Not too far gone

There were no answers in New Alteros either. Perhaps the Necromancer's book would have to do for now. He hadn't even dared to open it yet, not sure of what it would contain. Yes, the cover revealed it to be about spirits, but that was vague... incredibly vague. That could be about anything really. But, perhaps now was the best time for it.

In the plains by Nostvale, Gorandis found somewhere to sit, hidden among the tall grass. Of course, his colour scheme made him stand out against the light coloured surroundings but it would at least keep beasts and Yokais from finding him. The book was opened gingerly on his lap, and he began to read. To his surprise there was nothing sinister about it.

In fact the first few chapters simply started to explain what, exactly, spirits were and how to contact them. It was, well it was fascinating to him. Long dead people who couldn't move on. One that had been stripped of their memories by now but they still had one urge, something for them to do... This would serve as an excellent distraction to his past actions.

Maybe now he could wash the blood off of his hands.
(Gorandis Fester)

Seeing that both Apollion and Hao had left the scene, Dio was left all alone to tend to his business. The boy would gather his belongings and begin to head East from his current location. There was nothing for him to do at the moment honestly. He had just finished a training session with Hao, and a checkup with Apollion shortly afterwards. He'd already eaten so food was out of the question. Supposedly, the boy had the rest of the afternoon free.

With all of this new free time, he would use it to explore a little of the Nostvalian plains and mountainous areas. Thus far, he's been pretty confined to the town so he's never really gotten the chance to do so. Filling his canteen with water now, the boy would be all set to go. He moved at a brisk pace, keeping his head high and alert for any wild boars or Yokai that have been said to frequent this area, though luckily he came into contact with neither.

Eventually, the boy spots something unusual in the tall grass, an odd purple lump that just stuck out of nowhere. Blinking a few times, he strolls closer and slocer to the thing, his curiosity growing with each step. Eventually he'd be close enough to call out to the hooded figure without startling it hopefully.

"Hello? Is that a person?"
(Dio Isolet)

The book was shut hastily with a small snap, disappearing under Gorandis' robes. He hooded head turned round to peer at the advancing figure as he slowly rose up. Stray grass was brushed off of his form before he stood to his full height. A meagre five feet eight. From what could be seen beneath his hood, his eyes narrowed at the boy.

He put on his best voice, one that dripped the words like hissing venom. "Yes, you seem to have run into me and disturbed my reading... What brings someone as young as you out here? What brings you out all alone more specifically?" He peered again before relaxing slightly, letting his features drop to something at least slightly more welcoming.

"Well you didn't interrupt too much." He crossed his arms over his chest. "Well, what do you want?"
(Gorandis Fester)

Dio watched as the lump now rose to the form of a fully grown man, though, he's seen taller around these parts of the world. His voice was a little..well..scary at first, but after hearing what he had to say he didn't sound all too threatening and moreso concerned. Letting out a sigh of relief the boy went closer and closer to the figure until they were only a few feet apart. He scanned the man's clothes as he approached him.

"Oh I did? Err..sorry about that mister, I didn't mean to. And I was training with a friend of mine, but he went back to town 'cause he was hungry..so now I'm just out here exploring these parts hehe. And uh, I didn't really want anything, I was just asking because a person would normally respond to a question eh? If you were a Yokai or something like that then you would've jumped up and tried to eat me, so I just asked to prepare for the worst."

Well, it made sense, somewhat. It was much better than just running up behind the man and trying to whack him over the head with a sword.
(Dio Isolet)

"Hmm..." His hand came up to his stubbly chin and scratched at it for a moment. "You really shouldn't be running around here on your own. Especially this far from town. But, if you said you were training then you at least have some capabilities, no? You're not just some random town child who, inspired by the magi, went off into the wilderness without telling their parents?"

His voice, while still calm and sounding like a vindictive tyrant, at least softened while talking. He was merely putting on airs after all and, eventually, realising that he was rather wasting his time using it on a child. He dropped the act, letting his normal and rather plain voice fill the air after a brief sigh. "Well, if you were training you might as well show me."

"Unless you want me to march you back to town where the guards can make sure you don't run off on your own again."
(Gorandis Fester)

The boy slightly tilted his head to the side as the man spoke. A little odd for a stranger ask, but the boy saw little harm in it. "Haha, nuh uh, I know some magic stuff. And okay okay, you don't gotta call the guards or anything on me..geez.." The boy took two steps back, placing them at about two and a half meters apart from one another before he closed his eyes for a brief moment.

