Ronan: Fighting For Redemption [INV]

[18:07] Calista Shimasu says, "Hmm.. brown cloak and clothing"
[18:07] Calista Shimasu says, "Reminds me of the guy who said he served Sors on the mountain."
[18:08] Ronan asks, "Huh. Is that so?"
[18:08] Calista Shimasu says, "You sound a lot like him too."
[18:08] Ronan says, "I'd figure that much."
[18:08] Calista Shimasu says, "Now what am I gonna do about this...? Hmmm... And you're walking from my settlement."
[18:08] Ronan says, "Though, only a fool would come to a place like this, without seeking reform, as penance for ill-judgement."
[18:09] Ronan says, "I don't expect you to care enough to hear me out."
[18:09] Calista Shimasu says, "Smells like shit to me."
[18:09] Calista Shimasu says, "You were speaking real specifically not long ago."
[18:09] Calista Shimasu says, "I doubt you've changed that much in a short span."
[18:09] Ronan says, "Of course, if not for the course of events, I probably wouldn't have."
[18:10] Calista Shimasu says, "See.. but that's the thing. People don't really change. And if /they/ made you leave, I doubt it was because you wanted to be a good person."
[18:10] Calista Shimasu says, "So start talking."
[18:11] Ronan asks, "... You don't believe me. Everything I do, is in hopes of creating a better world. So, when someone offers me the power to bring those wrongfully slain and brought to suffer back, for a second chance?"
[18:11] Ronan says, "I investigate."
[18:11] Ronan asks, "Unfortunately, when those same people are drawn to the urge to kill?"
[18:11] Calista Shimasu says, "Ah so you're one of those Necromancy retards."
[18:11] Ronan asks, "What?"
[18:12] Ronan says, "Clearly, you aren't listening..."
[18:12] Ronan says, "... --and I doubt you will listen."
[18:12] Taiki says, "Whether she believes you or not, she IS hearing you out."
[18:12] Ronan says, "I suppose that is better than most."
[18:12] Ronan says, "Most would've tried slaying me on sight. Thankfully, you've granted me -this- much mercy."
[18:13] Calista Shimasu says, "I'm honestly considering the option."
[18:13] Ronan frowns.
(Ronan)
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[18:13] Calista Shimasu asks, "Why were you in my settlement?"
[18:13] Ronan says, "I was searching for help."
[18:13] Calista Shimasu asks, "For what?"
[18:14] Ronan says, "For survival, against the forces that hunt me from the mountain."
[18:15] Ronan says, "I don't expect you, or anyone else to understand. I doubt you've had to scrounge for your life before... Day, after day..."
[18:15] Ronan says, "Trying to save what few family and friends you have, only to see them die an agonizing death."
[18:15] Ronan says, "Bound to a code to avoid killing, only to see the world is not nearly as merciful."
[18:15] Taiki says, "I know that well enough."
[18:15] Calista Shimasu says, "While you were likely camping in the snow with a thumb up your rump I was fighting in wars and killing Demons that are millenia old."
[18:15] Calista Shimasu says, "Don't talk to me about scrounging for your life."
[18:16] Ronan says, ". . . So then, what now? Are you stopping me to truly understand my reasonings? Or have you made up your mind."
[18:16] Calista Shimasu says, "If I'm being honest? I think you only seek sanctuary because you pissed some people off, not because you've changed."
[18:17] Ronan answers with a slight eye twitch.
(Ronan)
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[18:18] Taiki says, "I think from what I know of her, it's safe to say that she only heard you out in order to understand. She's not the type to waste time with questions if they don't serve a purpose."
[18:20] Calista Shimasu asks, "So now, I ask. Who did you piss off?"
[18:21] Ronan says, "I've pissed no one off. I've only been hunted down my entire life, ever since the day I came to this city and thought I found a brotherhood."
[18:21] Calista Shimasu asks, "You were part of the Phoenix Order or something?"
[18:21] Ronan says, "Those days were long ago."
[18:21] Taiki asks, "The second question: What can you do for the city that makes it worth the city granting you sanctuary from your pursuers?"
[18:21] Ronan smiles at Taiki's question.
(Ronan)
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[18:22] Ronan says, "I offer, an ability to rehabilitate the intent within the hearts of men and women abroad."
[18:22] Ronan says, "No longer will death, need to be an option for the wicked."
[18:22] Ronan says, "... I can save the lives of many, without having to resort to killing."
[18:22] Calista Shimasu says, "Hmm."
[18:22] Taiki asks, "Do you have some special power that allows you to do this?"
[18:22] Ronan says, "It's a technique, yes."
[18:22] Ronan says, "Unfortunately, I can't bring back the dead..."
[18:23] Taiki asks, "Like Sunyata?"
[18:23] Taiki glances at Calista.
(Taiki)
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[18:23] Ronan asks, "Huh?"
[18:23] Calista waves a hand as if taking in a scent beneath her nose.
(Calista Shimasu)
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[18:23] Taiki turns his gaze back to Ronan.
(Taiki)
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[18:24] Taiki says, "Sunyata is a technique to remove the occult from people."
[18:24] Calista Shimasu asks, "What lets you do this hm..?"
[18:24] Taiki says, "Purging the 'wicked' without death."
[18:25] Calista Shimasu says, "Was it like the Neries whos memories you stole or something."
[18:25] Ronan says, "< What? They know about her? >"
[18:26] Calista Shimasu says, "So.."
[18:26] Calista Shimasu asks, "How does that work hm...?"
[18:26] Ronan says, "I can't steal memories."
[18:26] Calista Shimasu says, "You can do /something/ to them apparently."
[18:27] Ronan says, "No, I can't."
[18:27] Ronan says, "What I -can- do..."
[18:28] Ronan says, "Is manifest experiences, in-depth illusions that act in tangent with the mind... Time magic allows it to leave the boundaries of time around us."
[18:28] Ronan says, "I've originally developed it, in hopes of saving people..."
[18:28] Ronan says, "Unfortunately, I've been using it recently to defend myself."
[18:29] Calista Shimasu says, "Mhm mhm mhm."
[18:29] Calista Shimasu asks, "So if I were to bring you to someone say..... Famfrit, what would they say?"
[18:30] Ronan asks, "Who is Famfrit?"
[18:30] Calista Shimasu says, "He essentially formed the group on the mountain."
[18:31] Ronan says, "I don't think I've ever come across someone by that name."
[18:31] Ronan says, "Not consciously anyways."
[18:31] Ronan says, "Originally, I was just skulking around, and then -- I was discovered using my illusionary veil by Ultovex."
[18:31] Calista Shimasu asks, "I see... so how did your fight with the Neries go or whatever that nonsense was?"
[18:32] Ronan says, "It went, in my favor... --and I feel as though, somewhere along the way, realizing that my technique had potential... I lost my self a bit. It took another kid giving me a whack to come back to my senses. To remember what I originally going for."
[18:32] Calista Shimasu says, "Hmmm."
[18:33] Calista Shimasu says, "You were part of an ignorant cult whos worshippers wanted to cleanse the world by fire, and then wanted to join Sors and prove yourself to him."
[18:33] Calista Shimasu says, "Your case dosen't seem to look good at the moment."
[18:33] Ronan says, "I am aware how it sounds, but I assure you, you have the wrong idea."
[18:34] Ronan says, "I'm not a murderer, and I never will be."
[18:34] Ronan says, "All I want in life..."
[18:35] Ronan says, "Is to save the unfortunate and damned with my ability, and rehabilitate-- So that I don't ever have to look at... So that no one would have to look on helplessly anymore."
[18:35] Calista Shimasu says, "Hmmm..."
[18:41] One red-clawed hand taps her chin for a moment as she considers all he has said, she evidently had known more than he expected and had even admitted to being a part of that stupid cult those years ago.

