Lack of Self Preservation

Even with his prize now well in hand, the rage still stormed within. Gorandis despised feeling this way, causing a disgusting feedback loop of his own anger feeding upon itself. Growing, festering within like rotten flesh. Still, he made his way back to Loranthis. It was the source of his feelings after all and if he didn't sate them now...

He strode through the streets, red sparks arcing from his feet as he walked, gently charring the cobblestones with each step. He kept pacing back and forth before the white tower. His mind was in disarray and no matter how much he tried, he still felt that deep bubbling, that gross anger. He wanted to let it all out... But he had already done so.

And he had gotten no results there.

He doubted he would ever truly be rid of it. Even now, even imagining getting his revenge... it still didn't sate him, didn't waver his thoughts. If he acted now he wouldn't even be satisfied. And so he had to wait, had to let it grow within himself. No need to waste the anger, not yet... Not when he could imagine using it for some much more...

He just had to put up with it for a short while longer...
(Gorandis)

As more and more months passed, it seemed as if things were becoming more and more difficult. With the preparations for the championship tournament, Aster had not gotten a chance to speak to Selene about what she'd seen when seeking out the Gem -- what had happened when the Imperfect had taken the life of one of the Exorcists he'd promised salvation to.

...It wasn't as if the boy truly trusted those within Ragnarok's ranks in the first place but --- thinking about his security was getting harder and harder.

-----He comes across that strange man, the one who claims souls, the one who had spoken of something ... that he couldn't quite understand. He was there, loitering around the castle that day when he'd made a contract with that ... strange, unhinged occultist covered in runes.

"...Isn't it annoying?" He asks, casually. "Um-- being connected to a guy like that. The man who-- who was an idiot, who the Queen killed, you... did something to connect him to you, right...?"
(Aster Eclissi)

The pacing was halted as, slowly, Gorandis turned to the interruption. Someone who was speaking so... casually to him. Someone who didn't know their place... Gorandis clenched his fists, his half healed knuckles searing in pain once more. "What do you think you are doing?" The words came out quick and venomous, as if they were spat out distastefully.

"Do you really think you can just stop me in my thoughts? That you can dare to talk to me? Who the hell do you think you are?" Gorandis turned fully, the crimson sparks seeming to halt for now. But there was still an edge, a distant prickling of impending thunder. "I'll tell you what's annoying. Brats like you coming up to me and begging for my attention."

His hand went into his robes and pulled out a black crystal, the one housing Noctis' spirit. "I didn't connect him to me. I now own him. This is all that that man ever was, every memory, every want and every regret. Crystallised into solid form and is now in my possession... Would you care to join him like the others?" He opened his cloak to reveal two other crystals of different colours. One red and one purple.

"You might be young but you still hold some power... enough to harvest at any rate..." And there it was again, that deep anger welling within. It reminded him of when he was younger, when he had first tried to fight occult madness only... this was far more demanding. "So what are you going to do about this, child?"
(Gorandis)

Lorelei is in chains, her knight proved to hold more power than most expected- even she managed to feel surprised at the outcome. Something that strove to become as great as she could handle even the elite- just what is she becoming?

Such thoughts that do little more than serve her egotism and hedonistic behaviors are interrupted as those delicate ears of hers manage to catch wind of something that she finds rather irksome. With her curse setting in, and her euphoria from the power mongering at an all time high, she finally decides to give it up- she'd become the demon that everyone seems to believe she is--

"I have something for you to mark...but since when did you have the authority to place your hands upon my soldiers...at little more than whims?" The whites of her highs begin to flood with ebony, golden orbs honing in on Gorandis. "Furthermore-" Her gaze begins to shift, falling upon that of the blonde in question. "Why would you approach someone who obviously isn't interesting in casual conversation. I do not pay you...nor bless you with the chance to seek progression...

For you to bug someone just because they happen to look powerful and intimidating."
(Nahele)

---He hadn't realized that the Queen was around.

Shrinking back, the young boy shows his age, somewhat -- There's fear in his eyes, sadness from being scolded by someone he had been trying so hard to impress. It's -- more of a reaction than the man clad in purple had garnered from him, even though Aster had been afraid of him, as well. ...It was hard to get by a day in this city without being threatened, without the thought that the flame of your life could be extinguished in an instant.

"...That's-- not why I was talking to him, I--" His voice is quiet, strained -- He's worried that what he's saying will come off as an excuse, that he'll be punished for stepping out of line for speaking to someone whom he shouldn't be speaking to.