Using his mana, around the boy would appear a thin fog as the air began to condense into a liquid state. Within a mere second, the boy was surrounded by about twenty bubbles. However, these weren't your normal bubbles. The air inside of the bubbles remained at an extremely high pressure, thus upon popping would create an extremely loud sound -- and sting like hell. He'd move his hands and send them into various placed around the duo, each one hitting the ground with a hard smack.

Smiling to himself he'd look back to Gorandis. "Hehe, was that good enough for you or do ya want more?"
(Dio Isolet)

"A water mage eh? Not bad, fairly good if I say so. Yes, no wonder you can just run around on your own at your age. But there are some scary things out here. Scary things indeed." He smiled again beneath his hood. His voice a lot kinder and calmer than the one he had put on previously. "There are all sorts of nasty things roaming around..."

He held his hand up and it began to spark crimson. "All kinds of nasty people running around. But thankfully, you didn't run into any of them." The red light cast a grim set of shadows in the already dark hood before it sparked out, fraying the grass some feet away with occultic power. It left a nasty stench, one far worse than burnt grass should have made.

"There are far worse Occultists running around than I. But you look like you can handle yourself fine enough. But water magic alone probably wont be enough..."
(Gorandis Fester)

The boy held his head up with pride as the stranger praised his mastery over the aquatic arts. He was even ready to bow his head, though, the topic of conversation quickly changed. Soon enough, he was giving out warnings before showing a dastardly display of his own abilities.

The red lightning sparked out and burned most of the grass in the immediate area; the stench forcing the boy to cover his nose and mouth from the putrid odor. he shook his head ferverishly before looking back up to the hooded man, a little grin on his face. "Well, water magic isn't the only thing that I can use, mhm!" Immediately, a golden-white glow came off of the boy's body and just one glance could tell you that it was indeed Holy magic.

Unfortunately, as soon as he activated it, the curse came into effect. Around the boy were sparks of occultic orange and purple, moving to supress his Holy affinity and causing him a great amount of pain. He immediately fell onto his knees and groaned in pain.

"Ow..."
(Dio Isolet)

The exorcistic magics were unexpected. And they made him feel queasy. Gorandis had been warned at how holy magics reacted to an occultic presence but this made him feel like he had something burrowing under his skin. It was vile and made him shudder. But, thankfully, the holy magic was short lived with the boy instead falling over.

Gorandis brought out his hand, only just remembering to suppress his occult magics before it reached the boy. "What... what was that? Not the holy magic, I know enough of that. But what were those sparks? They definitely felt more akin to my own powers..." He peered at the boy again from under his hood, his mouth forming a concerned frown.

"Are you alright, here let me help you up. Perhaps you should avoid using your holy powers."
(Gorandis Fester)

After several seconds of gasping for air and breathing heavilty, Dio was finally able to stand up, albiet he was still shaken from the whole experience. Taking a few more seconds to catch his breath, he shook his head slightly, looking down at the floor. "I...I don't know...I think some guy with a weird arm did it to me.." He confessed. He's never really had the chance to speak to anyone about this as yet seeing how he's never really attempted to use Holy magic since then. The one time he did it the pain was nowhere near this bad.

"I was in the fields one day near the pond..and this guy made some black balls with magic. When I didn't want to touch it he attacked me. His eyes and hair were purple..and one of his arms was all funny looking with a bunch of eyes and stuff. I got knocked out easy, then I remember being in a cave and getting zapped by dark magic. After that...I woke back up by the pond and I couldn't use Holy magic since."

It was a rather short tale, missing a lot of key details and such, but the man should get what had happened.
(Dio Isolet)

"This man with the purple eyes and strange arm... was his name Jay by any chance? I'm come across someone who matches that description. He didn't seem so despicable at the time..." He scratched his chin again and pulled his hood back, revealing his black hair and hazel eyes. "Well, I am not one of them so you don't need to worry there."

"But it sounds like you've been cursed. From what I know, it isn't permanent, but I should be able to help lessen it somewhat I reckon. Especially if it was done with Occult magic... What cave were you taken to and where was the spell placed on you? The former isn't too important but in order to help I do need to know where the curse was placed..."

He frowned again, sighing. He wondered why someone would do this to a young boy even despite his holy magics.
(Gorandis Fester)

A shame, Dio had no idea what the Occultist's name was. All he knew was that he practiced Occultic magic, and that he was a force to be reckoned with. Raising his head from the floor he'd look up at Gorandis now, who by this time had removed his hood and revealed a quite normal looking face despite the magic that he was using. While he wasn't too sure if he should completely trust this guy, he had very little to go on right now.

"I'm sorry..I don't know his name..just that he wore a red cloak and that he had a black and brown mask on. And uhm..okay, I can show you where the cave is, but as for where he put the curse..I think it was all over. While I was on the table I had the holy magic coating me, then when he was finished it just kinda..sank back inside with some strange tattoos on my chest and arms."

