Fantasy The Divide

[Airagog]

John sighed, "It's obvious that those two are guardians and that I might have just saved them from weeks of recovery and granted you more time to train them. I suggest that you fill me in so this service may continue so that way you can supercharge these two without worry of their physical limitations and get them prepared for whatever may come."

 

[Elegy]

"And for that proficiency to be achieved, one must have some assistance no?" said Zakura as he stepped out from the mansion. He had been sensing most of the end of the fight with great curiosity and had heard the conversation between the priest and the fallen angel.

It would seem that the now obvious guardians would need some assistance before their powers stabilized, and Zakura was willing to aid them as he had always believed that those that desired balance across all were the ones in the right in any conflict.

"Along with the priest, I too desire to be of assistance if needs be. Not only are they flowers rife with potential yet to bloom, one of them is my student. As a teacher, I feel obliged to guarantee my student's continued existence whether it be fraught with difficulty or ease." said Zakura calmly.

If Zakura were to play any pivotal role in his lifetime, it would be to see the purpose of the Guardians to the end, as he always believed that order was something that was not impossible to be achieved, no matter how the odds were stacked against it.

​

 

[AkuTheWolfOkami]

"They won't be going it alone," Koharu said looking at Akio and looking to John,"I'll need to talk to you in private Priest." He was about to lead him somewhere private when Zakura moved his way into the area, and Koharu chuckled a bit. He knew of Zakura and his family, and that sword. He smirked a bit before sighing,"Perhaps, it would best if they had multiple teachers." He shrugged his shoulders a bit before looking at them all,"Well since it has become a party now I guess I'll say it all. I'm sure you all aware of the Supreme 4, a group of demons relatively strong to be in the human world, is plotting something big. Of course neither Johanna nor Saphire are strong enough to take them on together, or even on one, but I'm sure you can have them in tip top shape to be able to stand a chance together within the week. Priest, you can even accompany them on this journey. I'll need Akio and Zakura elsewhere when they leave on their mission."

 

[Airagog]

John actually look absolutely confused, "Actually in complete and total truth, I have no earthly idea who the supreme four are." That's when he felt a shiver, "Actually, I don't know who they are but apparently I know someTHING that does. What it wants with one of them... That's quite disturbing actually so I won't share it for now. As to those two, I already met one and she appears to be a demon." John sighed and shook his head, "I can do next to nothing with that. Is the other one also demonic? If she is then the best I can do is heal her up when she gets damaged."

 

[AkuTheWolfOkami]

Koharu rose a brow,"She's human for all intents and purposes. Her demonic energy is sealed by her Spiritual Energy. Trust me priest...I've been around longer than you.." Koharu said with a nod. Though he may had appeared to be young, he had lived for over five centuries, and had seen many a priests, a monk, a prophet, etc. "You'll be able to help her unless her demon energy is unsealed, which after the events of today. Seems very possible to be soon."


Johanna was in a dream world, standing in her demon form. Everything was black around her. Yet before her sat a man on what seemed to be like a throne, with one leg up next to him and the other hanging over the edge. Long strands of hair as white as the snow of the Himalayas fell down to the seat around him. Grey eyes to compliment the hair stared out from his sitting position glancing out to the girl who stood before him. White wolf ears on his head, and a long white tail from his lower back. He wore no shirt, just a zubon and a black obi tied around his waist. His body was extremely toned, a testament to his training regiment, but it something appeared off. He seemed to be withering away somehow.


Johanna herself seemed to match him, grey eyes, hair, tail, ears, and claws on her hands. She wore a kunoichi outfit that matched that of popular culture (This but in white for reference.http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2...5_ayane_wallpaper_by_tekkengodrin-d5zws3r.jpg ) with the kanji for Byakurou on the back in black, and a red obi around her waist.


"Who are you, better yet, what do you want old man?" was the only thing that left her lips and she stepped toward the man.


The man seemed un-phased, not moving from his perch on his throne. He didn't move a single bit, he sat as still as stone. After a moment's pass, he leaned over sitting his chin on his fist before closing his eyes,"You're weak, you can't be my heir while you're this weak. Discover who you really are."


