Make it Stop [Ceal/Kai]

Sun Aug 20, 2017 12:47 am

[PLAY POSTING MUSIC]

ENTER THE DEPTHS

Artist: N/A - Song: N/A - Word Count: N/A

In the tense silence the followed her warning, naught but the sleight of the wind could be heard in this barren land. The crackle of her lightning as it coiled and cracked around her arm, ready to find a target. A red glint appeared in her eye as she drew from the power of the cursed sigil. The more she used it's power, the more of the terrible euphoric feeling it gave her. At first when she would use it, the rush was exhilarating, too much to keep in. It could send her into a mania, a giddy uppity mood that caused her to excite herself. It was a stimulation to her senses that felt powerful, outrageous even.

Fortunately, she had long since gotten used to the feeling, being able to remain relatively tame when calling upon it's terrible energy. She didn't have to worry about losing her mind like before, the edges of reality calling to her, coercing her to look upon the world with the eyes of infinity, to peer the truth in the very definition of non-existence. Still, in this moment she wasn't entirely confident she could control it. The Seal was excited, and her mind was weak. Her focus was in shambles and her will beaten down. The constant harrying of the entity that seemed fit to haunt her made her feel that she was never alone. At all times, it was watching, waiting, observing.

Ceal felt frustration, with herself, with this situation. It was bad that she was scared about her state of mind, but it was even worse when someone observed it. It made her feel helpless. Even when he offered his help, showing concern for her; Even it irritated her. For lack of a better word, he was meddling right? That's what these so-called “heroes” did? It's not like she was doing anything wrong, and yet he felt like he wanted to help. The last time she accepted “help” like this, sought it out so blindly... That last time she was on her knees in a remote asian town tied to a leash.

In her helplessness, her arm fell to her side, the bolt dissipating into obscurity as she appeared defeated. Truly, she did seem to be exhausted, and she was, both mentally and emotionally. It was clear whatever plagued her was getting to her.

”Everyone deserves kindness, even if they don't want it,”

Such words, regardless of what she was planning next- those words affected her deeply. It's effect could be seen as her visible expression showed a brief pause as she looked up at him, surprised and... something else, something of a deeper, darker feeling. A thought of inward resignation.

Maybe he was right. She didn't feel like she deserved kindness, like she even deserved the love she received in such heretical abundance from her demonic masters. She spent so long beating herself up about things she couldn't change, of being unable to stop tragedy. She indeed felt cursed -and not just from the Seal of Eris- but cursed that people around her were bound into an unwilling contract of future despair. She wanted the rights of her humanity revoked. She felt it was easier to become unfeeling, a tool to be used. She hated how she felt in this moment, frustrating building and building.

Still, even as she erected a slight field around her, a static-y sensation would peck at the nerves of the vanguard warden. It would be much like getting too close to a machine that generated a lot of static, something that if you touched it, would zap your finger. Much in this same way, it would slowly wither at his mental awareness, strength, and energy. But.. much of the field was set extremely low-key. For one to notice any loss of the minuscule power it drained -even over it's duration- it would take a fairly sharp mind.

Still, Ceal's face still painted the visage of a meek and scared girl -which it was- giving away no ulterior thoughts. She felt his compassion, but felt it undeserved. She was irritated at his meddling, and her emotions on high made her moody. Though he meant well, she was still fearful of him, of herself.

As he came closer and reached his hand out, Ceal felt her heart racing, hesitant to make any move. Hesitant to reach up to it with her own. Once she would, if his hand made contact, if he played this out. It would be too late to regret the decision.

Wed Aug 30, 2017 8:22 pm

Kai observed intently the various emotions and thoughts seemingly running through the fallen woman's mind, flashes of changes appearing across her face. Though by no means an emotional man, having grown up in a conservative and traditional household which emphasized working hard and focusing on improving his standing in business and life over personal feelings or connections, Kai had still learned to read the reactions and responses of those he met. While usually reserved to give him an advantage in business meetings, in this particular case the intuition he had learned over the years allowed him to keep track of what appeared to be infighting of some kind within the woman he'd just met's mind.

