Anarchy Rising IC

Vela

“Ember, I’m going to check on them!” Vela called out to Ember, as she immediately made a 180 degree turn and dashed back towards the direction she heard Asher. However, the boat began to break apart before she could even get that far. Parts of it tearing with the tides of the ocean, as it creak and rattled, but Vela was quick enough as she jumped over the cracks and handed the shaking boat much better then she thought she could.

“I keep forgetting I’m a vampire…” Vela thought to herself in relief, as she cleared the obstacles with ease by jumping effortlessly over the rubble and landing in sight of the rest of the vampires.
Her eyes flared up with concern, as she saw Sain and the other female vampire lying on the ground in pain. She began to dash over to their location, but apparently the two that had been following them had already gotten to the vampires, as the dropped them on a stable blood like platform that Katrina had made.

“You, don’t worry about the blood. I can heal you.” Vela called out to Jasmine, as she jumped off the boat and onto the blood platform with her quickly holding out her hands to heal her. Though, her head immediately went light as only a tad bit of green energy illuminated the semi-crushed throat of the vampire.

“Damn, why am I so…” Vela muttered, as she looked rather shocked the moment right after she said that. She had never cursed like that before, but that moment of shock made her notice the withered vine that was wrapped around the vampire.

“This should work.” Vela stated, as she quickly absorbed the vine and soon used it to start healing the vampire’s throat with a tad stronger green light. Her powers didn’t cause immediate healing, but her throat should be healed in a short amount of time for sure.

The vampire was looking a little better now, which allowed Vela some time to look over at the conflict going on to her right. It was that smug and over confident man and apparently he was about to kill somebody else.

“Will somebody stop him please?” Vela asked in an elevated voice in Ember’s direction, as she turned to look at Ember.

Ember

“Don’t look at me; I don’t know what to do against him…” Ember mumbled, as she was now holding onto the guardrail of the boat to make sure she didn’t lose her footing from the unstable footing she was on, while her other hand held onto her pistol that was aimed at Asher.

Still, she didn’t dare add any magic or fire it. Apparently Katrina was up to something, as she sent a ball of blood towards the man’s location. Though, the chances of a ball of magic hitting that man in the first place… was rare at best after what he did to Sain…

“I’m going to have to divert his attention.” Ember mumbled, as she quickly dashed down the boat at her fastest speed trying to avoid the fire to the best of her ability until she ran past the back of Asher and was on his other side, grabbing on the guardrail there to stop her momentum from dragging her into the water. Attacking wasn’t the best option as it would alert him, so for the time being maybe…

At that moment Ember began flowing magical energy through her body, not in a hostile form, but more as just a passion. Her father used to do this all the time after all, so it wasn't that hard to imitate. She was just hoping it was enough to divert Asher's attention.

“How can you be so bent on killing people after what you tried to pull? I’ve met many people and vampires, and I can tell you none of them deserve what you are doing to them.” Ember called out, as she continued to say lowering her gun to not make him too angry, “So please just stop, this slaughter is pointless…”

Every alarm went off in Ember’s mind at that point, as it felt like she just said something she shouldn’t have. Not in regards to Asher, but in regards to herself, it’s almost like something inside of her was revolting against what she was thinking.

Sain

There wasn’t much going through Sain’s mind at this moment; he only felt the force of blood smacking him into the ground, as he heard familiar voices surrounding him. It was foolish of him to even try casting vines before that, because he couldn’t do anything now…

“Vela, what’s going on?” Sain managed to muster, as he asked Vela about the current situation. It was weird he couldn’t actually see her, but thanks to the vampire link between them he could tell she was there.

Ghosty, Nex, Strauss
The ritual was finished, the Nephalim, quite distracted, and Strauss, gone. A flicker in the backdrop of tension as the boat sunk. A black blotch over the water moved rapidly, as if fel wings propelled him, made of malice and powered by a pride so very dark and deep.
An electronic beacon flashed a red light quietly in the dark figure's pocket, its features returning to the now normal, yet forever changed looks of Strauss. A minute passed as he stood looking at the burning ruins in the bay from the ruined shore before one of the last helicopters left, stolen recently, another of many tokens from his grand betrayal, descended near him. The pilot was Joseph Markov, one of exorcists that had joined him willingly, and early on. His eyes still had life in them, though it was dampened, like many others by the cruel facts of life. There was a brief pause before take off as Joseph turned to speak to him, and Strauss grinned. "He's up there, really now? How good of him to make this convenient." Cruelty flared in his burning eyes as Joseph turned to the controls, and silently took off.