With a growl, Johanna disappeared and reappeared throwing a punch at the man. As it was about to land she regained consciousness, eyes shooting open. She growled a bit getting to her feet and taking in a deep breath,"I hate everyone..." she muttered mostly to herself.

 

[Sir Raime]

"Whew.....quitting time!" Ophidius proclaimed joyfully as he finished shovelling the last of the snow. "I'd like to see a human do that! Keheh.....wait a minute." He paused. A few moments later, Ophidius bolted to his room in the mansion and started frantically rooting through his messy domain. This procedure continued for nearly seven minutes before he finally found what he was searching for: one of those little human computers with the touchscreen. An Apple I-something. I-Pie? Yeah, that was it. He flipped through the device's applications until he found the 'Calendar' function. Taking a look at the date he saw that it was....


'The fourteenth? I've gotta get a move on, fast! I can probably get a plane ticket in the next day or two....then I'll have to find a hotel....hrm.'


Ophidius had an old tradition of visiting Russia from the 15th to the 25th, where he would stay in a major city for a week to prepare for Defender of the Fatherland Day, a holiday celebrating the Russian armed forces.


'Hm...I can probably catch a boat to Magadan and take a plane to Moscow or some other big city from there. It'll be good to catch up with my old friends.' On the 17th of February, six days before Defender of the Fatherland Day, Ophidius would always make a trip to the port town of Magadan for an annual meeting with many of his old military compatriots, who were among the few people to be aware of Ophidius' status as a demon. Then again, that was probably because most of them were demons themselves.


'Ah, it'll be just like the good old days back in GRU, spying on other nations, fighting CIA agents, suspense, intrigue.....good times.'


Stepping out of his room, he said, "Hm, I wonder where the nearest port is...I'll probably have to roam around for a bit." Ophidius walked back into his room, spent a few more minutes rummaging through the mess, and found a pen and a sticky note. He wrote,

Will be gone for a week or two. Tell the white-haired chef that he needs to ease up on his sauces. They're bold. Too bold. Bye. -Phiphe "Ophidius" Mestles

He slapped the note on the door and began walking toward the outside of the mansion grounds and on the way overheard something about someone being a demon and a 'Supreme Four.'


"Supreme Four, huh? Never heard of 'em. Keh, it's not my problem."

 

[Pequeno Burraidh]

Seranna had been listening to the group intently for a bit of time, hearing mention of the four, as well as that of guardians and the like. It was clear to her that following Phiphe to this mansion was no coincidence in the slightest. Ensuring her tail and ears were hidden again, and that she appeared to be a normal human, she climbed down the building, much more akin to how a human would have done, before letting herself fall the last ten feet, hitting the ground and rolling before coming back up to her feet a metre or so away.


"It sounds like quite the party you are all planning, yes? And you there, preist. I was informed of you I believe. The exorcist? I look forward to time spent talking to you. More to the point, though, I heard it mentioned that you can't heal demons. I believe, if you don't mind a stranger like me placing herself in your midst, that I can be of use."


While she appeared completely at ease, Seranna was more than ready to launch herself in any direction needed that meant she wasn't going to be hit if they decided to attack her, granted she didn't expect any of them to be able to discern her demonic origins unless they were a powerful demonic being themselves due to the sacred energy the carried within her. In fact, come to think of it, she was surprised Phiphe hadn't picked up on it. Maybe he just presumed she'd been carrying some blesse artefact.

 

[SaphireTsuki]

Saphire's hand went to her forehead, she herself slowly inching up to a sitting position... all without opening her eyes. Wait... that should have hurt.... Opening her eyes she looked around the room, not really seeing anything until... "Wait, how'd I get back home? My mansion... the sno-" Her other hand moved to keep the cut kimono in place, though it hadn't moved just yet, face turning red and then paling, finally seeing Akio in the room. "U-uhh... hi. Am I... interrupting something?" Please say yes so I can go change...

