|
|
Post by Atreus on Aug 3, 2018 18:56:34 GMT -5
It was time to get back to his roots. It was time for Atreus to continue down his path; he wanted to rescue his Master. It had been a wild ride so far. He had gained immense strength and acquired vast resources and powerful allies. This was all good and necessary, but these were simply means to an end, not an end in and of themselves. Now that he felt he possessed enough power, Atreus had decided that he had to develop the skill necessary to wield that power in the ways that he would need to succeed in his task. And so, here he was... at a magic show. Atreus tried not to roll his eyes as he walked up to the venue. It was located in the theater district of Satan City, and many fine entertainment experiences could be had there. He just didn't know if this would be one of them. Atreus loved the theater. He attended live shows every opportunity he got, from the most classic dramas to the most recent musical extravaganzas. Much like going to the museum, Atreus viewed going to any theatrical event as an opportunity to experience some cultural enrichment, and he dressed the part. Today he was decked out in a bespoke black suit and slacks, with a black shirt with thin white vertical stripes. As had become the norm for him, Atreus kept his power level suppressed to about a tenth of what it normally was; Atreus had made other ki users uncomfortable often enough that keeping his strength on a short leash had just about become second nature. Atreus needed more magical acumen to be able to locate and rescue his Master. By his best guess, the entity that had taken him was a Makaioshin, ancient and terribly powerful. Atreus would need all the help he could get in this fight, and through his contacts with the Lotus Temple, he had found out that that there was a stage magician that actually had a lot of real magical skill. Still, Atreus had never willingly attended the performance of a stage magician. So today was going to be, at the very least, a new experience. Atreus' contacts had secured him a backstage pass, and the magician knew who Atreus was and why he was attending. They would have words after the show, and Atreus would see if there was anything he would be able to parse from the man. Hell, Atreus was interested to see if his show would be all sleight of hand, or if, novice that he was, Atreus would pick up any hint of real magic from the performance. Atreus' vast wealth left him easily able to afford the best seat in the house, and his seat was in the center of the front row. After he entered the venue, he ordered a gin and tonic in the lobby, sipping it casually. A couple of women, there by themselves and in dresses that were just a bit too tight (in mostly the right ways), made some small talk at Atreus, who was polite but, for the first time in a long time, found himself uninterested in what would have been an easy, casual liaison. Instead, his thoughts turned, as they often did, to Liang Bai, his student, his friend, and someone he had deep, complicated feelings for. Awkward advances fended off, Atreus finished his cocktail, then made his way to his seat. Checking his watch, there was about ten minutes til the show started. A cautious person, given his recent experiences in war, Atreus reached out with his senses. If there were any notably powerful ki users around, unless they were taking care to suppress their power level as he was, Atreus would sense them. He wouldn't do anything about anyone he sensed... he would merely note their positions. After a few minutes, the lights dimmed and the theater gave the standard admonition against the use of cellular phones and recording devices. As soon as the announcement was over, the voiceover faded into a lengthy introduction, one that left Atreus with a bemused expression on his face. "And now, prepare yourselves! Your senses will be confounded, your brains befuddled, by hte masterful illusions of the greatest magician ever to grace Satan City! I give you... JONATHON CONSTANTINE!!!"
WC- 720 Queen Kuueru |
|
|
|
|
Post by Cassava on Aug 3, 2018 20:27:04 GMT -5
Meiku had been experiencing the phenomenon for a month now; the sporadic materialization of objects from her own body bewildered the girl. She had been seeking out the galaxy’s greatest wizards and magicians to no avail, and now almost comically she purchased a ticket to a local theater production. Apparently a well-renown magic user was supposed to display his skills for the entertainment of the masses; something about that felt off to Meiku. She would expect a ‘real’ magician to resort to secrecy and practicing without the prying public eye.
She made her way to the box office, having the attendant scan the screen of her mobile phone before walking through the tunstall to the main auditorium. To be fair, Meiku didn’t know much about controlling, nor suppressing her ki--so anyone with the ability to sense would feel the dapening power level. The Earthling wasn’t overpoweringly strong, but had a substantial power level amongst the others attending such an event.
Meiku tugged the navy blue jacket that hung over her shoulders. It was rather cold within the theatre and the short sleeve white blouse beneath left her arms bare without it’s cover. Upon her lower half were a matching pair of navy slacks. She appeared to be dressed for the occasion as dozens of people in above casual dress scattered around her. She had bought a decent ticket, she wanted to at least see the magician from close range to determine if he was a fraud or not.
“Hm. Row A-15?” Meiku stared at her phone while notating the seat number, she soon grabbed herself a drink from a concession stand to keep her company during the show. It was a simple liquor on ice, nothing more nothing less; as she walked down the crowded isles she tried not to spill the drink as passerby fought not to bump into her.
Kuueru made her way down to the front row, it was rather nice to be this close; but like a movie she wondered if it were too close to enjoy the show. She squeezed her thick thighs passed the knees of strangers until she finally found her unoccupied seat amongst the front line. Perhaps it was weird to attend a show like this alone, but the girl was more than eager to see what this so called ‘Jonathan Constantine’ had to show.
Her free hand pushed down the amphitheater style seat before taking a rest, seemingly between an older woman and a raven-haired man.
“Hopefully this isn’t just a snoozefest.” Meiku mumbled to herself aloud before raising the glass to her peachy lips. She took in the strong smelling liquid, her eyes falling shut and enjoying the taste before the lights began to dim. She sat quietly, her eyes darting to her neighbors to gauge their excitement for the show. She was sure to blend into the crowd, her own eyes lighting up at the announcement that the show would begin shortly.
Soon the spotlight shown on stage, and a man dressed in a stereotypical magician outfit stepped onto the stage. The woman’s eyes lit up and she leaned forward in her seat.
“Oh, it’s starting” She mumbled to herself, looking to the dark-haired male beside of her. She seemed like a kid in a candy store, but truly she hoped that she could learn something from this self-proclaimed ‘magic man’.
He began with a bit of talking and simple jokes to get the crowd feeling comfortable, but the magic to come would more than likely bewilder young Meiku.