That said, Dio would turn around and begin walking down South towards the mountains, gesturing for Gorandis to follow. "It was over down this way."
(Dio Isolet)

"Ah, it was a tattooed curse, hmm, I could probably help remove some of it. Weaken the hold, let you pull your magic out but it will still hurt. It might hurt too much really... But it shouldn't incapacitate, but yes. Let us go and see this cave." He made sure his book was firmly in his possession before eventually following after him through the grass.

It wasn't that much of a walk but the cave itself was dark and nasty. And even to an occultist the atmosphere it gave off was foreboding. "It might be best if we didn't go in there, for your own sake really... You said that the magic ended up tattooing your chest and arms? If you show me them I can probably help. Probably... don't expect me to fix it fully though."

His hand came up again, coating in the hellish lightning. It didn't take a genius to figure out what his plan was.
(Gorandis Fester)

After leading the man to the cave and hearing what he had to say, Dio was a little frightened. Nodding his head, he would remove his shirt and his bare chest would be revealed. Low and behold, it was extremely...bare, and the same could be said for his arms. Looking off into the dark cave, Dio would begin to speak up and explain his fear.

"Normally they're not there...but they come up when I use Holy magic..." Ah, it made sense now. It seems as though the boy was dreadfully afraid of having to use the magic again to get the tattoos to show up for Gorandis. Usually he wouldn't have minded giving a small display, but, after feeling that immense pain for the first time, the boy really didn't want to use it again.

"Is..there a way to remove it without using the magic..?"
(Dio Isolet)

His hand, wreathed in lightning came closer before stopping short of touching his chest. "There probably is another way. But I can't help you with it. You'd need to find someone more versed in runes, because that's what this is. Occultic runes that flare up in the presence of holy magic. Quite... brilliant if a little nasty against exorcist users."

"Someone who is used to using them could remove it in a heartbeat... I heard that there was a family in Nostvale, quite a powerful one that contained a fair number of runewriters. The King recently gave them the old Falco house, they have a door man who shoos away those not wanted but perhaps you could get an appointment? I hear they're all doctors too."

The hand came back just a little. "If you don't want to go through the pain, they are your best bet."
(Gorandis Fester)

Dio absorbed that information like a sponge, making mental notes of everything he could. As much as he would want this thing gone now, the thought of going through the pain was just too much for the boy to bare at the moment, especially after experiencing what he just did. He would grab his shirt off of the floor and slip it back on before he spoke once more.

"Hrm..Are you sure that they can help with what I need? What if they never accept my request and I'm stuck on the outside of their home for a long while?" His questions were rational of course, not wanting to be standing outside of someone's home as they go about their daily business and ignoring him completely. He shook his head a little, taking in a deep breath and looking up to Gorandis.

"Erm..okay I guess...We can do it your way only if it helps me get better faster!"
(Dio Isolet)

"It will be much faster, oh so much faster. But it will be the worst pain you have ever felt in your entire life." His voice had shifted back to its more sinister counterpart. One that could grease machinery with how oily it was. It dripped, oozing out. "And you would have to channel your holy power while doing it, in order to reveal the tattoos."

"Not only would you have to stand through my pain, but your own too. Could you possibly do that?" His hand came closer and the lightning zapped at his shirt, burning it slightly and letting the occultic mana burn at his skin underneath. It would leave no mark but it would hurt far worse than a normal shock would. "And that was only a very small spark."

"I don't want to hurt you... You know we never did exchange names... I am Gorandis and I very much don't want to hurt you."
(Gorandis Fester)

The boy nearly jumped up as the spark reached through his clothing and touched his chest, feeling like something akin to a powerful bee sting. Keeping that pain in mind, Dio listened to everything else that Gorandis had to say, gulping loudly at the end of it all. To think that he would have to combine the pain from using Holy magic and the pain from his Lightning not even to remove a curse, but to shorten the time on it. The boy was really stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Taking in several deep breaths he'd steel his resolve and remove his shirt. He must have thought that the boy was crazy for agreeing to go through with something as silly as this, but well, it seemed to be his only option left really. He looked the man in the eye, a slight glare etched onto his face. "My name's Dio, Dio Isolet. And I appreciate this a whole tone, Mister Gorandis." After taking in one final deep breath, he was ready.

"Okay...ready when you are.."
(Dio Isolet)

"Alright, just flare up your holy magic whenever you are ready... and i shall start with removing most of the curse, or as much of it as I can at least. I am sorry for the pain I am about to bring you." He frowned and waited for the boy, no, Dio, to bring out his holy power. And once he did, the runes lit up across his shoulders and back in vile, black lines.

