Xerves: Hypocrisy For Revolution

[14:40:35] The Trystle Caverns were slowly turning into a far more hostile place--
The Gigai stood, supporting its weight with his left arm rested against a mesa to its side. It was critically injured by the brawl prior; Gouches covered its form, from the chestal region to its legs. Bruises from charging impacts from the advarsaries prior left it scathed with darkened flesh. Though, even in its winded state, bleeding to miniscule degree, the beast still stood.

By its feet, were the remnants of the fallen:
Megai and lesser beast cadavers littered the earthen soils; At best, it proved a disgraceful sight to that whom defended his own kind. No matter his strife to unite his own kindred, they refused to seek out reason. Instead, they would rather fight as the mindless thralls of the corrupting darkness that plagued their minds, conflicting with the idea of that said creatures were masters of this very element. Darkness: A literal presence that clouded perception in these caves, left Xerves midst the sea of corpses, prejudice to his own kind.

Teras, Megai, and lessers... All at his feet, they allegiances scattered betwixt his own fallen pack and the former rivalling clan. The leader of the onslaught, was the dying beheamoth before the fatigued Xerves, bleeding out from his wounds.
The enemy Gigai glared up towards Xerves with the same gaze he'd see other humans with. This was no look of unity, nor longing...
It was the very emotion that symbolized the element they thrived in, flourished in...
It was the emotion of the Occult: Hatred.
(Xerves)
[14:40:35] The words of a certain Elemental recited through his mind with the scenes that unfolded. The words of one he'd find company in during his short visit to the Yokai Citadel. It spoke of a dream, he had yet to understand- To decipher for greater reason. Though, these alien means of thinking were methods of percieving the world to a far greater, more complicated degree. It was a gift granted to the visor of an Elemental...

The simple mind, albeit complex enough to compare to the average man's mentality was simply incapable of grasping such subject, but it wouldn't stop him from wondering. Just like mankind, he had a strong feeling for curiousity. The idea of a world to be understood had never vacanted his mind. He cared not for humans to any favorable magnitude to bother investigating their antics, for xenophobia conquered all drive to ensue such an attempt. Xerves would rather, come to understand the very history of his kind better than he once was, to understand the mentality of his own sort...

Why was it, when he tried reasoning to his kindred, only few would bother to join him in his efforts, but not to avenge the fallen, or defend their kind... But for their own personal benefit. Were they simply selfish? With further thought on the subject, couldn't he truly be selfish as well? Were his dreams and goals truly as righteous has he had fantacized them out to be?

(Xerves)
[14:41:26] He couldn't fathom the idea of him being wrong- The idea of him being the villian of this whole ordeal. If anything, perhaps these Yokai were simply.. Demented. Could it be assumed that something was wrong with this particular batch? That all that he had come across were simple anamolies? Such was an unrealistic way of thinking, but nothing prohibited such mindset. What was to say Xerves was simply normal whilst the others were blinded by a veil he could not percieve, a barrier he did not have. Could it be linked to the idea of him never experiencing a Megai stage?
He couldn't be sure...

Though, staring into the eyes of a vermillion-hide Gigai, fallen and dying before his eyes, cursing Xerves with the last of his withering breath, he couldn't help but feel anger. What sadness could he feel for one that demanded his vanquishment for their own consumption?
It was kill, or be killed... Perhaps, that was what the Ventus mean't. Whilst humans cooperated to sustain through the centuries, Yokai fought and killed to merely survived. Humans had always reigned superior, even as Yokai fought back, as they had grown in numbers and in strength. It was an endless paradigm of oppression that rewarded the rebelling beasts with eradication with every urge to simply survive. They weren't granted the opportunity to flourish...

The few tomes he had come across, that he had bothered to read in the wake of past camp raids brought few thoughts to be juggled, locked away in memory. The idea of a deity named 'Kraus' creating both Human and Yokai kindred, with the idea of granting Exorcism to Humankind and Occultism to Yokaikind in hopes of proving that both could work in harmony... In peace for the greater good... It was propostrious.
(Xerves)
[14:41:26] It didn't make sense, it didn't add up. The amounting disgust from within was beginning to swell over.
What greater good did this sum up to? What greater good did this transcend towards? All that was, now... Was death, and war. War that was constantly waged on the remnants of Yokai spawn without remorse. All means of attempted peace were thrown away time and time again, and constant reminders of the differenced betwixt humanity and Yokai were engrained in the minds of the creatures.

"We... Could've have been one." He said unto the dying by his feet, sanguine hues reflecting their dwindling shape. The emotion in such tainted eyes rivetted a strong flux of anger behind the glare. Such was confirmed with the increase of volume through the telepathic channel.
"We could have been more than THIS!" He descended to his knees, crashing them into the earth to crackle at the cavernous ground, caving in miniature craters to fit his weighed knees into them smoothly.