 

[Akio]

"They won't be going it alone," Koharu said looking at Akio and looking to John,"I'll need to talk to you in private Priest." He was about to lead him somewhere private when Zakura moved his way into the area, and Koharu chuckled a bit. He knew of Zakura and his family, and that sword. He smirked a bit before sighing,"Perhaps, it would best if they had multiple teachers." He shrugged his shoulders a bit before looking at them all,"Well since it has become a party now I guess I'll say it all. I'm sure you all aware of the Supreme 4, a group of demons relatively strong to be in the human world, is plotting something big. Of course neither Johanna nor Saphire are strong enough to take them on together, or even on one, but I'm sure you can have them in tip top shape to be able to stand a chance together within the week. Priest, you can even accompany them on this journey. I'll need Akio and Zakura elsewhere when they leave on their mission."

When he heard that he would not be going with them Akio just stopped and turned to Koharu with a growl. "Are you kidding me, you are giving me a week to have them in a condition to beat veteran demon warriors who even i would have trouble taking on in this form and you dont even want me to go. It takes years and decades to make a great warrior and you gave me a month. Are you so scared of their power and so unwilling to kill them that you will send them on a suicide mission and hope the demons do it for you." He said angrily, sending them with only this priest as reinforcements was far from enough, true saying that he'd have trouble vs them was a over statement for some of them but some of the others were experienced warriors, he wouldnt be able to give them the power to match that experience in one week. Then he heard both girl wake up and he turned his aura calming again. "So you both woke up." He looked at the two seemingly having no abashment at the current situation. "No your not nethier of you are, we got a mission and leave in a week." It was obvious from his voice he was unhappy about something. "Go get cleaned up, both of you. I will talk to you both soon so stay within the area."

 

[SaphireTsuki]

She nodded, "Y-yes sir." Standing up, a bit dizzy from the blood loss, she moved out of the room, moving quicker than she normally would because unhappy Akio was not a good thing! Hopefully if she was gone he'd forget about her... at least enough to not want to kill her next time they met. So, hands still shaking, she pushed the Shouji open, left the room, closed it again, and started running off to her own room. No more kimono, so she'd have to get dressed in her outside clothes, and no more tiny confidence boost... oh, wait. It was already crushed. And the entire time she was changing her hands and body shook, making it harder than before, until finally she fell on her futon, curling up and fighting tears.


She hadn't been good enough... all this time, and she still wasn't good enough! If she had to protect someone, even for their next mission... she'd probably not be able to do anything but watch as everyone around her died. And she didn't have the time to train more... there was too much snow, too big a house, and she couldn't afford the help she could trust. She was barely keeping afloat, how could she have time for her training? And yet she had to make time... if only she could turn clearing the snow into naginata training! Biting her lip she took deep breaths, in and out, because with him in that kind of mood she'd have to swallow her fear and walk up to Akio soon. So she gripped her arms tighter, trying to quell the shaking, and choked on tears she wouldn't let fall.

 

[MasterWarlockTyr]

Michael came back a short while later with a shopping bag hung from his arm, pleasantly surprised with his purchase. He'd gotten a few more things than he'd expected to, inspiration having struck him as he spotted a few interesting ingredients on the shelf. Quite a bit more money than he'd meant to spend went into this but he had it covered. As he arrived back at the mansion he pulled the gate open and, to his surprise, the snow had been cleared out. Huh. Well, that's useful.


He stepped up to the front door, knocking the snow off his shoes before taking them off and opening the door with some difficulty -- no free hands and all. He managed to slip inside and get his shoes in the cubby before heading to the kitchen. He made his way to the kitchen and packed everything away in their appropriate places, making some effort to arrange them comfortably for later use. Since he was still cooking most of the nights having stuff arranged for his convenience was a huge benefit towards both quality and time saved.


He made his way upstairs to lie down and dry off a bit when he noticed a note attached to one of the rooms as he passed. Strange, Saphire wasn't the type to leave notices for people. Getting a bit nosey, he stopped and back tracked to read it. While informative, he regretted doing so quickly as it sure as hell got on his nerves. "Son of a..."


He snatched the note off the door, his expression peeved as he crumbled it in his hand. Even without the signature he could tell from the room and the 'colorful' way it was written just who it was. Phipe, perhaps the single shiftiest looking occupant of the mansion and perhaps the worst hidden demon in all of existence. Looking down at the now wrinkled name practically made him want to flinch. How cheesy. Not to mention aggravating. He didn't bother remembering anyone's name and he apparently found Michael's way of wording things hilarious. How he even know about the conversation in the kendo room a few weeks ago he'd like to know. Maybe Johanna or Woods had gone around running their mouth or something.


