The Madness

Mystic Elder Rep! : 31

The moon lit Iskra's path as she strolled along, hands in her pocket and blue eyes focused firmly ahead. What brought her on this path was the prospect of seeing her friend again. It was the time that they used to meet up when she was a mere beast looking for food, and since she'd lost track of him since that fateful tonberry adventure, and she sought his presence again.

It had been some months since she saw the white haired defender of the moon village, and she wondered what he had been up to in all this time. Indeed, this visit was different from the others for the sheer fact that when she walked into the town, nobody grew frightened or tried to chase her off. An odd-haired woman was much less intimidating than a several-hundred-pound predator that looked plainly demonic. Since it was night, not many people were about, but the guards did give her hair an odd look. She summarily ignored them on her way through the darkened village until one helped her, wishing to be helpful.

"Ma'am, do you need any assistance?" he asked in a gruff, tired voice.

She turned her eyes upon them, and they seemed to glow slightly blue in the pale light of the moon.

"I'm here looking for a man named Lethe. Maybe you've heard of him?"

[ EXP: 253 || +1 (First post) ]

Intern Rep! : 5 Location : Almost Heaven

High above him in the night sky, the moon shone brightly in the black abyss that surrounded it. Because tonight was a full moon, the illumination cast upon Terra by the celestial body was much brighter than it was on most nights, and it coated the forest with a beautiful light purple hue. In the portions of the sky he could see, the stars twinkled innocently all around the sky, giving the young soldier that sense of awe he so often had when on night patrol. There was just something about the night time that calmed him, and considering the obstacles he'd been faced with these past few weeks, it was always nice to have such a moment to sit back, relax, and simply enjoy living.

The fact that he was on duty didn't hold much attention over Lethe, as he had long since abandoned his post and sat atop a stack of crates near his hut. He wasn't a mere soldier anymore, having just recently been promoted to a captain of a brigade, and he wasn't in a spot that demanded he do such meager tasks as patrolling. In fact, that was the responsibility of those under him, and he was quite happy of that. With the erratic behavior of Samael in recent weeks, he wasn't sure how well he'd handle meager tasks, as self control was the one thing keeping him together. The captain found himself lost in thought, staring at the night sky and wishing Iskra were here in the back of his mind. He was sure that if she was here she'd be able to help him with his struggle. At least he hoped she would, being the woman that was now his leader for all intents and purposes.

All the men on patrol for night shift were members of his brigade, and the man that the matriarch was now speaking too would no doubt direct her to where Lethe was. It wasn't any secret to Lethe's men where he was, as they knew on nights like this he enjoyed stargazing. It was something that Lethe talked often about to his men; the heavens above and the stars, being one of those things that just humbled him whenever thinking upon it. If anything, such thoughts usually kept Samael at bay.

EXP: 410
PWC: 410
Other: +1 TEXP (June 11, earned more than 250 EXP)

Mystic Elder Rep! : 31

The woman nodded gratefully to the helpful night patrolman who had so kindly told her where she might find her favorite human. Indeed, she found him gazing up at the stars in a way that came off as peculiar to her before she sat down next to him, looking up and trying to see what he saw.

"Paike's children?" she said, recalling the stories she'd been told as a child. For a spirit, she was what one might call deeply religious. Rather, she had a firm faith in a number of tales and deities that she'd heard about as a subadult, and even now they shaped her worldview. She didn't feel as lost as the others concerning the origins of this world or the mysterious artifacts or anything else, really. Her spirituality held all of the answers.

For a moment, she didn't say anything else. It was a pleasant evening and it was pleasurable to just sit and enjoy the slight, cool breeze in the illuminated darkness of the night. "And Vosht, the moon. Tell me, Lethe... how have you been in my absence?"

[ EXP: 204 || +1 TEXP (5th post) ]

Intern Rep! : 5 Location : Almost Heaven

Gazing at the sky above, Lethe began to recall the tales his mother had told him about the sky. It was a common theme among the primitive people so of the world to have a variety of religious views, ranging from the supernatural to the ridiculous. The stories the young Lethe had been told weren't much of a religious technician though, and were more just stories to set a young boy's imagination ablaze. Myths, if you would, spun to weave the foundations of morals into the malleable minds of the young ones that listened. His eyes immediately drifted to the constellation Tryndamere, the valiant barbarian destroyer he'd been told about.

