Ethan vs. Hathor

[17:30] Hathor asks, "Ever notice how sand is much more easier to hear people walking on than grass?"
[17:31] Ethan Hawke asks, "Is it?"
[17:32] Hathor says, "The way sand crackles when stepped on is louder than grass. And almost unavoidable even with light steps."
[17:33] Ethan Hawke says, "Oh."
[17:34] Ethan looked up towards the skies for a few seconds before he looked back down to Hathor.

"I've got news."
(Ethan Hawke)
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[17:35] Hathor only turned her head. An obvious curiosity. In her eyes.
(Hathor)
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[17:38] Ethan Hawke says, "Thera came back with results."
[17:40] Hathor asks, "And will it work?"
[17:42] Ethan took some time to deliver the news. They weren't easy to tell, after all. After a few seconds he shook his head.

"The best we can do is send you to Helheim peacefully."
(Ethan Hawke)
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[17:42] Hathor asks, "So no chance of purification then?"
[17:43] Ethan Hawke says, "None. A star would be too much and would force your spirit to follow where your soul is."
[17:43] Ethan Hawke says, "Anywhere we'd try to send you in the spirit world would have wardens catching you and finishing you off."
[17:44] Hathor says, "Hm."
[17:44] Hathor says, "I have something I need to do before I go."
[17:45] Ethan Hawke asks, "What is it?"
[17:45] Hathor says, "Make Sors suffer."
[17:46] Hathor says, "If I can't be purified than I'll at least focus my anger on something else. I'll find myself an anchor that isn't him if I have to."
[17:46] Hathor says, "Until he suffers, I don't think I can accept going back to Helheim."
[17:46] Ethan Hawke says, "I doubt that's possible, too. We've searched for every way."
[17:48] Hathor says, "If I go back to Helheim I'll just continue to roam endlessly. Craving for something I guess I lost a long time ago."
[17:49] Hathor says, "You can always try to kill me now, if you want. But I refuse to go down without a fight. Not until he suffers. Even if he's dead I want to know my last moments on this plane are because of that bastard going straight to Hel."
[17:53] Ethan took in a deep breath. This was a situation that wasn't easy at all. On one end he wished for her to be able to help against Sors, on the other he knew that he couldn't let her go out there like that - she would find herself enslaved again. There had to be another way, right?

The man thought for a few seconds. Half a minute, even.

"... There might be another way you can help, but... it's tough to accept."
(Ethan Hawke)
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[17:54] Hathor simply turned around, closing her eyes, both arms crossed.
(Hathor)
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[17:54] Hathor asks, "What is it?"
[17:56] Ethan Hawke says, "You've still got mana. Enough for a spirit to be manifested and for it remain."
[17:56] Ethan Hawke says, "We can use that. But..."
[17:57] Ethan Hawke says, "You're not gonna be you at all."
[17:57] Ethan Hawke says, "You're not even gonna be anymore."
[17:58] Ethan Hawke says, "It'd be like going through a star but there's some use to it beyond rejoining the soul and fading away."
[17:58] Hathor asks, "And what kind of spirit will it be?"
[18:00] Ethan shook his head a bit.

"None. You'd be reduced to pure mana. Raw energy. Overwhelmed and melted down into nothing more than what makes you up and converted to empower this staff - the one I'll use to take down Sors. At best? You'd turn into a wisp. At worst, you won't even be able to realize you exist."
(Ethan Hawke)
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[18:05] Hathor says, "I rather not be used as a weapon again. Unless my mana has some form of existence in it's own I rather just go back to Helheim or wait out Sors' death."
[18:06] Ethan Hawke says, "It'd exist."
[18:06] Ethan Hawke says, ".. But I get what you mean."
[18:06] Ethan Hawke says, "We can try and send you off as peacefully as possible, then."
[18:09] Hathor says, "I'm wondering if I even deserve that."
[18:09] Ethan Hawke says, "Probably not."
[18:10] Ethan Hawke says, "For all it's worth I shouldn't give you a choice and just have you give in to being of use."
[18:10] Ethan Hawke says, "But that doesn't feel right."
[18:12] Hathor says, "at least you have some sense of morality"
[18:12] Hathor says, "I don't want to go out without trying."
[18:12] Ethan Hawke says, "I'm afraid I can't let you do that. You'd just end up back into his palm."
[18:13] Hathor asks, "Really don't trust me to find a way to break the bonds myself, do you?"
[18:13] Ethan Hawke says, "Not at all."
[18:14] Hathor says, "Then I guess you'll have to stop me from leaving."
[18:14] Hathor says, "Because if it hasn't been made adequately clear, I am the maker of my own destiny. Not anyone else."
[18:16] Ethan Hawke says, "I hope you'll be fine with your destiny being guided the right way, then."
[18:18] Raising up through the air via the usage of her mana, the Nethradin's golden eyes locked on toward Ethan. She seemed to hold no emotion in that gaze, nothing other than her own hatred and malice. But it was not directed at this particular mage, no. HE could see there was a deeper source of her anger. And after all the minotauress had said, he should've known what all it was.

