dev 1 - inner wellspring

It was like another pleasant night within the depths of Esshar, one peaceful and beautiful evening like the continent is so usually blessed with. The unveiled skies revealed the magnificient armada of stars shining bright and twinkling right above the moon acting as it’s only protectors and public for the locusts’ chant and their fiery dancers the fireflies, all tied into a waltz.

Nature was so beautiful and yet they all ruined it for their edifices, only to praise One who ruled above all of them. They wouldn’t bend the knee for the One who blessed men with such poetry - but for a Queen who held little power. How ironic..

In the middle of this waltz laid, however, something unusual. A craddle braced in the moonlight gently rocking back and forth as the cool and gentle breeze pushed it. One who came close to this would certainly hear the sounds of a little infant, sobbing and crying for help…

And this frail melody would reach none other thanthe priestess, Marisol.

(Baba)

The soothing brilliance of the stars above and the breeze of night wind caused this to be rather pleasant. Even then, despite such, Nerin stayed alert- for he knew of the dangers that lurk the forests due to constant dangers present, due to constant attacks and roaming of Occultists that seemingly never ceased. It doesn't help that given the special assignment unto him, it was bound to be something rather troublesome, but..

He has his duty to perform.
And vengeance to be had.

Neither is possible, unless he walks out there to do such thing. Here, he remembers the words spoken the other day- of the fact that they both don't understand how something so impossibly cruel can exist in the world such as this, for when the shine of moonlight graces them..

He reminds himself of the beauty around the world.
That the stars, the winds, the moonlight.. it's all for them.

Such thoughts are pushed away, however, by the unusual sight- even if he doesn't quite hear the cries nor he finds anything beyond the unusual sight just yet, he seems rather.. apprehensive about it, if only because such sights aren't something that you see out in the forest.

"..Careful."

A single warning given to the priestess, but.. surely, she could already know that much. Instead, he makes a steady approach, his senses keenly tuned in to his surroundings- for all that he's experienced so far, he had no choice but to remain on guard.

"Rather strange to see something like this out here."

It could be either something horrible.. or the sheer cruelty of supposed parents that could leave something like this. There's only one way to find out.
(Nerin)

She flows through the night. The coalescing shadows and lights surrounding her frame make her appear as if she were more of the ether than reality itself. The practice of such magic looms upon the countenance that graces the realm with a gentle smile despite the cruel intent of her roam. Here - there is much promise to this being...As much promise as the gentle cry of the child that would have suddenly caused her to pause..

"Nerin...Do you hear it?" Such illusory magics were silly to use upon her. And yet, she had decided to take the bait out of sheer curiosity and wonder. For as a fellow illusion magi...She felt as if she knew that something was waiting within the midst of this darkness. But to digress...

She'd slowly stalk forth..

Drifting with the likes of the warrior behind her.

"Come on...I'm not worried."
(Marísol)

Illusions? Oh no no no… some tricks needed to be made in flesh and blood.

And thus the priestess closely followed by the Knight approached the rocking craddle, prepared for all eventualities - unfortunately, this was no illusion as when the both of them leaned closer - they eyes fell upon the infant.

A living. Breathing. Infant. Left to his own fate, in the depth of the woods.

The little creature was so frail and cold, his alabastar and pale blue lips alongside the constant shaking was only a testimony of how cold he was. If Nerin and Maricol had only come an hour later, this little bout of a man was probably done for…

How disgusting and horrible this was.. who, just who would do such a thing?

But the chant was not over, oh no.. the little one was not looking at the duo - but at something behind. A silhouette suddenly emerging from the depthsof the woods, the child started rumbling..

"Bababababababa…"
(Baba)

At first, came disbelief.

For when he was faced with the cradle, at first, he assumed this to be some sort of a trick, but.. illusions can only be this powerful, can't they? And besides, most of the time, they're temporary - this is by far not the first time he's dealt with illusions, so while some of it could fool him for seconds, for dozen of seconds, or a bit longer..

It cannot last long.
And so.. then, came shock.

His eyes widened at the realization that there's an infant left in the cradle- an actual, living, breathing infant- being someone who was practically 'abandoned' ever since the young days, this.. somewhat tugged at his heart, much more than he would like to imagine - in ways that evoked immediate need to show empathy to the child and nurture it.

"By the stars.."

It doesn't take him long, for he immediately reaches out to grasp upon the myriad cloaks and additional clothes that he carried; mostly, these were befitting to become something akin of a 'cloak' for him, but.. for a child so small? This could very well substitute for thick, warm covers to warm it up. Here, he finds himself quickly wrapping it up, an address made to the priestess as well.

"Marisol, your magics are capable of such. Warm it up and soothe it."

