Meditation 2

The Archon floats to a familiar place.

It certainly had both the necessary quiet and connection to Arcane required, possibly due to frequent visits of those that dabble in such art. A perfect location, you could say.

But once they arrive, Zaruma turns himself towards Effigy; still slightly afloat, it appears the Archon was projecting himself into reality in a way that he would be no longer touching the ground, for now.

"If you had a plan for a different type of meditation, so be it. We shall proceed with it."

Finally settling himself on the ground, the Archon closed his eyes for a moment when his feet finally touched the surface. With an audible inhale, the pair of crimson hues were pointed at Effigy once more after he opened his eyes.

"Let's continue."
(Zaruma)

The Archon sits himself upon the ground, and in turn, Effigy follows suit. Legs cross and his own red eyes stare forwards to look upon Zaruma's. He inhales slowly, and gives a slow nod.

"Release your own willpower. I'm going to flare my aura, I'm going to force my Chaotic Energy outwards, and we are going to merely stay here and meditate."

A slow pull of his shoulders to another shrug. Already, his dreadful aura starts to increase in power, the grass and flowers around him starting to shake and bristle from telekinetic force.

"In a way, it's almost like you'll be accepting my blessing. My power. The blessing bestowed upon me by Tragedy. Take it into your heart. Realize that your hatred is merely a tool to use, and that it can be molded into something much more useful."

"Are you ready?"
(Effigy)

The disturbance was already felt.

Zaruma had a faint connection to Arcane that he felt previously, but was not yet ready to focus it down and actually use it in any proper way. Evidently, further progress must be done in order to achieve that.

But the desire to learn such power was never waning. Despite the telekinetic force present around Effigy, despite the clear presence of something otherworldly around them, the Archon didn't seem affected at all; he accepted it as something natural, something that he should be able to wield.

Soon enough.

"Very well. I am ready."
(Zaruma)

That aura only intensified in power, the air around them growing thick and severe. Given Zaruma's magic, it perhaps wasn't too horrendous, too awful to be around, but it definitely wasn't easy. If he wasn't an archon, he might have been overwhelmed with fear, hatred, cowardice. Negativity in general.

His fists clench together, and he merely stares forwards upon the Archon. His face was dull and emotionless, but there was the barest, most faint hint of a smirk at the corners of his lips.

"You've progressed much just in the few times that we've done this. But it's not enough. If you really wish to unlock it, you need to let Hatred into your very being. For a demon, it shouldn't be so hard."

"Tell me, Zaruma. What spurs you forwards?"
(Effigy)

It felt odd.

Much like sinking into ice cold water in the middle of winter, in a frozen lake, falling into silent, motionless death of frost's grip, and yet... coming to terms with it. The feeling was indeed powerful, enough to tingle and poke at the Archon's senses, to cause the disturbance in his psyche.

But he easily accepted it. That freezing darkness was accepted, mix-matched with the furious storm that pulsed within the heart of Occult. It felt... calming at first, yet soon, invigorating and stirring instead, much like experiencing a vivid emotion that one cannot shut away.

"Hrm..."

The crimson hues stared idly towards the Mimic, but the Archon's mind was elsewhere, reflecting on his life of conquest, of slaughter and bloodshed.

Of treachery and suffering, too.

"Desire. Ambition. Determination. Anger. Grief."

He made a pause after these words.

"I desired for our civilization to be re-built, to restore our former glory--"

"That was met with my ambition to grow and empower myself. I never wished to stop my advancement."

"And yet-- my path was paved with challenges. My determination allowed me to preserve myself, disallowing a failure no matter what."

"But there were those... that stabbed me in the back, or opposed me. It brought anger."

"And in my anger... I brought grief. Choi, Guatemoc--"

"It all came back to desire."

"A desire to kill."
(Zaruma)

As Zaruma would speak, Effigy's entire body would erupt in his Arcane power. The trees groaned and creaked as the were pushed about with the sheer force of his power. It would be a familiar sensation, one that was almost of occult, but much worse-

Truly, it felt like it shouldn't exist. A horrid amalgamation of something utterly wrong.

"You know. We Mimics are treated as lesser beings back where I'm from. Merely because we are different- Because the lesser of my ilk are less than intelligent. Many of us are kept as pets."

He grins, humming quietly.

"Funny how similar a situation we find ourselves in, is it not, Zaruma?"

Red eyes come to a slow close, directing the entirety of his power onto the Archon. Horrific images- An orphan of war, soldiers being torn asunder, a thousand deaths that in the grand scheme of thing meant NOTHING. All of these would flood upon the Demon with vigor, explosively surrounding the immediate area.

"What will you do to achieve your desires?"
(Effigy)

Zaruma listened to what the Mimic had to say.

