, her arms weaving various memories togethor leaving images to tell her tale as she spoke. "You will fade, replaced by my divine being. Die knowing you will fulfill her return and I will earn her love." she showed him a corrupted memory of him fading away into the void of memories. Karcier narrowed his eyes curiously, stepping closer to her. He still had the dagger Tiede had given him, the one covered in her blood it was tucked away under his belt..hidden by his cloths. "What of my daughter..son ?" he paused a few steps away from her. "Will I feel anything ?"

"They will serve or die. Only those loyal can live in the new world." She turned to face him, a look of victory on her face. Such desperation, such illusions he thought. How pathetic. "You will feel little...a tingle..then the void."

Karcier nodded "One more question..Jenova...she shares your blood doesn't she ?"

"As one of my creations, yes. In hopes I could tame the many minds I gave it some of my own blood...a failure. Now, thy questions are fulfilled. I shall take my prize !"

Weaves of magic wrapped around Karcier and the vessel, waves of light seemed to pulse from them. From her to him, a hazzy purple static transfered through to him. The link, he thought. He could feel himself getting stronger, his magic talent igniting in a roar of fire. Then he saw her eyes go white, as her soul detached from the vessel. In that instant, he drew the dagger and stabbed the vessel in the heart.

Both were thrown back by the sudden burst of energy, a scream from the vessel and groans of pain from Karcier as his body roared as tiny ants tickled his viens. The link settling in, without the intruder.

"What...why hath you done this...you worthless disfunctional tool !" shouted the vessel, no blood poured though. Only blackness began to take over as the daggers content covered her body.

Karcier got up, slowly. "So much for the mighty Shadow of Etaine...your a disapointment, a corruption that needs cleansing." he walked up to her, gripping the hilt and pushing it further into her. It had been a gamble, the dagger had been meant to Jenova but he'd guessed that if it had gone through to this world it must've had a use in it also. It acted as a pin, keeping the vessel nestled in her spirit while the link was his. "I'll take whats mine but not you...you would make the world a dull place...all this me...and me me me me..your worse then those whinning citizens of the world."

"There is no escape !" No hope without my being ! Your folly will be her undoing" she was fading, the blackness having taken over most of her. She was now a shadow, a shadow without a body to cast it. Thus she began to fade away. "Soon you will see the depths of your folly !"

"Blah blah blah folly...sorry...ain't listening. This is the gift isn't it. The link...I didn't expect it but it'll do...guess I'd rather hear a voice in my head knowing its meant to be there...than imagine it up...if I must be a link to her than so be it...but I'd never tolerate your pathetic self. " he paused as images flowed through his mind "Oh...I see" he grinned and knelt down so the shadow could hear him "I will do her rightly, her return will be completed as it should be...your corrupt thoughts will not linger...know that...and be jealous"

Then in seconds she was gone, Karcier didn't feel any different at first but steadily images...knowledge course through his body and soul. He knew and yet didn't at the same time, he turned around to Jenova and smiled when she spoke, good she was still alive.

"How does it feel ?" she asked.

"I dunno...tingles a bit...got a wierd butterfly feeling in my stomach but that could be because I haven't eaten." he walks beside her and looks at her struggling to lean upwards, he knelt down and put a hand on her wound. "Can't give you freedom..but I can give you another chance at life." he said, he closed his eyes and a gentle fire covered the wound then turned to ash as he pulled away.

"Why save us ?" she asked, still weak but her wound sealed shut.

"Because I can. That and you shouldnt die in such a ...lovely place" he grinned and patted her shoulder, he had no intention of killing her either. She'd helped him and if she was a threat in future he would deal with it but until then they parted as friends "Farewell" he said as he flicked his fingers and she was teleported away from the void.

"The unexpected savior. How ironic that her greatest creation would be her undoing...actaully thats rather cliche. I find myself still leanring even after so long. What is your name ?" the voice hadn't come from anywhere but it had felt as if it was everywhere. Karcier looked around him then chuckled.