Crusic's pure white, gold-embroidered coat flared in a sudden breeze, the sunlight shined off the many gold crosses he wore and the polished silver of his pistols. He looked every part the paladin of the New Heaven Citadel, even if he had never gained that title from its owner. Yet none of this was as noticeable as what had kept from gaining that position. Rage, not holy fury or righteous anger flickered in his cold eyes. Self-interest and a keen sense of pride had driven the man, driven him to make his name known, and known as something of greatness. Now his work lay in ruins beneath him, in a hunk of rubble he had never managed to climb to the top to when it meant something, and the rest of his name was off in they, her fate completely unknown.
He took a minute, his mind taking slightly longer than usual to calculate his words due to his impassioned state. "It wasn't that Belmont wanted this, it wasn't that he set out to cause this. It was his incompetence, his failed sight, blinded by his hope to trust in something so dark, with such a small candle of hope. Now he is betrayed, first by greed, and now by necessity. I moved to replace him while there was some feasible hope to salvage this situation, but thanks to your efforts on top of it all, there is hardly anything of mention left, the rest was stolen away."
Crusic's voice was almost cut off by what began as wind but was soon realized to be a helicopter, flying fairly low in relation to the roof. However, the craft made no attempt to begin landing, though it did hover or a moment or so. Then a shadow fell from it, something difficult to perceive at first, and then suddenly it was already on the roof, mere yards from the standoff between the three men. Small cracks from impact littered the concrete at the feet of the figure, showing that it seemed to have taken more damage than it in the fall. The figure seemed to be pure shadow at first, but after eyes adjusted for a few seconds pale skin and white hair began to glow subtly in the sunlight. Eyes of embers and a crooked grin half-hid under a few strands of hair, pointed like a porcupine, and his gloved hands came up and made a welcoming gesture.
Strauss's garments had been removed of all symbols associating with the church, though other than being completely blackened by soot, blood and dark energies, were very much the same. "Alexander. It looks like you performed admirably in your situation, I'm sure any official who might still be alive would be proud." The somewhat mocking grin faded away in an instant, and his gesture turned to one of an outstretched hand, though one could swear their first thought was a barbed devil's claw. Some semblance, a ghost of understanding briefly haunted his eyes as he spoke to Crusic. "Come Alexander, we've been at odds but for the same reasons. Belmont had to be removed, and we simply didn't trust anyone else to do it. From here, a new order will rise, all the other players have been removed. Join with me Alexander Crusic, and your legacy will strike awe and your name live for all time."
While Cheon and Surge had the confident feeling that Strauss knew they were there, his focus of at least conversational attention seemed to be completely on Crusic at the moment.

Asher’s eyes were a blazing white by now, as pure holy power spilled from them and wisped away into the air around him. It was difficult for Fenix to match his gaze, his eyes burning and aching with the strain of the bright light. That’s going to be sort of hard Fenix mentally replied to Jasmine as Ashers grip on him grew tighter.
The scent of blood filled Asher’s nostrils, and suddenly him and Fenix were gone, reappearing with a vicious backhand that sent Katarina careening down into the water below, the bone in her neck snapping as her head spun around 180 degrees. A small blast of holy energy obliterating the blood and the vial inside.
“I have been more than patient with you all, and that is done” Asher said his voice earlier calm as he sent a golden blast strait into Vela, blasting the baby vampire through several of the crumbling walls as the holy magic burned in blinding agony as it coursed through her.
In another blink of an eye Asher was towering above Sain and Jasmine, Fenix still clutched and lifted off the floor. “Pointless?” Asher said sarcastically, as he raised his foot above Jasmines head and brought it down almost faster than the eye could follow, stamping the vampire through the deck with an angry crunch of breaking wood. “I feel an exorcist is the last person to give sermon on pointless violence” A casual kick sent Sain following Jasmine down into the waterlogged bellows of the sinking ship. Asher’s burning gaze settled on Chryse, the waterlogged tigress managing to keep her head above water in all the chaos and destruction. “Not one of you is going to leave this sinking tomb alive, even you child.”
Fenix was barely managing to not pass out from the pain and probably severe concussion, his breathing was flecked with blood and everything in his body was heated with pain. Asher teleporting around like some deranged wack a mole certainly wasn’t helping either, as the nephalim was eliminating people on the boat one by one. IT was really just him, Chryse, and that exorcist girl left by the looks of it and he didn’t know how long that was going to last, a few breaths mainly. Neither one of them was really a heavy hitter as far as the power scale went, and considering Asher had just disposed of the more powerful bunch with seemingly little effort, a crippled Fenix, Ember, and a worn out Chryse really weren’t going to do much. That’s when Fenix noticed Jasmine’s dark matter strings attached to the deck beneath him. Asher obviously hadn’t stepped on them, but they were still connected to the ritual.
“Hey! Asshole!” Fenix wanted to come up with something more clever but his head was throbbing and he couldn’t open one eye. And the words barely managed to fall of his lips with a cough of blood.
Asher’s head snapped around to look at Fenix “What!” The nephalim spat irritably finally seeming to have enough of the barbs.
“This” Feniix stamped down on the dark matter strings, Asher’s eyes having just enough time to flick from the strings to the casket, and go wide, trying to pull away, as Fenix grabbed onto his arm for dear life. The string went up like a gunpowder fuse, a purple flash of light as the energy from the iron casket coursed through Fenix and Asher. Fog exploded around the pair, sailing into the sky like the smoke plum from a recently exploded volcano. Blindingly white light shot out of Asher’s mouth and eyes as he screamed. Howls, and shrieks appeared in the fog encircling Asher and Fenix, faces and limps appearing and disappearing like a macabre kaleidoscope of horror and misery. The ship around them ripped apart, as violet and golden lights warred with each other throughout the fog. And within moments the fog, the lights and all the horrors sucked back down into a dense ball around the pair and exploded, finally putting the final dagger into the carcass of the doomed ship. As the rest of the yacht was blasted apart.

