Cullen vs Masika

[21:53:04] The door creaks open. There's an unsettling presence that enters the church of the Arcane, something distinctly /not right/ gliding in to the darkened building. It would be easy to feel a muted Chaotic presence, but from what was difficult to tell.

Her shadow flickers, growing in size as she walks further in. Bare feet clank against polished stone.

"C-Cullen?" If he turned around, he'd see the Gehennan girl covered head to toe in superficial burns. A sickly sweet grin formed upon her lips.

"I've been looking so long for you."
(Masika)
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[22:01:36] The Paladin just stood still, eager with prayer. The very ground under him crackled with holy energy, spreading through the spaces between each of the stones, as he tried to absorb the essence of the earth itself into him.

And clearly, he noticed the disturbance entering the church. A very peaceful hum came from the ground towards him, as he finally felt it with his feet. Raising his hand to the sword, he grabbed its hilt and quickly stood up, the yellow irises illuminating the room.

No evil shall hide from his sight, or so he thought. Oh, how he was wrong. It was only Masika, and even if he knew that she was a bad omen, specially with what Toka told him earlier... He did nothing, yet still keeping the hand to the hilt of his blade.

"Hello there, Masika." His ever-serene, ever-tranquil voice spoke. Inside this place, his presence was much more notable, as if he was inspired by the very meaning of this building, and it somewhat heightened his powers as much as it could. "You need anything?"

This time, it was evident that his voice sported no clear emotion. It was simply the voice of a serene being, one that was peaceful with itself as much as it was in peace with the whole world.
(Paladin)
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[22:07:34] Opposed to the purified Cullen was the corrupted Masika. Her body, aside from the wounds of battle, was perfectly fine. A bandaged left hand was balled into a fist while the other one gripped her staff with whitened knuckles.

But the aura around her was just /not right/. Her shadow cast by the dim lanterns would grow in size, multiplying into a mixture of jackal-like beings as she stepped forwards. It coated the floor with its darkness, the entire entrance now surrounded in her curse.

In addition, memories of her soul's past marred her senses. The Gehennan girl looked dazed, out of it, as if she was watching television. Dulled emeralds stared through him.

"I need you." She stated. Her tone was full of malice, spitting hatred. "You left me. I never said you could leave. You have everything I want, everything I had, and you let them take it away from me. I need MY innocence, Cullen, and you're going to give it back to me."

She took a step forward, beginning to remove the bandages from her hand.

"Glow for me, Valmasian."

(Masika)
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[22:31:28] The Paladin simply faces the girl. He clearly shines, his holy essence still seeking to protect him from Masika, far too much for his own good. However, he dismissed all the signs that meant that this was actually something bad for him. He knew this was bad for him. However, he did not care, once again.

He was just too good for his own good. He still wanted to help, and as such, he shone brightly. The ground was filled with the peaceful sensations as he walked, changing the focus of the light, but his gaze fixated at her shadow...

He tried to make his holy energy circumvent her, and illuminate the area possessed by her shadow. But, more importantly than all that, he left his hand from the hilt of his sword. He was free from his former feelings, and instead was slowly becoming a being of purity and good-doing in general.

Which meant that he did not see her as a risk. He saw her as a poor soul, afflicted with the wrong results of a problematicexperience, one too corrupted for her own good. A sad thing, and yet, something that he sought to help even Kamohoali with.

However, he did not get too close. He stopped a few inches in front of her, and instead, rose his right hand, possessed with holy energy above the mythril gauntlet. "Come closer."
(Paladin)
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[22:37:26] As the Order magi drew closer, it became clear that there was Chaos emanating from the Gehennan girl. But... it wasn't from her. It was a blip of Occultism that resided in her bag, a clear sign that there was probably a third thing afflicting her mind.

The sinister grin grew wider as he drew near, her bandage finally removed. Her left hand had a hole in the center of the palm, grey mist seeping out. It wasn't quite Arcane in nature, but it felt...corrupted, off, like one had been angered and wronged. And her actual hand looked like putty formed into the shape of flesh, bones absent from its form.