"He -- he's interesting, isn't he ... ? He's not -- ... boring like-- like a lot of the people who've come here, just because it's-- it's the most powerful place to be. I ... I saw him talking to that white-haired rune-guy, the one who-- who was stupid enough to defy you, you know? About ... contracting, and I just wanted to-- to know more about that, but--

--I- I'm sorry, Queen Nahele, it won't happen again, I'll---"
(Aster Eclissi)

It was her.... Gorandis' fists cracked, the battered bones rebreaking after they had so recently healed. The skin broke and split, letting blood run down the back of his hand. But he ignored it. No, he had far more pressing matters to attend to. Here she was, the woman who had sparked so much hate within him... And the first thing she did was speak down to him.

Hit grit his teeth, clamping his mouth shut as the rage boiled like bile in his throat, there was so much he wanted to say and to do to her... Faced with the source of his rage, he almost slipped up... But he still had some self control. The pain helped, helped to retract him back into himself, to chain the rage though not entirely. He doubted he ever truly could anymore... he had changed so much...

His words were chosen carefully and they were lined with unfettered bitterness. "You have yet to repay me Nahele and I grow impatient." The final word was barely restrained and it was obvious to all just how much he was restraining himself. "I suggest you start showing me the respect I deserve Nahele... That is if you still expect my help."

His baleful gaze shifted down to the boy. "I don't speak to children, I don't waste my time with them." His hand came out to grip at his shoulder but he managed to stop it short, leaving the hand in the air, crackling with the crimson power. "And I especially don't talk to people who simply expect things from me. Do you hear me, boy?"

And even though his words were directed to Aster, his eyes still roamed to glare at Nahele from the depths of his hood.
(Gorandis)

"Aster- it is fine. Your slip ups are far less damning that most of the idiots that I have to deal with...perhaps I'm being a bit too harsh on you..." She scoffs, not truly wanting to admit this, but- she had her reasons. "I just expect better of the few children who've managed to refrain from annoying me. You...have potential, eagerness, willing to learn, willing to be molded-...so I find myself angered when someone who has the slightest chance at becoming useful...

Is willing to throw everything away over a simple curiosity." Claws wrap around the boy's shoulder, she leans in, jagged teeth creep from the maw of the Ookami- her breath contains the aroma of rotten flesh, breathing heavily as she glares at the child. "I want to see you become a predator not a morsel understand me, boy?

Do not disappoint me."

Her gaze shifts to Gorandis, only to...sigh.

"That can go both ways, Gorandis. Attempting to take the souls of my soldiers is rather disrespectful, especially when I've come to inform you that I can repay my debt." For a moment, her eyes roll. "Another idiot found himself within my grasp. Ah...but he has talents that are far more suiting towards one of your caliber...

Another who controls the crimson storms. I'll...send word for you when he exits his coma. No point branding him when you can't enjoy the screams, no?"

That and blackscreening that when they are afk kills half the dev!
(Nahele)

To become a predator --

...He'd been working on that. It's why he'd gone to Lasswell, asking him advice on ruthlessness through nature -- using the life of the planet to hurt. He took her praise as something of the highest -- He was doing well, here. She saw his potential, she saw how he was working hard, how he was willing to bend the knee, to do whatever asked of him in subservience --- But...

...But, he did wonder just how long that would please the Queen. After all ... weren't those the traits of 'prey', rather than a 'predator'...? He needed to grow from a lamb to a lion, needed to extend himself even further as someone useful and loyal to Armageddon --- To Ragnarok.

"It-- I wasn't expecting anything, sir. I-- only wanted to know, for the-- sake of growing knowledge." ...His speech isn't of someone his age, mimiced from soldiers older than him. "But ... I understand, my Queen. I won't -- ... waste my time, anymore."
(Aster Eclissi)

"It's better that you don't waste my time either." The words came out softer than before, he was satisfied that the child seemed to have learned his place. And while he still held great contempt within his heart, he had no real out for it. Not one that would have him survive for very long at the least. Because of course he could strike out against Nahele now.

But that would be suicide.

"I could tell you a thing or two about disrespectful Nahele... Tell me, why did you neglect to inform me of the tournament that took place? Why did you show me the utmost in disrespect by simply ignoring me?" The words dripped out, steeped in venom and the anger that was very obviously being barely held under the surface.

A surface that was beginning to crack bloodily and brutally. "What became of the tournament? Who won? Who died? What did you keep me in the dark about?" His words always bordered on disrespect, dancing that fine line between it, letting out as much spite as he could while still keeping up the barest hint of formality. It was sickening to him to even allow that much respect into his voice.
(Gorandis)

"No, no you will not."