Cheon, Cuore

"You are kidding me right? This got to be a joke. Father Stein, what are you saying?" Cheon's eyes were narrowed at the two figures, Stein and Crusic. Crusic was reason was laughable, he was doing for the greed. But, what Stein said, he wasn't sure if really Crusic did that by himself or was being manipulated.

Strangely, there was no hate nor was any rage. It almost looked like Cheon was only surprised or be amused by it. "So your loyalty was never in humanity, Father Stein?" Cheon asked in sadness, but inside Cheon there was a conflict. He was glad that his future days, he would have new enemies to fight.

Cheon's weapons were ready if Stein and Crusic decided to fight Surge and him. But, Cheon knowing that it was going to be hard fight, he wasn't going to start the fight. He would let this one slide, but when in the next encounter, he was not going to let this go easy. 'If we can be stronger than now that is....' thought Cheon.

Cheon looked at the two figures, his muscles were tensed. Would this be peaceful good bye, or will this be a fight for their lives? That question hovered around Cheon's head. But he was going to find out and he was ready to do his best to survive another day to see another moon.

Jerrod

The tunnel gave Jerrod a strange feeling, he didn’t feel threatened by the vampire setting but he certainly felt out of place here.  The walls that clearly haven’t been repaired and the residue of all sorts of manner that began to accumulate on the ceiling, walls, and floor made Jerrod flinch in disgust, as he continued to reluctantly flee through the tunnels.

Then the unexpected happened, the vampire actually healed himself and began to kindly explain the situation as he began to struggle to walk on his own.  Though, from what he gathered there was something that was far beyond Jerrod that was being discussed here.

“I’m glad you’re okay, and these events concern me as well… but what we’re getting into here is rather hard to swallow.” Jerrod stated with a heavy sigh, as he continued to walk forward through the tunnels.  His memories flashing back towards his crew and what happened to them just yesterday.

“I’ll go with you though, I’ve just been walking blindly looking for my friends lately, and considering how my last lead turned out this is probably my best bet.” Jerrod stated in a confident voice, but soon turned to a look of concern as he noticed the vampire coughing up a fit.

In Jerrod’s honest opinion, this vampire was still in shambles.  His clothes were ruined from the various cuts that probably covered his body, and it seemed like the only reason he could move was because death itself was dragging him along.  Though, he was a vampire, so he did have some sort of regenerative powers.

“Just don’t kill yourself going there; we already got through one hell.” Jerrod stated rather jokingly to lighten up the mood, but after he stated the phrase it sounded anything but a joke, as he continued to say "After all, we have to make sure that name of yours lives on."

Katarina(Baal)

She had already seen him teleport a couple of times before so when the "familiar" feeling of the displaced air appeared behind her she immediately turned around before getting punched and blasted spiraling towards the water. Lucky for her however that she was hovering high into the air on her blood platform which gave baal more then enough to exit Carlos' body and possess hers as he saw the hole thing from within Carlos.

While Katarina might have gone uncouncious from the attack, it made no difference for Baal, if anything it would make his job easier without having the rebelious vampire trying to throw him out. The blood that Kat was previously standing on would rush towards the water and form a capsule of sorts around Katarina's body just as she was about to hit the water preventing the water from reaching her body.

While inside the capsule Baal would snap Katarina's neck back into place letting her own vampiric regeneration along with the current demonic one she had from him heal her broken neck, the fact that it was a clean hit actually worked in her favor as nothing besides the neck was damaged, the brain and every other organ would be all intact.

Baal would torpedo trough the water in the blood capsule untill he would reach shore where he would simply stand around waiting for the others. He wouldn't leave Kat's body as she was in a comatose state of sorts so she would end up defenseless if he left, and endagering his hosts wasn't something he was really keen on doing.

Since katarina was the first to be attacked and knocked out, the blood platform which the other vampires were on would quickly start dispersing back into normal blood as Baal had no interest in wasting his energy on it, something which would work in Jasmine's favor as rather then getting stomped trough a solid she would get stomped trough a liquid.

Carlos,Zhi,Faust,Selena.

