The Meaning of Life, the Universe, and Everything.
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Callandra watched as the armour was destroyed by their attacks, her legs shaking. Her eyes followed the apparition as it went upwards and dissipated, making her shiver slightly. She wondered what it was, if it was a soul trapped, or if it was creating solely for the purpose of being a puppet. Breathing heavily, she looked around at the fallen as a horn sounded, Orks turning back. She turned to Arthur, giving him a sort of half smile before going back to Zack to see if he was ok.
Arthur watched as his last attack blasted a hole in the walking armour, this was followed by a wave of fire from Callandra. The fire melted the armour from the inside out and the red energy from within the armour came pouring out until the armour could no longer stay together and fell into hundreds of peices. Standing where the armour had been moments before was a vaguely human shape made of the red energy which soon dissipated into the air. Whatever that armour was, it was gone now. The sound of a horn echoed along the battlefield, signalling for the orcs to retreat. The group had won and fought back the orcs, the fight wasn't that easy and Arthur doubted that it would get any easier from here. He turned to Callandra seeing a sort of half smile on her face, perhaps she was happy that the battle was over. He noticed Callandra heading over to Zack, in all the excitment of the battle he had forgotten about Zack. Was he alright after the battle? Arthur started walking towards Zack, but stopped after the first step. His headache had just decided to remind him that it was there. Trying to ignore the pain in his head he walked over to Zack. "Do you think he is alright?" Arthur asked Callandra.
As soon as the horn had blown, several people from inside the castle rushed out. Various human mages, three running straight to Zack. One, the Auramancer from earlier, started using magic on him as his entire body glowed bright green. "He'll be fine.. Idiot. Should have known better." She said. An Auramancer walked up to Arthur and Callandra. "Are you hurt? Do you need any help?" She said.
On the darkening horizon, the sky became an unnatural shade of black.. No stars, nothing. The only visible thing was a boy walking, holding a staff in his left hand. The darkness appeared to follow him, as the closer he got the more stars seemed to vanish from the sky.
Arthur saw the people exiting the castle now that the battle was over, three of which ran to Zack's aid. They casted spells, obviously trying to heal him. It had been quite an ordeal, Arthur just hoped that Zack would be alright. One of the mages helping Zack had said something that brought a sense of relief, they said that Zack would be alright. Did he really think he could take on the entire attack singlehandedly? Perhaps it was part of a plan, but what if he and Callandra hadn't come to help? His thoughts were interrupted by a voice, an auramancer asking if he and Callandra were alright. Arthur had managed to escape any major injury, just scrapes and bruises mixed with a headache from overuse of his ability. While his ability was useful to keeping opponents at a distance he did run out of energy a bit too quickly, that was something he would have to work on. Returning to reality he realised that he should probably respond to the auramancer. "I'm ok, just scrapes, bruises and a headache from using my ability too much" he said, his tone a little weak and distant. He looked out over the place where the battle was not long before. His eyes slowly drifted along the landscape, moving across the horizon until he noticed something strange. "Callandra, look..." he said, pointed to the horizon, more percisely above it. The sky was eerily black and empty. As if something was covering the world in a thick black sheet of darkness, blocking out the sky. Something in the back of his mind said something was terribly wrong, there was someone in the distance, just ahead of the darkness. A feeling of fear gripped him, perhaps the ordeal was not over.
The Meaning of Life, the Universe, and Everything.
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Canada, Eh
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121
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Callandra glanced up as three people came rushing towards Zack and herself. She stepped back as they tended to him, nodding to the mage's comment on Zack's condition. She hoped he was all right, although she was surprised. She barely knew these people, why did she care so much? She remembered what Zack had said about his plan earlier. Callandra failed to she the "logic" in Zack's so called "plan." She looked over as an Auramancer asked if everyone was alright. "I'm just... Tired." She said hesitantly. It was frustrating how weak her power was. It didn't seem to be improving after all these years either, so she had focused on her dagger techniques more. Trying to perfect it, to at least put her mind off of her power. Even now she was slightly shaking. Arthur's voice brought her out of her thoughts. Her eyes followed where he was pointing, above the horizon. She narrowed her eyes, the sky was unnaturally black. There weren't even stars, and the darkness seemed to be getting closer. It was too far for Callandra to see anything closely, but it seemed like there was a small figure. It was getting closer and taking the darkness with it. Her heart dropped, something was wrong. It wasn't over. She kept her eyes on the figure, "What is that?"