Atreus
|
|
|
|
|
Post by Atreus on Aug 4, 2018 18:44:13 GMT -5
Atreus couldn't help but give the young woman that came to claim the seat next to him a surreptitious, appreciative glance. She was certainly his type, but he was more distracted by the power he sensed coming from her. It was substantial; from what Atreus could sense, she would likely be able to challenge anyone short of a Super Saiyan, or other being capable of matching such power. It was impressive, especially for an Earthling. Atreus' lips quirked upwards in a small smile. He was under the assumption that this person, whoever she was, was not here to harm him. Unless she was far, far more devious than most people Atreus had ever met, not hiding your power at all and coming to sit next to someone you were planning on doing harm to seemed like a thing most people wouldn't even contemplate. Atreus leaned over a bit to the dark haired woman, and whispered conspiratorially. "I wouldn't worry too much... from what I understand, this guy is the real deal." As Constantine hit the stage, Atreus quieted down, keen to watch the man's performance and sniff out any trace of actual magic. Constantine was a black vest and slacks, with a white shirt and a red tie. He had short, bleached blonde hair and spoke with a bit of an accent. The man was charming and engaging, and warmed up the crowd with some light banter. He performed some rapid fire tricks, producing doves from seemingly nowhere after lighting some flash paper, and chatting up the audience. To Atreus, it was all performed quite well, though it wasn't exactly edge of your seat entertainment. After a little while, Constantine came down off the stage, standing in the middle of the front row. Their chairs had small sort of desktops in front of them, for holding drinks. They folded up to allow you get in and out. Atreus' and the woman's were up, and Constantine folded them down, grinning as he waved over the cameraman. Up on the stage was a large video feed, capturing all of the magician's act for people farther away. "The thing about close up magic," Constantine said as he put a shaker of salt on the table in front of Atreus, "Is that it must be performed exquisateloo."As Constantine continued to speak, he produced some cards with a flourish. He cleared his throat at the mispronunciation, leaving the cards in front of the woman. "Apologies, I pronounced that wrong. I must have something in my throat."Constantine put his hand up to his mouth, and all of a sudden, seemed to cough up another an entire deck of cards. Atreus, close as he was, did not see where they came from. A grin split his face and he felt like an excitable youth. This man was good. He continued to chat, and seemed to draw cards from thin air, placing them down in front of Atreus and the woman. He smiled and joked, charming the audience with his personality and talent. He was so smooth and calm that even Atreus almost missed it. But he felt his stomach go cold, and he knew that something was happening. On the stage, near the exit to the backstage area, Atreus saw reality begin to blur, just a little bit. If you hadn't seen it before, it's entirely likely the effect would go completely unnoticed. Just like on Drexgs, or when he had come across Cub again. A portal to another realm was about to open. Atreus stopped suppressing his power as he sensed this, readying himself to keep the crowd safe. As he began to move, however, Constantine looked him straight in the eye... And winked. The magician kept talking, producing some balls and beginning to juggle them. With the crowd focused on the balls, Constantine made a complex series of gestures with his hands while keeping the balls aloft. Atreus felt a pull, felt some transference of energy between Constantine and the burgeoning portal... and just like that, it was gone. Atreus felt his jaw drop. He had dealt with those things before, and it had taken all of his power to close them, one at a time. It had left him weak and helpless afterwards... and this man had just closed them with a couple of hand signs. Atreus breathed out slowly. Constantine worked his way back onto the stage, the balls he was juggling turning into other items, seemingly in midair. He continued the show, beginning to work in larger props and more impressive set pieces, but Atreus was only half paying attention. He was too impressed by what he had just witnessed. "No... there's no doubt about it," he whispered, mostly to himself. "This guy is one hundred percent the real deal."Atreus tried to settle back down. He could only wait for the performance to end, but he was alert for any other trouble.
WC- 823 2/1,543 Cassava |
|
|
|
|
Post by Cassava on Aug 4, 2018 19:41:51 GMT -5
Meiku shimmied her hips around in the restrictive grasp of the tight auditorium style seating. She must get comfortable to truly enjoy her evening. It was just then she realized, she had forgotten a snack to go with her drink.
She set the glass within the divets that served as convenient cup-holders. The show was starting, she doubted she could make it through the performance without starving to death. A growing woman needed her protein after-all.
“Ahh? I rest assured then stranger. Here’s to having a worthwhile evening at least!” Meiku shot the raven-haired man a sly grin. Even if the great Jonathon Constantine had turned out to be a fraud, at least she had the chance to attend a night out away from the patchwork shed she called home.
Meiku sat ready to be bewildered, but skepticism scraped it’s nails against the back of her mind. He warmed up to the crowd with amazing skill, but was it merely a distraction? She had to maintain superb focus to notice any deceit in the magician’s movements.
She wasn’t however, prepared for the man’s descent into the crowd. Her face grew flustered while the suited performer stood in front of the pair. She felt like a kid in school who didn’t know where the rest of the class was in the textbook. Completely flustered by the attention of her face displaying among the big-screen. There was even cute accents like bits of popcorn stuck on her shirt.
She sat up and immediately tried to recover from the embarrassment.
Besides a few quirks in his personality, the magic man appeared fairly normal. He liked to talk a lot, a lot of the famous magicians she saw on television either looked like serial killers or were stoic to the point of terrifying. Perhaps this particular one was a bit too confident?
Meiku cringed while the man pulled a deck of moist cards from his mouth. Chills ran down her spine as she tried to retain her drink.
Constantine stood before him, but the surge of power the girl felt beside her was tremendous. Her eyes widened as she sunk in her seat. Who was this man beside her, and why did she feel suffocated beneath the intensity in the exchange of glares between the two men?
Meiku always had a horrible habit of stress eating, needless to say it was why the woman’s hips were struggling to fit in the seat beneath her.
Stealthily as Constantine waltzed his way back on-stage Meiku fished a hand between her body and the tabletop shielding her legs. Seemingly fromout of her lap she pulled a rather obnoxious tub of popcorn. The aroma of melted butter wafted around the formally-dressed and haughty crowd.
“You think?... I’m still skeptical?” Meiku shoved a large handful of popcorn into her mouth, before tilting the tub in his direction in a friendly offer.
On stage the Jonathon continued on with his act for a bit. Even with her lightning fast eyes should couldn’t ping that cause of the reactions Constantine was eliciting. His moves were smooth, but she could be sure there was an explanation. Everything could be explained? Right?...
She chugged down the rest of her alcohol, however the saltiness of the popcorn left her parched combined with the liquor diuretic.
Another hand sunk down like before and another item was fished up, this time it was one of the comically large gas station staples, the Slurpee. She sucked down the red sugar coated slush, it staining her lips almost like a touch of makeup.
“He is good, at what he does that is.” Meiku mumbled, shooting the magician a devoid glance before tossing back some more of the salty snack.
“So are you like one of those who try to expose practising magic men?” She inquired casually before crossing one leg over the other.
“I think I remember the last one, Tom Devil? Something like that.” The girl wasn’t the best with small talk.
She carried an aloof attitude, but with a touch of subtle womanly breaks in between. An oddity amongst other girls her age, she had much rather spent her time changing the fuel filters on her father’s junk ‘restoration projects’.
Atreus WC: 704//TWC: 1,294
|
|
|
|
|
Post by Atreus on Aug 5, 2018 3:47:16 GMT -5
Atreus could not help but notice the lovely young woman to him tense up as he made the mistake of letting his true power leak out. Silently cursing to himself, he swiftly suppressed his power back to a relatively small level. Several people in the audience let out sighs of relief; clearly there were others that could sense ki, and even some who couldn't actively feel it were sensitive to the killing intent that Atreus, due to his training in assassination arts, sometimes released without intending to. Still, it hadn't lasted long, and the show was running smoothly once more. The woman next to him seemed enraptured, muttering quietly, conversationally. He was about to reply... and then he was hit my the scent of popcorn. Atreus glanced over, and saw the woman munching on the salty snack. He was one hundred percent certain that she had not had popcorn a moment ago. Atreus' mouth worked. Was it rude to ask if she had been hiding that somewhere? Yes. Probably. Maybe. This was weird. Atreus fought the urge to say anything, simply watching Constantine's performance. Out of the corner of his eye, Atreus noticed that the woman and finished her cocktail... and her popcorn... Oh, what the hell? There's no way she had that hidden!She was in the fancy theater district of Satan City, in a snazzy getup, sipping on a Slurpee. Atreus' expression turned bemused. The woman seemed so clearly enamored with the performance, Atreus doubted that she even realized what she was doing. She did, however, continue to talk, and Atreus responded, voice deep and quiet, with an undercurrent of amusement that could not be mistaken for anything else. "I agree, he's got rather a lot of skill. I wouldn't mind learning a thing or two myself. And no, I'm not one of those that goes around disproving thing. I am definitely a skeptic... but I think that's mostly because I've seen enough weird, unnatural stuff to know when someone's faking. This guy definitely isn't a phony, I'd bet money on it."Constantine continued his performance. It was the classic 'saw a person in half' but with several clever twists. Constantine's assistant was moved into all sorts of different places after they were sawed in half, and even moved around before apparently being put back together and moving normally. It was incredibly slick, and Atreus knew that there had to be a trick to it, but for the life of it he couldn't figure out what it was. Constantine continued, winding down his performance. His last set piece was an homage to a classic bit of escapalogy; a large chest was brought out, open, and Constantine stood inside of it. Then he had his assistant bind him in thick, heavy chains. He seemed so tightly bound that it looked impossible for him even to move. Somehow, he managed to lay down in the box. His assistant closed the box, then locked it tightly. Perhaps thirty seconds passed, and the audience looked on in enthralled silence. A whistle sounded from the back of the theater. As one, the audience turned, and Constantine waved at them, grinning the whole time. Applause erupted. Constantine made his way to the stage, waving and smiling the entire time. He climbed up, then bowed gracefully to thunderous applause. He graciously presented his assistants, who all bowed as well. And just like that, the audience got up and started to leave. Atreus gave the woman next to him a sidelong glance. While other people were shuffling out of the auditorium, she and he were staying right there. He whispered over to her. "So... I'm guessing, just like me, you weren't here just to kill some time. Am I right?"