It would seem he had a penchant for joining groups bent on destruction regardless of what he said differently now. She was convinced someone on the mountain must want him dead, if it all wasn't simply a ploy for her to allow him to pass and leave.

She was many things, but not stupid, people don't suddenly change like this.

She wasn't against destruction, not in the slightest... she was against stupid destruction.

Black wings flare out to either side, crimson leylines casting a crimson glow as she speaks a single word, a grin splitting those beautiful features.

"Start running.."

Then she takes to the air a small vial's contents consumed if he began moving, intent on trying to catch him. She was sure Famfrit would have something to say if she brought him.
(Calista Shimasu)
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[18:49] 'Start running'

Those words, stabbed at his chest.
But was he all that surprised? He was back to what he had grown so accustomed to -- Back to that same weak teenager he was in Levengard, begging for his life.

It didn't matter how he approached things.
It didn't matter how much he tried to fight back.
Life, never offered him mercy -- As though demanding that he break his code. In the moment, he thought back.
How much more differently would life had gone, had he simply given up? Had he simply just killed others off in his small victories?
Would he be running for his life now?

… Or, was this trial from the divine.
Regardless, he cringed, as though opting to run, in fact, he was frantically searching his surroundings.
--But he knew better, he had been tortured by so many, for so long that he had grown knowledgeable of these tactics.