As they saw the vampires fall for the waters bellow Zhi shouted at the others to quickly grab them, they might be vampires but they were allies. The lycan-human group would quickly snatch the vampires from the waters and try lifting them out of the water as much as possible while slowly dragging themselfs towards land. If anyone had any means of transportation they would chuck the vamps onto it, if not they would call out the others to help.

Once they would reach land Baal would demand Faust give him some blood, though not exposing him, instead playing the ally card. Faust would agree as he knew he didn't really have a choice but going along with baal's ally motivation. In a way Katarina not knowing what was going on would be a good thing as she would of exploded if she knew Baal had saved her, even though her despise of Baal and wanting to show him of is what got her in this mess in the first place. The though of him getting to say "i told you so" with the smug expression would of probably made her explode.

[color:22f5=#Grey]"So what now?" Zhi asked, towards the rag tag group wanting to know what the others thought, he just hoped everyone was in a bad enough shape to not start trying to kill each other. It was actually him that had it the worst, since he didn't belong to any major faction and didn't even dare to think how the refugee camps would look like after last night, he had no place to go. Going with the exorcists since they were human, would of been the most obvious choice at first glance but they tended to be to narrow minded and pig headed for his taste while the vamps and lycans might try to turn him into a snack.

TheDarkestAnimeFan wrote:

Ghosty, Nex, Strauss

Spoiler:

 

Nexius wrote:

Cheon, Cuore

Spoiler:

 

Leiv wrote:

Spoiler:

 
 
 
Surge Maxwell
 
“Betrayed by necessity? Had to move to replace him? This person was simply geared by his own motives and beliefs. When negotiations and pleas failed, he took upon himself to make his point in such a brutal manner. But taking advantage of such dire situation that may or may not have been initiated by outside forces; this man of the church really went to the extremes.” These were Maxwell’s thoughts upon hearing the mage’s final defensive argument.
 
But before he could give him his answer, a large frequency caught his attention. It belonged to the man made aerial vehicle, classified as a military helicopter, but that wasn’t all. Something far more sinister in appearance was on board the vehicle. This living energy was of the dark reddish-purple, demonic in nature. Maxwell got the feeling of intense dread oozing out of the area around it, corrupting the space as it moved. Soon the aerial vehicle ascended from behind the citadel’s wall and hovered over the roof. The energized being, hopped out of the chopper, dropping onto the roof which sent a shockwave sending concrete splinters flying off around his feet. Entering into Surge Maxwell's vision’s inner radius, the dark energy took form into the shape of a humanoid being which in reality could barely be considered a human. As he closed the distance between the Mage, energy streamed about him as though he was a wave flowing through an ocean which was the airspace around it.
 
From first glance, Maxwell didn’t need to be told that this being was not to be trifled with. Though it seemed like, for the moment, this person had his attention focused on the mage. Which after hearing its conversation and Cheon’s questioning, Maxwell heard the names of the people in front and his thoughts about them being key players were fortified even further. This meant that these two beings were deeply involved in the chaos that Maxwell had faced since the first light of destruction in the past hours or even days. One of them, even if Cheon addressed him with the title given to those of the members of the Church, in Surge Maxwell’s eyes, there was a fierce, scheming and calculating demon standing right in front of him and the other person… he might as well have confessed to have committed crimes against humanity. Both of them were a threat to the civilians that Maxwell swore to protect. As a Demon Hunter and a protector of the people, it was his sworn duty to rid this world off of beings such as them. Surge Maxwell might as well unsheathe his Rune-Blade and go in for the kill right off the bat, but something, something deep within his subconscious psyche, begged him to reconsider his thoughts filled of hostility.
 
Thus as Maxwell finally calmed down something which he hadn’t really paid close attention to, for the mere fact that it was at a distance where his frequency reception was quite minute, thus rendering him to only acknowledge the happenings if he purely focused on the matter by solely using his binocular vision which placed him at a risk of further decreasing his frequency transmissions. But now, even without using any special tricks, what happened would have been visible to even the naked eye. The previously scattered multi colored specks of energy which could only have meant that far off into the bay, there was a gathering of various beings considered to be in the meta range of humans. Though as he couldn’t receive any frequencies from that far off distance, Surge Maxwell was at a loss of identifying who or what they exactly were but now it seemed like it would have been all pointless for at that very moment, a mass of energy simply collapsed onto itself and then exploded into a blast that would send shivers down the spine of anyone who personally witnessed it up close. The previously scattered energy blips were further pushed back yards. Knowing, at least that these specks were actually living beings, Maxwell felt a bit of sorrow for them as they were all subjugated to face such an ordeal. But worrying about them would get him nowhere. It may or may not be too late for them but currently Maxwell was in a sticky situation of his own.
 
The mage had yet to make his decision of accepting the offer that the darker being presented to him. Though from their words, it could be contemplated that they were once enemies or still are and so this deal could fall into any direction. Cheon and I might end up getting involved in a fight that we may not have been expecting but at the opposite end if we played are cards right, we actually might come out of this with some kind of advantages.
 