WC- 624 TWC- 2,167 Cassava |
|
|
|
|
Post by Cassava on Aug 5, 2018 8:57:21 GMT -5
Meiku couldn’t help but be surprised by the level of power simply sitting beside her; she could tell that she was not the only one here who felt similar. Several other people tensed in the room, no doubt the magician himself would notice as well. Perhaps in an attempt to salvage his show he continued on with his acts. Each becoming more insane than the last.
As she sucked down the overly sweet beverage Meiku found herself drifting into a slight buzz from her earlier drink. She ate more and more of the snack, leaving the tub about half full before setting it on the ground in front of her.
Meiku kicked the black heels from her feet in an attempt to relax further amongst the crowd who now probably thought she were insane.
The woman couldn’t help but notice the intent peripheral stare of the man next to her. She returned the gaze, her facial expression expressing concern.
“Come now, nearly everyone in this room felt what you just did. Why would you need such silly magic tricks?” She hushed her voice, “There’s more to his magic though right? Now I’m a little curious...”
Her stare fixated deadset back on the stage to the performance of a woman getting bisected. It was a bit hard to watch, but only because the woman herself looked worried about actually being in two-pieces. Perhaps it wasn’t the usual assistant? Eventually he returned her to whole and moved on to the next act.
The following illusion was a mystery. After Constantine was locked inside of the box, she only assumed it would be his objective to escape. She was sure that he would soon open the box on stage somehow from within. Yet shivers ran up her spine as a familiar voice range through past the audience behind them. She didn’t bother to turn back towards the magician, she had seen enough to know he was surely something mystic.
Afterwards the curtain call came, Meiku held back a laugh as the entire cast and crew bowed before the audience. She couldn’t help but think it were a one man show though.
She remained seated for a long time; a fingernail raised and pressed into the pump red-stained lips that guarded her mouth. She was intently fixated on an empty stage as the room became illuminated once more and the surrounding folks began to disperse the auditorium all the while speaking about the incredible show.
The crowd exchanged ‘Wows’ and “How did he do it’s’. Meiku was amongst them as well, but she would rather sit and think on it for a moment. Perhaps in her distraction she forgot to leave the theater and clear her mess of an empty Slurpee cup and leftover popcorn.
"So... I'm guessing, just like me, you weren't here just to kill some time. Am I right?"
Meiku shook her head, her dull gray eyes fixating on the sharply dressed man.
“Of course not. I never do anything without a reason.”
With a wave of the hand the empty containers in front of her disappeared in a dust of almost what resembled glitter.
She moved the tray that blocked her in her seat and slid her small feet back into the confining heels. Meiku then rose to a stand and allowed herself a stretch after being restricted to the chair for a little over an hour.
“Wanna figure it out?” She rested her hands upon her hips and shot the man a glance over her shoulder.
“I don’t have any plans for the night.” It wasn’t like that. She wasn’t being flirtatious no, she literally had nothing better to do than return to her rust-coated shed nearly a seventy mile flight South East. She shuddered at the thought of going home to silence for yet another night.
Meiku was a social girl, so moving out to a rural area was much different. She often reminisced about her friends and even her family before they were literally terrified of her.
Almost taking a lead, the woman waltzed towards the backstage area. She assumed such a great performer had a dressing room in this place somewhere. She only hoped she didn’t walk into him getting some after-show affection from his assistant.
People buzzed around the back-end of the set. They worked hurriedly to take down the setting and lights for the next gig that would roll through town. The sooner they finished their job for the night, the sooner they could retire to their homes or personal affairs.
“Hm. Let’s see. Wouldn’t it be the one with the infamous gold star?” She retorted aloud, her heels clicking against the linoleum floor below. She held tightly the jacket over her shoulders and looked back to see if her newest friend was still with her.
|
|
|
|
|
Post by Atreus on Aug 6, 2018 16:44:12 GMT -5
Atreus quirked a brow and offered a small smirk. "Normally when a lady as cute as you are says that to me, it's when she's trying to see if we can head back to my place, but I'll do us both the favor of assuming that that was completely platonic, as I'm certain you intended." There was a bit of teasing in his tone; nothing serious, of course. His was simply a naturally sarcastic and flirtatious manner; Atreus couldn't help it. Atreus would guess that the girl was somewhat oblivious; many in the audience had turned to her while she apparently materialized objects from thin air, likely wondering if she was a part of the act as well. Still, she seemed good natured and Atreus sensed no ill intent from her, so... Ah, what the hell? Nothing ventured, nothing gained.As the woman walked backstage, he admired her, fighting not to turn an appreciative eye to her curvaceous figure. She wasn't doing anything particularly alluring... she was just a good looking woman, and Atreus was a young man. He was, however, usually surrounded by fantastically in shape and beautiful women in his partners, the other Valkyries, so it wasn't hard to resist the temptation to leer. Atreus was, for all of his teasing, a gentleman at his core. Atreus flashed his VIP pass to the staff as they moved to bar the way to backstage, and nodded over to the woman, indicating that they were together. Placated, the staff let them pass. Of course there was nothing they would have been able to do to stop Atreus, but he wasn't about to rough up some nice theater employee for just going their job. As they made their way backstage (and got out of sight of the staff that had just seen them), Atreus walked forward a bit, then turned to face the woman. "Since it looks like cross purposes, maybe we should introduce ourselves. My name is Atreus; I'm pleased to meet you.