When Ceal's black electricity-amplified arm dropped to her side, no longer held up threateningly against the man approaching her, Kai breathed a sigh of relief. He hoped this meant she was starting to ease up and give his offer some more thought, potentially even considering accepting it. The fact his words seemed to inspire a sense of surprise in the woman told Kai all he really needed to know about her history with individuals like him: Either there was none or those she'd met weren't truly heroic. The concept of heroism had grown tremendously important to Kai, inspiring both his words and actions. Though he used to be prone to hesitating in the face of danger, now he rushed toward it head-first if it meant defending the defenseless and protecting those who could not protect themselves. It was true this meant he repeatedly came face to face with death itself, nearly being destroyed on multiple occasions in just a short time, but to Kai it didn't matter. All that mattered was putting his life on the line so others wouldn't have to.

With such powerful drive like few others experienced or had of their own, Kai pushed himself in situations which placed him directly in the line of fire without worrying about his own safety or welfare. This was evident in his current actions, particularly his ignoring of the static electricity-like feeling nipping at his clothing and skin. The woman's unwillingness to or inability to accept his kindness drove him to speak aloud once again. "Everyone has darkness in them, even the most brilliant of angels. However we all have a duty to fend it off, not just for our own sake but for the sake of those around us. We are all in the same boat together, sailing through an ocean of darkness which would love for us to destroy each other. I can't make you change who you are just because I reach my hand out and say a few pretty words. You have to decide for yourself if you're happy or proud of who you are. If you decide you could use a little help up, well...accept my offer and we'll see what happens. Remember: Everyone deserves kindness, no matter what they've done or who they are."

Mon Sep 04, 2017 10:34 pm

[PLAY POSTING MUSIC]

ENTER THE DEPTHS

Artist: N/A - Song: N/A - Word Count: N/A

With a peculiar face, the man did not take her hand. He did not take it, and her field did not explode with his touch. Hiding an expression of disappointment, she slowly brought her back into her body, making a fist with it over her breast area. She saw a breath of relief from him, a breath he'd probably been tensely holding in for some time now. The nerves in the are ran high, the tension only thickening with each one of their minds going a mile a minute.

Much like him, she was very keen at reading people too. When Ceal was younger, she was quite the empathic individual. She had always cared deeply for the ones around her, keenly reading their body language, their faces, and hopefully their thoughts to get a read on how she might help them, how she could tell when they were down in the pits, or of they were happy enough to continue life normally. She was so loving towards people she just... developed this trait naturally. Her aptitude for knowledge only help bolster this.

Knowledge was always a craving of Ceal's, ever since she had been training her mind to control her powers, utilizing the scientific aspect of supernatural properties to fuel her influence on the world around her. It was something she inherently learned under the mentoring of her family doctor: Dr. Steven Styles. One who seemed to know more about Ceal's power than even her parents, having been the doctor of the family for many years before even her birth.

Even now, even as the tendrils of madness poked at her brain, they did not take away from her ability to deduce a situation; they did not take away from the same parts of her brain that could affect lethality, enemy reading, or anything that could put her in immediate danger. This man before her, Kai, did not seem dangerous, that much she knew. But even still, the darkness that laid within her was growing too fast for her to quash. She would be unable to hold it back. Her fit of vulnerability an opportunity for it to manifest itself, to rare it's ugly head and begin it's insane roar.

Her heart beating faster now, she listened to his words, hung on them rather. He spoke about how everyone has a darkside, about even the most radiant, closest to the light still cast a shadow on the ground. She knew that. Of course she knew that. She knew that and yet, his words only served to fuel her seething anger even more. It fueled that part of her that regrettted her mistake, fueled the anger towards herself. The madness only served to amplify this, to drag her further into the pits of self-depravity. Still, he continued. Still, he spoke to her even as she unraveled. It would be painted all across her face, the slow and subtle, but steady decline of her temporary sanity. These changes could be seen as he spoke until she finally snapped.

-A snap that sounded like a crackle-

A tendril of black lightning whipped violently out from her body, originating from her waste as her aura flared up. She was burning her energy violently in her anger, the very air being charged, excited from such a change. The whip was aimed straight for the man's face, an action so fast many would likely get caught off guard. Perhaps not for this keen-eyed “hero”, though. Still, if it missed, it would make contact with one of the pillars behind him, easily ripping straight through it, causing it to fall, to come crashing down within the sandy area.