With a hand reaching into her cloak, she pulled out what seemed like some sort of small powder keg, holding it tightly between the clawed ingers of her right hand.

"I'll liberate myself. I'll kill him and every last person genuinely loyal to him. And I'll find a way to make up for my sins myself. Don't make me waste this on you, and get out of my way."
(Hathor)
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[18:23] Ethan's right hand reached back for the staff he wielded. The very same object that they had worked on making into an anchor for the Nethradin's spirit, hoping to save her, to make her life have some sort of meaning. This... couldn't be possible, however. Short of turning her into nothing but mana, the Wayfinder had no way of getting anything beneficial from her.

It hurt to do, but the man knew that he had to throw away her needs and desires. To do what he had to do. It had to come down to this, after all, didn't it?

His story as a magi had begun with a Nethradin hurting him; he learned Wayfinding to deal with that very issue. Dropping it all right then and there would be crazy.

"I'm sorry." Is all he could say, colorless sparks dancing around his frame.
(Ethan Hawke)
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[18:24] Drops the smoke bomb, attempting to fly south-east with the fog diversion.
(Hathor)
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[18:35] ** Ethan Hawke has inflicted an injury upon Hathor. ("Temporary Injury", "Temporary Injury", "Temporary", "Duration: Medium (4 days)") **
[18:45] It left a bitter taste in his mouth to have to do something like that, yet he had no choice. It was either forcefully guiding her towards the right way or having her run right back into trouble and either betraying his trust or being captured and re-enslaved by Sors. Either way, torture was bound to happen to the Nethradin.

Flames tainted by the occult yet not wearing their signature abyssal color raged on, evaporating the cursed waters they came across without mercy. The Wayfinder's quick wit and reactions lead him behind Hathor in the midst of a cast - leaving her more vulnerable than ever before.

Ethan's right hand reached out forward, his staff brought against the middle of her back. The phoenix feather within it began burning with a bright, bright light. A fiery, roaring inferno that unleashed heat unlike anything before. The numerous magical circles etched upon the staff's foci began glowing without restraint, shedding light of every color imaginable - and some more - as the intimate connection to the spirit world Rebirth had was put to use.

These burning flames were more akin to a phoenix' purying fires, aiming to reduce the Nethradin to a state no greater than mana. Judging by his earlier talk with Thera it seemed as if that 'journey' was not something Hathor wished to complete, according to Ethan's actions.

Perhaps he should have ensured the red-skinned woman couldn't escape before blasting her with the full force of his weapon, however.
(Ethan Hawke)
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[18:57] The battle waged on between the Wayfinder and the underworlder. His powerful flames were able to beat back her winds and her water accursed by her own hatred and malice. WIth every powerful gust that was sent Ethan's way, another illusionary trick of flame attempted to riddle her physical shell with destruction. But still she fought on.

Here she thought there was a chance to 'get better'. A chance they would give her to 'reclaim' her humanity. A chance to save her soul so that when her shell or anchor was destroyed, she wasn't sent immediately back to Helheim.

The scars in her hands began to bleed a dark crimson ichor. The tears near the ankles of the Minotaur once more, bled this same dark red liquid. Putrid and full with a tangible malevolence. And even as her wounds built up, the she-devil continued to wage a battle of survival upon Ethan. She could make him sweat. She could make him feel the raw passion of her fury. Every drop of Umbretarn felt like acid on the skin. Every fellblade of Mourngale? A disease-ridden blade. Corrupting and corroding flesh it managed to touch.

But it was not enough. Ethan managed to confuse and get behind the fiend. Placing a hand to her back, a hellish screech of pain radiated form her body, causing her to ricochet both from the blast and the instinct to flee from pain. Once a good enough distance was made by the blast mixed with an attempt to flee, she'd let out a roar.

"I'll kill him. I'll destroy him and everything he holds dear. I won't rest until I can see him in Hel and devour him for what he did to me, to the one friend I have. So long as I have this desire to see his end. I'll live. I'll find Freedom. I'll be saved by my own actions. My destiny, is mine." A demonic roar echoed from her form. Creating a shockwave where she landed. Covering her body in felwinds that spiraled into the sky and toward the east. These winds that spiral against her form sprinkled acidic indigo waters, burning away at the plant life that may have existed beneath her.

She'd live. If for no other reason than to see her vengeful ambition fulfilled.
(Hathor)
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[19:03] He didn't have the insight to properly finish things off before going for the attempt at converting her - though that may have been better in the long run. Ethan's heart wasn't built to inflict that kind of pain towards others. Taking a life was... hard. Even to this day. Especially one that he had to take due to his own shortcomings, due to his failure.

In the grand scheme of things he let her run. He let her leave. He let her escape and throw herself in the most dangerous of all attempts. He felt bad, and remorse began eating away at his will - preventing him from giving the last push needed. All he could utter at that time were a few precious words.

".. I hope so."

The Wayfinder watched her run, winds tailing behind her as he thought of what the next move would be. Thera's indications were that there was no solution, but... there had to be, right?

He wanted a solution to exist.
(Ethan Hawke)