"... So that you may strike me down with my back turned? " He grit his teeth. It wasn't going to be so easy, he'd have to come up with a strategy in his execution of methods if he wanted to get out of this. He was afraid, yet... In an act of defiance, he reached up to remove his hood, revealing his face that glared back at Calista.

" If you're intent to scathe me, then do it, but I won't simply go down with a whimper. "
(Ronan)
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[19:02] It looked like he was at a bit of loss for options here. Clearly, this place was too dangerous, as he originally feared. He thought the actions prior would've at least earned him leniency! Unless...
Was he left to die, by one of the last of his brothers? His heart sank a bit, considering the possibility.

Regardless, he took stance -- Summoning forth the very arcane of the metaphysical to his volition. The realm encompassing them murmured at the unveiling, disturbed by the forced contortions of Space and Time to his person.

It took the form of lavender fulmination, dancing along his frame.
" If you don't believe me, then I suppose I just have to defend myself. At least, I can thank you for hearing me out. "
He reached for the Phoenix Rod on his person, holding it out before illuminating it with his bathing mana, unwrapping the illusionary veil to reveal it to be a much more adept variant of its former self.

"... May I, at least have the name of my opponent?" He asked of the Lady Regent, pointing the staff's end for her in stoic display.
(Ronan)
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[19:07] He didn't run, but that only made easier if not a bit more boring. Her skin splits as rubies emerge from her flesh to fill the air around her in a small orbiting tempest.

Black wings carry her into the air, her staff held before her, black ether swirling about the focus. A pendant about her neck glowed and her hand and wings ignited into flames.

"My name is Calista Shimasu, Lady Regent of Huangzhou."

With that streams of flame leap from those wings to strike the ground, great bulls shaped from her fire were formed with massive pointed rubies for horns.

Were one to touch the fiery animal it would be nearly solid, just what was her fire made from...?
(Calista Shimasu)
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[19:17] Gravity, illusion, time, all thing she had dealt with though not quite in this combination. Though as expected he wasn't the strongest Magi to walk Agartha.

Anyone could watch it, the winged Kitsune taking her time. Flames and crystals leaving to strike hard and fast, her swords summoned defensively. Who was this man to not simply fall before her...?

She radiated a sense of calm assurance as they fought, especially once she had gained a grasp of his abilities. Though a final javelin struck him, its edge would be found blunt, sending him to crash hard into the ground.

Still hovering with flaps of those black wings a few feet above the ground she calls out,

"I'd stand up if I were you... at least try to dodge my attacks."

Though it was strange, she seemed to heal every time she harmed him as well as anytime a green crystal was shattered. Even as he watched those small wounds he'd dealt her were closing.
(Calista Shimasu)
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[19:29] It was... Exhilarating.
Just bearing witness to her abilities. He had never seen anything like it. As though they sought through his tricks.
However, he was not one to give up easily, or even consider it--

Until that javelin struck his chest, knocking the very breath from his lungs. In that moment, it came to him...
Every battle before today...

Between himself and the Phoenix Order members...
Between himself and Sors' followers...
Between himself and Yasuyoshi...

None of them came remotely close to this...
The flickering collage of flashbacks came to an abrupt end, as though time was speed back up to a cruel reality, leaving him to thud hard against the ground. He grit his teeth, writhing in the agony she forced him through.

She called out to him, taunting him...
And as she did, he almost wanted to just lie there and take the finishing blow.
...No.
He couldn't just let himself sit back and die. He couldn't let her have her way here. So, he strained, visibly in pain but willing to stand to meet her challenge head-on.

"You're strong." He acknowledged her, "... But, that doesn't make you right." He was on his last stand, pushing his body past its limits already. He couldn't win this, and he knew it... But, there was a way out of this.

The chances, were slim.

He reached out towards the woman, casting forth dust brushed up by his gravitational influence.
Though, something was odd... It was moving too slowly to be a respectable attack, especially given what he's seen of her thus far.

--Around the manipulated space he warped at, wrapped his illusionary veil -- Conjuring an image of himself? Just an illusionary clone, then. Yet, when introduced to a mastered variant of gravity magic, it seemed to actually have a physical effect on the ground: A Hard-copy clone.

--and it wasn't alone...
Soon, there was a second... A third, and fourth.
So, this was Ronan's method? An attempt to escape? Surely, he was likely to flee, given the sheer disposition of powers, but he'd have to be thorough in covering his endeavor.

Escape through overwhelming numbers of doppelgangers seemed to be his method.
(Ronan)
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[19:49] The difference in their strength was palpable, swords, shards, and flames assailing this man from all directions. It was plain this was nothing but a game. Those animals shaped from flames tearing through those illusions.

