Arachnis: Pheonix of Darkness

The spear pierced his heart, sending shock throughout his body, his figure cringing, turning with the impact of the weapon before falling victim to the illusionary spell that was of Azeil. Azeil seemed to ascend to the skies, like an angel of sorts... Darkness closed in from all corners, and his body grew weak... The cold crept in and soon enough... The darkness that once was his ally began to consume him, cloaking him... Rendering him silent... Alone...

The voices tormented him... Failure... The laughter he heard during his last departure to death haunted him even now.

"Dead, again?" The feminine voice taunted, "Pathetic..."
His eyes peered open to come to a dark cavern, nothing like the world he once laid dead within, nor Azreal's realm of the dead... This was... Different...

"I expected a bit more from you." She spoke in a near-coy tone, finger trickled upon his shoulder, awaking him to this strange world... A world in which he could not explore with his eyes for his vision was locked before him, he could not turn his head to shift his gaze, for his body was frozen in place.

"Do you have anything to offer me?" The smooth hand grasped at his chin to turn his head to visit this entity's face. A face, blank and black as the void itself; A physical incarnation of Lyperion Utovex within the depths of his consciousness. "I'm sure you do... You have resources surrounding you... Can't you see?"

Arachnis remained silent, mouth slightly agape however, incapable to speak...
"You were born, raised, and flourishing in the darkness... You learned to see the unseen... Eyes were not neccessary to achieve such, your will and strife was, are you going to let this be the end?"

"It wasn't you that brought you back from the dead... It was me. Kudlak had no part in your survival, nor triumph... It was me. For the years you've lives and fought, I've been at your side, and always will be. I give you, yet another chance... A chance to live on... Take it, and become.... " She faded away, alongside with the rest of the landscape, morphing into a blurry image of the Granite estate. Blood, intestines, innerds everywhere, they painted the grasses, once beautiful and set-

His fingers twitched, weak but not inept, enough energy and will remained to allow one more push. "L-... Lord.... Arachnis... Lady.... Jade.... P-...Please.... Say.... Something..." He called out, a teary eyed Harukean strained himself to pick his head up, using one arm after the other to pull himself for the body, only after flipping himself over. He winced at the slap of pierced flesh and armor hitting the hard soil beneath him, a thin streak of crimson fluid lined the the grasses he crawled upon. As he remained prone, he closed in on the disemboweled mercenary that he happened to come across first.

A hand grasped at the merc's shoulder and a breif pull, and Senju's head buried itself into his chest. He snarled at the pain he was feeling, the dizziness of travel in his state left him disorientated, hope fading as was his lifeforce, yet, he didn't falter, even now...

"M-...My Lord? Y-... You're okay?" Senju looked unto the dying mercenary, with tears welling in his eyes, sadness for the overall loss, unable to truly fathom the reasoning... However, there wasn't time to cry now... It was kill, or die... And so he did.

His head lurched into the man's chest, mouth agape to reveal a torrent of serpents emerging from the base of his gullet, curling about in a thick layer of mucus and saliva.
"My lord? What are you do-ING" He winced, before finally crying out to the heavens for dear mercy, mercy that would never come.

The serpents sharpened at their ends, boring into the armor, and finally slithering into the flesh, carving out whatever came to them first, radiating a sanguine illumination at it's slit between his mouth and the newly carved opening. Every organ within the body was taken, vaporized and consumed into energy which was immediately utilized by Lyperion Utovex... Crimson static swallowed his form, soon enough, concentrating around his chest that met the soil and back that revealed the opposing end that bulged out to reveal a clear shot through the body...

The static built up a solidified mass of ebony symbiote, filling in the hollowed portion of his body, prior to succumbing to the static's hue, transforming into a mass of ruby light.

The light faded.. And where it dissipated, was skin, no longer did it leak blood. A heartbeat, once irregular and gushing blood from it's system, was evening out, and the Harukean... Was stable once more, dodging death for a second time.

With that done, and this mercenary dead, he flipped himself over, everyone within the front lawn of the estate... Dead, besides himself...
Little did he know... Jade, his wife, now a corpse, was but merely inches away from him now, laying side to side, he embraced her presence for the last time... Even as she was shriveled up, he turned, teary-eyed, to deliver a final kiss to her cheek...

"I... Failed you for the last time. I don't deserve your forgiveness..." He rolled over to hold himself to his palms and knees, staring at her corpse in an upside down fashion, only to be interrupted by more Granite forces from the inside...

"...But... I swear to you... I will not allow this to go unavenged..."
(Arachnis)

THWAP!