Soon the figure got close enough to be visible. A young child, seemingly below the age of ten, wielding a staff in his left hand. Soldiers rushed out and many seemed to already be aware of what was happening.. A sudden sense of dread seemed to wash over all of them at the realization. Within minutes the figure arrived. "Hello everyone! I'm back!" He yelled happily, although the voice was deep and ancient, unlike a childs. One soldier became enraged, yelling in anger before running at the child. His sword came down at the child, but the blade was soon cut at the hilt, causing the blade portion to fly to the side and land in the ground. The child held a knife, which had clearly cut the soldiers sword. The knife was unlike any other- the metal blade seemed to be.. alive, moving as if made of liquid while holding solid mass. The hilt was made from pure bone, and the blade was coming out of a skulls mouth. The soldier stumbled backwards, dropping his hilt. "Crime: Attacking the Reaper. How do you plea?" The child asked. The soldier didn't respond as he began to break into full sprint running twords the castle. "No plea? Guilty then." Rotting hands shot from the ground, grasping the soldier and holding him in place as he screamed. "Punishment will be death." The child said as he approached the soldier from behind. No other man dare move out of place. The child raised the knife then stabbed it into the soldiers back. Blood sprayed in every direction, as if all the blood in the soldiers body was immediately being ejected. The child pulled the knife out as a blue transparent image of the man was ripped from his body, and it dissipated into the wooden staff. The hands crumbled to dust as a lifeless corpse fell to the floor.
"Now." He started. "Would anyone care to make a deal? Same as last time. While the Gods are fighting, I stand to make some profit - Exchange of soul for soul. Family members, friends even. Odds are I've got their bodies.." He finished. A small line formed in front of him of people crying and begging for their family back.
Arthur watched the scene unfold. The approaching figure appeared to be a young child, but something told him that there was somethign amiss. Especially because the pinpoints of light in the sky grew dark above him. The child was holding what appeared to be a staff. Arthur worried that this child was here to attack them, if they had the power to hide the stars above Arthur thought that it would be a tough battle, perhaps too tough. The child spoke, the voice not matching the mouth it came from, according to what he said he had bee here before. Perhaps they were not going to attack the people of the castle. However one soldier seemed not to share Arthur's last thought and ran foward, swinging a sword obviously intended to slay the child who didn't seem like a child. Arthur watched in awe as the sword was cut, the blade being removed from the hilt. He thought he saw a knife but he was too preoccupied with what happened next to take much notice of it. The child spoke again, accusing the soldier attacking the Reaper. Was the child the grim reaper? It certainly wasn't what Arthur thought the reaper would look like, he had expected the classic image of a skeletal figure in a dark robe weilding a scythe. The soldier was killed in a mysterious manner, one that made Arthur want to look away as the event took place. The Reaper made an offer, to bring someome back to life, obviously doing it for his own benefit. It was then Arthur remembered the attack on his home town, he had left but his oarents stayed behind. He couldn't convice them to leave, they thought they could stop the incoming attack. That was the last time he had heard from them. A grim expression appeared on Arthur's face as his mind invented images of what could have happened. He didn't know if they still lived, but he distrusted the being claiming to be the Reaper. He had held onto a vain hope that they left the town before they were killed, but that hope was fading. Arthur remained silent, choosing not to take the Reaper's offer.
The Meaning of Life, the Universe, and Everything.