To answer your earlier question... more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of, and all that. There's a phrase that I've been fond of for a long time; when you have a big enough hammer, every problem starts to look like a nail. I won't bother with false modesty here. In this analogy, my hammer is obviously enormous and that didn't sound right but you know what I mean," Atreus said, flush creeping onto his cheeks as his mouth worked more quickly than his brain and made him look like an idiot yet again. "Uh, what I mean is... there are a lot of issues I come across that I can't just punch into oblivion. Some of these issues are very closely tied to magic. I've encountered it before, and been able to deal with it, but... it took everything I had. I need to figure out better ways to deal with those sorts of things, and fast, or people that I love will suffer."Damn. That had been more than he had intended to reveal, but once again, he spoke without thinking. He really needed to stop doing that. Raking his hand through his hair and sighing, after his mini monologue, Atreus turned and continued on his way to the magician's dressing room. He would listen intently to any reply offered, but he had probably already shared too much, so he just forged on ahead. Funnily enough, the woman was right; there was in fact a gold star on the magician's dressing room, with the name 'John Constantine' emblazoned in black letters across it. Atreus went to knock on the door, but before he could, it jerked open inward. Constantine himself was the one who had opened the door. He had shed his vest from earlier and a lit cigarette was jutting out from between his lips. He had rolled the sleeves of his cream colored shirt up to his elbows, displaying forearms covered in strange, arcane tattoos that formed both words and spiraling geometric shapes. Before Atreus could say anything, Constantine fixed them both with a glare. "About bloody time! Get in here, you wankers."Constantine moved to the side, holding the door open and gesturing for Atreus and the woman to enter the dressing room. It was fairly large, with a private bathroom, a couch, table and chairs, and a vanity for makeup and hair. Confused, Atreus entered. As soon as he and the woman were in, Constantine continued. The man's demeanor was completely changed; gone was the charming, affable showman. His eyes were hard, now, full of terrible purpose. "Bloody amateurs. Damn near ruined my show! You with the power... the hell was that? You worried the blue hair behind you was going to shoot an energy blast at your back? This is a theater, for God's sake. And you," Constantine said, rounding on the woman, "I bloody well do not need beautiful women making things just bloody appear in thin air in the audience! You think these rubes want to see actual magic? To know what it does, what it can cost? Of course not! They want parlor tricks, sleight of hand. They want to go home saying 'I don't know how he did it but there's obviously a trick.' They want to pretend to believe in the supernatural but the thought that it could actually be out there? It freezes their blood!"Constantine paused to take a drag of his cigarette, then blew out, sighing and seeming to settle down. "Guess I shouldn't complain though. Two novices with the kind of potential you kids have? Heh. Ol' Winters would have a fit if he knew I got to break you in. I'll be blunt with you two; you can make what I'm about to deal with a whole hell of a lot easier. But I need to know; how much do you know about all this? Magic, I mean. Big 'M', not small. We've got not a lot of time so I might just have to give you lot the 'For Dummies' version for now. Well? Out with it!"
WC- 1,020 TWC- 3,187 Cassava |
|
|
|
|
Post by Cassava on Aug 6, 2018 18:55:16 GMT -5
“Back to your place eh? I mean, shit that sounds pretty nice too.” Meiku winked towards the raven-haired man; but inside it were true. Going to any type of home would be better than what she did go home to.
She were so distracted she much have ignored his platonic comment. She waved a hand and agreed with him casually.
“Yeah, yeah. That’s what I meant.” The very hairband keeping the woman’s locks upon her head disappeared leaving a shower of hair to topple down her round shoulders. The very outfit was driving her nuts, she wasn’t the type for formal wear no matter how nice it made one look.
She carefully clung to Atreus’ side, trying to not raise any suspicions. It felt as if the pair were on a secret mission yet her companion had all the keys to gain access. She wondered how he achieved it all but didn’t ask him aloud.
“Atreus? That’s an interesting name.” She dug around in her brain for a bit trying to remember where she had heard it. She stopped that train of thought to reply though. “Nice to meet ya, I’m Meiko.”
For some reason Atreus went on to describe some analogy about a hammer and nails. It ended in him proudly stating that his hammer was indeed enormous. Meiku’s face was painted with pur disdain before breaking into a fit of laughter.
The woman had grown and hun around mostly men in her life. She was rather tom-boyish at heart, and working as a mechanic there weren’t many women in the field. Most of her co-workers were older men, but always tried to pass their sons off to the woman. She chuckled as the memories flashed by in an instant.
“Suffer?” Meiku hung on the word. Clearly there was desperation in the man’s soul. It rang through clearly and enunciated on every point of his body. Meiku nodded silently, her situation wasn’t similar in the least. In fact she had plenty of it to deal with and could handle it. But how could she make it useful, and what other potential power lurked within?
“Damn. So you obviously have serious reasons to be worried then. Very well, I get it. I just need to figure out what all this is.” Although she looked well-practiced enough, summoning tubs of popcorn wasn’t going to help the woman in a battle. She thought back to the embarrassment of fighting Audrey a week or two ago. Her body still cried out in pain after ramming her head against a barrier for an hour.
Soon they lingered on to the star of the show. Outside the dressing room they huddled and silently chuckled at the star upon the door. Like magic Constantine opened the door. She stood outside awkwardly with Atreus before being welcomed in by the performer.
As they entered the room all seemed fine, but the shift in attitude nearly knocked Meiku over as he began to berate them. Her head ached from his voice and her eyes seemed to roll back into her skull as if she were pretending to be dead.
“Yeah yeah, I know that better than anyone. That’s why I live in a shed and my parents and friends hate me. I’m the devil.” She huffed angrily. Meiku waved a hand at the cigarette smoke that the magician was waving in her face.
“What do I know about magic? I know that if I think hard enough sometimes things that I want happen.” No incantations, no tombs, grimoires or wands. Meiku just hoped for Slurpees and popcorn, nothing more.
“I mean, when I’m angry or in danger I can make weapons. If I am hungry I’ll create something appetizing. Depending on what I make though, it really wears me down.”
Meiku knew nothing of ki, if you asked her she would be dumbfounded. Up until a month ago she wouldn’t have believed in magic either. She had been dealt into a wild deck of cards that could get her into a world of trouble if she handled them the wrong way.
“At first I couldn’t control what happened, pens and even pencils would fall out of my hand when I needed them.” She paused and rubbed her temples in pain. “But then it became weird and bigger things like stop signs and traffic cones as I was just walking down the road. It’s gotten better, but not without a lot of solitude.”
Meiku has pleaded her heart to the pair, some things she hadn’t even had the chance to tell her family and old friends, if they considered her that anymore.