"Ah yeah...the voice in my head..." he paused "I'm Karcier Aisu. Got it memorized ?"

[Reaver_Silverstone]

Reaver rolled out from the portal, instantly his medallion shook but at first he thought it was the portal until he saw three of the creatures waiting opposite the portal one of which looked far stronger and was bigger then the others. Alder popped out just that instant and decided this was the best time to talk.

Reaver drew his silver sword, uncorked an oil and with a swift motion soaked his blade with it. The insectoid potion would help deal more damage or at least he hoped, he wasn't sure if these were 'bugs' or some other creature.

'Weapon, ha.' he said as he cast a spell he never expected to unto his sword 'Igni' the fire blazed and his heart began to pump. 'You haven't spent the time to understand her nor have you with Karcier' he paused and pointed his sword downwards, its blade protecting his front. 'Whatever lies in there, is her way to be truly free of whatever urge there is. If she kills that vessel then so be it...she told me herself. She can't be a vessel...there are too many within her..Karcier on the other hand is perfect. I opted for the lesser evil, if she wants her freedom let her have it. I'd rather kill something that wanted to rather then was forced to.'

He scoffed at the notion that he had forgotten. 'I expected some to follow, I didn't think I'd be honored with a beast like that' he said eyeing the bigger one... with that he dashed forwards, side stepping and swinging his sword in a flurry of acrobatics...in the end time would pass on for the story needn't focus on the witcher but on the fallen phoenix.

'I walk my own road, you should know that by now. If came seeking answers why I left then you obviously haven't studied Witchers much, which is sad. I gave you enough knowledge to go on with your life.'

((if you don't mind I'll leave reavers post open ended so i can focus on karciers ))

[Krail]

Rushing dreams

The world around him changed, the almost fleeting memories merged into a beautiful composition of wild crystal roses and other various wild plants, the skies were a hazy orange with feathered clouds scattered across up to the horizon. He looked around, then as he turned back he saw a singular figure. Slender in her apperance, a face that showed compassion and sadness. She extended her arms with a smile and a phoenix rose from behind her, extending its wings as she did her own.

Karcier bowed 'Karcier Akavari, lone Cei'ra of Kelona. You must be the fallen mage Etaine.'

[/URL]

That seemed to displease her, a frown appeared on her face and she crossed her arms with a look of disappointment."Tsk, is that how I am remembered ? Is that why you call me 'Fallen Mage Etaine'. Am I portrayed as an evil being, one that has fallen from the grace of the 'good' mages" there was a hint of sarcasm as she spoke about the good mages. "You naught should consider diluted notions that with time have been set as good and evil. Focus on the present and think of the future, I am nor evil nor good...I simply am who I am."

Karcier shifted a bit awkwardly and bowed his head ' My apologies but your ...vessel did do a convincing job of portarying you as evil...that and yes...history mostly would see you as a being of evil...not that I care much about those things...well not much"

She raised an eyebrow at him, she took a few steps her long kamino like dress flowing like fire. "Common sense is often lost in folly, my vessel was no exception to that. She had become self centred and thought only of herself and 'her' reward. My own mistake, when the mages cast me aside like a ragdoll I hardly had the time to choose my ideal vessel to keep me safe. When your soul and body are being torn and rendered asunder you naught have the time to pick the best choice. You ought to know how that feels...you've died a few times yourself."

That had peeked his curiosity "So what shall I call you...oh mighty lady phoenix or is that too much...Her ladyship ...doubt 'voice in my head' would be fitting...people already think I'm mad" how did she know, was what he was thinking also what she saw ?

Her laugh seemed to come from all around him and also from within him, he felt the joy she felt and it seemed like it had been a long time since she had laughed. "Etaine will do, already I find myself enjoying your company more then hers. Unless you plan to ignore me like her ?"