The light of Holy was capable of much. In particular, he was mostly concerned over the survival of the child.. for he was by no means rotten on the inside, even if the countless betrayals and heartaches made him smile less and less. Deep inside, he possessed deep empathy for such..

But..

A silhouette. And with the child rambling, there's a frown- the strong frown that Zula often spoke of, one that threatens to spill over the well of frustration and anger; one whichsignified naught but trouble for whoever opposed him. The shimmering brilliance of blue, and the reflection of ivory colors manifested.. with the bone-blades protruding out of his body, and the sheer, raw Energy surrounding his form.

A loud demand is spoken.

"Show yourself."
(Nerin)

"Mhm… mhmm… mhm.~"

The silhouette came with a gentle hum, a sweet and intoxicating melody reaching out towards the priestess and the knight's direction, a caress for the ears, a sweet promise - for the ones weak of mind.

It all came together.

She gazed upon them with warm eyes and a gentle expression, a big toothy grin adorning refined traits. At a impressive height of 6'1', she was taller than average and her countenance emcompassed this stature well. Her hair was the color of pastel blue, straightened behind her in a braid like enriched flowers, freely drifting left and right behind her body just like like a veil. Lavenders peered brilliantly from within their depths. With skin as pale as albastar marble and this voluptuous physique, she was anything but threatening by first appearance.

However, the both of them knew better. Never judge a book by it's cover…

This mature woman carried herselfwith grace and elegance, the very shadow following her - shrinking and finally brought to nought, puppets now scattered all around them, each having distinct traits and personalities but all silent as their mistress approached.

Not a single word came out from her lips and this eerie presence that would only come closer and closer to them - was only shifting what used to be a beautiful waltz into a macabre scene. Two in one, a prietess and a knight…

Children make such effective baits.~

Crooked hand and unnaturally twisted hands came out from the depth of the woman's cloak - stretched outward in Nerin and Marisol's direction. Her appearance suddenly blinked, the illusion of this mature and elegant woman gone - replaced with the disfigured and deformed creature she truly was.


Baba, the monstrous Witch.


The dark and red flame poured from within her wake - bracing her form into the sickening and reeking miasma now slowly wearing them down - the child included. Their life force was being sucked - turned into a delicious meal. While the both of them were strong and powerful Magis, how long the child would last..?

Strings of a purple taint was suddenly revealed from the end of her digits - attached to all the shadow puppets scattered around. The fight ought to be.. gruesome and violent. A totally new beast, a new challenger was now lurking in the woods..
(Baba)

She becomes lost within the ambience. Where music and brilliance of the lullaby reaches her ears- and yet, while she appreciates such music and brilliance, she finds that she is not quite like all of the others. She appreciates the dramatic undertone of the woods...And she soon follows the child deeper, deeper, until she finally discovers the innocence within all of this darkness. The light.

It is nothing more than a simple infact. The promise of warmth and essence being pulled forth- as if versions of herself were slipping past her fingertips and yet....The light becomes just as infectious as the dark. For within all of this thickness....She becomes the beacon necessary...And on the outerlayers, one would be able to see multiple shades of her dancing about....Barriers erected to keep herself and the child safe as she speaks.

"Go! Nerin!"

She'd protect the child.
The rest would be up to him.
For now.
(Marísol)

He was never fond of this darkness. For in such dark, there lurks monstrosity that would otherwise swallow everything whole.. and when the tune is listened to, when the alabaster frame carefully approaches them, the readiness of the Knight only deepened, so much so that it could seem that he was ready to stand against just about anything..

When no introduction was given, but instead this display?

By then, he already knew that something is wrong. For the crooked hand that stretched towards them with dissipation of illusory shadows caused him to frown, and when the nauseating presence of the flames poured overboard, threatening to take the life of a child that they thought to guard.. he stepped forth as an obvious opposition.

"Mari. Keep the child safe."

For he couldn't. She, as a wielder of Holy magic, could oppose the presence of the Occultic miasma, but.. Nerin? He could only truly protect himself with the presence of raw mana; for it becomes something that threatens to drain the life from everything around them, and yet..

He wouldn't stand for this.

"What vile, putrid creature would do something like this - to a child?" He doesn't even refer to her as if she were a person, a human. A 'creature'.. how peculiar, for him to view them such way. But in truth.. the Occultic aura already proved to him enough, just about enough for him to do something about it. And so..

The shimmering brilliance began to burn bright, brighter.. until the azure flames seemed to flicker with the encompassed, welling up anger for such acts deep within his soul, his heart and mind- here, it became the devouring force of raw Energy, threatening to swallow whatever would come near.

"You'll pay for this."

The shimmering light steadily covered the protruding blades, the myriad appendages that were meant to aid him in battle. Here, it would become something more.. something far stronger, far more excellent than they could possibly see before.