WC: 772 // TWC: 2,674 Atreus
|
|
|
|
|
Post by Atreus on Aug 7, 2018 2:38:43 GMT -5
Atreus scratched his head, wondering at Meiku's explanation. She just... made things? That sounded like some sort of true, wondrous magic, from what Atreus could tell. From what she was saying, though, whatever experience she had with her powers had clearly been painful for her. Atreus' heart ached at the loneliness that creeped into the young woman's voice, and he couldn't stop himself from placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Meiku... I know we just met, but trust me, I've dealt with weirder stuff than that. You don't deserve that treatment, and you don't have to do it alone. I can help you. My friends can-""Yeah yeah yeah, that's all very nice and Hallmark, muscles," Constantine broke in, "But we ain't got time for all that. What you know. Now."Atreus blinked, then withdrew his hand, shrugging. "I've... recovered some arcane artifacts. I've used the blood of the demon to take down a warded barrier. I've had some experience helping cast spells. Like... others borrowing my ki to fuel their spell, I guess? It was all sort of over my head, to be honest."Constantine breathed in deeply. "Great. A wilder and a lunk. Why couldn't one of you just be a normal mage? All right, you rubes, take a seat right over there and let Papa Constantine learn you the rules, eh?"Constantine indicated the large, comfortable looking couch. Atreus walked over and took a seat, then Constantine continued. "Right, then. Here's the broad strokes. Ordinary people, yeah? They're ordinary. Get in their cars, go to work, have a pint with their mates before heading home to catch the game and hope for a shag from their spouse. These are the rules. Ordinary people operate in a set of rules, right? Do your job. Get paid. Have some fun. Grow old. Rules. Limits.Atreus felt a chill. The room felt like it had dropped in temperature by at least twenty degrees. Suddenly, all of the light seemed to be sucked away, with only Constantine, Atreus and Meiku able to be seen. Constantine did not appear to have moved at all. "Then, there's blokes like me. Like the two of you, as well. Us? We cheat."Constantine snapped, and the light returned... but they were no longer in a dressing room. They looked like they were in some Victorian lounge, with lit braziers providing light and blessed heat. Atreus and Meiku suddenly appeared to be wearing different clothing as well; Meiku appeared to be wearing a corseted dress and hoop skirt. Atreus was in a tailed tuxedo with a top hot and monocle. Constantine looked the same. "That's magic. Cheating. Bending the natural laws of the universe, of reality, to suit our whims. Now you might be asking... how do we do this? Truth is, almost every magician has different personal mechanisms."Constantine snapped once again, and they shifted back to the dressing room, everyone looking as they had before. "Me, I was taught incantations. These can be verbal, somatic, or even mental. It's really about how much I buy into what I'm doing... it's all about will. Every method of magic is, at it's core, about us imposing our will. How does magic work? That's a bigger question. But at the end of the day, it's all energy. We just learn to channel it differently. S'why magicians can become powerful ki users, and vice versa. There's just a bit of a learning curve both ways."Seeing Meiku not fully grasp the talk of ki users, Constantine gestured to Atreus. "Be a good lad, give the lady a little show, eh?"Atreus was no stranger to this sort of thing, and so he calmly summoned a golden orb of ki a few inches above his palm, allowing it to hover there. "That right there, that's a manifestation of ki. Ki is, at it's core, spiritual energy. Every living being in the universe has it. It's like a muscle, though. You can train it. Make it stronger. Martial artists have the easiest time of it since they're always training anyway. Most humans, though..." Constantine eyed Atreus, raising an eyebrow. "Well, they don't get to be like this kid here. Something's off about him. I don't mean in a shady way, mate, but I've been around a while and there's something fishy there. But that's for another time. Anyway, the body can only handle so much ki before it needs to be made stronger, same as lifting weights. So you make your body stronger, then you train up your ki, then make your body stronger, which is of course well beyond normal human limits anyway due to the power of ki, ad infinitum. Anyway, ki and magic are really just different mechanisms for channeling this spiritual energy. Sorry if this is a bit dense, but we're pressed for time. Those martial artists that find their way past just using ki to fly around and shoot lasers, we call lunks. Mostly because you wankers are sort of dumb meat heads, no offense. You have a hard time mastering the more subtle nuances of energy control and magical art. On the other side, we have wilders, like the girl here. Got the spark inborn; they can do bits of magic with no training whatsoever. They will do magic and likely freak out the mundanes around them. But they can have a hard time finding out how to direct that into their bodies properly, like you lunks have an easy time with. Getting tired from what you produce? That's just a side effect of your vessel not being strong enough yet, luv. Don't worry, we can get you there... provided we can survive the night."As if on cue, the lights in the room dimmed for a moment, and there seemed to be a sudden sense of pressure. "So. Here's what we need. You, young lady, your mana... your spiritual energy, it's all bound up in just materializing things right now. That's okay, I can use that. I need you to make some things for me... emeralds, mostly. They and other gemstones capture significant amounts of ambient spiritual energy that I can tap into to help the spell I'm going to cast. It's going to be tough... so the lunk over here is going to have to lend you some energy. Between the two of you, hopefully you can lend me enough to get this done without too much effort. Or, you know, I'll have to sleep for a week, but I'd really rather not. What do you say? You in?"Atreus was pretty bewildered. That was a more than confusing description, but he rolled with it. "So... I lend her energy, and she makes... emeralds? I mean, I guess I'm in... mainly because I don't feel like demons eating anyone in the theater district. What do you say, Meiku?"
WC- 1,147 TWC- 4,334 Cassava |
|
|
|
|
Post by Cassava on Aug 7, 2018 10:16:06 GMT -5
Perhaps her own explanation of her powers was a bit vague. The materialization came pretty naturally once she figured out how to stop the nonsensical things that also spawned from her flesh. Black brows furrowed as she thought back to a time, she accidentally summoned a battalion of panties amongst her friends at the bar. The look of mortification nearly reflected upon her face from a mere memory.
“W-What?”
Her shoulder shivered from the touch of another. It had been so long since she had felt the kindness from family, let alone a stranger. Meiku had only known Atreus short of a few hours, but he seemed to be a fairly nice guy.
She shot the dark-haired man a reassuring smile. It was clearly not the time for such comfort and empathy as Constantine interrupted the sentimental moment to order Atreus to spill his own guts.
It appeared that her new companion shared the opposite struggles. His ability to manipulate ki was magnificent, where his magic exposure was limited. She in contrast, had way too much mystical mumbo jumbo, and not nearly enough physical training or knowledge of her body’s utilities.
Constantine quickly assigned them their new titles, Wilder and Lunk. Meiku felt the flush rise in her cheeks, clearly the girl was embarrassed.
Constantine began his speech, separating the normal folk from the mystics. The room around them shifted, and all of the light seemed to beaming from the magician’s frame. She slapped her slack jaw to make sure she was not hallucinating. The man truly did have marvelous abilities, Meiku clearly showed the envy in every fiber of her body.
The lights suddenly came back on, the entire setting of their story had shifted. Now they were dressed as Victorian era characters in a lounge fit only for some sort of nobel. Meiku glared at the uncomfortable skirt that made it hard for her to move.
She didn’t mean to sit there with a look of confusion upon her face, but it happened. Her lazy gaze stayed focused on the man’s speech, it was elaborate and a lot of crash course information. But she took note of every word, even idly pulling out a small notebook to jot down free hand notes.
Her brows furrowed while observing the orb that Atreus was commanded to make. He did it with ease, but the feeling of dread that the small sphere put in her was otherworldly. She averted her gaze to draw a quick picture of the scene while notating it shape, color and constitution.
“I see, I see, so you mister Atreus. You must train a lot, not that your body doesn’t tell everyone that.” She spoke earnestly, he looked as if he were in excellent shape. Thought the giant comment was more so towards his insane height.
“I agree, I am ready to meet in the middle. But, what do you mean--survive the night?”
She was interrupted with her own command from the man. He needed emeralds for his spell, or else he would be asleep for a week? He sounded like a drug addict looking for help for his next fix. But what could she get out of it? Unless this was all a part of his lesson on ki and magic usage.
She sharply turned to Atreus, her gray orbs now filled with a renewed vigor. She scooped up both of his hands and squeezed them tightly before letting them go again.
“Alright, I think that should be simple enough. I’ll start with my own energy, to see if I can even make an emerald on command. After that, you can just shove it in! Your---You know what I mean.” Her cheeks flushed while she waved her hands innocently. “Hohoho, I crack myself up. Alright, here goes.”
Meiku held out a hand, her mind concentrated on the viridian gem she sought after. Every edge, reflection and imperfection she had to master or else it would be a lump of useless minerals or something off the wall. Within her palm she felt the compression of the minerals take place and something materializing under the skin.
“Hmm, I think that’s my birthstone actually.” Meiku mumbled aloud before closing her fist in a mystical blur. She opened her hand to at least a dozen chunks of the green gem clustered within.
“Alright, now we just need more!” She started a pile for the emeralds upon a coffee table, but this time and with the help of Atreus she aimed bigger.
“Go slow at first! I don’t know what will happen otherwise.” Meiku shot the young man a concerned glance, her eyes flicking to her arm for his permission to begin his side of the job. For once her power was working correctly, perhaps this was a good sign?