In the story Tryndamere was the king of the titans, a mighty race of humans that were larger, stronger, and more imposing than mere humans. The king of the titans was a powerful warrior, wielding a massive blade and crushing all those who opposed him, even having the ability to become invincible in battle for a short amount of time. The epic was of his exploits, conquering the old world before the dawn and becoming the leader of all. As the tale went, Tryndamere was undone by his own ambition, as his thirst for battle led him to turn on his own. With the titans fighting among themselves, civil war broke out between them and the regular humans, and the grand war that took place because of that event caused the destruction of the entire civilization leaving the ruins they saw today. Legend has it Tryndamere was so formidable, he resisted death itself, and the gods cast him into the sky as a final resort to contain him.

Of course Lethe knew the story was mostly bollocks, but even as an adult he still loved the tale. There was something about his exploits that Lethe admired, and in some small way he sought to do such things himself. Oh well, an ambition for another day.

Normally he'd dislike distractions, but upon hearing the voice that spoke to him he smiled. It had been a long time since he'd heard Iskra's voice. Not as long of a lull as there had been before the trip to the mansion, but it had still been a long time nonetheless. It was nice that when he needed her she seemed to show up. As she remarked firstly, Lethe's head turned and his amber eyes met hers, and he smiled and gave a short nod. It was an acknowledgement of her presence, and an invitation to sit beside him at the same time. Sighing deeply, Lethe placed his hands behind his head and leaned back, looking back into the sky once again. "Not so good. But what of you? Are you finding what you're looking for out there?"

His response was short and concise, unsure how to tell her that the source of his power was a homicidal maniac that was out for the blood of her kind.

EXP: 543
PWC: 543

Mystic Elder Rep! : 31

The woman leaned over suddenly and lay lazily across Lethe's belly, rather like a dog might be expected to. It was a sign of trust. After all, she considered him her closest family member. Her white hair and her dark skin were owe to his influence at the time of her transformation.

A grin stretched across her face at the mention of her search. "You could say that... originally I didn't know what I was looking for." Her gaze hardened as she looked out over the serene, moonlit scene ahead of her. "I know now what I want. I want a legacy."

A firefly flashed suddenly, a blue thing in the night, fading like a ghost before suddenly reappearing, much closer. It landed a few inches short of her nose and crawled around. It was a beautiful creature at a distance, but close up it looked like a plain beetle.

"And I want the strength to protect it," she said, gazing at the thing with her demonically glowing eyes, the hue of the illumination matching the insect's abdomen. "It won't be easy. I need to secure something to pass down to them to give them an advantage in this world."

[ EXP: 222 ]

Intern Rep! : 5 Location : Almost Heaven

The act of her laying across his belly was a surprising one, as he certainly didn't expect the woman to do something like that after having been gone for so long. He almost flinched as she did it, if more for anything out of a reaction of his surprise. It took him a moment to remember her animalistic origins, and how simple of a gesture this must be for her. It was a far throw from what he experienced, since she was no longer some animal in his eyes and was a woman who'd ridden his face upon transformation into an attractive woman. Part of him wondered if she's try that again.

But she spoke of much more important things, having apparently found a direction in her new life. The fact that she knew what she wanted to do was an admirable trait, as being a member of the village guard definitely wasn't something Lethe wanted to do for the rest of his life. He wanted something more than this.

"A legacy is a fine goal to have." Lethe responded, being truthful in the sense that was one of the few life ambitions he could truly respect for someone to have. The idea sounded so good to him that he mulled over the possibility of pursuing a similar goal, but that'd have to be doted upon later. "Your strength will come, I'm sure of that. But won't being pregnant be a bit of a hindrance to you?"