"Couldn't even leave it on her door," he muttered, sighing deeply as his fist clenched even tighter around the paper. A vibrant turquoise spark of flame caught on the paper as he did so, burning the whole thing away to ash in a split second without so much as searing his palm. Saphire didn't need his annoying worded note at any rate. Still, she'd need to know.


Not knowing if she was back or not she decided to check her room first of all and, lo and behold, he heard the subtle sounds of the room being occupied. He tapped on the door with the back of his hand, knocking three times before speaking outloud. "Saphire-san, are you in there?"

 

[SaphireTsuki]

The sound of knocking, and then De Longe-san's voice... "Y-yeah, I'm in." Her voice still had that quiver, she couldn't leave the room just yet. Nope, she couldn't even let him in... not if he was going to see her like this. She was the innkeeper, she always had to greet her guests with a smile and a sense of warmness! Not to mention how embarrassing it would be... he'd never want her to give advice if he saw her having a breakdown. "What do you need?" There, better. Not perfect, you could hear the strain, but at least she'd stopped stuttering... for however long.

 

[AkuTheWolfOkami]

Johanna sighed taking air between her teeth making a sucking sound, before she moved but stopped in her tracks wincing a bit. Her stomach was sore, and her back was hurting. This pain caused her to ball up her fist in anger, at Akio..at herself? But soon she let her fist go and her hand fell to her side. She spat out in disrespect, unladylike but she didn't care. This was the last thing she did before she used the little reserves of her energy left to vanish altogether.


She was now on top of a building, sitting with her legs hanging over the edge. Her gi was ripped and torn a bit from hitting the ground, the tree, the ground...but her uniform under it seemed to be in tact. It was Valentines day, and though traditions were different on this day in Japan, she still rather had spent it doing something else. Not basketball...not training....


So slowly, she reached into her pocket removing a phone and staring at the screen. She moved her thumb up to move the virtual lock out of the way, before typing in her password. She took a second to navigate through the text messages and opened the thread she had with Woods. She managed to scroll through their previous conversations, which weren't in abundance, but it was enough for her to scroll a bit through. It was mostly teasing, or information about school work, but the teasing caused her to smile without her even noticing.


She managed to place a couple of fingers on the keyboard beginning to type,"Hey, baka. I got some honmei choco for you. Want to meet up so I can give it to you?" Her eyes seemed to watch the characters on the screen like a hawk staring at his prey, before she backspaced and deleted it all. It only caused her to sigh as she closed her eyes, sure that he'd be showered in chocolate today, especially honmei. He didn't even need to know she intended it to be honmei, did he? Hell, maybe he didn't know about the tradition and would just assume it was giri if she didn't tell him what her intention was.


Another sigh escaped her lips as her thumbs twiddled away again,"I know you're probably sick of chocolate today....but I got you some too. Mom insisted it'd be the finest chocolate this hemisphere. Meet me?" It was a bit of a lie, her mom didn't care much about what Johanna was going to do on Valentines. No one needed to know she used her mom's credit card to buy a $200 usd bit of chocolate for some boy, right? What did $200 usd chocolate even taste like? She took in a deep breath before finally pressing send.


"You seem upset," Koharu muttered as he watched the young girls leave before looking over to Akio,"I assure you, they'll be fine if you can get Johanna to cooperate and work as a team with Saphire." he shrugged his shoulder and sighed a bit,"But as I said before, we have more pressing matters to attend to in a week." He looked over yet another newcomer and rubbed his temples a bit, not sure who this one was,"So the party just gets bigger."

 

[MasterWarlockTyr]

Michael got a response pretty quickly but the tone he heard unsettled him. Saphire sounded unusual, a strange strain in her voice as if she was upset by something. He was taken aback. He half considered apologizing and going to his room but some part of him decided against it. Leaving her out of the loop wasn't helping anyone.