From the multiple of scenarios that ran through his mind, from the moment he had reached the citadel’s roof and the scenes that took place leading to the current situation; Maxwell was finally ready to walk the path he had chosen for himself.
 
“Two exorcists, both working to change this accursed world, into a realm, that shall conquer all others? I have seen what you all are made off and I have deemed you highly capable. This world is on the brink of destroying itself and standing in front of me, I see the emperors that will bring forth the much awaited change. Alexander Crusic, there is no need of second thoughts; this is the moment in time that will be the seed, sprouting into the era of us humans. Humanity shall rule once more and be the superior race they were always meant to be.”
 
Surge Maxwell’s eyes, the Dark Orange globes, flared with energy as he spoke and his face, a mask that suiting of a sinister being. Surge Maxwell, with his left hand at his side, casually resting on his scabbard, smirked as he ended his speech and gazed directly at the Mage gleaming with the golden aura.

Ghosty, Nex
The two former exorcists stood, facing each other even as Surge spoke, a curtain of darkness looming before and angrily bright golden flame. The near constant breeze at the altitude gently swept Crusic's still immaculate white cloak, while that of Strauss seemed to flow wherever and whenever it pleased, as if touched by a breeze not felt by those not of shadow. Strauss could see the gears moving behind Crusic's narrowed eyes who, having thought over the proposition enough for the moment, gave a glance in Surge's direction. Strauss's fingers curved back into his hand, which dropped by to his side first as a fist before loosening gracefully. His gaze, and gesture of a slight bow then turned to Surge. "Ah, my apologies, I did not mean to purposefully leave you two out, however invested you are in Alexander. However, you see, I have important business, and couldn't spare the moment, though, your opinion is lacking." Crusic and Strauss's gaze met as he said the last word. "Alexander is no Emperor, and I no Excorcist, certainly not compared to the man before you. This is why I need you Alexander, you contain vice, are driven by avarice and refuse to be stopped regardless of the cost. You are human, Alexander, and within that darkness of yours there is the flicker I now lack, I need that glimpse of hope that refuses to ever be put out. I can change this world Alexander, you know this, but when I am done, I can have no part of it, you can." Crusic seemed lost for a moment, surprised by the tone Strauss had taken, though he immediately began to suspect it. Don't take me for a fool, devil, I will not fall for petty lies. You can damn the church, the world, god himself, even, no, especially without them I will not be subjugated to your rule. I do not fear your powers nor do I think your brand of darkness can correct this world, I trust no one with that task but myself." A moment passed and Strauss grinned."Naturally you are suspicious Crusic, but unfortunately I have no time to waste further convincing you." The air grew cold and the day grew darker as Strauss's burning eyes flickered ever brighter. "No more debate Crusic. You will join me, and you will come to understand. Though, I suppose that isn't the issue." The former exorcists began circled each other slowly. "I will tip my hand Crusic, show you the power I hold, and ten your pride can be satisfied, after all, you allowed yourself to serve God knowing you stood no chance without him. I may not be as powerful, but I am far more reasonable, and have far fewer restrictions."
Surge and Cheon were witnessing what was probably the final power struggle amongst the remaining order, Crusic's name, while weakened by the loss of the Citadel could bring many supporters should he declare intent to rule, while Strauss's organization grew by the moment, born from the shadows over years of deceit and planning. They had an interesting opportunity before them, depending on what they did. They could throw their lot in with either party, attempt to take them both down themselves, or watch as events panned out. Even the last option would provide them with vital information on the changing paradigms of the city before anyone else. Of course, attempting to prevent the confrontation was also a viable strategy, though it seemed both men were on the verge of open battle.

Jack had been having a drink to celebrate the acquisition of his newest supernatural asset, the drink had been a bit strong... or rather it had been very strong. He could never quite figure out why he always ended up in such strange places when he was inebriated, but he had to give himself credit for finding the place, especially with how safe it appeared to be. But his drunkenness had passed hours ago, now he was just tired, he sat laying up against the wall in the nook he had found for himself. At least it was dark here, it was black, not like the miserable, depressing, grey, overcast that had lasted for days on the surface. He missed Nevada, with the desert's endless sunshine, even in apocalyptic times like these. He really, at this point, had no idea why California had at been considered the sunshine state. The grey weather really had a way of putting a damper on his good day, perhaps this was one of the reasons why he found himself where he was now.

It was then that his currently human-like ears picked up on something, voices in the tunnel. He grumbled briefly and then rubbed his eyes, he was too tired for a potentially violent interaction. He had just about been ready to lay out is bedroll and get himself changed for bed. But such was life, he sat up from his slouch and watched keenly in the dark. He heard one of the two voices cough rather violently, he hoped that this would mean the two persons would be less aggressive, but it was unwise to assume.