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Callandra's eyes widened, the figure that was coming towards them, was a child. She definitely wasn't expecting this, she expected something ancient, but instead the small figure of a young boy was approaching them. The darkness still appeared to be following him, winking the stars seemingly out of existence. She took in the appearance of the child, who was holding a staff. The people around her started to stir, perhaps they knew who this was. A quick scan of the soldier's faces told her that whatever this was, it wasn't good. Dread had clouded their vision. Callandra was taken aback when the child spoke, it was the not the voice of a child. It was something older, and it chilled her. But what they said, it was almost childish, if not for the voice accompanying it. A soldier appeared in her field of vision, charging at the child. No, not a child, she corrected herself. This was something else. Her dread and amazement intertwined as the Being's strange knife literally cut the soldier's blade in two, making it fall to the ground. She couldn't help but watch the two, even as Arthur looked away. As much as she hated to admit it- Callandra was impressed. It sickened her, but it was the truth. The way the soldier was killed, it was proof of how powerful this Being was. Even as an image of the man's body was absorbed into the Being's staff, she watched on with concealed fascination. The apparent "Reaper" seemed to be making deals, a soul for a soul. Images of her family and friends flashed in Callandra's mind, one face standing out in particular, but she hesitated. She guessed that even if he did somehow come back, it wouldn't be the same. She didn't trust this Reaper either. But a small voice was tugging at the back of her mind. What if...? No. She quickly shut the voice down. What it was suggesting, it couldn't be done. But her mind still hesitated, refusing to let go of the possibility. She saw people lining up near the Reaper, but she also saw people who weren't. Her mind and heart battled for dominance. One side of her needing him back, the other telling herself to be strong without him.
A young soldier, obviously one of the newer recruits, was front in line. "You can bring anyone back..?" He asked. The Reaper smiled devilishly. "For an equal exchange, yes." He said. The soldier looked down. "My mother.. She was burned alive in our house as I left.. What would it take to bring her back..?" He asked. The reaper tapped his head. Suddenly a coffin phased through the ground and hovered in the air next to him. "This is her body. Damaged, but can be repaired.. Of course it costs extra. Signing over your own soul would cover the resurrection, it's restoring the corpse that is more difficult." The Reaper said. He seemed to be quite amused by the dread on the soldiers face. "Anything.." He said, starting to cry. "I need at least one more soul." He said. "What if.. What if I killed someone else.." He asked. The Reaper laughed. "Hold out your blade." The soldier did so, leveling the sword. The Reaper touched the blade, rubbing his finger down it. Black blood came out of the small cut, which sizzled and hissed on contact with the blade. It began to turn pure black. "It'll last until you obtain one soul then vanish. Sign yours to me, then upon receiving the other soul your mother will come back. Full, healthy." The Reaper said as he pulled a piece of paper out of thin air, unrolling it and handing a quill to the soldier. He signed his name on the document before immediately turning around and stabbing the soldier behind him. He didn't last much longer as the archers quickly shot him and killed him. Two blue figures floated to the Reapers staff, dissolving into it. "I love when that happens.." He said happily. The coffin opened, showing a burnt and decaying body. Blue energy flowed from the staff to the corpse and it began to regenerate - Coming back to life. An older lady stumbled out of the coffin. "Your son killed a man and died to bring you back. Enjoy your new life." The Reaper said. The woman fell to the ground crying loudly immediately before taking a hold of a piece of metal on the ground and stabbing herself, screaming in agony as she died a second time.
Zack appeared in front of the Reaper almost instantly out of nowhere. "What are you doing?!" Zack yelled angrily. The Reaper just laughed as another coffin floated up. The name "Unisaki" was etched into it. "You can't touch me, Zack. You know that." He said. Zack looked down as he clenched his fists. "You know, sign your soul to me and I can bring him back."
The Meaning of Life, the Universe, and Everything.
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Callandra knew that the soldier's deal wouldn't end well. The love for a mother, love in general, made people do stupid things, she knew that from experience. Although she was intrigued as to what the Reaper had done to the soldier's blade, but it quickly turned to disgust as the soldier murdered one of his comrades. Killing one of your own, Callandra was extremely against that. Her father taught her at a young age, right and wrong. Arrows flew, but she barely saw them, Callandra watched as this time, two apparitions were absorbed into the Reaper's staff. She came to the conclusion that the Reaper was sadistic, smiling as the soldiers had died. Taking pleasure from their pain. The mother's scream made Callandra jump, it was a scream of pain and agony . But it wasn't the mother's physical pain, it was emotional, her own son died for her and there was nothing else left. Now three more had died this day. Zack appeared, apparently better. Callandra was glad to see Zack well, but she was quickly overcome with alarm instead. She knew right away that whoever was in the coffin the Reaper summoned was related to Zack. And it was some one he cared about, but she couldn't let him do it. Nothing good ever came out of situations like this. She looked at him, eyes like steel and voice laced with warning, "Zack..."