"Phibes left a note, said he was going to be gone for a week or so," he told her, trying to give it to her as straight as possible. It didn't take long for him to speak up again. "Is everything alright?" he asked, his tone filled with uncharacteristic worry. He already knew the answer but he couldn't help but wonder what the problem could be.

 

[SaphireTsuki]

"Phibes-san? Ok." A tiny hint of relief, that was one problem that, while on the whole somewhat entertaining, was a break certainly welcome from. It'd be a nice break from always having to stop fights that broke out between two parties he might have had a hand in agitating. And certainly a lot less property damage for the time he wasn't going to be here. A deep, shuddering breath, she still had to fix that hole in the back from the last fight, and she focused on his second question. "Y-yeah, I'm fine. Just need to..." How to answer? "I had a bit of a scare earlier, is all." Nice and vague, he couldn't possibly read anything from that, now could he? And... she was being honest.

 

[MasterWarlockTyr]

A small smile played across his face as he heard her sound strangely relieved to hear that the huge trouble maker was going to be out of her hair for a while. This was a much better way to get the news without having to stumble across it or be associated as 'blue person'. Still it didn't seem to do that much for her. His smile faded as she mentioned a scare getting to her. It was incredibly vague and with what he knew he wondered what it could be...


"Sorry to hear that," was the best he could muster up. Social delicacy had never been his specialty. He stayed standing in front of the door, shifting a bit as he stood there in his heavy winter clothes, not sure what to say or even fully aware of why he felt the need to say anything. An awkward silence filled the hall, only stopped as he threw out the first words to come to mind. "Do you want to, uh... talk about it?" The words were ones he'd heard a million times before -- rarely from himself. Back home he swore he got the question all the time. He only wondered if she answered the same as he did.

 

[SaphireTsuki]

A tiny laugh, "I... think you're the first person to ask that." Sure, she'd listen to everyone else's problems, but... hardly anyone bothered to talk to her when she was having a problem. In fact... somewhere along the way she'd given up on the idea of being taken care of. Instead she'd focused on providing for others what she'd never had... a shoulder to cry on, and a willing ear. She stood up, still shaking quite a lot, and walked over to the door, saying as she did "Y-you can come in." He'd come to see her for a reason, after all, and she doubted it had to do with her sudden fear of Akio... a fear she knew she'd have to learn to deal with. So the strained tone of her voice was colored with false cheerfulness, an attempt to forget the pain, since thinking about it hadn't done anything.

 

[MasterWarlockTyr]

Michael was surprised to hear what she had to say, not sure if she was being serious or not. But he quickly thought back. Saphire was practically a ghost, never bothering someone unless she needed to and never being approached unless needed. She was treated like a convenience, a person to get things done who just disappeared when not helping others. If he didn't have his own reasons he was pretty sure she'd sink into the wall for him as well. For a moment he wondered if it was a choice. Did she prefer to be alone or was she simply too soft spoken to take initiative?


He was shaken out of his thoughts by the sound of Saphire's voice again. He carefully opened the door, greeted by the sight of the blue haired girl. She'd had better days from the looks of it. She looked paler than usual and something about her eyes gave away the sadness she was feeling. He felt immediate regret. Michael knew he could only put on so much of a show of kindness to some people but here he was tripping over genuine attempts at comfort. He stood there without a word, suddenly feeling uncomfortably hot in his jacket and scarf.

 

[Akio]

"Hmph more important, i personally think me and you have different opinions on important" He said with a scoff before getting up and spreading his wings. "Spare me the details for now, i have to find my students and use the week you so generously offered me." He said with a snarl as he stalked off. He stopped to sense the aura's around him, saphire was with someone, her aura was distraught. He sighed, it was inedible after what he did so instead he looked up. Johanna's aura wasent here. After he told her to remain in the area, why was he not surprised. With a sigh he shot into the air so fast that he sent dust billowing around him on the ground, now where was his arrogant student.


As he was in the air he couldnt help think about how much he loved flying, sure he could move incredible fast on the ground and even run on upwards surfaces with his speed but it didnt beat flying. Being close to the sun and feel the wind on his wings was a feeling he couldnt compare to anything else, it was one of his small joys after his wife died. It was strange how even things you've lost could be remedied by the smallest things. He shot threw the air at high speeds till he felt Johanna's presence. Within a few second he landed besides her. "I was looking for you." He said as he landed.