EXP: 260
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Iskra's bone-colored brows knitted. The demon was a simple creature and though she could hold more than one idea at a time in her head unlike her other kin, she often failed to exercise that faculty. Yes, she said she'd wanted ten groups of ten children plus eight groups of eight children, and while that number may as well have been the quantity of trees in the forests around them or the number of stars in the sky above them, she wasn't good enough at math to figure out how many times she would have to give birth, though she figured that number would be similarly astronomical. She knew she'd have to carry more than ten litters, because often only one cub survived to subadulthood because of a congenital instinct to destroy competition that manifest the second her kind left their wombs. Optimistically, she could expect two per litter. Half of ten is two and half of eight is four, so she would have to bear at least two groups of ten litters before she even got to the four groups of eight.

It wasn't that she was dumb. Far from it. It was simply that her current life goal was the most complex plan she'd ever had to think up on her own. Her brain didn't get much exercise as an animal. Kill. Eat. Live. Repeat. Such was the cycle she'd been born into and was trying to break out of. She wanted to be more than a simple beast, but this newness of everything held her back to an extent.

"I do not know the name of the count of children I want to have..." she began reluctantly. "I want ten groups of ten plus eight groups of eight. Such a legacy won't fall from war or disease or famine. You are smart enough to tell me what is wrong with the idea, but I... can't think of a solution."

The firefly took wing. "Is it possible for anyone to have such a number of offspring?" There was pain in the question.

[ EXP: 380 ]

Intern Rep! : 5 Location : Almost Heaven

In the time that Lethe had known Iskra, he'd never actually heard her make such an impossible claim. Or rather, in the time that she'd been in human form he'd never heard her make a claim that her human body prevented her to do. It would seem that her mind was still on the ways of a wild animal, who were able to reproduce with multiple numbers in multiple litters. Unfortunately for her that wasn't the way it worked for humans, and the maximum amount of children she could hope to have would be thirty, and that was being generous.

Looking down at the woman strewn across his belly, the man hummed as if thinking, "No." he responded, his quick answer betraying his attempt to put it eloquently. "Maybe if you were still a hyena you'd be able to do that, but humans almost always only have one child per birth. There can be twins, or triplets, maybe more .. but that almost never happens. Also, the incubation cycles last nine months, so that'd give you about a kid per year. I'm not sure how long you'll stay fertile, but I'll give you thirty years. So, you can expect to have at maximum, in my opinion, thirty children."

Lethe never was good at math and he could only imagine the integers involved if she was still an animal as far as how many children she'd have. Sometimes being a human was just better, he concluded. "Even then that's being generous. Carrying a child takes a toll on your body, so I wouldn't go for that many."

Maybe it was kosher in the animal kingdom, but even now Lethe found it strange she was so willing to have so many children. "Course if you were a man it'd be easy to have that many ..." He said the sentence in a low tone, his voice trailing off. In the future, he'd look back at this with hindsight and realize that wasn't the best thing to say.

EXP: 357
PWC: 357
Other: +1 TEXP (June 11th, posted 5 times)

Mystic Elder Rep! : 31

A spark went off in Iskra's head. "A... man?" She blinked and sat up, looking in his face. "Like you?"

Of course, there still lay a problem in comprehension. The concept of "fatherhood" was poorly understood among her kind. Much like humans, they couldn't expect more than one child per birth, and birth was considerably more hazardous for her kind than it was for Lethe's, considering that the female of her species was saddled with the blessed curse of masculinity. For this reason, she didn't immediately comprehend how it would change the issue, but she'd been sufficiently intrigued to chase the idea.

"How can a male have more children than a female?"

For him, it might have been an obvious question, but the fact that females oppressed the males of the society she came from and that males were generally docile and undemanding about spreading oats of any kind that it didn't immediately occur to her that it was possible for a man, as a member of a bunch without such traits, might have things differently, though such might be the case even with hyenas. Paternity wasn't something they valued or kept track of.

[ EXP: 236 ]

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The simply concept of man and woman wasn't one he ever thought he'd have to explain to his new matriarch. After all, he assumed it was a basic principal among all species, not just humans. Once he began to think about it more, however, he began to realize where her confusion might begin. If he remembered correctly, even as a female hyena she had something that could be easily be mistaken as a penis. Perhaps in her kind the line between a male and a female was blurred to the point it wasn't really considered much in the society. That is, if animals could have a society.