”WHAT THE HELL DO YOU KNOW?!

Standing up, huffing, Ceal screamed out her reply. It was a blood curdling scream from a girl running through the thick of despair, anger, and denial. Black lightning ripped across the playing field as her power went wild. Before, she would be concerned at her power going all over the place, not wanting to hurt the next guy. However, now? She didn't care. She lost the ability to care when this stupid... fucking voice wouldn't leave her alone. It followed her everywhere, there was no safe haven from it's harrying words, it's reprimanding comments, it's incessant bickering with her.

”I told you nothing was wrong, you should have listened to me.” Regardless of whether or not the last bolt hit her target, she was already preparing the darkness energy within the palms of her hands, fusing the swirling spirals of said energy with her own blue-strewn bolts, fueling even stronger bolts of black lightning. ”You think you can come over to me, spouting such nonsense? “Everyone” deserves kindness? No! Don't make me laugh. That's simply stupid. Mistakes.. they, they come with consequences. There is a reaction to every action you know, that's a basic law. It's a basic law to everything! Everyone knows that. I- I made a mistake. I fucked up, and I'm paying for it. I'm paying for my mistake... every, single, day,”

You know I thought they could be trusted, I thought that I'd give them the benefit of the down. BAD mistake, that was. Absolutely terrible, to look into the void. Humans were right to be scared of the dark, for they hold horrors no man should ever set eyes upon. Curiosity killed the cat, as they say. For the record, no, I'm not happy. But whether I'm happy or not doesn't matter any more. It doesn't matter because it is too late for me!”

Even as she made her speech, one could tell her progressively become unhinged, her voice cracking and changing as she stuttered on her words. The anxiety and chaotic emotions she was feeling coming full circle as they boiled over the cauldron of her heart. The long canine fang of her demonic trait was digging into her lip so hard it was drawing blood, her eyes so wide open she looked like a psychosis patient, that tinge of red in the gleam of her otherwise glowing emerald eyes making itself even more visible.

Her body was trembling from the conflicting emotions tearing her up in the inside. Thoughts of fear, or terror, of sadness, anger and resignation mixed into one completely pitiful being. She could not change herself now, it was too late for her. She didn't want to hurt this man, but he was being too annoying! She had told him to leave and he didn't, so it must be his fault! That's right, it was his fault for meddling, Ceal was doing nothing wrong. Nothing wrong at all.

Wed Sep 13, 2017 12:48 pm

Watching intently as the girl still huddled over on the ground reacted to his words, Kai quickly realized his speech would not have its desired effect. Instead of inspiring her to forgive herself and others, she seemed to just get progressively angrier and angrier until eventually reaching a boiling point by the time he stopped speaking. Though he had sought to resolve whatever issues she was having, at least temporarily, through peaceful discussion and symbolic gestures of kindness, it was clear it wouldn't be quite so simple to bring Ceal back to reality. This realization was reinforced by her immediate explosion of anger followed by lashing out, quite literally, at the Chinese youth. Despite attacking suddenly, Kai was just barely able to defend himself in time from the whip of electrical black energy his newest foe produced. He did this by blowing air from his lungs, creating a flamethrower originating from a few centimeters away from his mouth. This green fire quickly enveloped the black whip and also pushed Kai back three or so meters from the force of the blast.

Now safely located away from Ceal, Kai was able to get a grip on what was starting to occur with his opponent. Her wild and chaotic words emphasized her currently destructive state of mind, revealing whatever she was dealing with was far worse than anything Kai had imagined. Her words dripped with pandemonium in animalistic fashion, proving to Kai she was ready not just to fight but to even kill him if need be. Though Ceal's last words stung deep into Kai's heart, it was the entirety of her speech which truly saddened the man in ways he had not had to deal with recently. Though every single caused Ceal to fall deeper into a put of despair and dementation, Kai closed his eyes and faced the ground for a few seconds. Chaos and destruction may wash over his surroundings like a tidal wave, but Kai was considering his next actions very carefully.