She really didn't care if he escaped, she only wanted him to fear her. To know she could very well be his end...

She practically ate every spell he threw, taking most of the damage he dealt with abandon obviously oblivious to whatever pain this may have dealt.

"This is amusing..."

Gravity pressed against her, time tried to weaken her, illusions blinding and confusing her. Though none of it would be enough, she was the descendant of Divinity.

Finally a finishing ball of flame leapt from her staff growing in mass as it traveled, it destroyed many clones breaking them apart only to strike the true Ronan.

The full attack sliding him dozens of feet away off into the woods. It was plain if he was still able to walk afterwards he could escape, but now he knew he may not be so lucky upon their next meeting.


(Calista Shimasu)
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[20:11] Was she... Enjoying this?
The thought of it sickened him, angered him... So, to the point that he fought harder.
He continued the manifestation of clones until she'd be fighting a small army of them.

But it wasn't enough...
His attacks didn't even phase her. If anything, the best he could do was attempt to hold her back -- But even that didn't feel as though it was through his accord. This lasted this long only because she -wanted- it to. That had to be it.

Hopelessness found him when she launched that final fireball, charging through the domain as he attempted to make an escape amongst the chaos. She saw right through the ploy... Nothing like the other magi he had faced up until this point. Clones leaped into the way, using their very spatial constructs to phase the oncoming blast, to dampen it... To weaken it.

Yet, it disrupted the mana that held them together, and the illusion followed suit to destroy them in plums of smoke. The poofing of his manifestations played out en mass, shredding through them with clear intent to taking him out.
As far as Ronan could tell, this would be the end... And so, he summoned every iota of mana he had left.

Anything he had in his reserves to hold off the last attack. The screech that the realm squealed in reverence to him bending the metaphysical earned distaste from most open ears. A lavender spheroid manifested between his palms, not jutted out to pit it directly against her attack: This was the introduction of time in the physical domain -- Manifested for a final time in this conflict.
The gravity arcane encircled the ball, briefly taking shape in the faint orb of onyx pulsating in its endeavor to compress at the siphoned atmosphere and loose debris at the scene. As for the illusionary domain, it sought to reflect light away from his construct, giving the image of a ball of alabaster light summoned to his volition.

No further time to charge it up, it lumbered forth in a flash of piercing light, intent on striking Calista's pyre, yet it shuddered -- Without much resistance it began to sway back for him. Her magical potency wasn't -just- stronger... She was on an entirely different level.

Space, Time and Illusion intent to emulate Reality -- Surely, it could've been formidable, but against someone like this? The metaphysical beam of energies collapsing back for its originator. All Ronan could hope to do was grit his teeth, and brace for the flash to white. It bled around, absolute and overwhelming... Yet within it, time felt as though it slowed -- He was stuck within his mind.

Only a single question ringing in his mind:
Why?

The explosion subsided, and he'd find himself recollecting himself at the mouth of the woods.
Did she know? Did she know that he was still conscious? Still alive? Was she coming? Ronan didn't know... And he didn't want to opt to find out.

In an act of desperation, he summoned what little he had left. He pulled himself up from the ground, to balance himself against a tree. He looked towards the sky, attempting to find the direction he'd be most likely to find safety, before making the next move.

Within his palm, compressed space entangled with his own mana. He crushed at it, soon forcing a chain reaction to take place. Unlike his many times practicing earlier, he couldn't afford to make a mistake, for fear that she would catch up to him, and finish the job.
The singularity he crafted took form within his palm, and through the same arcane, he kept it from prying his very body apart. The pull siphoned at debris, the ground, shredding it asunder and even nearby trees. Surely, she'd catch notice of this, but not of what would come next.

The fathomless gullet of his black hole bent space in absolute fashion, whilst Calista demonstrated her ability to escape its pull pry, Ronan sought to intensify its pull on his own form specifically. The color from the short range around it began to bleed away from the air, giving his construct a vibrant lavender lining to complement its pitch-black form.

His image transcended for a shade of gray, stretched out in a demonstration of spaghettification. Though, his image appeared to stretch thin and sink into the depths of his own construct, his physical form was still there. Faint black outlines persisted, and the illusionary arcane sought to blotch them out to act according to his surroundings.

Though, this time, just as the many times before it, he experienced the consequences of his actions.
He may've exhibited temporary invisibility -- But by denying light to his body and eyes, he had denied his ability to see -- Just as blind to the world, as it'd be to him... And then, taking flight to the skies, further north to escape.
(Ronan)
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