It was karciers time to cross his arms "That depends, if you plan on speaking in a poetic manner then yes...I'll ignore you and plug my ears..although that might not work since your in my head otherwise I'll consider what you have to say"

She smiled faintly and grasped her hands behind her back as she walked down a path of crystal steps, her phoenix flying off into the distant horizon of this memory. "Wise. I have a simple desire however the means to reach it are far from simple. I wish to walk the world of secfenia, to bring back my creations that were taken from me and live my life as I deem fit."

Karcier tilted his head as he did, a childs look on his face as he thought. Then he simply shrugged "Sure, why not. Its not like the world isn't filled with all sorts of messed up people."

Etaine laughed softly, leaning slightly on one of her hands "You'd accept so easily ?"

"Well, if I don't you'll pester me and to be quiet frank the world of secfenia could do with some excitment. Its rather dull, you'd be better off in...whatever this place is"

"I like you, you've a sense of humour and some common sense."

Karcier was tempted to comment on the 'some common sense' but he decided to go about another way, while he could communicate with her in this place he might as well ask her a few questions. "Might I ask a few questions ?" he said, she nodded and he thus went on. "Where are we...your vessel said this was 'Memories end"

Etaine looked at her sourrounding area "This is my domain, the world outside it is memories end. The domain we are in now is my creation, it was to keep a part of me safe if my body was to be destroyed...memories end is a byproduct of this domain. All of my creations whom have died return to this place, steadily the horizon extends as more memories flood this place. You might consider it like a pool of water, it reflects what you see and grows wider. Unfortunatly it isn't very stable and thus memories slip out and return to the world." she pauses and looks at Karcier with intrigue "Or in your case your own child manages to pluck you from it...bypassing countless magic seals and so on. Might I ask a question to you before you go on, the dagger you used to...seal the vessel in her own body...who's blood was it that coated it. I recognize it, like a fleeting memory but I cannot say its name...it is muddled but I feel as if I should remember it..."

Karcier blushed and looked down at his feet, Alexise had saved him per say and when asked she had said she didn't know what she'd done. He was greatful but to have Etaine praise her on it was, something different."A friend of mines gave it to me...she coated it with her blood "

Etaine nodded "I would like to meet this friend of yours, if you do not mind."

"I'm, sure she'll be thrilled" He asked his next question. "Why did the mages cast you out ?"

"Why indeed. I suppose some of my other allies were more forceful in their views but as for I well...I'd like to think it was because of my wit and ability to outsmart those hypocrites. Jealous can go a long way you understand and Mages like mortals are no exception to this. But truth be told such is lost to me, only a portion of my being was saved..." she grins child like to him "But I prefer to think it was because I upset a mage with wit and sarcasm"

"What about the Link...how does it work with..my magic and so on ?"

Etaine sat down on the floor, thinking. "Usually it acts as an anchor, allowing me to connect with you and be one with you. That anchor ensures that I am not lost within my own domain however you seem to be absorbing knowledge from those memories...its rather intriguing. I suspect due to your daughter snatching you from here you have a direct link also to Memories end...thus your able to use whatever memories there are...learn their techniques...but I doubt all would work..memories are often corrupted and selective" the world around them began to steadily dissipate and Etaine sighed "Our time is up, I would of liked to contuine our discussion face to face..but we shall have tocontuine in your mind...you'll be teleported back to the Shrine, there you will find a Phylactery, it will need to be fixed and unlocked within it shall be knowledge and power with it another piece of the puzzle you shall hold. Try to be careful, there are two of us in that head of yours" she said with a grin. "Farewell Karcier Akavari."

Karcier is thus taken from the Domain of Etaine and back to the shrine, there he takes the Phylactery which holds the seal of the phoenix and heads back to Tiedes shop to tell her all about his quest and the trials themselves and of the gift of the goddess.

((Tiede permission to assume karcier has told you more or less what has happened and can work from there ))