"Cullen... I... I..." Masika drifted closer to him, staring up at the armored man. Her left rose to his right, fingers intertwining. She could feel the Holy energy, the calm and peace filling her form.

"It's not enough. It's never enough, no matter how hard I try. Not even this-- not even you can fill the hole." Her grip tightened, the flesh beginning to melt onto steel.

"Why are you pure and I'm supposed to suffer? To be tainted by Kamohoali and Zahhual and some god awful lich fucker?" Her voice rose. "You left me, Cullen. You left me to FUCKING ROT in this SHITHOLE of a FUCKING COLONY! YOU LET HIM DO THIS, YOU LET THEM ALL DO THIS TO ME!"

Blood swirled around the once sanguine sorceress, their hands still interlocked.

"Give it all to me. I need it." She said, her voice now saccharine. "Your holiness, your purity, your Order and your Arcane. I DESERVE IT!"
(Masika)
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[22:51:56] He saw the flesh melting into steel. And, the spirit rot finally hit him once again. After a while meditating, it finally came back hitting him with such strength that he could barely muster to hold himself together. He felt off, once again, merely staring at the melting hand for a few minutes while thinking about what he was supposed to do now.

He perceived her anger. He perceived her rage, and after all that, he looked at her. The yellow irises under the helmet stared down at her, and still, it seemed to shine only brighter. Perhaps, it was intended to defend himself instead of anything else, but still, the feelings that he emitted were as always intensified.

They were corruptive in their own way. But it settled one truth: Even if it was corruptive, sometimes an opposite corruption is the best way of fighting something corrupted. Maybe to try and even it out.

And yet, he merely stared at her as her voice rose. His expression did not change, the serene gaze still focused at her. He had seen this happening before. Juliette did it, and now, Masika did it. He was doomed to have that happening to him by the name of all those he loved.

And as such, he did what would be considered the most Cullen thing of all. His left hand rose, and slowly, he let go of the goop hand that grasped so tightly to his right. And without much further ado, he did it.

He hugged her, his whole essence shining as his voice finally rose from silence. "I am sorry that I've failed you, Masika."
(Paladin)
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[22:57:04] It wasn't enough. It was never enough. These words repeated over and over in her head, the mixture of envy and greed stirring the corruption in her core. But...

... she was sated, enough that the real Masika could shine through. The Gehennan girl accepted the embrace wholeheartly, her body falling limp in his arms. Exorcism and Order washed over her spiritual wounds, like lax essence over a burn. Would it be enough to reverse the damage done, to remove the wraithlike taint from her soul? Of course not.

"I-I... I don't feel good anymore Cullen. I-it hurts..." She cried softly. Masika's trademark childishness seeping through her words. "I feel empty inside and I don't know how to control it... the badness..."

The shadows behind her disappeared, but her hand remained in its strange melted form. Blood swirling around her would cling to her skin, turning the mahogany to a dark crimson.

"I-I just want to begood again... b-but when I get help, I don't want it anymore..."


(Masika)
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[23:07:18] The Paladin slowly leaned his head forwards, the front of his helmet touching at the tip of her head, his breathing still leaking from it. And slowly, he caressed the girl's back, seeking with his right hand to feel... Wherever the third presence was. Whatever that was, it was not something good, and it was not something that he liked, and definitely not something that he wanted near her in that state.

"You will be good again, Masika. Trust me." He kept caressing her, his hand continuously scouting for it, possessed with holy essence. He sought something that hurt to it, something that would affect the holy-imbued hand. "I'll make sure of it."

He knew better than to be menaced. He knew that she usually did this kind of behavior when she was scared, more than anything. And even if her intent was to actually attack him... He thought he knew how to disarm her.And most likely, if it came to... He could disarm her.