The genuine intrigue in the woman's tone was enough to make Lethe chuckle to himself. It wasn't that he was making fun of her or thought she was stupid, but it reminded him of a conversation you would have with a child. Plus, he would have hoped she had a firm grasp on male and female after her display of power to him when she'd first transformed. All of the human side of things was new to her, though, so it was the least he could do to explain things.

"Well ..." He mumbled at first, wanting to be as concise as possible. "Males don't have to carry the child. All they have to do is impregnate the female and they can go about their way theoretically. A man can impregnate as many women as quickly as he likes as long as he's up to mate with them. Under those circumstances you could have the litter you seek."

EXP: 279
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Other: +1 TEXP (June 12th, earning 250 exp)

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Iskra smiled, her dream saved by the intelligence of her friend. "Oh. That's all I have to do?" She said, genuine relief in her tone. "Great. For a minute I thought I'd run into a rock there."

She sat up from the other man and stretched for a moment. Then she leaned back, her arms behind her and her shoulders shrugged up around her head as she regarded the stars in the sky above. "You're very smart, you know that?" she began. "I'm very glad that we're family."

There were many what-ifs concerning Iskra's past, however. What if she'd never met Lethe at all? What if her clan hadn't seen fit to seek revenge for the hyena that Lethe's parents killed and skinned like barbarians? She'd probably be with the entire lot of them this night, curled up and looking at the stars as a member or two went off to go bring something down. That's how it was. Her family could be compared to a house of college students who have a communal resting place, but their own business to tend about during the day.

But if she was honest with herself, she didn't miss that lifestyle too much. Things among the humans were exciting and new. She felt herself getting knowledge and power that her old state of being would have put firmly out of her reach. So this all, despite their deaths, was good. They'd understand that if they were present.

[ EXP: 273 || +1 TEXP (1st post) ]

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It never occurred to Lethe that having such knowledge would have made him intelligent in other people's eyes. But, he supposed if he was going to be considered intelligent by anyone it was good that it was the woman that was for all intents and purposes his master. He didn't want to be seen as some disposable piece of meat, but instead a valuable tool. Her assertion that they were family was strange to Lethe, but he reflected momentarily that perhaps those meanings were quite exactly the same to the two of them. Or perhaps someone being considering family had different standards. Regardless, he shared the sentiment.

"Ah, thank you. I'm happy we met as well. It's one of the few bright spots in my life." He gave her a warm smile of agreement, forgoing calling her master at this very moment since they were alone. He typically saved such formalities for when they were in public. Wait, did she just refer to being a man as 'that's all' she had to do? His master's word usage wasn't something that had caught his attention initially, as he'd simply brushed it off like it was nothing, but she really had just gone along as if changing genders was no big deal. If it wasn't for the fact he knew she was a demon he would've been completely baffled, but still.

"Wait." Lethe held up a hand, a puzzled look etched on his face. "... are you saying you can change genders?"

EXP: 280
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The woman thought she would recline by her lackey's side and perhaps allow herself to doze off beneath the magnificent view until he asked her a surprised question.

"Change genders?" she repeated airily. "Well, if I can change my entire form, changing from one type of a person to another should not be a big deal."

She had never tried it before, however, and she felt compelled to suddenly try. After all, her ability to realize her dream relied on this particular kind of magic.

"Let me give it a shot," she murmured, leaning forward a bit and murmuring in concentration.

Nothing would happen right away. In fact, several minutes saw her still mumbling hoarse, growling syllables with nothing to show for it.

But after those few minutes had passed, there was a sudden glow that came about her.

Indeed, the glow was so bright that for a fleeting instance, she'd be very difficult to look directly at.

...and when that light cleared, she would have performed the transformation completely. Iskra now sat as a man with long, dark hair and milky white skin with a purity to rival the moon's own light. His eyes were now greyish and white, alien almost as he looked over at Lethe. "Did I do it right?"