The beast's right arm dropped unto the fallen's head, clutching their face midst meaty fingers- Locking it in place in the wake of one's might. In an act of ravenous fury, talons bared into the flesh, carving in their place for a certain and unforgiving hold on the visor of the former enemy. An omnimous illumination of contrasting vermillion beams of light streamed from between fingers, portraying the raw vitality of a bested foe draining from his very body.

Muscularity was theft from his physique, forcing flesh to recede for the skeletal system within. The grumbles and growls from the once-opponent were reduced into a drawn out hiss from the gullet, a final breath sapped from his retracting maws. Lifeforce was consumed from the very circuit, parting the soul from the body with the extraction of the mending essence: Mana. The occultic taint that transformed it only drove the Gigai into a state of bliss- A drug he couldn't spare a moment to relieve himself from. The act was set in stone, one he would not relinquish his victim now.. Not until the deed was done.

Eyes retreated for the vague boundaries of the skull, vanishing into the darkness within a hollowed out head. Organ tissue was consumed through the raw essence of Occultism, allowing the Yokai soul to commence its journey to Azreal's corridor. The flesh, a corroded corpse with naught left but skin and gangly bone, was released from the damning clutch, allowed to rest in peace.
(Xerves)
[14:41:26] Xerves, allowed his arms to fall to his sides as he gazed down upon his deed, his act of murder.
A terminal act that had proved so much more rewarding than he could've fathomed in his travels, in his dreams-
What was siphoned, now ran through his circuit, rollicking through his form and surging through beneath his flesh to induce a tingling sensation. He had never felt so alive!
Teeth were barred to forge a grin upon his facade, relishing in the spoils of victory!

... But was truly in self-defense? Couldn't he have allowed the Yokai to slowly die from its wounds? The consumption of other Yokai was predictable to humanity and even their own kindred, though from one such as Xerves? He was now aware of the urge within him, commonly repressed though possessing at times of opportunity. It was a drive that Malpercians had come to know as the moment to Sacrifice-- But as the natural heralder of the feature, it was simply the urge within the feast.

This urge brought way to the cannibalistic act before him, something he had come across by accident. It was a deed he did not commit out of malice, though driven to it by said emotion, but powered through by the lust of the consumption process that followed through, leaving him incapable of ceasing himself in the act. It made more sense to him now...
Though, left him with reason to brand himself a hypocrite. Was he alone? Were there not others?
(Xerves)
[14:42:17] He had killed this one, because it was needed for change- He through to himself. This one fought for a static life: One in which, Yokai would only continue this endless cycle of self-destruction. Xerves formulated the idea that such deed was not destruction of his race, but the dawn of a new flourish. This was a new beginning...

Through the extermination of this one opposing clan leader and his spawn, he could see himself being one step closer to uniting his kindred- Not in death, but by purging those whom would defend this horrid way of life. For centuries they had discriminated against one another, and committed crimes of destruction upon one another for nothing more than self-preservation.. For self-growth.. For evolution that was stumped by the presence of others. No longer would he accept it...

It was time to force it to an end, Xerves saw himself as the change. He -had- to be the reason of this revolution that he dreamed of, that he could percieve in the vision that haunted him day after day, night after night.

This revolution... Was Perfection...
(Xerves)
[14:42:17] It was dream that lead him to return to an earlier point and time, one of which that proved not too distant. It was a conversation betwixt himself and a Hellstorm magi that got aware, one saved by a Vampire that defied his will. A vampire that escaped his grasp through the powers he could not hope to possess in his shallow Gigai stage. With nothing further to agitate his conundrum at mind, he was alloted the opportunity to ponder on his own question... Not to that of the human, but nor Yokai-kind has he had read within a book he presumed written by delusional Exorcists... But of his own.

"What is my purpose? He asked to the non-existent audience, allowing his own voice to echo throughout the darkness. He awaited for no response,only staring off into the element that shrouded him, housed him in a world too cruel to accept him... It was his refuge...
A place where he could hide, a place where he could confide his secrets to without fear of them being relinquished to the light. It was a place he could flourish amongst the blinded and foolish to venture amongst the depths-- It was his home.

Though, such home did not answer his query, but lead him to fabricate images of his past in rapid sequence, watching over playing scenes from various moments of his Gigai life thus far, attempting to make sense of his existence. He was not Nymus, and thus did not have such extensive knowledge and power to uphold a greater purpose... But he was no lesser, he was no Megai, he knew no Megai life for he never had one. Was such sufficient for a higher calling? Was he worth ascension? Could he obtain what even the greatest of their kind had failed to accomplish?
(Xerves)
[14:42:17] With eyes to see even in such low-light, and mastery of such a Stygian art to perceive what humans could never muster in their efforts- Why was he so blind as to not find the answer to such a question midst this abyss. Why was he so limited... Why couldn't he grow beyond these limitation? Was it all a fluke? Was he simply lucky to break such a barrier to his kindred? Did any of it even matter?