"I will give you justice, Masika. I've vowed for that, and even if I fail my promises at times, I still hold them as much as I can." He straightened up his head. "I will make sure that all the wronging done to you will face retribution."
(Paladin)
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[23:15:50] The first affliction was of the hand. It was blatantly wraithlike magic that started there but drifted up her veins, pumping like blood throughout her body. It was dimmed, sated by the sacrifice of his Holy magic, but if he stopped feeding it... well, who knew what would happen.

The second affliction was of the lich's curse. Her mind still rattled with memories not her own, of a faraway place that looked far too much like Ardent yet wasn't. Of strange smells and foreign sights and the overwhelming feeling of dread, of hiding a secret that would ruin her life. A flash of paranoia across greens would confirm the spiritual rot, but its inherently chaotic nature meant that Paladin was already beginning to cure its corruption.

And the third? A purple shard gleamed from inside her back, contained in a glass jar. An oh-so-familiar object whose mere presence furthered the corruption.

"I-I... I can't find Zahhual. She's gone. I want to defeat her myself, but nobody can find her." Masika's forehead pressed against cool metal. "A-and what if it's too late for me like what if I do something bad and I can't be redeemed? This isn't like me trying necromancy this is like something wrong with me something sinful and chaotic and..."
(Masika)
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[23:28:38] The Paladin slowly put his holy-infused hand over the purple shard that gleamed on her back. He knew that this was probably what would worsen it the most, and with this... He intensified his own holy energy, aiming to dampen the feelings of her own body and essence on that very spot, albeit not enough to hurt her.

And with a couple of quick movements, he snatched the glass jar from her. And as such, he sought to hide it from her sight as much as he could, hugging her tighter as to stop her from looking down as he put the jar with the umbral shard under his own coat.

"I will protect you, Masika. I told you that already." He kept hugging her. The presence of the umbral shard right near him would be overwhelming, but it was something that so far, protected by his own holy essence, he could fight against.

"And we will deal with everything, Masika. Most corruption can be cured." And yet, he did know that if it came to the worst, he would want to be the one to end her life. To be merciful was not his expertise, but those that had only been wronged would face justice in his hands. "And..."

He moved his left hand to her head, considerably less consumed by holy energy than his right hand. Aiming to equally spread his own exorcist mana through his body, he touched her crown carefully. "Let me help you, Masika. Can I?"
(Paladin)
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[23:48:16] The item would be stolen without a fuss. For a moment, it seemed like Masika would have noticed that the hug had gotten tighter, that he was unusually close. But her comfort in his arms would be a distraction in of itself, the mixed memories flooding her mind beginning to vanish under the peaceful feeling washing over her.

"Mhm..." She looked up at him with half lidded verdants, his gauntlet pressing up against the third eye. Her mana circuits would light up in response, blue lines spreading like veins across her skin. Like his Holy essence, something dark appeared intertwined with them-- greyish rot slowly showing itself.

"P-please help me..."
(Masika)
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[23:58:30] And at the sign of agreement, a jolt of holy energy came at his finger, sending it through her body. This time, it clashed directly into the corruption, and it continued to feed holy energy through his single finger.

A stern look was directed towards her. He was not the lover of years ago, he was not the gentle and kind person that merely wished to help. He was, right now, the healer of whatever wounds he could heal. Holy energy ran through her, and soon, it started numbing the feeling of her own head, as it formed a choker-like structure near her neck. And as holy energy continued to pass through, it formed a net over her head, as it started slowly digging in and starting to purify.

"Empty your mind, Masika. As much as you can." He said, while his efforts continued. He merely wished for her to help him, but his own magic should have this very effect. To stop her from thinking about the evil deeds, or at the very least,to purify her feelings.
(Paladin)
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[00:01:55] She had warned him it wouldn't be this simple. And as the Holy energy began to choke her, the alarm bells began to ring in her mind. The goop-like hand would begin to thicken into a proper shape, bones slowly reforming within, but her body began to squirm.

And once he spoke to her, Masika broke. Blood flew off her skin and swirled around her, pushing the paladin away from her in a huff.