Arthur watched as a soldier asked the Reaper to bring someone back, they must be very dear to them for the price the Reaper was asking. To fulfill the price the soldier turned traitor and murdered another soldier. The Reaper then took two ghostly appararions, one from the murderer and another from the victim and released the resurrected, the murder's mother, who quickly committed suicide upon the realiseation of the price her son had paid. The Reaper seemed happy about the events, taking delight out of the deaths of the people. It was terrible, preying upon the greif of others for their own benefit. These people were grieving for the ones they lost, then the Reaper offers them back but at an enormous price then charging extra to heal them. Arthur looked at the dead for a moment, feeling sorrow at their unnecessary deaths. It was a few moments before he looked away. At this point Arthur heard a sound, an angry voice. He turned around quickly to see Zack, who appeared to have recovered, yelling at the Reaper, obviously not wanting him at the castle. But the Reaper seemed to have planned something in advance, a coffin appeared next to him with the name Unisaki etched on it. It must contain someone dear to Zack, someone who would stop him from attacking the Reaper. Zack seemed furious, and the Reaper made his offer. After seeing what had happened to the soldier, Arthur thought that the deal was a very bad idea, especially when they could lose a powerful ally. Callandra had made her thoughts known in one word, she apparently shared Arthur's skepiticism of the Reaper and his deal. "Don't do anything rash Zack" Arthur said, his voice laced with warning and distrust for the Reaper.
"I would never disgrace my brother.. This.. THING, this Reaper, uses his body as leverage. I can't touch him. He does this every night.. And I can do nothing. He sells to the Chaos at day time." Zack said, clenching his fist tight.
Arthur gave a quiet sigh of relief when Zack spoke. From the sound of what he said Arthur came to the conclusion that he wouldn't take the Reaper's offer to resurrect the corpse, who was revealed to be Zack's brother. However the Reaper had another trick, the fact that he posessed the corpse of Zack's brother was enough to stop Zack from attacking the Reaper and preventing him from coming to the castle to make deals. Furthermore the deal was revealed not to be exclusive to their side of the war, the Reaper sold to their enemies too. It was further proof to Arthur that the Reaper was doing this for his own beneift. As ot turned out his warning to Zack was unneeded. There appeared to be no way of stopping the Reaper from coming to the castle and offering to bring the dead back to life for a price. He knew what would happen should he attack the Reaper, especially since he was still tired from the battle, and the most powerful person here, Zack, was prevented from attacking the Reaper. Arthur glanced over to Callandra and then Zack, wondering what they should do until the Reaper left or the next attack. The Reaper would leave eventually, but there was no way of knowing how many people would make a deal with him. Another thought came to Arthur's mind, what do they do now? "What do we do now?" He asked, "Train? Rest? Wait for the next battle?" He was almost certain that they could not force the Reaper to leave.
"You guys go get some rest, you worked hard. Tomorrow we start training early.. You'll be fine amongst the barracks, eh? As for Callandra, you can get some rest in the healers tent. Not too many female warriors, and I'm sure you don't want to sleep around all the men. Whatever you do, don't wander at night. Our security after curfew is very extensive and won't know the difference between you and the enemy." Zack said. He was obviously still angry.
Arthur nodded in responce, it was getting fairly late and the battle was over for now. It seemed like a good idea to take a rest, he didn't really have anything else to do. He was too low on energy after the battle to train and he doubted that there was anyting he could do to make the Reaper leave. Zack still seemed angry, probably still angry that the Reaper was here. Arthur heard Zack's warning not to leave the barracks after curfew as he could be mistaken for the enemy, that was something that Arthur did not want to happen. He stayed for a few moments after Zack finished speaking, as if waiting just to mkae sure no-one had anything else to say or that nothing else was going to happen. "Well... Good night I suppose" he said before turning to the castle and walking through the gate. He didn't actually know where the barracks were but didn't want to bother the already mad Zack, he resigned to just following other soldiers to the barracks or just trying to find it himself. He was feeling tired, only just realising this as he walked. A lot had happened that day, he had come to the castle, was accepted and helped stop an attack on the castle. Would every day be like that? He rememebered Niv saying that there was a battle each night and Zack saying that there the Reaper visited each night so perhaps every day would be like that day.