And as soon as they appeared, Gorandis got to work. The red lightning shot out, arcing over Dio's back and destroying the tattoos where it touched them, burning them off of his skin and burning the skin along with it. It was going to be the most terrible pain that Gorandis could imagine and it would leave horrible scarring behind.

The flesh turned white as it was marred by the snaking current, rending the skin and the muscle underneath but most importantly, destroying most of the curse along with it.
(Gorandis Fester)

He nodded his head as he heard the words and that was it. Trying to get this done as quick as possible, the boy released a massive flare of Holy power all at once. As the golden light was emitted from his body, the marks appeared on his skin and immediately began to attempt and restrain the power, releasing sparks of Occultic power to supress it.

The boy yelled out in pain but refused to give in at that point. However, that was before the addition of the Hellstorm. As soon as the red lightning touched him, that was it. The screaming released by the child was terrifyingly loud and almost unbearable. His body shook uncontrollably, as it arched around his small frame. Along with the black marks of the curse, his flesh began to burn up as well, scarring most of his chest and some of his abdominal region.

He continuously pumped out more and more Holy magic until the lightning stopped, and at that point, he simply fell onto the floor, unconscious. What was left of the mark simply faded away until he attempted to use Holy magic once more.
(Dio Isolet)

Gorandis would continue until the mark had disappeared. Or at least he would have had Dio not fallen unconscious. The lightning immediately died out as he rushed down to cradle the boy, lifting him up and desperately avoiding touching the destroyed flesh. Now what was he going to do? He wasn't a healer and he doubted it would be seen well if he brought a burnt and unconscious child back to the city.

He stripped his cloak off and rushed over to the nearby sea, using his hellstorm to flash over there he soaked the cloth and rushed it back over, wrapping the boy's torso in the now soaking material. A nearby rock would be dragged over and Gorandis leant Dio against it, taking up a sitting position opposite him. All he could really do was wait until the boy woke up...

After a few minutes of panicked watching, he eventually brought the book out from his bag and carried on reading it.
(Gorandis Fester)

The boy's unconscious body was moved around with no resistance. His drained body was too much to even put up a struggle in his sleep. The wet cloth placed against his flesh wounds felt a little soothing, but it wouldn't serve to do much in the long run. Eventually, the boys eyes would open up, his vision still clouded from the pain of both the lightning and the curse.

At first he didn't move, the only thing to happen was him opening his eyes and trying to get a grasp of where he was and what had happened. After a minute or so, it all came back to him and all he could do was groan a little at the pain. He attempted to move the cloth to see why his chest was hurting so much, but he couldn't even do that with what little strength he had left. A few coughs escaped his lips before he was finally able to utter a few words.

"Wh-what happened just now..? I-..Is it gone for good?" Was all he could muster up to say for now.
(Dio Isolet)

The book was closed once more and Gorandis spoke calmly, not moving from his position. "I managed to get most of it, but... you passed out before I finished and I had to make sure that, well, that you weren't dead. But, from what I did erase, you should be good to try your holy magic again, once you feel up to it that is. No doubt you'll need some proper rest first."

He wandered over and gently peeled back the sodden cloak, it was stuck to the marred flesh but it wouldn't hurt while it was removed. Most of the nerve endings had been destroyed after all. He flapped the cloak a few times to get rid of most of the moisture before clasping it back on. "You're lucky really... holy water magic is the best for healing burns."

"Once you are strong enough to heal yourself you probably wont even have any scars... perhaps the odd small lightning bolt or two."
(Gorandis Fester)

Dio was still in a daze, still unable to move properly. All he could do was listen to what Gorandis had to say and nod his head afterwards. Well, at least something good had come out of all of this he figured. With most of the curse being removed he at least had one less thing to worry about for now. Gorandis did say that the thing was temporary, so perhaps it was only a matter of months now until it was gone? A shame though, had Dio been strong enough to withstand the pain the curse would've been removed.

"Heh..that so..? Well, that's pretty cool..right? Hehe.." The child attempted to make a joke, but even laughing proved to be too much of an exercise at the moment. "And try to use my magic..? Nuh uh, not any time soon either." When it all boiled down to it, Dio was still a pretty normal kid, and like most kids he was terrified of being in pain and so that option would be a no go for sure.

"You know how long til I can use it again..Er, freely?"
(Dio Isolet)

"Freely? I have no idea, you'll probably just have to keep testing it every day. Just a little. But with what was left, it should all decay away within a few weeks by my estimate. And by now it shouldn't cause any pain. It'll likely only itch, make your skin crawl, like Holy magic does to an occultist. Nothing harmful from what I can tell."