"This isn't going to help me you're just making things worse." She huffed, malice returning to her voice. "You're not giving me enough and forcing me to do all the work. That's not right, asshole."

As daylight broke, the shadows returned. Her own grew into a size far too big to be her own, a set of jackal-like ears appearing on it despite not marring her physical form.

"I don't want your Order to give me some snake oil cure. I just... I just WANT IT..."
(Masika)
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[00:04:28] LOOC - Paladin: (it isn't actually choking okay....)
[00:04:28] LOOC - Paladin: (it just clings to the skin...)
[00:04:28] LOOC - Paladin: (I SHOULD BE MORE SPECIFIC)
[00:10:27] His eyebrows furrowed as she started speaking once again. And as such, a coat of marble came to his hand, crackling with holy energy. This time, the energy in her head simply spread more and more. The numbing sensation returned at her face, as he closed his other hand tightly.

This was going badly, but he was intended on at least dampening the behavior. To stop it from corrupting her further. It was not something to stop it from affecting her in any way, just to stop it from affecting her more.

"Accept it, Masika." And since, he put his palm against her forehead, and with a shining ray of light emitting through his marble-covered arm... He sent a powerful jolt of holy energy to her head. "Repent."

It was clear that this was no powerful wave of energy meant to harm, or to do anything bad. It simply aimed to overwhelm her, to run through her body and clash againstwhatever sources of corruption it could and, even if temporarily, contain it.

And while it ran through her head, it was supposed to cleanse away her impure feelings. To stop her from seeing such evil upon herself, and to after all, make her wish to atone. To make her repent.

He was intended on getting her towards the path of the righteous, one way or another. Justice would be ensued, should she let him, or should that corrupted force stop him.
(Paladin)
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[00:14:43] The sanguine sorceress who had asked for help was not going down without a fight. Taking a step back, she raised her slightly healed left hand, flexing and unflexing the fingers.

"No. This isn't something you force on me, this is something that I take. You can't keep the goodness to yourself."

Shadows... blood... Masika was pretty edgy.
(Masika)
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[00:47:08] The Paladin quickly noticed that a fight was about to ensue. And as such, he still maintained his grasp upon her, before finally being forced to release her. His right hand shone with holy energy, and in his mind, there was only one thing. To make things right.

And as such, he proceeded to do so. Pulling onto the nyeshk blade before she could strike at him, he held it with his left hand, striking precisely at her. His always defensive stance stood firmly against most of the blood attacks, against most of the water beams that she channeled at him.

And at the end, he was covered in blood. Not only hers, not only from her magic, but his own, his own armor battered, cut and harmed by her extremely aggressive magic. However, it mattered not. He was the Paladin of Kraus, and the Aegis of the Damned. The protector of the pure.

And Masika was a damned one. She had no choice in this, and as all mattered... He was the one to make right where it was wrong. With a precise strike of his right hand, he sent her packing away. It was nothing that he wanted, and nothing that he could even try to help himself against. However, the holy energy exhaled through his almost-bare fist would certainly help soothe the blow and stop it from doing anything too harsh.

Moving closer to her, he opens his right hand, still clad in yellow, holy energy as she's lying down on the floor, too weak to resist his last attempt. Dropping to his own knees, maybe due to his own weakness, the Paladin's open palm meets the center of her chest.

And with it, a krausite cross quickly spreads from that spot. This was no sloppy, second-hand making like Guatemoc's wound. This had not the form of a hand, but an intricate drawing that actually was aiming to do one thing: To protect. And even so, even if Holy magic soothened whatever harm it could do, it'd still burn slightly, not like a branding, and not like its full holy might should,but still, it would hurt like small needles simply poking at her skin.

Even if it was done with holy magic intended to harm, it does not hurt, and it does no harm. Instead, it aims for the exact opposite, protecting whatever part of her resides near or above it.