Immersed in the Chaos energy, the Archon decided to close his eyes. It was much like a voice that rang in a room of thousand fountains, each and every pouring the waters of Chaos itself, while Effigy's voice came through as a guiding hand.

But the Archon knew that darkness very well, for it was always within his heart, resting, waiting. He treaded in it like it were his home, like it was his domain, and yet... it was so unfamiliar to him, so unpredictable.

Only with those images flooding his head, it began to make sense. It made sense as to why Umbral Lords were so apathetic, so oblivious, but Zaruma did not wish to accept that side; instead, he immersed himself in that vigor, that rush of action, even if brief.

Whether it mattered or not, he enjoyed such.

"--Our kin... are both treated as inferior beings, despite the potential greatness."

"Hilarious... when humanity has naught but numbers, and their peak of greatness is often their death. Miserable."

The Archon fell silent. That hum turned into distant beat, the heart of Chaos itself opening before his mind. It was... close, yet so far, and he walked to it.

It looked odd. Despite such familiarity with the darkness within, he walked towards it slowly, akin to a lost child that did not comprehend what it's facing against, merely beginning to understand the whole idea.

"What would I do?"

He pondered for an answer. The vision of that beating heart in the distance was slowly becoming more apparent while he kept walking, coming to terms with such inner beast.

"Anything it takes."
(Zaruma)

"Well then, Zaruma."

Red eyes open to stare forwards. The shroud of Chaotic energies wraps around him. Weaker trees begin to snap from sheer pressure, the ground rumbling ever so slightly, if only for a brief moment.

It was apparent that the False-Archon, that Effigy was very, very close to mastering the Arcane himself. He almost seems horrifying, a disgusting monster to any but the monsters he resided with.

His lips curl into a short grin. He doesn't respond for another few moments, instead opting to let Zaruma bathe in the corruption of the Arcane. A bastardization of the world around him.

The world that Effigy, and soon, Zaruma, would learn to control.

"You have merely but to take it."
(Effigy)

The vision was becoming clear.

Those energies that circled around him only pushed the Archon to walk faster to the beating heart of Chaos infront of him; within his mind, that hum was enveloping him as a constant source of vigor, as source of energy too.

There was no resistance to Chaotic energies. Every single bit of it was infused into Zaruma's being, coating him like the blessing in invisible disguise - something that you cannot touch, hear or smell, but you can feel it.

The hum was getting louder.

He walked up towards the beating heart of Chaos, having made it through a size-able path; looking back at it, he saw nothing but bloodshed and death, all of those that he killed - and all of those that died fighting beside him.

They were waiting, eagerly watching Zaruma. His allies and foes alike, everyone expecting the outcome of this.

"You have merely but to take it."

Those words rang through his mind like a final push to make the necessary step. Zaruma reached out, a single touch was made, and yet it already felt like grasping a tangible world of... something entirely else.

At last, he grasped it.

The Archon's eyes suddenly opened, much like in pain, and he clutched his chest.

"What is-- this..."

An audible inhale was made. All along, he had come to realisation that grasping the heart of Chaos was only a matter of grasping what he feels within his own heart.

A new connection was made. The crimson hues scanned over his surroundings, and everything seemed... different.

Even Effigy that sat infront of him no longer appeared as merely a Mimic shapeshifted to appear as Archon, but instead, a source of Chaos.

Curiously, he looked at himself... and saw the same.

"I had..."

"Discovered something."
(Zaruma)

As Zaruma speaks once again, the dreadful aura starts to fade. The wind stops howling, trees reduced back to their normal states. The grass still moves about, flowers still despair against the pressure, but it's much more gentle- If gentle could at all be used to describe his magic.

He exhales, slowly, eyes levelling upon the Archon. The grin fades away, returning to a more neutral expression, something of an almost half-pride. He forces a hand into the dirt, aiming to pick himself back up.

He rolls his shoulders, head tilting to one side. He almost seems.. Tired.

"I.. Think you're starting to get it. It shouldn't be too much longer before you can actually use your power to manifest as something other than a gentle breeze, yes?"

He laughs, quietly.

"I should teach Demons more often. This is much easier than humans.."
(Effigy)

Zaruma carefully floated himself in the air, and while suspended away from the ground, he straightens himself into standing position.

"Perhaps."

A neutral comment was made, and the Archon couldn't help but stare at himself; perhaps he expected some otherworldly secret, or maybe to unlock a deep mystery that eluded him all along, but the truth about the power of Chaos was much more simple.

It was always there. It was always within him. It only waited for the right moment.

"Perhaps... it would manifest as something greater, too."

That was something he could only hope for. He certainly wished to strive for it, despite the challenges that such power presented.

"We shall head back. This was... fruitful."
(Zaruma)