 

[SaphireTsuki]

She still shook, but it was quickly being buried under thoughts of what could be wrong with De Longe-san. He was standing there, and looked decidedly uncomfortable... and so immediately after she thought that she started to usher him into the room, brow dropping and her own fear being buried under what-can-I-do-for-him-right-now. "D-d'you want some... uhh... on, no snacks. Umm, take a seat, let me take that jacket, you must be boiling under it! Or are you cold? I have a spare blanket... is something wrong?" Sure, she was scared... but it was always more important to take care of her guests... or her acquaintances, she was certain she'd never had a friend, than to wallow in her fear or wrestle with it. "You can tell me anything, I'm always here to help."

 

[Airagog]

John shook his head at the new woman, "It's not that I can't heal demons. It's that I am not sure I can train the girl to use her demonic powers. The other, however, I could probably show her how to use them. You said a week correct? That is enough time. I can make her into a warrior by then easily enough, but only if she is willing. And I'm curious, you said you were looking forward to talking to me, why is that? Do you have questions for me?"

 

[Pequeno Burraidh]

Looking up at the priest, Seranna smiled with a nod.


"Yes, I was actually. I was informed by a Phiphe O'Mestles that you hunted demons and what not. It led me to believe that you would have ties to the nearby churches, and on top of that, it has been a while since I last met someone who partakes in the same... activities, shall we say, that I do. If follow God's path, and I do his work, and meeting someone who does the same certainly makes for better company than Phiphe, who clearly thought he was sweeping me off my feet." Seranna spoke, giggling a bit towards the end, "He also mentioned that you were the one to talk to about a potential place to stay. Is that also correct?"

 

[Airagog]

John would nod, "Indeed I do hunt demons, to an extent. I hunt demons who have taken over humans, feral ones, though I've now met a fallen angel and three demons, I have no intention to kill them. It simply wouldn't make sense for now as they have done no harm. As such, I'm trying to find out the truth behind demons. Church doctrine says that they are evil creatures and the bane of existance, some demons I agree are, but some not so much. As such I am trying to find what exactly is the truth behind it all and who to trust rather than following blindly. As for looking for a place to stay, no I do not own this mansion and do not know who does. I have been staying at the cathedral. "

 

[MasterWarlockTyr]

Before he knew it he was being beckoned into the room by Saphire and suddenly she was worrying over him. He just stared at her, confused as could be before taking a quick step away from her. He was immediately bugged by this. He couldn't help himself as he finally spoke again, clear and confident if not somwhat condescending.


"I'm fine, Saphire-san. You seem to be struggling enough without having to try and help me." He idly adjusted his hair as he spoke, his gaze firmly set to the side, away from her. Despite the firmness of his voice his posture and eye contact left much to be desired as he avoided looking at her and kept his arms crossed. "You're going to drop one of these days if you don't stop taking care of yourself a bit you know. And at any rate, you seem like the person who needs to get something off their chest, not me."

 

[Pequeno Burraidh]

Listening to John's words intently, Seranna became even more fascinated. Most men of God simply accepted that Angels were good, and Demons were bad, and many more assumed that she was the Angel of Death, who was sent to protect them, but could not survive without the shedding of blood in peaceable times. It was why they donated to her, after all, and it worked just fine.


This man, though, was of the curious sort. He didn't want to just know the how of it, but the why of it behind the scenes. This, this seemed like a man she could trust. Not just with her mission, but with everything. Hopefully. It would obviously take a bit more than a cordial first meeting to determine though.


"The cathedral, you'll have to show me. I have... made a name for myself amongst certain leaders of the church, both catholic and protestant, and I'm sure someone would recognise me. That and, nothing against Phiphe as a person... but you and I both know he's not a person, in the technical sense."


As Seranna spoke, she suddenly remembered that she still had her Leche shake, albeit in her backpack and wrapped in foil as to not leak. Fishing it out she take a draw from the cup, sighing in content as the cool and fruity drink soothed her throat.