A hard, solid, resounding slam came to the back of Arachnis' head. It was a bare hand that struck him, and it left a slight chill to the area. "Idiot." A firm, familiar, imperialistic voice spoke from behind him. "Crying over me? That's not going to make me happy." The female voice continued, waiting for Arachnis to look to her.

Needless to say, the face looking upon him was familiar, if a tad etherial. It was a young Jade, before she had been afflicted with the transformative affects of her curse. The beautiful young woman, short and powerful, skin fair as the moon and hair black as night. If one doubted just the looks, one could see that it truly was Jade that was beheld, by the azure eyes that the specter posessed, free of the dreadful and terrifying serpentine visage.

"Don't cry Senju. You've never failed me, even now. You lived, didn't you?" She asked, placing a hand over her breast. "My heart is relieved for that. Jasper will still have someone to look after him. Do not blame yourself, Senju, for it was my own actions from the very beginning that doomed me to my fate, even from before I had met you."

"Grieve for me. Never forget me. But do not blame yourself. I am finally free. Lillith's Curse no longer binds me to her will, my love." She reached out a hand to him, the wisp-like cold of her touch to chill his cheek, "No longer do I live in agony on a day to day basis. No longer do I fear losing my humanity to that fallen angel. I'm free, Senju, and it feels so great. I never thought Azreal's Embrace would be so relieving."

"Avenge me if you will, my Beloved, but know I already rest in peace. Knowing that you and Jasper are safe. If you desire to avenge me however, do not seek the bloodshed of my killer. Continue our mission, strive to end death and suffering, strive to fix everything wrong with this world. That was our dream, Senju, do not allow it to become clouded by vengeance."

"My time here is coming to an end, unfortunately. I can feel myself getting drawn into the cycle, the only reason I am able to appear here now is due to my mana being dispersed throughout the area." She stepped forward then, kneeling down. "Just know that I love you Senju, and I always will, even in another life." She spoke to him, before she pressed her phantom lips against his. It was but for an instant, before she pulled back, her body fading. Tears were clearly in her eyes, for she knew that kiss would truly be their last.

"Goodbye, my love. Tell Jasper I love him."
That was all she managed to speak, before fading into the air with a brief wave.
(Dead Ghostnite)

The tears that streaked down his face felt warm, oddly in the cold that surrounded him, hope lingered on. Even if she was was ethereal, she was with him even now, even if it was for only one last time, it was him and her alone, in the field of the dead. A smack may have been just what he needed, he couldn't afford depression, he couldn't afford the sadness that weighed down at his heart, but as his eyes locked with her sapphire irises for the last time, how could he possibly abandon the will to fight back?.. How could he allow himself to surrender a chance at vengeance?

Alas, her ghastly lips met his own, and her existence began to fade from the realm they sustained within. For once, he embraced her without thought of anything nor anyone in the world, there was nothing more important aside from his son, as of now... And he had to accept what had come to be, on that day.

As of now, it was all he lived for... Standing as a man whom has consumed countless men, women and child, standing within their many essences and circuits surging in his veins! He was raised, developed, and hardened for vengeance... But the goal he made with Jade, it was... Something he could never dismiss..

"I.... Will change this world... I will revolutionize this world..." She began to fade away, leaving him to tremble in sadness, that only now began to subside, replaced... With anger...
"I will -FIX- this world... And craft it, into the perfect molding... You will live in our son, and I, will.... Will..."

She was gone... And he was alone, alone with only few Granite guards arriving afterwards to support him.

"Lord Arachnis! You're okay! What was the fate of Lady Granite? What happened?!" More guards poured out, speaking in horror and shock at the gruesome display. Bodies... Corpses... And only one survivor...
They spoke, exclaimed, and even panicked, but no longer could Senju hear their pleas nor words in question, all there was, was him, and what once was Jade.

He was silent, speechless, and unable to find emotion for the moment... Lost in the silent daze that was wonder and internal conflict. Suddenly, the simple things in life here that so much as sparked distaste in the women felt like violent crimes, regret for even the small things he found entertaining weighed at his shoulders, and the world seemed to tumble on down...

Until finally, a hand latched to his shoulder, bringing him back to reality. A fade of volume in the man's voice left him with a slight jolt, prior to realization.
"I-... I need to talk to my son..." He replied...

What more could he give?... What more could he do for the fallen?...

"...I... Have to... Fulfill a promise... Start cleaning up, a funeral is to be taken place tomorrow... "

...With that, the Harukean left the work to the servants... His son, the last Harukean, from his knowledge, was to be protected at all costs... And have the news broken to him.
(Arachnis)