Claws wrap around a white-haired Ookami's shoulders. "I'm going to be teaching...this. It won it's fight yesterday, but that didn't give me an accurate judgement on it's power-...and fighting it myself would be like...an elephant stepping on a fly." With that, she casually lifts the Ookami, and places her before Aster- "The loser has to feed me." Of course, it didn't take a fool to know what that implied.

"While these children attempt to provide some sort of entertainment- I'll explain, though...I had something planned out, organized! But, Dumuzid within his...previous state...needed violence. The Kzer-Za gem, it...made him a bit unpredictable, to say the least." She shrugs. "He marched into the city, and wanted the tournament to be held on the spot. So for the timing and randomness of such an important event...

That is entirely on the imperfects shoulders."

She merely shrugged, not truthfully caring about the spontaneous of it.

"An outsider died. The losers from the first round offered flesh to me, and the most cowardly of the bunch was consumed by Dumuzid. Though- something admittedly surprising occurred." No point in beating around the bush. "Lorelei lost. Lasswell has taken upon the title of Champion, and the blade that comes with such a title-

Durendal.

I...do have to thank you. That defeat you gave him long ago...it humiliated him, angered him, pushed the boy to become a man. You put him in his place, and he clawed tooth and nail to escape from that place. It's rather impressive, really..."
(Nahele)

Zurie managed to conk out somehow, someway, before she saw the conclusion of the tournament. Because of this, the Neries girl was rather... displeased. She never got to fight Lasswell. And to hear he got crowned champion? It annoyed the young Neries. She could've won, if she wanted to. And so her chubby little legs approached the Queen, Crossing her arms as she pouted.

"What happened ta me gettin' a match with Lasswell before he fought Lorelei? What if I coulda beat him, eh?" She was a prideful child. Already beating two fully grown adults. Why couldn't she also beat Lasswell too? He didn't seem all that tough. "I coulda beaten both of them and been the Champion, yeah." She frowned, not like the Neries girl really wanted to be champion at her age. It would have just been nice to hold the title over grown-people's faces.
(Zurie)

"And Lorelei, what became of her?" The words were spoken softly, the softest Gorandis had ever spoken to Nahele. "I assume she hasn't perished but with things as unpredictable as you said..." he could tell that she was trying to shift the blame. Whether honestly or not, Gorandis did not care, he still felt entirely wronged.

He still felt that churning within directed at her. Though she had managed to divert some of it. Dumuzid... so he, too... At least he was an easier target in some ways. So reclusive, so all powerful... Gorandis doubted he ever considered he needed guards. Well he would soon learn how much they were needed... But these were long term plans.

The anger could be used to fuel them slowly. Even now it had managed to simmer quietly, reducing down to only the purest emotions. Enough for Gorandis to put a lid on it at least. it would always be there... but for now it would be contained. One person had died for it by his hand... And suddenly the simmering rage had bubbled up again.

"You." his gaze turned to the Neries girl who had seemed to have rather egregiously barged into the conversation. "Do you not know manners nor tact? Do you not know when more important things are being discussed than your petty ego? Nahele. Would you miss this girl? Because she certainly doesn't seem to have any real place here."

"And she doesn't seem to have a strong will to live either."
(Gorandis)

Melody giggles in an almost eerie fashion looking at the boy before her. So early in the day and she is already offered a meal! The Ookami was practically ecstatic!

The hairs on her tail would stand on end as she is told to fight.”Hello boy~ My goddess says I have to fight you. Are you ready to have some fun with me?”Melody would say, her tail starting to wag then abruptly stopping as she remembers what she was told yesterday.

The nature Ookami slams her staff into the ground, summoning plants of all types as a gust of wind surrounds her, the young girls ears flopping with the gusts.”Let's not keep her waiting!”she barks, her claws digging into the wood of the staff in hand.
(Melody)

----------------Ah.

Unexpected.

Really, completely unexpected.

He was put up against someone in a fight for the Queen's entertainment. It -- it feels like a cold, clawed hand clenches around his heart, his lungs. He can't -- he can't breathe out of fear. ...She's going to feed from whoever loses. The thought of it makes his stomach churn, makes him ... more afraid than any of this, really.

What would she take, he wonders --- ? It's scary. It's --- it's really scary.