[ EXP: 276 ]

Intern Rep! : 5 Location : Almost Heaven

Now this should be a sight to see. That was the first thought that crossed Lethe's mind when Iskra began to talk as if she would be able to easily change genders. Becoming a human was one thing, but completely changing your gender was another. It wasn't a matter of going from one species to another, this was a case of changing everything. There was a very large part of him that hoped she wouldn't be able to do it and would fail miserably at it when she tried. The thought of seeing her as a man was just something Lethe didn't want to burden his mind with. Especially with the way she likes to assert herself.

He never should have doubted her; not for one instant. It seemed all she had to do was focus her power enough, and before Lethe had any idea what was going on she began to glow. The light she was emitting was nearly blinding, and Lethe had to shield his eyes in that instant it shone. As he could vaguely see through his hands that it had gone away, Lethe moved his hand away. At first there was nothing but darkness and flashing colors, a side effect of his eyes seeing such bright light while dilated.

Eventually they focused, and instead of a beautiful woman a man now sat. "Ngh!" The sight was so surprising that Lethe let out a yelp, albeit a deep one, and he flailed back. The result was him toppling over from the top of the crates, rolling twice down the side and landing on his back on the dusty ground below. He groaned heavily to himself, cursing in his mind at his reaction. The gods were cruel to give her such an ability.

EXP: 312
PWC: 312

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Iskra scratched his new head, now with hair that reached down far past his waist. For the moment, he had nothing to hold it back and it hung around his head, obscuring his form until he stood up.

He found that his shoulders were much broader, though he still had a unassuming grace and strength about himself. He stretched out a muscular arm and observed knottier muscles than existed in his other form. He was different, yes, but his thoughts and mannerisms were exactly the same.

He seemed surprised at the way Lethe tumbled end over end until he hit the ground in a small cloud of dust. It hardly occurred to the man that her transformation was responsible for such a reaction. After all, he had seen the demon change from a hyena to a human. What did it matter if he could change from one human to another, a much less dramatic alteration?

After a brief look down his armored pants to confirm that the transformation was complete, he hopped down gracefully and extended a hand to help his friend up, his voice a startling baratone. "Are you okay? I've never seen you lose your balance like that."

[ EXP: 225 || +1 TEXP (5th post) ]

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At some point when he was laying sprawled out across the ground, he had hoped that what he had just saw was some trick of the mind, and that once he opened his eyes again she'd be back to her old self. Of course things didn't change when he did so, and he still saw the man. Perhaps it was an effect from his fall? Some sort of brain damage? Unfortunately, he wasn't to be that lucky.

After another heavy groan Lethe sat up. Hopefully none of his soldiers were around. That light had been pretty bright and may attract them like gnats. And there she ... or rather he was, extending a hand in assistance to him. For a moment Lethe simply stared at the hand she or he extended, still in a slight state of shock at what he'd just saw. But he gradually came to terms with it, took his hand, and got back to his feet.

His demeanor had plainly changed, though, as evidence by the greatly increased distance he now stood and kept away from her, and the sheer fact he looked uncomfortable anyway. "Uhh .... yeah, you did it right." He said in a late response to her initial question. "Wow, I ...." It was one of the many times in his life he wasn't sure what to say. " ... impressive, but ..." he shifted, retreating from her a step or two still.

"Can you please turn back into a woman?"

EXP: 267
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Other: +1 TEXP (June 12th, posted 5 times)

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The man gave his underling a quizzical look, not guessing at the underlying motives behind his dislike of her other form.

Yet, he felt he couldn't let this curiosity go, and it really wasn't costing him any energy to remain as a man, though it would cost him some to shift back into female form so soon after he'd changed, and he needed to get accustomed to this form... not that he would insist on remaining as a man. He'd turn back into a female soon enough, but it seemed that his lackey was a bit bothered.

"Why?" he said, his perplexed state showing in his voice. "You seem stressed."

After some thought, she realized what might have upset him. Genders were firm in her home culture, as it were. It determined ones perpetual rank in life and how others would react to them. No doubt human societies had a similar deal, though she imagined that since human females were often soft, submissive things that, like most creatures on Earth, humans were backwards. It was one of the many bad things that came about when Paike died.