After a short gap of silence, Kai began speaking out loud to Ceal without looking up at her. "You may experience or cause incredible pain, commit or have committed against you terrible crimes. But-" at this point he looked up and opened his eyes, revealing what seemed to be a raging inferno in his soul through the glowing green of his gaze, and finished speaking "-Never believe yourself to be unforgivable. I shall help cleanse the darkness from your soul. Forgive me."

As Kai finished speaking both his hands tightened into fists and were suddenly coated in flames of green. Assuming a combative stance by shifting his right foot back about half a meter and his hands raised and facing Ceal, he prepared to do battle with someone he very much did not want to fight. Despite these feelings he cocked back his right fist and, using his entire body, swung forward with it in the form of a punch, bringing his entire right side with it as he did so. This action caused a large blast of fire to burst forth, quickly growing in size conically until it was nearly five meters wide and would, if it reached her, completely envelop Ceal. He doubted this attack would be enough to take her down given what he had just witnessed, so he followed up with three rapid jabs in a left-right-left format, sending forth a smaller sphere of green flame with each. Though not very large individually, on impact the spheres would grow into larger infernal explosions and build on each other, encompassing much of the terrain surrounding the demonic girl Kai faced. Each of his attacks roared as if it was a mighty mythological dragon behind the fire, not a mere man. Now he waited.

Fri Sep 15, 2017 1:00 pm

[PLAY POSTING MUSIC]

ENTER THE DEPTHS

Artist: N/A - Song: N/A - Word Count: N/A

An arc of lightning that fast demanded an even faster reaction and the man did not disappoint. His impressive display of creating a flamethrower from his mouth was a strong indication of what sort of abilities this man could manifest. It was green, sure, but it enveloped the bolt and coated it in some manner and burned it away. Surely it was a vexing quality, causing the scowling girl a small bit of confusion, though she didn't show it in her face. She ground her teeth, her fanged frown showing white among the tainted lightning that was discharging off around her, dissipating into the air.

Ceal had -at least for the moment- given herself up completely to the darkness within. It was an easy thing to do when there was a focus for the anger, a catalyst for all of the rage she was feeling. There was much and more fueling it, but this made the spark to ignite it easy. With glaring emerald eyes, she listened. She needed to read this man now, for she cracked the first shot. That had meant this was happening at her insistence. This was a battle. Was it to the death? Likely not, unless she died. Even fallen this far, she would never take the final strike. The ever decreasing light still inside of her would not allow that to happen. Still, she watched him, listen to his words. She noted the fiery presence in his eyes. She noted how, if things had gone differently for her, those could have been her eyes. The ones that pierce through the darkness, to find righteousness in the swamp of depravity and sin. Eyes that cared for the good in people and the willingness to fight for it.

”Tch!” Ceal clicked her tongue with a rather audible disapproval. It would almost be flattering for him to say those words, that he would cleanse this darkness, that no man is above forgiveness. Such an ideology was frankly depressing. It was one Ceal knew she would have in a different turn of events, but it was one that she now held with some ironic hatred for. Her perspective on what is good and evil, what is right and wrong skewed and warped by just the tip of the iceberg of demonic depravity.

When the man assumed his stance, so did Ceal. She placed her hands out in front of her with open palms. She was no fighter when it came to close quarters, but the moments helped her express and manifest her own energy. Instead of charging the girl, he instead decided to step into a rather heavy swing, giving a momentary confusion to Ceal before she noticed the flaming fist. From it's center, fire manifested into a bolt of fire, ever growing as it roared through the air towards her. It kept growing until it was about 5 meters in circumference, more than enough to envelope Ceal in flames if she didn't do something. Though she couldn't see it past the large fireball, she could hear what might be the appearance of follow up strikes, giving the assumption this man was not banking on the first one hitting.

Fire balls... four in total? Green, magical in properties? Fueled by oxygen? Unknown, evasion action. She thought to herself, her inner monologue choppy and robotic. It was likely a coping method she had to force herself not to back down from her own cowardice and fear. She loathed fighting on any other day and even still had to fight back the urge to run. Instead of that, her mind just focuses on the facts of the fight, seeing what is and isn't.