He let out another long sigh and looked down at his hands. He had done something good this time... even if it did cause the poor kid so much pain. But, it was worth it, in the end and it would stop him from living for perhaps even years without his magic. "Can you stand? I can give you some help. We should head back to Nostvale as soon as possible so you can get treated properly..."

"To be honest it's what we should have done from the very start."
(Gorandis Fester)

Listening to what Gorandis had to say, it felt good that the boy should soon be able to use his magic without restrictions, which was pretty good. And hearing what little side effects should be left, it sounded as if this curse would finally be over. Taking in a deep breath and holding it there, Dio would place a hand onto the floor and on on the rock behind him and steadily push himself off of the floor with the help of Gorandis.

Once he was standing, once again with Gorandis' aid, the duo would steadily begin making their journey all the way back to Nostvale. Luckily for them, there weren't too many Yokai or their path, or even wild Boars and the like roaming about like usual. It was as if they were on a path paved for them by Kraus or some other diety. While moving, he'd look over to the man and pose a pretty standard question to the male.

"Hey..Mister Gorandis, why are you helping me so much? I thought Occult people didn't like Holy magic users.."
(Dio Isolet)

"Well, the only reason most Occultists don't like Exorcists is because you make our skin crawl with your magic alone. To get healed by a holy user is like having hot knives driven under your skin. it is far from enjoyable. But, that is not enough to stop me from helping you out... There are some terrible people out there, incredibly terrible."

"Azraelites that will stab you as soon as look at you. People with no worries about killing another person if it meant improving themselves... it is disgusting. I am not like any of them and I never will be..." He looked down at his hands again as they walked. No matter how hard he tried... the image of them being caked in blood would never leave.

Perhaps he was already as bad as the people he despised... With a guiding hand, he helped Dio hobble all the way up to and into the main gate of Nostvale. "Where do you live? We should get you to your parents and explain what happened..."
(Gorandis Fester)

Dio listened to Gorandis' tale intently. He's heard of the Azraelites before, but he didn't think of the group to be such a large threat. And while he described what it was like for an Occultist to be near a Holy magic user, he was still shocked that the man chose to get by and stick near Dio, it was truly heartwarming to say the least. Eventually, the duo got to Nostvale and the boy was finally able to walk on his own again. He'd pause at the mention of parents and a place to stay at.

A weak smile gracing his crumbling face, the boy would wave off his last comment and dismiss it. "Hehe, don't worry about it, Mister Gorandis. I'll be fine from here. Once I can lie down and get some strength back I can use my water magic to heal me up a little bit, mhm! I appreciate everything that you've done for me, by the way. Most people wouldn't even help a guy out with something like this haha, you're really too nice."

The boy reached into his pocket and took out his coin purse with about thirty - thousand crowns still inside of it, offering it to Gorandis. "I know it's not much..but here, it's what I got on me, hehe. I promise I'll think of something to make up for it in the future, okay?"
(Dio Isolet)

As soon as the money was offered Gorandis held his hand out in protest. "No, really I don't want payment. I don't want people thinking I did this for the money... It's well enough for me to see you recovered... Go home and rest up and I will come and check on you in the future. I look forward to seeing you recover. And, perhaps in the future we can do things far less painful."

He smiled but it was rather sad all the same. He was glad that the boy would recover and that he could go back to being, well, mostly normal. But still, all the pain he had put him through... it made him sick to his stomach. He doubt he could ever get the boy's cry of anguish out of his mind... no matter how hard he tried, it was almost as bad as the blood...

"I'll see you around sometime Dio..."
(Gorandis Fester)

Dio raised a brow as Gorandis declined the money and tucked the coin purse back in his pocket. He chuckled a little, rubbing the back of his head. "Haha, you're a tough one to read there bud, but thanks again, really. Having this thing on me was getting really annoying, and if someone strong had attacked me I'm sure that I was pretty much done for too. So..this has been a big help. I look forward to seeing you again too, and definitely under less painful circumstances hehe.."

The boy would use a bit of his magic to soak his shirt a little and allow the water to get to work on healing up his wounds, taking a second to look down and ensure that things were getting into action. Looking back up now he'd wave a hand towards the elder gentleman. "Mhm, totally. I'll see you later, Mister Gorandis!" And with that the two part ways, Dio heading back to the Inn where he stayed in town, and well, who knew where Gorandis was headed to?

Could be the plains to read again, or off on some adventure filled with action packed battles. Either way, this memory would be etched into the boys memory, for one reason or the next.
(Dio Isolet)