But --

... but, he can't show that, can he ... ? No, the boy instead smiles his idle smile, shoulders rolling back as vines similar to those of the girl before him wriggle up from the cobbles below.

"...Right. Let's make this good for her, mm'kay?"
(Aster Eclissi)

Summoning up the winds from around her a strong little cushion of air whips around Melody ready to lash.

Wigging her staff in the air her salmon eyes would befall the boy.”You should be honored boy! Its win win either way! We get a fight and if we lose we get to be eaten by a Goddess!! Isnt today the best day /ever/!”the ookami girl would smile.

Grasping lowering her stance the fanged girl gets ready to fight, an ever so hint aura of depravity oozing off of her tiny form.
(Melody)

What was this?

The Vampire came flying about- Whilst there truly wasn't anything of worth for specifically her to do, it was always a fun thing to watch others fight out. Of course, upon noticing it was indeed a fight, she did momentarily consider making an attempt to make a meal out of the loser, but alas the presence of Nahele would prevent her from doing such. If the loser were to be devoured, then it would definitely be by the Queen herself.

"Huh... That white haired Ookami? Impressive, I didn't think she would still be here- I guess some people do stay true to their word." Which, in truth, was a seldom act- Even Dumuzid was a liar, so truly it was quite possible for anyone to be. "Though it seems she's losing, poor girl."
(Luna)

"After her defeat, she proceeded to...succumb to her curse." She sighs. "Lasswell had to beat her down, again. But-...for now, she isn't dead. Locked away within the cells." Her brow is pinched, seemingly annoyed with how that played out. "I'm unsure of what the imperfect has planned for her, but I'm sure we'll all find out soon enough." She had her ideas, but the imperfect had proven to be quite the unpredictable beast.

"---Zurie, if you really want Lasswell to wipe the floor with you later, then so be it. But if he could manage to best Lorelei, I-...I suppose I'll watch, but I doubt that I'd find any entertainment..." With that, her head only shakes back and forth--

Snap.

Seems too many annoyances at once isn't good for the 'Queen'...

...especially when one considers that she is a stress-eater...

"Zurie, Zurie, Zurie...this man...is entirely correct. And-...perhaps I'd be more lenient with you, but much like that blonde...I have much higher expectations out of you...!" The sickly depraved aura of sin, light-grey mana, it began to radiate from the woman in mass. "But dismissing her...it would do no good, it would teach no lesson, it wouldn't teach her of patience...it wouldn't teach her why I should not be disappointed!"

Elongated claws lunge forth, attempting to collide with her shoulders- but if she had any regard to her well being, she'd merely let this display of aggression play out...

"...Erebia has been consumed, the great-horn is missing, and the two beneath you...a liar...a defiler...do you not understand, girl?" Her breathing grows jagged: uncontrolled. "The fate of you people rests upon your shoulders. With each action you take, each step you make, it is not for you, but for the Neries as a whole-...I try, and try, and try, but time and time again your people prove to be nothing more than pompous baboons!" She shrieks, not once attempting to hide her anger.

"If only because something like me exists, a wolf amongst ravens, something that comes from a bloodline of dogs...someone who was mistreated for the actions of a few other mutts-...my personal experience shows that I shouldn't judge a race as a whole, but my patience...with...the neries...grows...thin...." She snarls, placing her maw just before the face of the youth.

"You will make an offering of flesh to me, and wait patiently within my throne room for further instruction!" The light-grey mana begins to suck away at her lifeforce--

"DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?!"
(Nahele)

It went -- easier than expected.

Had his training in the ranks of Armageddon paid off .... ? His heart pounds wildly in his chest as his vines rip and tear at the girl's flesh, as flowers that bloom across the battlefield release spores that block out vision, make it hard to move, drug the mind into beleiving one way is another ---

...The fight is exhilerating. It's ... it's fun, he thinks. The stakes are high, they're fighting for the attention of their Queen, to live another day without their flesh in her stomach. The stakes are ... scarily high, but ---

... ... Somehow, it doesn't make the fight less fun. It -- it may make it more fun, it makes something like pleasure thrum through his veins and he doesn't want to stop.
(Aster Eclissi)

The first part of the two’s fight was pretty much one sided! She just couldn't get away, not used to her wind magics yet the tiny Ookami girl would clamber around the narrow streets trying to get a good position without fail.

Melody had nothing to fear from a win or a loss, both looked equally appealing to her, though she wished to show her goddess she could at least put up a fight!

So digging her claws into the cobble once more the hairs on the young girls tail stood on end.”Its a shame you don't get to be the Goddesses snack when you win as well! That's the best part!”she would bark at the child before her, the toothy smile still on her face.