He held himself still as the two finally past by, one was clearly a vampire, and was the source of the coughing, the other he made out to be a human but it was difficult to tell. Quietly Jack shed his flip flops and stood to his feet. By walking on the balls of his feet, he slowly crept up behind the two until one of them disappeared through a dark anomaly he had identified earlier. He waited until the second party returned, and decided that based on their subject of conversation that they probably weren't overly aggressive, but now the question was: "how do you introduce yourself to someone in a dark 'creepy' cave, with them previously having no notion of your presence, without startling them?"

Yo!

Those were the words he chose,

so you guys down here lookin for somthin?

Unsure of how the two would react, Jack did not draw his weapons, however he did keep his hands at his sides so access to them would be quick if need be.

TheDarkestAnimeFan wrote:

Ghosty, Nex

Spoiler:

 
Surge Maxwell
 
“Tch… and after all the trouble I took to avoid this scenario.”
 
Maxwell tilted his scabbard backwards, then kicking the floor beneath him, somersaulted himself up into the air and landed onto the roof of the stairwell, which he had moments earlier exited. Crouched on his left knee with his right elbow resting onto the right; Surge Maxwell surveyed the fight which was about to begin.
 
It's going to be one heck of a light show; Maxwell thought as he saw the energies around each combatant grow in intensity. Though now that things have come to this, it would be quite amusing to meddle in their battle, then again the two, still were targeted for elimination by Surge Maxwell, albeit not straight away.
 
The Sun, hidden from sight as the darkness around the area grew even darker as the stormy clouds under Surge Maxwell’s control came to encompass the entire citadel. The air above rumbled a few times as a squall began to flow through the area. Though the wind whistled, the strength of the force was kept at the level of it not moving a human body. Maxwell didn’t want to influence the fight amongst his enemies more than necessary. Thus Maxwell kept his stationary crouched stance, with only a slight tug at the side of his mouth and his dark orange eyes still glowing in the looming darkness; unhindered by the change in weather, though one could notice specks of white begin to cover his otherwise dark mahogany hair that swayed from time to time as wind blew through them. Light Snow had arrived at the citadel following with a coldness in the temperature that gradually began rising. If one stopped long enough to take note, the wind wasn’t flowing from a single direction but instead it flew in from all kinds of angles, changing at random intervals; enigmatically enough, seamlessly without a pause or an inclination that something abruptly changed.

While all this time, Maxwell silently kept a close watch on his surroundings, visually and mentally, thus with one hand ready to unleash his sword, he patiently waited for the right moment to make his move; May it be to attack, defend, or simply acknowledge the winner of the battle.
 
“Keep a close eye on the Dark-One” hissed a voice, deep inside Maxwell’s mind.

Ember

"Using a stereotype to classify an individual?  How impudent!" Ember thought to herself in a rage, as she glared at the man who she could barely follow.  Every time she caught wind of him, he teleported to another location and smacked another person into the water until he reached Sain....

"How dare..." Ember was about to yell, but her voice was cut short as that man that was being attack from earlier had a plan.  He pulled some sort of dark string, as it caused a giant and destructive explosion to go off engulfing the two men.

"I'm too close!" Ember thought as her eyes widened, as the explosion blew the sinking part of the ship she was on out towards the water, as she held the debris that had went with her so she wouldn't be tossed into the unknown water.

She trained and in-shape but small figure when compared to the force of the explosion was barely able to hold on, as she tilted her head up, slightly shell-shocked, to find herself sitting on a piece of the boat that was still floating on top of the water.

"What happened?  Is he dead?" Ember mumbled, as she watched the aftermath of the explosion.  The ship tattered with her squinting her eyes to see her other comrades salvaged the waters for people who had gotten knocked in by that man just moments ago.

Vela

"Alright, you're almost..." Vela mumbled in a kind voice until the feeling like she had just been thrown into the sun lit up in her chest, as she was flung through multiple walls until her momentum was reduced enough for her to slam incredibly hard into one of the sturdier walls.

Vela's mind was dark now, as the second blast of holy energy had really done its word this time.  The pain and this near death experience, it was just like that one time when she fought Katrina.

"Move..." Vela mumbled, as she moved her arm to reach the now sizzling wound on her chest that was probably the worst pain she had felt in a very long time.  Thankfully, the ceiling protected her from the dimmed sun, but still it was getting harder and harder to think by the moment.

Her powers weren't working anymore... There wasn't much she could do.  She could only hope that everyone else could handle the situation.

Sain

Sain's mind was already numb enough, as his only link was Vela's energy that was keeping his brain awake and not falling into a deep sleep.  However, soon enough that energy faded in an instant, as his last link was cut off.

"Wha..?" Sain managed to utter, as he felt a slight push that made his body scream in much more pain then it should, as he began to fell like he was falling, the wind gusting past his weakened body until the sting of water damaged his skin, as he began to sink down the ocean.

Sain was only able to release the sound of undecipherable sounds under the water, as bubbles flowed from his mouth to show his attempt to talk, his vision further fading by the second.  He was only able to feel someone grab him right before his mind began to fade into a deep sleep yet again.