[ EXP: 230 || +1 TEXP (2nd post) ]

Intern Rep! : 5 Location : Almost Heaven

A question that seemed to have a very obvious answer to Lethe apparently came hard for this man. Or woman. Or whatever you wanted to call him and or her. Gender was one thing Lethe was extremely uncomfortable with people changing. He could handle species, he could handle physical forms, but when you started messing with the goods, that's where he drew the line on what he deemed appropriate. However, even though the situation made him feel extremely uneasy, he didn't want to come across as too callous. After all Iskra probably wasn't familiar with the same concepts of gender that he was, and most likely didn't see what she'd done as that big of a deal. Or he, rather.

"I'm stressed because ..." Lethe was a few steps back from Iskra, having involuntarily recoiled, " ... In my mind you're a woman, so seeing you change your body and gender like that is disturbing to me. Not to mention it freaks me out that you can even do that successfully. I mean, all the junk added." Lethe gave and uneasy smile and shook his head, shrugging his shoulders. "I mean no offense, though."

Whether or not he had offended Iskra was just a risk he was going to have to take. If anything he wanted to make it clear to him - or her - that he was more at ease when she was a woman.

EXP: 254
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Other: +1 TEXP (June 14th, earning 250 EXP)

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"I'm not a woman," the man stated bluntly. "I am a hyena."

The thought of his sudden change of treatment because of something as irrelevant as her biological sex wasn't as offensive to her as the thought that he'd come to think of her as one of those backwards, weak things known as women. In many ways, the demon didn't really class female humans as people most of the time because of their significant shortcomings. Namely, that they let the male of their species run all over them, which was entirely wrong. They were cursed with a curse, at least according to the mythology of her kind.

However, Iskra lacked the language skills to convey exactly how the man had transgressed. Even the word "offended" lay somewhere near the outside of his scope. It took him a minute to gather the thoughts he'd need to address how exactly the other man had transgressed, however. It was hard to know where to even start if he'd slipped up and thought of him as a woman, of all things.

[ EXP: 209 || +1 TEXP (1st post) ]

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The broad warrior mulled over what his friend had just said. So, she ... err, he, considered himself to be a hyena rather than a female. The notion that someone would consider their species above their gender was so ludicrous that Lethe had never even considered it to be a possibility. Now that he thought about it, it made sense considering the way Iskra transformed like he did. Well, that and he was a demon.

Referencing Iskra as a he made Lethe's stomach turn when he remembered what had happened when he and or she had first turned human. In fact, it was a disgusting ability Iskra possessed and the fact she - he was so readily jumped between the two was something Lethe would probably never get used to. It suddenly occurred to him that if he, that is to say Iskra, stayed in his male form more often than not, Lethe would find it hard to fulfill the life debt he'd sworn to the woman. He was sure that there was a loop hole for such situations, and if there wasn't he would need to make one.

Whatever inner turmoil Lethe was having he went to great effort to not let his current patriarch know about it. He simply composed himself and gave the man a nod of agreement, not feeling it was worth the effort to argue with the man's logic. "That you are." He said simply in reply.

He felt no reason to stay on this topic, and so he changed it. "Iskra, I need your help."

EXP: 277
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The demon shifted back to her female form. Rather, her hair shortened and became light, the darkness of it retreating into mere spots. Her form became smaller and her skin darker, and her features shifted back to the way they were before. She shifted back simply because for the moment she felt more comfortable in her more familiar form. Besides, he had apparently submitted on the issue, which was all she asked. There was no way for her to tell the amount of difficulty he had with finding it within himself to comply.

"What do you need me to help you with?"

[ EXP: 115 ]

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Ah, so she'd finally turned herself back into her female form. Lethe wasn't sure if Iskra would be able to tell, but the fact that she had done so had just put him back into his comfort zone. This was a good thing, too, since what he was about to ask her was a delicate situation and he would have had a tougher time with it had he been forced to deal with the male side of Iskra.