Defeat after defeat, he narrowly escaped death for the most part, only succeeding in one of his brawls with the consumption of one human being whom sought to fight for their rights. Their... Overexercised rights.. Their abused rights... They were not worthy of such rights by Xerves' perspective, but rather privileges set by a new overlording entity. Though, not like this... Xerves was incapable. He was too weak, too ineffective... A joke to his kind laughed at and tormented as result by those whom saw him as nothing more but an inferiority.

The scarring inscriptions across his chest was a constant reminder.. A reminder that he was not the strongest. He was not the most fearsome. His feats had earned him no privilege nor right... He was just another, likely fodder to be consumed on a later date, and blade's practice to the many zealous humans that patrol their overstretched strips of land.

The idea of such brought his mind back to Ciara, a Vampire whom had obtained naught more to the name but a title. There was nothing he had bothered to read on the subject-- To him, it was just another subspecies, another arrangement of skin tone, shape, and natural variant. Though, perhaps it was these traits that allotted her the capability to elude him so easily, so tauntingly. She exercised his limits, testing him by utilizing her own to break his reach. There was nothing he could do, for everything that she was in terms of speed was beyond what Xerves could achieve.

It irritated him, infuriated him, that he could never lay fingers on her, even with his Stygian artistry in works, and with access to all of the Yokai kindred at his arsenal, nothing seemed to work. She was simply too fast to touch, to quick to trace... A transgressor to the Yokai's patience.
Her luck came to her favor, when the random Gigai arose from the shadows to assault the agitated beast, leaving him to the scene now...
(Xerves)
[14:43:08] Though, there wasn't time to idle in wait any longer... The destruction of his pack left him with setback as it was. He was intent on changing the world and he would see it through! First, he had to commence the process of recruiting once more, leaving him with the requirement of hunting the caverns, not for prey, but with intention to prove dominance. Dominance was key: The evidence of power before other opposing adversaries birthed a form of hierarchy that sustained throughout the Yokai of Valmasia.

Though, a new ideology was adopted by Xerves...
No longer was he forced to see a world of black and white- Where preservation of Yokai kindred was upheld to the most intensity, but to see the grey betwixt the decision of life and death. Not all Yokai were redeemable, but all of their ilk deserved the chance to realize a place for unity against the true enemies of their kind. Those whom would wish to destroy all of what they have become.

There were some Yokai that were to join his efforts, whether it'd be willingly or by force...
And then there were Yokai that would never change, Yokai that would see his destruction and the destruction of their own kind for their own selfish goals that lead to their very demise. It was these monsters that were perceived as naught but a cancer to their entirety. A cancer to the body that was soon to be erected into a stable establishment, conducted into reality by none other than Xerves. Was this the dream that the Ventus spoke of? A dream of a tower that ascended for the heavens? A tower he thought to be constructed with the unity of personages? A tower of symbolism!
(Xerves)
[14:43:08] The booming thuds of his monstrously sized pronged toes echoed through the confines of the caverns as he ventured further north, heading for the sounds of chatter of Yokai of various stages crying throughout the darkness. Many schools, either in conflict of united for individual hunts scoured the grounds-- What natural dystopia that sustained was vanished with the intimidating roar that resonated through the caverns, disturbing the foundation they rollicked their bloodied claws through midst their constant warring. Many froze, others turned to gander unto the perpetrator, and some shifted their hostilities into the form of quiet murmurs to none other than the Gigai Xerves whom awaited their approach--

A command was driven into the inane skulls of the lesser, intertwined with the flayed connections of the Occult, solidifying for a grasp upon the mentality plagued by darkness, lost in it, driven to mindless, selfish violence by it, and now manipulated by a practitioner of its mastery.
"Lessers, Megai.. Come to me; Battle not amongst yourselves, but alongside me against a true enemy, and far more rewarding prey."
Rather than allow them the liberty to choose, he forcefully enthralled those whom shown no immediate promise. There had to be something unique to these spawn to earn any hope of freedom-- Mindlessness was not something he cared to allow during his hunts, for unity was absolutely required in his eyes.

It was now, that the hunts would commence yet again, but this time, for more than simple punishment against humanity, but the coalition of fellow kindred. If such coalition would require the destruction of other Yokai? So be it...
The numbers of underlings had replenished from a solid zero, now a sparse dozen and growing as the seconds passed on.
A righteous quest brought before Xerves' glorified mentality was conjured and pursued, in hopes his reward would be the very dreams he pictured for so long.

The trek proceeded for the north, heading for the light at the end of the dark Trystle tunnel, followed by a small legion of Yokai thralls to commend to his bidding. The consumption of the former Gigai changed something within him.. It brought him closer to attaining a pinnicle of power. He was closer to ascending, to obtaining another stage of evolution, a step closer to becoming:
Perfect.
(Xerves)