Scrambling, Ceal took off in a diagonal pattern between her left and him, wanting to continue to close at least some distance between them while also doing her best to evade the fire blasts. She had no way of knowing if they were controllable after being launched, but banked on the fact that they probably can't while also remaining a safe distance. Despite being pretty average in speed, she did augment it every so slightly with [Soul Dash] trying to get into a solid position. She just narrowly managed to avoid the first blast, feeling the heat cook her face a little bit, wondering just how hot that was. However, she was right, there were at least three more blasts of somewhat smaller size. She had to dip behind a pillar to avoid as she set up her crossbow.

[EQUIPMENT USED]

Spinning out from the pillar (of which there are only 4 more strewn down along the path, 2 for each side) Ceal immediately took aim at the man and used her left arm to fire the shot, using her [Surge] ability to enhance the velocity by running current through it. She was keen to make sure to attempt to avoid any counter strikes against the wire as it flew through the air with a soft whistle. The wiring itself was about 4cm in diameter, braided copper upon itself. The tip made of silver was a strong conductor of electrical energy, being able to easily respond to Ceal's demand.

If this would make contact with someone, it should have no problem piercing skin. It would then be able to facilitate Ceal running lethal currents of electricity past their skin in an attempt to stun them or cause physical damage... or even stop their heart, depending on the amp and voltage count.

Ceal felt like if she was in her right might that she would have said something there, but in her growing anger, she was over it. At least for this moment she was done with words, the seething fury the one calling the shots from here

Thu Sep 28, 2017 11:40 am

Wanting to observe how his opponent would or could deal with his attacks instead of relentlessly following up immediately, Kai stood still as his firm gaze followed her movements. After having observed her previous attack and demonstration of her electric-like power, Kai came to the conclusion her ability was not fit for direct confrontation with something overwhelming like fire and was likely better for more precise attacks. This realization would be proven true, at least for now, after she dove behind one of the nearby stone pillars in order to avoid his spheres of fire. To him this meant if he continued on with large, destructive attacks he could eventually catch her off guard. Whether this meant using Stances or not would quickly be determined.

From behind the safety of a large pillar Kai's foe prepared and fired what seemed to be some sort of arrow with a cable attached to it, perhaps hoping to end this conflict quickly with a direct hit. However, after all the life or death, war-like situations Kai had been through these past few months, his awareness and reaction speed had been sharpened to superhuman levels. Before Ceal's weapon made it halfway between the two combatants, Kai had already managed to shift to Ranger stance and nocked an arrow. After momentarily taking aim at the projectile, Kai loosed his own with the goal of them colliding mid-air. Once the two missiles collided, the jade arrow would explode into a miniature inferno capable of melting metal from the heat alone. Though unsure of his opponent's weapon's durability, Kai hoped that would be enough to do away with her most recent attack for now.

Without hesitation Kai continued his aggressive ardour and immediately nocked another two arrows in his bow before firing them as well. This time they hit the lower end of the pillar Ceal was hiding behind and became lodged in the rock structure. "Hiding in the shadows is no way to live life!" As he said this the arrows exploded as their predecessor had, this time with enough force to break apart significant chunks of the pillar's base. The inferno created by the arrows would likely have enough intensity to push the remaining stone over and, if she remained still, onto Ceal. However he very much doubted she would allow herself to be crushed to death so Kai switched back to Standard Stance and prepared for his next action.

Not sure of exactly where Ceal would go next, Kai wanted to make it as difficult to approach him as he possibly could. This train of thought led him to dropping onto his hands with his legs raised up off the ground. Once in position Kai spun around in a circle over five times, with each rotation sending out a wide ring of burning green flames meant to engulf the surroundings and, if she neared him, Ceal herself. Each of these rings of fire was tilted slightly differently than the others, making it especially difficult to avoid them all and land an attack from above or below. Once Kai figured he had done enough for now, after almost ten waves of fire had been launched at his surroundings, he twisted and turned quickly until he was in a kneeling position with his Ranger Stance bow once again back in his hands and aiming for his opponent. He would not allow himself to be surprised or attacked from the shadows again.

Make it Stop [Ceal/Kai]

Make it Stop [Ceal/Kai]

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Re: Make it Stop [Ceal/Kai]