Jerrod

Jerrod's heyna like ears perked up before he had a chance to reply to the vampire, as he heard the sounds of footsteps behind him, approaching at a rather cautious and slow pace.  Normally Jerrod would turn around and tell the man to keep his distance, but something about his footsteps, his movements made Jerrod think he wasn't the normal hostile or creature.

A deep voice resonated in Jerrod's ears a moment later, as he slowly turned around to reveal the rest of his heyna like features to the unknown voice.  From the way he talked, he appeared to be friendly, but the last time he let his instincts trust a friendly person he ended up almost dying.

This man looked hardly trustworthy though.  He was obviously built for combat, he was as tall as hell, and he could easily snap Jerrod into two if it wasn't for the fact he was a lycan with insane strength.

"Not exactly..." Jerrod replied with a bit of caution in his voice, as he turned to Lucian with a tad mixture of annoyance and disbelief, as he turned back to this new and unknown man with a very annoyed expression that didn't suite Jerrod very well with his usual care-free attitude.

"As much as I like talking to knew people, we're in a bit of a rush, what do you want?" Jerrod bluntly stated, as he impatiently waited for the man to respond. his claws were prepared to strike if this man did any sort of suspicious movements, but kept them lowered at his side to not raise any sort of alarms for him.

He had been incorrect, it was not a human but another Lycan next to the vampire, maybe he was still a little drunk. He sensed the irritability in the Hyena's voice, but rather than try to appease his impatience, Jack decided he would take to the calm route, and speak softly, it would help to show he harbored no hostile intent. It also suited him more being as groggy as he was.

"Want? I don't really want anything..." He rubbed his eyes and gave a big yawn, "You guys just seem like you're looking for something." He rubbed the back of his neck, he was tired, but it was in his nature to lend a helping hand. "You guys need some help? I've got nothing better to do, I just gotta grab my stuff and I can tag along if you want."

In truth he could certainly seek to profit from a hostile encounter, but Jack wasn't the type to ever consider preying on the innocent, or instigating conflicts with others who wanted no part in them. These two looked like they had seen some scary things, and if he was going to get back into his prime without hurting anyone, he was going to need to start stabbing some scary things. It was difficult, at times, to be both the hunter and the good guy, but he would manage... as he always did... well... most of the time.

Jerrod

Jerrod couldn't help but grimace at this man's response, not so much from what he said but more at the whole bizarreness behind this situation.  After all, he was just stabbed in the back and now fate being the pain it is decided to hand him another 'ally', who seemed nice enough.

"Alright fine, I'm pretty sure you could of caused hell for us already if you wanted to anyways." Jerrod replied with a sigh, as he turned to Lucian and nodded, as Jerrod began to dash towards their location to make up for lost time, while keeping his eyes on Lucian to make sure he could keep up.

At the same time, gestured the tall man to follow them, who he noted he would thank later if he didn't end up betraying them in the end.  But for now, he would have to hope the man would settle for the lack of gratification.

"Name's Jerrod by the way." Jerrod quickly stated back to the man, as he figured it would be a good idea for allies who have each others backs to know each others names... in the very least.

Jasmine

The vampiress noticed Vela's attempt to heal her throat - and it worked, for a while. Fenix could not get free from Asher, and while Jasmine watched out for an opportunity to interfere, things went south yet again. The nephilim started teleporting around again. Her eyes involuntarily followed Katarina as she plunged into the water with a clearly snapped neck. She thought she saw her coat herself in blood, but at that point it was already too late - Asher was upon her, stomping her through the blood platform that thankfully started to dissolve when Kat was taken out. Jasmine's head throbbed from the impact, but thanks to the elimination of the original damage that a solid floor would have caused, and due to the fact she didn't spend her Dark Matter to help Fenix, she still had reserves and enough presence of mind to use them in her situation.

She used the blunt end of her staff to smash through the side of the boat as Asher sent her plumetting towards it, and as she flew through she attached two elastic strings to the sides of the hole. That allowed her to stay suspended in the air above the water filling the sinking boat. When she saw Sain dive under the water after flying just past her, she quickly shot a string at his back as well and pulled him out.

From the sound of it and the flashes of light filing in through the various holes in the hull, she figured something was going very wrong outside - that meant it was high time to make an exit. She was exhausted, but that was not an unusual state if you were a circus artist. She used the strings she was hanging from to swing towards a wall and stuck her feet to it, then she walked up towards the hole they flew in through in the first place. The little lycan girl was not far away it seemed. "Hey... can you pull us?" Jasmine sent to the weretigress, who nodded. At this, Jasmine spread her coat as a glider, Sain safely hanging under her in the shade, and jumped, shooting a string towards the other girl's shoulders. If Chrys was able to swim fast enough to keep the two of them in the air, that's what they'd do. In case the conditions were too difficult for that, Jasmine would land on the girl's shoulders and balance there, holding Sain up until they could get to the raft that Arkhan, Zarok and Ray should be using, or to someone else to give them a helping hand.