Atreus WC: 800 TWC: 3,474
|
|
|
|
|
Post by Atreus on Aug 7, 2018 20:56:29 GMT -5
Atreus followed along, smiling faintly at the mention of his stature. "Yeah, you could say I hit the gym pretty regularly," he remarked casually. He tried to keep his tone light; while he was no stranger to life and death situations, Meiku was clearly more than a little discomfited by the mention of not surviving the night. "Tell you what, not to be creepy or anything, but once we get through this, how about I get you set up with something nice than a shed?"Atreus did not go into specifics at that point; his mansion was already home to several other wayward adventurers. One more would be no trouble at all. Atreus watched in wonder as Meiku produced several small emeralds from seemingly nothing. It was incredible, and the light refracting through the gemstones was a spectacle in and of itself. Unfortunately, it did not stay pristine for long. Constantine grabbed the emeralds from Meiku's palm, and, in merely a moment, it seemed as though he absorbed all the light inside of them, leaving the once bright jewels as black, burnt out husks. He tossed the consumed emeralds to the side, and they shattered on the floor... but they did not break into sharp, glass like shards. It was as if Constantine had dropped a handful of charcoal on the ground and all the pieces had broken, leaving a film of black dust on the floor. Constantine's eyes were alight with a green energy, and he stared at first Meiku, then Atreus. "More." After Meiku gave him permission, Atreus gently placed his hand on Meiku, preparing himself. "Get ready," Atreus warned, "I'm told this can be... a little intense." Rather than forcing his power out in a large explosion, Atreus simply relaxed the control he currently had on it, allowing it to return to it's natural, albeit quite high, level. The results were immediate; where before, Meiku had produced several small gemstones, this time, an emerald the size of her entire hand, perfect in every way, exquisitely shaped by Atreus' might and Meiku's will and skill, was brought forth into existence. Constantine did not even wait for them to be pleased for themselves. He snatched the gem and consumed it, like he had the others, and suddenly, Atreus felt drained, like he'd just fought while transformed for an hour. He groaned, and sagged back against the couch, exhausted beyond belief. And Constantine was altered. The mage hovered two feet off the ground, arms stretched wide. Beneath him, there had appeared an eldritch circle, a five pointed star in the middle of it, etched with arcane words and sigils. Then Constantine began to speak... but his voice was deeper. Farther away. He was... somewhere else. "I call you. In the names of the Three, and the Seven, and the Nine, I call you. Thus is our contract written; thus is our compact bound."As before, the air temperature dropped, perhaps a dozen degrees. "i give you a coin I made from a stone."As Constantine spoke, a coin appeared in the middle of the circle... then vanished. "I give you a song I stole from the dirt."Atreus could swear that, for a moment, he heard a song like none he ever had before, and then it was gone. "I give you a knife from under the hills."A knife appeared in Constantine's hand. "And a stick that I stuck through a dead man's eye."A stick appeared in the middle of the circle, then vanished. Around the edges of the circle, reality began to bend, and warp. A portal was opening, directly across from Constantine, just outside of the circle. It was large... and nothing came through. Yet. "I give you a claw that I ripped from a rat." A small, bloody claw appeared in the circle, and then vanished. "I give you a name, and the name is lost."Atreus heard a name, knew it, knew the person, as clearly as it they had been lovers... and then it was gone. "I give you the blood from out of my vein, and a feather I pulled from an angel's wing."A feather appeared in Constantine's hand. With the knife, he cut his wrist, and the blood rolled down, coating the feather. After a heartbeat, feather and knife had vanished. "I call you with names, oh my Lord. I summon with pain and I summon with pride. I open the way and I open the gates.
Come."Now, something in the portal... moved. Atreus saw an eye... and a mouth... and then dozens of both, in a roiling black morass that threatened his sanity even for gazing at it. Something in there keened, and Atreus felt his blood freeze in his veins. That was the thing that Constantine was keeping away... or trying to. I summon you in the names of the old lords! Namtar. Allatu. Morax. Naberius. Klesh. Vepar. Maymon. I summon you! Ashema-deva calls you. Maborym calls you. Horvendile calls you. From the dark they call you; into the dark they call you. Coin and song, knife and stick, claw and name, blood and feather, here in the darkness I summon you! COME! ONEIROS! I SUMMON YOU FROM THE LAND OF DREAMS TO WARD US FROM THY ENEMY! COME!"In the days that followed, Atreus would not be able to accurately describe what he saw. An entity appeared in the circle in front of Constantine, it's body concealed in a great, feathered cloak. It was wearing the bones of... something on it's face. Around it's neck was draped a great ruby and a pouch. The thing in the portal gnashed it's teeth, howled, and came forward, reality screaming in protest. The figure in the circle moved it's hand in a blurred motion, and the mass of eyes and teeth stopped as though it had hit a wall. The entity reached into it's pouch and took out... dust? Sand? Something like that. It reached out, dust on top of it's hand, and though there was no wind, the dust was carried towards the creature in the portal... And just like that, everything was back to normal. No portal monstrosity. No eldritch entity. No ritual circle. If Constantine didn't suddenly drop to the ground and go get a towel to stop the bleeding on his wrist, Atreus would assume he had imagined the whole thing. "What," the exhausted Earthling began, "The actual fuck just happened?"Constantine put his feet up on the coffee table, and seeing that his wound wasn't bleeding too freely, grabbed another cigarette and lit it up. "Ah, that's just one of the boys that like to make mine... and the Earth's... life difficult from time to time. Azazel. Right prick. Demon Prince thingy. He's still pissed at me... for reasons. Anyway, I summoned an entity more powerful than he was to counteract his attempt to force his way into the material plane. Lots o' Demons have to follow rules; can't get here easily unless they're summoned directly and most people ain't dumb enough to do that with Azazel or those like him. Too much wanton destruction.
You both are probably pretty knackered right now; see, those emeralds you made? Those weren't holding ambient magical energy; since you made them, they were holding your magical energy, which I then, ah, borrowed. Which, thanks, by the way. The amount of energy I need to power that spell would have knocked me on my arse for a week at least. You two will be tired tonight, but you should be right as rain in the morning.
So yeah. That was magic. The ritual I used to summon the Entity? The hoops I jumped through? That's all just my mechanism. It works because I believe it works that way. You two are good kids... plus you both have some serious talent. What do you say? Want Papa Constantine to teach you the way? I do suggest you take me up on this... the boy, at least, seems to know what's out there. And you, girl... eventually you'll become powerful enough, even all on your own, that something, somewhere is going to think you'll make a right tasty treat. It'd probably be better to make sure you have the ability to save yourself, if it came down to it. Don't you agree?"Atreus swallowed, then nodded, but could not keep his tongue still. "I hope you'll forgive me, but you don't exactly seem like the type of person that would do this out of altruism. What, exactly, is this going to cost us? What do you get out of it?"A smile tugged at the edge of Constantine's lips. "Not as dense as you look, huh kid? Okay. Things like this? They come after me sometimes. I teach you, you agree to help me when I need to ward these things off... which is something you want to happen anyway. Now how's that for a cushy deal, eh?"Atreus could think of no argument. He didn't exactly know what he was getting into here... but he was desperate. He nodded, agreeing to Constantine's terms, then turned to Meiku. "Well? It doesn't sound like too bad a deal to me. What do you think?"
WC- 1,544 TWC - 5,878 Cassava |
|
|
|
|
Post by Cassava on Aug 8, 2018 13:21:13 GMT -5
Meiku felt as if she had ingested some type of hallucinogenic drug as the world around them consistently changed and twisted. This was one of the most surreal moments of her life second only to when her powers first emerged.