The Meaning of Life, the Universe, and Everything.
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Callandra was grateful that they at least had somewhere else for her to sleep. Although she wasn't surprised that there weren't many female warriors. Being in the barracks with the men... It would be uncomfortable to say the least. She was exhausted, first the spar, then the attack, and now this Reaper. If this really did happen every night, she'd learn to appreciate the sleeping hours more. As soon as she got to the tent, the better. She nodded at Arthur and Zack, "Goodnight, then." She glanced at the Reaper one last time, keeping her thoughts to herself. She turned and walked off, looking out for the healing tent. She assumed that was where the Auramancers and healers where going. Keeping in mind Zack's curfew warning, she hurried along.
It took a while but eventually Arthur found the barracks, the building where he would be staying while he was at the castle. There wasn't a way of telling just how long he would be at the castle, he supposed he would stay until the war stopped but he didn't know what he would do after then, would he stay at the castle or leave? He couldn't decide now, he planned to wait until the war was over the make a decision. However this thinking was optomistic, there was no way of knowing if he would suvive until then. Arthur returned to reality, now wasn't the time to be worrying about such things. It was late and he would have to train tomorrow, something which couldn't be done effectively if he didn't get enough sleep. Arthur wandered through the barracks, searching for an unclaimed place to stay. It took a few minutes of searching until he found an unclaimed spot. During the search he didn't talk to anyone else in the barracks, partially because he was too tired and partially becuase he didn't want to bother them. The spot where he decided he would be staying was a distance away from the other people. Exhausted from the battle he collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep shortly afterwards.
As the sky darkened, the outside areas of the castle were soon abandoned as everyone had gone to sleep. Outside the walls screams could be heard, that of those being tortured and killed outside the walls: Those who either didn't make it inside in time, or those captured by the enemy. Night went on until eventually the sun started to rise. The sky was a beautiful shade of orange, warming the ground and outside air. A horn blew, waking everyone up to start the days work. Zack stood in the middle of the castle to make sure everyone got where they needed to be.
Arthur's eyes slowly opened, only to squint at the light streaming through the window. Ordinarily he would still be sleeping but the sound of a horn had awoken him from his slumber. He had a dreamless night, his mind too tired from the battle the night before to bother making up some fantastical world filled with things that couldn't possibly exist. For a moment he couldn't remember where he was, almost panicking for a moment before he remembered the events of the previous day. It all came back to him at the same time, a wave of memories figuartively hititng him. He was at the castle, trying to help stop the invasion. He quickly prepared himself for the new day, straightened the clothes he was wearing and left the barracks. He sheilded his eyes from the glare of the morning sun and looked around at the castle grounds, appearing not much different than it did the day before except for the light he viewed it in. He walked slowly towards a figure of whom he assumed to be Zack, soon he was proved correct. He wasn't sure what to do, no matter how much he tried to make his drowsy brain think of what he had to do that morning. He could vaugely remember something about training, but wasn't sure if his sleepy mind was just making that up or not. His slow pace eventually reached Zack at which point he spoke, "Good morning" he said sleepily.
On the darkening horizon, the sky became an unnatural shade of black.. No stars, nothing. The only visible thing was a boy walking, holding a staff in his left hand. The darkness appeared to follow him, as the closer he got the more stars seemed to vanish from the sky.
"Now." He started. "Would anyone care to make a deal? Same as last time. While the Gods are fighting, I stand to make some profit - Exchange of soul for soul. Family members, friends even. Odds are I've got their bodies.." He finished. A small line formed in front of him of people crying and begging for their family back.
Zack appeared in front of the Reaper almost instantly out of nowhere. "What are you doing?!" Zack yelled angrily. The Reaper just laughed as another coffin floated up. The name "Unisaki" was etched into it. "You can't touch me, Zack. You know that." He said. Zack looked down as he clenched his fists. "You know, sign your soul to me and I can bring him back."