"You're aware of my possession, aren't you?" the normally imposing warrior spoke with a soft voice, as if he was attempting to keep what he was saying a secret from an unknown party near them, "The kamikonjou that possesses me, Samael, gives me great strength. Strength that I might otherwise not be of much use to you in many situations, but ..." Lethe grit his teeth and clenched his fists, "He's becoming too much to control. His power is only useful if I am able to harness it. It's useless to me if he takes over my body when I unleash his energy, and it's dangerous to you. He has an unnatural bloodlust for demons, which is puzzling considering he's supposed to be a benevolent being of order...."

Lethe took a deep breath, and turned to face Iskra. "Do you know of any way that would allow me to dominate his spirit? To cast out his soul, and preserve his power?" It was no small task her was asking, to be sure, but if anyone he knew would be able to help him it was going to be his matriarch.

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Iskra's brow furrowed as she thought deeply on the matter. She was new in the world of this... stuff. Honestly she hadn't much of a clue on how possessions even worked, outside of the fact that the silent souls of her clan inhabited her body. It was the only such ritual she had performed and a relatively old one among her group. The ones living would consume their dead so that the spirit of the dead one could live on, sharing their consciousness and living in spectator mode. Nobody really knew how old the ritual was, but the leader of her old clan knew it.

"The demon Jack's the only one who I know with knowledge of that sort of thing," she said at length. "Pah. He knows all kinds of ways to banish kamis and such. He taught me how to call upon magic, but the magic that I can use is not really good for that sort of thing."

She tilted her head to the side. "What of you? Surely you aren't the only human who knows how to use certain kinds of magic. Maybe some know the same kind of magic that Jack knows."

[ EXP: 205 ]

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There was that name. Jack. The syllables that made him the demons name resonated within Lethe's head for a short moment, bringing his blood to a near boiling point as he remembered the Oni that had briefly assisted them with the assignment in the mansion. Back then Lethe had a strong dislike for the Oni, and it still carried over to now. The strange thing was that Jack hadn't truly done anything to Lethe except live with ad demeanor that offended the possessed human. More so than that, he was disrespectful towards Iskra, which in turn was a disrespect towards him.

But it seemed that Iskra didn't mind Jack, and was obviously learning well from him. He'd prove to be a powerful ally should he agree to such terms, and even if not he seemed to be well enough about not interesting with his or Iskra's plan. Still, it'd be best to leave him out of it due to the nature of Samael. "It'd be best to leave Jack out of this. I do not want to banish Samael completely, I merely want to banish his consciousness, and leave the rest of the possession behind. I want his power, just not him." Lethe explained.

She was right, though. Surely there was a human that could hold such knowledge of such things. He waited and began to think for a few moments, and each time he did the name of the old hermit came about. Gileg. The old man that had been there whenever he had first unlocked his possession. Was it coincidence? Maybe. Maybe not. Either way it was as good of a bet as any to depend on him.

"I believe I know a human with the knowledge of such things. I'd appreciate you coming with me, master. I'm sure it will be hard enough alone."

EXP: 328
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Other: +1 TEXP (June 17th, earning 250 exp)

Mystic Elder Rep! : 31

Iskra scratched her neck. "I'd say it'd do good not to get him involved, yes."

The presence of Lethe brought back her boldness concerning the pride demon. "I have yet to... break him."

A ballsy statement to be assured, especially when Jack was likely more powerful than her, at least physically. She had her cunning, however. While she may not have been wise in the ways of the world or magic, she had an old, instinctive, encyclopedic knowledge of fighting, and she fought with everything that she was. There wasn't much else to her, as far as she knew or was concerned.

But her mind, presently, was on the one member of her "clan" that she'd managed to subdue. This strangely possessed human, Lethe. Of course he'd be easier to use without some pretentious heaven-spirit constantly howling in his ear about her wiles and wickedness, as he no doubt did. The oni knew, as all children of hell knew, the timeless blood-feud between the spirits of order and the others. They woke up from the dream before the Dawn with conflicting interests. There was no common ground, no peace, and no backing down.

"Of course I'll come with you," she said with a hastily-summoned air of authority. "Your spirit is a kami, correct? Such a disease must be purged."

[ EXP: 254 ]

Intern Rep! : 5 Location : Almost Heaven

Total Gains
EXP: 3,846
PWC: 3,846

» Madness: Lore Upon