And even more so, it seems to cleanse her peacefully. It is a protective and more caring version of Guatemoc's wound, and even if negative feelings are accompanied by a slight ache in it, akin to having overexposed tissue touched, it seeks to cleanse the negative feelings upon her, perhaps seeking to slowly purify it, starting by the results of the corruption, instead of striking precisely at its root.

An emergencial method, for an emergency.

After that, he rose up using his sword as support, his gaze still focused upon her. The yellow irises seemed to examine her body slowly, as he sought to see if she was even still awake to see what he had done. Still having trouble to stand up, he loweredhimself down once again, deciding to do one final thing.

Awake or not, he hugged her. "I'm sorry, Masika. But this is for your own good."
(Paladin)
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[00:52:16] Blood stained the floors they treaded upon, roots bursting from beneath the stone tiles. Her own mana circuits remained alit, slowly turning ashen in color the more she used her magic. Despite being close, it was clear that by the end Masika was running on fumes, her movements erratic and panicked instead of her graceful gliding of saner times.

And so she fell, his right slamming against her body and sending her skidding across. Bumping her head against a bench, the Gehennan girl felt vertigo overtake her senses. Dull half lidded would watch as Cullen approached her, unable to do anything as his cross seared her flesh.

... she expected it to be more painful. Instead of a punishment, it was like a doctor's treatment: burning but precise. She grit her teeth, feeling the negativity beginning to wash away.

But the jealousy remained.

As she was embraced once more, her eyes would finally close. There was no response to his words.
(Masika)
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[01:08:28] The Paladin then rose up, letting her go of his embrace. And as that, he finally offered her a hand up, clad in mythril. His voice once again echoed with the tranquility of always, seemingly holding no effects of the recent fight on him.

And as such, he said something as it was still his duty. "You should come back sooner or later, Masika. Please." Even if he pleaded, his voice was carried with unusual neutrality, almost atypical of him.

It was clear that he felt off. He felt slightly weirded out, maybe by what just happened. But however, this had given him much to think about. And in his heart, there resided the simple feeling of guilt.

Maybe, just maybe, her blaming him did actually stick to him. Maybe he felt guilty of letting all that happen to her. And this was a curse that he could never get rid of.
(Paladin)
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[01:11:02] She remained on the floor, her chest still lightly glowing with the mark of Kraus. However, Masika was very obviously not asleep or passed out-- simply not wanting to get up. She looked almost serene, calm, her body limp against the ground.

"Mmhm..." She mumbled softly, limbs pulling themselves up like a marionette on strings. Verdants slowly opened as her left hand grabbed onto his, pulling herself up.

"I'm going to blow this popsicle stand. Goodnight, loser." Her voice was blunt and sarcastic, but... it lacked the harm of her lashing out.
(Masika)
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[01:15:18] LOOC - Masika: (I got a dangerous check just before our fight too
[01:15:18] LOOC - Masika: (fufufu
[01:19:34] The Paladin nodded. At least, it helped her at least not be harmed by the spirit, or at least, to not lash out against him. At least, even if it hurt him to see her doing something like that, he still accepted it as something better than others.

And as such, he slowly moved to the center of the area, in front of the altar, and kneeled. His earthen magic clung to the ground, and started repairing the damages that they had done to the structure, substituting it with holy marble, crackling with his own energy.

In his own mind, he lacked the perceiving of how long it'd last. How long it'd stop her from going further down the sink, and as such, at least his mark was expected to help her stop in her tracks. To make her stop from falling further down into corruption.

And as such, he once again focused on himself. He sought to distance himself from this very painful spot, closing his yellow irises. If he didn't just do this... It'd be a perfect, vulnerable position to strike at him, as he was kneeled down and slightly exposed.
(Paladin)
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[01:27:15] It was the perfect chance for her to strike, for her to bum rush the Paladin with a surprise attack. But her chest hurt not just with the wound inflicted...

... and so she left, quietly, without another word. Shadows stifled for now.
(Masika)
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[01:28:06] Paladin says, "Kraus protects, Masika."