After complimenting the man’s physique, he humbly bragged about his regimen. However, it seemed that the fighter’s mind was elsewhere. His next sentence provoked a bit of embarrassment. She felt her face grow red, she wasn’t proud of how she lived--but it served her purposes. Technically, since she were more able to control the weird and sometimes untimely materializations, she could probably convert back to normal society.
The Earthling thought about looking her parents in the face again after they forced her out of their home. Would they take her back if she proved her discipline over her magic to them? Was it even worth it now? Meiku had a gift, a gift she could use to not worry about where she was resting her head at night.
She smiled towards Atreus, nodding quietly in response to his offer.
After forging the crystals for Constantine, the woman’s body felt sapped of energy. She wiped at the layer of sweat that was beading off her nose now.
“Damn. More already?” Meiku complained in exhaustion. Now was time for the real test; how did the young duo perform together?
Atreus had funneled his power into her body, ever neuron in her system immediately firing off. She felt an invigoration like any before. Her hands began to shoot the viridian gems out in larger masses this time. Quickly Constantine snatched the biggest one.
Even only funneling a bit of his power, Atreus had cause an explosion in the woman’s production rate. Luckily she could handle all he was giving her. Steadily, she allowed her body to regulate after the sudden burst within, every limb radiated with a heat like that of a fever.
Again the magician took in the energy from these gems, but this time he began to levitate, his body towering over the pair who sat exhausted from the ordeal. It seemed that he had gathered enough energy to move forward with whatever he was up to.
Meiku’s eyes shot towards the ground and fixated upon the arcane words that appeared seemingly out of thin air. It ended up being a pentagram-eque arcane symbol that Meiku knew nothing of.
The voice that bellowed from Constantine echoed with the disturbing mix of several other voices; it formed a chorus of frightening proportions. The words sent a shiver up Meiku’s spine to hear the disturbing tone in which it spoke. It didn’t help that there was a sudden chill in the room that caused small bumps to arise on her sensitive skin.
Constantly she looked towards Atreus and then to the magician to confirm that this was reality. The entire thing made her head spin, so much in fact she felt dizzy. Meiku fought back the urge to purge as the magician kept up his incantations and weird ritual. It was a private show for the pair, but not the fun kind like at the strip clubs (or so she heard).
“What the fuck?” Meiku raised a hand to cover her mouth, her eyes struggling to stay focused on the ritual at hand. She witnessed the portal being opened, and couldn’t describe the horror that lurked within.
Her body grew rigid; the woman even nudged back in her seat from the opening in the dimension. Whatever was festering on the other side gave her the heebie jeebies and she would rather it stay there.
Meiku didn’t dare speak a word, instead merely stare in fear with Atreus. So this is what would have stopped them from living through the night? It was Constantine’s responsibility to keep this thing at bay? Why?
So many questions plagued the young woman’s mind. And just as quickly as the portal came, a new figure was conjured from the circle beneath Constantine. It seemed to be on his side, the magician even ordering it protect them from whatever lurked within the looming portal.
Whatever the weird bird beast was he intimidated the evil being within the portal. She watched as the two interacted, the feathered beast merely reaching into its pocket to release some sort of dust into the air. For some reason the dust hitting the portal immediately reset their scenario.
Once more they sat in the quiet dressing room of Jonathon Constantine, but what they saw would more than likely haunt the pair for a while.
“I don’t feel so well.” Meiku mumbled while pressing the back of her hand against a flush forehead.
It was clear to the woman that Constantine had used them for their power now. She gritted her teeth and ran an idle finger over a loose thread in her skirt. If this had any chance of making her stronger however, she was going to jump at it.
“I see, so do you always borrow energy from two young adults at every show? Or---How often do you even have to...do that?” Meiku felt the lack of stamina kick in. She was a bit cross that the performer did not just ask for help out-right instead of intermingling it with a demon fight.
Atreus asked the question they both wanted to know. What would Constantine get out of helping them train. It seemed that the breaking out of demon princes was a fairly common ordeal that Constantine were tasked with handling. He wanted the pair’s help to contain the issues before they became problems for the galaxy’s heros anyway. A preliminary defense of sorts.
“No it doesn’t sound too bad. He’s right though, I need to be prepared to be targeted. I agree to your terms Constanti…” Quickly the woman rushed out of her seat, finding the closest trash can she could to spill her guts into.
Apparently the Slurpee and buttery popcorn weren’t settling on her stomach after such a ‘show’.
Atreus WC: 1,000 TWC: 4,474
|
|
|
|
|
Post by Atreus on Aug 8, 2018 18:01:11 GMT -5
Atreus watched in sympathy as Meiku had to void the contents of her stomach. He wasn't feeling much better, truth be told, but he had done enough of the 'work out til you puke' sessions with Master Zakael to be able to have a handle on it. For once, Constantine did look sympathetic; it seemed Meiku's comment about taking energy from young adults had hit home a bit, and the blonde magician shook his head, sighing. "You'll have to forgive me. I forget what it's like when you're... new to all this. Don't let the hair and the lack of wrinkles fool you; I'd lived lifetimes before your parents were twinkles in your grandfolks eyes. I can let that skew how I see things sometimes, so I'm sorry. I was probably a bit more... rough than I needed to be.
To answer your question... how often do I have to do that? Summon a manifestation powered by the unconscious minds of all mortals to blunt a prince of the Demon Realm? Not bloody often, thankfully. Azazel can only muster up the energy to do that once a decade or so; maybe once a year if his minions are really active with sacrifices. As far as lesser powers... well, ask your friend here. He can tell you all about it, from his time on Drexgs."Atreus sat bolt upright, his exhaustion momentarily forgotten in a haze of fear. "How do you know about that place?"Constantine sorted. "I like to keep tabs on extraplanar events... and that was a huge one. You're lucky your amateur ass muddled through that. You unleashed something bad into the universe... don't think it's forgotten you."Atreus grew grim. "I haven't. Nor have I forgotten it. That's one of many reasons why I'm here."The young man sighed, then decided that he might as well share. As Meiku made it back from her upset stomach, Atreus relayed his story. "My master, Zakel, wasn't a mortal man. He was a Shinjin... one of the gods themselves. In the past, he had had another Shinjin as a student. This was... thousands of years before my time. His student was corrupted by a powerful entity... I think it was a makaioshin. Zakael had to defeat his foe, and bound him on the planet that they fought on. Myself and some friends, we had no choice but to free him, to try to save someone.
It didn't work out.
The planet this happened on was called Drexgs. We fought an army of demons there, all coming through portals similar to the one that this Azazel tried to come through... well, similar enough. None were nearly as potent as this one. I was able to close those portals with my ki. I don't think I could have done that with this one.""Nah," Constantine chimed in, "Y' probably could have. It would have likely killed you, mind. But I think you could have pulled it off.""Thanks for the vote of confidence," Atreus muttered. "Anyway, in my experience, lesser demons can make it through to our realm without too much difficulty. The strong ones, though... it takes a lot for them to come through. My assumption is that it takes a lot of their spiritual energy, and if they're particularly powerful, they need to build up a lot of it before trying to come through."Constantine nodded. "Good guess. Azazel, there? He's near the top of the food chain for the Demon race... which is different from the Demon Gods, or the makaioshin, as the lunk here described them. Anyway, that should just about do it for Demonology 101. To answer the other part of your question, no, I don't normally draw energy from others. It's dangerous. Draw too much and you can kill someone. But there's far less risk of drawing too much when someone is already not a mundane, and you two definitely qualify. Besides, the way we did it, there was no danger; I was drawing the finite amount of energy the two of you put in the stones, so there was no tether to the spiritual energy that keeps your bodies running.