(Melody)

O-Oh Nerebia.

As soon as Nahele got angry, as soon as she seemed to snap, and grab onto Zurie's surprisingly firm shoulders, the little Neries was suddenly shook with fear. Goosebumps covered her flesh, her heart could quite possibly be heard, audiably racing and that little chubby bodyof hers, it began to shiver in place.

"Y-Yes my Queen. Do you... Do you have any preferences?" Her head bowed lightly, not being able to make eyecontact with the Queen when she was so terrified of her. Maybe she should've waited for Gorandis's and Nahele's conversation to end? Either way, the Neries child only gulped.

Please don't kill me... please don't...

Such a thought raced through the young tween's mind. She hadn't done anything deserving of a death sentence, right? She was loyal. LOyal and afraid, easy to be manipulated by the Queen because of this. But she wasn't just afraid for her own life, no. The lives of the other Neries rested on her pleasing the Queen, on her redeeming them.

And so she sat there, not entirely sure what to do. She didn't want to make any form of offering to the Queen that seemed light, and so the Neries girl waited to see if the Queen would state a preference. "I'll give you whatever you want just... it won't hurt too bad will it?"
(Zurie)

He won.

For his Queen, he won.

---The girl he was fighting was pretty weak, he thinks idly. ...Pathetically weak, almost. The Queen was going to be training her ... ? It was a waste of her time. She'd realized that, now, after seeing this fight, hasn't she .......... ?

The young Ookami girl is knocked to the ground, dress and skin ripped by the unforgivingness of nature -- He pins her down, straddling the girl with small, trembling hands grasping her throat. Poised to attack, the vines around him spin into a sharp point, striking like a snake after a mouse as it plunges deep into the girl's shoulder.

---He doesn't hurt her a lot. That's the Queen's job. She wanted a meal. He was just delivering it to her. But... But---

...She deserved this. She lost. She was weak. That's how this world went, wasn't it? The strong could do anything they wanted to the weak. His hands tighten around her throat as blood blossoms from her shoulder -- yes, yes. He was being ruthless, right? He was being more like the people in this town, right --- ?

"This is--- more like ... a predator, right ... My Queen ... ?" Asks the boy, voice breathy from exhaustion of the fight and the euphoria of winning.

"Am I -- am I doing well ... ? I won for you, will you ... am I -- becoming good enough for you to praise me ... ?"
(Aster Eclissi)

Crunch.

Before daring to make a request, the woman lunges forth. Sharp, unnaturally sharp fangs crashed into the young Neries neck. The crunch of flesh and bone could be heard by any nearby. Though, the child manages to get a rather light punishment, all things considered. Silvery liquid begins to stream down her cheeks, and a rather relieved sigh falls from the Ookami's lips. "Fail me again, and I'll take a limb." She snaps, just before wiping away the fluid that taints her visage.

"I'll...send word for you, Gorandis." Left, right, her neck turns, popping. It felt as if something else was trying to grow, but all that manages to occur is the removal of recent scars.

She could get used to this.

"When the specimen is ready, you'll be the first to know."

With a not so gentle shove, she pushed the neries forth-

"Zurie, snow-white, throne room. Immediately." While she'd merely watched the fight out of the corner of her eye, the woman did find herself amused. "I wouldn't say you took upon the role of a predator, but you acted as a loyal soldier- that much is appreciated...consider your trials over, Aster. On your thirteenth year of age...

You will become a Knight for the city of Loranthis."

Unless stopped, she'd enter the throne room with two tender snacks!
(Nahele)

Melody would thrash around on the ground like a rabid dog, still trying to make some sort of difference in the position it was in, but it was already too late at this point, it was clear she lost, not like that was a bad thing in her mind, she was getting rewarded in her own right, saekanis would be proud in her willingness! Oh she hoped to belive so.

The girl screams as she is pinned to the ground straddled by the boy, her breaths sharp as he starts to suffocate her. If melody was paying attention she would have noticed his vines shooting for her shoulder.

A blood curdling scream could be heard on the streets before the crowd, her sanguine fluids dripping out of the vine embedded wound. Melody wanted to eat him, devour the boy! Her mouth opening and closing as her world went darker and darker around her.

Her eyes would close in an almost peaceful way as she passed out, her white ears drooping sideways as her assailant strangled the tiny ookami. This wasn't so bad Melody would think as her consciousness faded, at least she could join her friends now.

(Melody)