It becomes the force to reckon with..
And it's targeted right at Baba.
(Nerin)

There's no denial in the strength that the Occultist possessed.

If anything.. the suffocating miasma of Occultism was exactly something that caused it all to be that much difficult for him- for it's something that had caused him to utilize as much as he could, as otherwise he might've fallen. Even if the strength he possessed was rather formidable.. there's no denying of the power in her magics, ones that caused it all to be that much more difficult.

Yet, for her, it's not enough to overwhelm Nerin.

For where the darkness falls and fools his mind, and where the shadows seek to encircle him.. time and time again, he finds the strength to break through; the raw energy supplied to his circuits and each hit that he makes, tracing down along the ivory blades that intended to pierce the Occultist before him.

Slash, stab, cut..
Time and time again..

By no means these were the usual attacks- for the ethereal force behind each strike intended to paralyze her mana circuits, so much so that it could become rather troublesome to produce the form of any opposition against him; despite the dark red fires burning against him, it would seem that he perseveres.. so much so that she finds herself trapped by Nerin's consistency and refusal to back away.

Until there's no more room to run.

He'll chop and slice, cut and dice.. leaving markings across her flesh; where she intends to fire the Occultic magic against him, he finds himself flanking the woman in timely manner to avoid the force that could otherwise put him down- delivering powerful strikes that would leave her drained of energy.

So much so that even her magic seems to fade. Steadily, slowly.. it becomes an overbearing presence in which she's basked, one in which she cannot hope to cast her magic properly. With the finishing blow delivered, one intended to perhaps knock her down for good.. the shimmering light, unfortunately for Nerin, didn't leave her breathless- but instead, severely weakened.

As the light shines upon her once more, preparing to take her down so that she could be taken away.. it is perhaps her chance to escape - with no other being given.

Now or never.
(Nerin)

It all came together within a single click. A wild pull and all the faceless dolls came in unison, jumping and ravaging against the Knight with sharp and elongated claws of dark scratching and tearing through his apparel in a vicious attempt to draw blood - and reveal the flesh the monster craved so much for. These little creatures all came with a gnarl - feeding on the man just like parasites.

With that and the powerful use of the unholy arts - it would usually be enough.~

But not with this one, not with this particular Knight. This one held much more power than the previous ones Baba came across, he was relentless, determined, not allowing this putrid miasma to wear him down..

Unwilling to bend the knee before Baba,
Unwilling before this dark emissary,
Unwilling before the Dark Lord,

The embodiment of what Baba sought to eradicate, a proud Knight of Esshar, the Queen's puppet. Baba was cut and sliced but this deformed form was merely an another illusion of someone more robust and capable of withstanding such strikes but Nerin's own physical prowess was wearing her down and, despite draining his life force.. it wasn't enough for her to survive this encounter.

Eerie lavenders looked in the infant's direction - a hand stretched out it it's direction to devour the child from afar but, it was braced with the holy arts. The beast was cornered - unable to act.

She had no leverage to make this stop.

No leverage to defeat this man.

But as she was growing weaker - so was the Knight unleashing his might against Baba. She acted frail and weak, her face bloodied but once the opportunity was seen - the remaining dolls launched towards Marisol and the child, threatening to explode against their contact. That, with the fact that Nerin was growing weaker.. it allowed this sly creature to escape his grasp, turning into anincredibly fast mist of dark - that quickly moved to hide in the woods.

A trail of blood was left behind, the creature was injured.

But with how fast it just revelead itself to be, it'd be nearly impossible to catch Baba.. and.. the couple had now a child to take care of. Frightening how the woman planned an escape plan - but was more concerning..

The growing powers of this budding witch.

A danger to behold for the future.

The woods were not so safe anymore…
(Baba)

Time and time again, she was cornered by the Knight. So much so that the bleeding out Occultist had nigh no chance to escape, but.. the peculiar trick of the dolls that were forwarded the way of Marisol and child is something that caused him to lose his attention, even if briefly- for he wouldn't allow either of them to suffer.

Immediately, his attention turned towards these dolls that dashed towards Marisol and the child.

With a single strike, a wave of Energy is unleashed. One that intended to not only put down these creatures, but entirely eviscerate them before these dolls could reach their target- upon such strike, the vibrant azure surrounds Nerin, almost threatening to overspill and become something much more, but..

It becomes contained nonetheless.

Here, as he intends to turn towards Baba to finish her off for good.. already she escaped, his hues steadily narrowing at how quickly she ran- as much as he contemplates briefly to actually chase after her, he knows - it's far too late. And besides..

He couldn't just leave the two behind, could he?

Instead, he huffs out. Covered in blood, primarily that which belongs to Occultist and with some of the cuts and burns of his own.. he eventually turns towards the priestess, heaving a breath in and out.

"It's.."

"It's over."
(Nerin)