Now. Lunk. You've been targeted before, and you, wilder, just being here is going to put you on some bad guy's radars. I can shield you from that. I can place a mystic tattoo on the both of you. It'll ward you from being able to be found via magic... but. Magic always has a price. It's going to hurt... a lot. It'll fade, but the initial experience will not be pleasant. And it's going to create a sympathetic link between us. I'll always be able to locate you. Particularly skilled magicians, if they were to have me at their mercy, could hurt you through me, and vice versa. If one of us dies, the other will feel the backlash of it and have to deal with some intense psychic trauma. I don't want either of you to go into this blind, so those are the risks. I feel like the rewards of, you know, not being immediately found by some demon wankers kind of outweighs them, though. What do you say?
This is the point of no return. There's a chance that if you leave now, you won't be followed. That all the heat for this will fall on me, that you can avoid what's to come and go back to a normal, quiet life. Never touch the Art again, and maybe, just maybe, you can be normal.
The choice is yours."Atreus frowned for a second, then answered. He assumed Constantine's little monologue was more directed towards Meiku, but he answered first, to give the woman some time to think. "I can't speak for Meiku," he began slowly, "But I haven't been normal since I was six years old and could lift my dad's truck. I have responsibilities... to the world, to people that need me... to my Master. I'm already dealing with these threats, and that's not going to change. I might as well be better equipped to handle them, and no one else is exactly banging down my door to show me how, so... I'm in.
After all, I'm used to getting my face punched. What's a little more pain?"Constantine smirked, but didn't say anything. He reached forward, touching Atreus' right pectoral. Atreus immediately felt a searing pain, and his jaw clamped shut. It felt like he was burning, like he was burning to the very bone. He groaned at the pain. Surely, when Constantine pulled his hand away, Atreus would find his flesh blackened and curling away from his ribs... Constantine pulled his hand away. The pain began to recede. Atreus looked down. No burns. No blood. Not so much as a mark on his shirt. Carefully moving the neck of his shirt, Atreus got a look at his skin. Standing in stark red lines, was a star similar to the one that had been in the middle of Constantine's circle. As the pain continued to recede, Atreus became aware of a presence. It was easy enough to ignore, but if he concentrated on it, he could feel that presence, just like he could sense ki... and he knew that he could sense John Constantine. "... ouch. That was not fun. I can't say you're gonna enjoy that, Meiku... but I'm here for you. Whatever you decide."Atreus meant that. He had gotten used to instantly forming bonds with people. He had done so with Caffey... with Liang Bai and Cub and Cam and Audrey. Some had needed him... some, he had needed. Whatever this young woman needed to get through this, Atreus would happily provide. it was simply his nature. Constantine then shifted his attention to Meiku, eyes unexpectedly patient and kind. "Well, love, this is decision time. This is the kind of thing... once you're in this life, you're in it for good. There's no going back if you accept this mark."
WC- 1,335 TWC- 7,213 Cassava |
|
|
|
|
Post by Cassava on Aug 9, 2018 16:24:57 GMT -5
Meiku pulled the trusty handkerchief from out of seemingly nowhere before wiping her face clean. She felt as if she were back on the high-school track team and her body was beaten and broken after a race.
Meiku wiped her brow and stood to face the other two apologetically. She looked in embarrassment at the soiled trashcan. “Sorry.” A one worded reply, but earnestly meant.
The Earthling returned to her seat by Atreus, ready to hear the sermon prepared for them by Pastor Constantine. She sat back against the couch, her eyes focusing on the ceiling now. It helped to keep the nauceousness at bay.
“You’re fine. I agreed to it after all!” Meiku followed up, lifting her head and raising a simple ‘thumbs up’ towards the pair. She didn’t want to bring about too much empathy from them, but she literally felt her knees buckling under her body on her return from across the room. The girl would need to sit for a while more before the energy returned to fly somewhere.
“At least it’s not a weekly thing.” Meiku paused, returning to face the pair once more. “I don’t know how often I can return from the brink of death.”
She were joking of course, if anything; Meiku could joke through some tough shit. Soon though, Constantine seemed to rile the man next to her. They spoke of a place she never had heard of, but wherever it was seemed to upset Atreus.
Constantine shot back more demeaning criticism, it seemed he showed the girl a bit more empathy at least.
That was when Atreus spilled the beans. His master was a Kai?! Planets with people bound to them? Meiku’s already swirling head seemed to calm around this news. She sat up in her seat before leaning forward to pay closer attention to their conversation.
She could feel the desperation in Atreus’ words, now she too felt empathy. Constantine again chimed in with his backhanded compliments. They did make the girl chuckle. Even though she knew not the context of their conversation, she were still having a show.
The magician finally answered all of the questions on their minds. They would be hunted down and killed by something like they just saw if they weren’t properly hidden. The thought rose the hairs on Meiku’s arms, she shook her head thinking death to a demon to be one of the worst. Would it turn her to stone? Perhaps burn her face with acid? She shook away the thoughts and continued to listen.
“Oh no. Man did I chose the wrong show to come to tonight.” Being faced the the idea of giving up the art of magic for good was something the woman hadn’t thought much on. She had assumed this curse would remain upon her body for eternity. However, the curse soon had become something greater and more of a gift. She were now able to use her magic for things she could have never imagined. Giving that up, just as she had began to learn how it worked seemed insanity.
Atreus’ chimed up first, answering before she had a chance to even contemplate. At least it gave her some extra time.
“I’m most certainly not used to getting my face punched in, mostly because I punch in other people’s faces. The thought of giving up something that is completely new and raw to me is an immense decision.” Meiku paused, her gray orbs connecting with Atreus’ own eyes. “But, I know I’m already past the point of no return. I learned that after my parents kicked me out. ----I’m in.”
The two words echoed from the woman’s throat. She just agreed to get some magic tattoo with her ‘summer boyfriend’. She could only hope it weren’t matching, or dolphins. She reflected upon the horrible tattoos her mom had upon her skin. Last time she checked there was a leprechaun, they are not cute.
It appeared that the tattooing was ready to commence. Atreus didn’t have his shirt off before Constantine began the process. Through the cloth of his evening attire the pain was unleashed. Atreus’ groaned in pain, and Meiku’s face grew a deep shade of red. Was Constantine going to have to touch her boob? Her entire body shuttered and eventually Atreus’ initial ordeal was over.
“That didn’t look too good. But, I’m ready. Thanks.” Hearing Atreus say he were there for her was striking. He didn’t even know her, aside from her name and her favorite movie snack.
With her permission Constantine launched forth a greedy hand. It took a moment for it to start the illumination and effects like with Atreus’ process. She furrowed her brows before the pain began to shoot through her body. Muscles twitched and misfired as the burning seared through her flesh. She knew she would be unscathed, but right now she just wanted to die.
In a mere instant the pain subsided, only leaving her more fatigued than she already were. Her hand reached for her chest which the Magician’s was still on. She pushed it away before tending to her invisible wound.
“Owwie.” Meiku pouted, her face showing no signs of tears though.
She then noticed the presence. It was like an echo in the background that was always there. Like that younger brother who never comes out of his room. She shuttered but soon grew used to the man’s energy.
“Ahh, I think it’s time...to rest.” Meiku mumbled sheepishly towards the others. With the demons subdued and their protection granted it was time for the pair to leave. Atreus’ would lead her to his place, which happened to be gargantuan. She chewed on a lip as they walked to the entrance, supposedly where she would call home, at least for the being. There she would hope to meet others like her and embrace the true training of her body and ki.
Atreus WC: 985 TWC: 5,459
|
|
|