Chrys

The wetetigress in hybrid form waited for Fenix, but the boy never managed to break free. When the fireworks started, she tried to keep track of his life force through her spirit-tracking skill, but there were too many strange energies flying around, she had to shut it off. Instead, she noticed a message from one of the vampires from before. Since it seemed really dangerous to stay near the ship any longer, she agreed and strained her body to reach the top speed at getting away, hopefully before the whole ship went down. Should there be problems for Ray, she would also go get him /he'd be pulled after her on his floating fender/. After that, she would make her way back to the coast.

OOC: Ran out of time, might expand on what Chrys did in the evening, but should be enough to let nex post for now

Arkhan, Mariana and Zarok

Arkhan helped Ray to get on board, as well as the others. The raft was getting heavy, but as it was big enough to hold some decent number of people. "Did Fenix survive?" Asked Zarok as he felt his back getting better.

Arkhan's eyes drifted towards where Fenix once was, "Should I sail the boat to check on Fenix?" he asked.

Mariana could feel that it was almost over, at least that was what she thought.

===========================================================

Cheon, Cuore.

Cheon slowly stepped back as he realized what was going to happen. The two figures were going to fight, and Cheon noted that he shouldn't take any part of this fight, but be the eye witness of this battle.

Cheon quickly turned around and positioned himself where he could see the battle, but he made it sure he won't get caught in crossfire.

'Don't let yourself defeated by the darkness, Crusic. I should be the one who should finish your life..' thought Cheon.

Chrys

When the weretigress caught up with Zarok and Arkhan, she replied in short gasps, struggling for air as she tried to keep up the speed in the stormy water: "I...can't...feel him. Too... dangerous... to go...back." That would most likely convince the 'raft' people to give up on the idea of examining the wreckage and they would get a move on towards the coast. As for Zhi's question, Chrys would reply: "Well I have to go find my family. They were on the raft with the ferryman, but now I can't find them anymore." Despite this claim, she was exhausted, and for the moment she just lay down on the coast and breathed heavily, waiting for her energy to return. Ray was curled up at her side and the two kids shared their heat to keep warm.

Jasmine

After they got to the coast, it seemed that Zhi had still enough energy to ask silly questions. As for Jasmine, she was just happy it was over, and she didn't want to have anythinh more to do with this bunch. But this particular human did help her out, as did the weretigress and some others. She wasn't going to thank them for it, obviously. However... Almost unconsciously, she whispered (since her throat wasn't completely healed yet): "I don't have any particular plans. Maybe I will just travel in the same direction as some of you for a while..." It was not an invitation, not at all. But one could decide to take it as one, and the vampiress would not object.

Vela

The holy magic continued to weaken Vela's eyes, as she began to drift from consciousness. The holy magic doing more damage then her natural healing could mend. The fleeting life blood that connected her with Sain was very diminished and for some reason, the blood pact that held her and Katrina together also seemed to lie silent for the time being, not giving her any commands.

"Looks like I'll have to do this myself, Radiant..." Vela mumbled, as the raven crawled out of Vela's bag, as it limped onto her shoulder linking the life energy between the two. The bird seemed to grow weaker, but Vela's strength seemed to grow, as the tired raven sleepily rested on Vela's bruised and cut shoulder that was tattered with her old clothes.

Vela slowly stood up, as she walked out to see the bay out in front of her, though her sight was barely able to pick up the party that was leaving without her.... She was left for dead here by the very creatures she scorned some time ago, until a piece of debris floated her way that had a blonde haired and brazen but tired girl sitting on it as she rowed towards Vela.

Ember

"Quickly, get on before that part of the boat sinks." Ember called out, as she reached out her hand for Vela to take, grabbing the poor and fragile vampire's hand forcibly before pulling her onto the raft. The vampire falling down in pain, as she laid on the cold debris during this clouded day.

In a way though, this felt very refreshing to Ember, as she could finally say she saved a vampire instead of murdering it. That crazed god was right in a sense, she didn't have a right to preach to him, but she certainly had changed in these past 24 hours since her father gave her the mission.

"I don't think the exorcists would be very happy about me bringing back a vampire..." Ember muttered, as she looked up at the sky, questioning her faith for a second before she turned back to tired Vela with a heavy sigh about the whole gravity behind this situation.

"Whatever, Strauss will beat some sense into my father, I'll tell you that." Ember stated with a slight grin, as she approached the shore that she had been longing for quite some time.

Jack reached into his pocket and felt for his soft paper package. It seemed as though he'd hitched himself on just the ride he was looking for. It was perceivable that his new companions were involved somehow in what was happening to the world. It was an understatement that he wanted to do something about it. A force that considered itself holy had been unveiled, and it decided it had the authority to cleanse the world and wipe nature, and all of it's living breathing affiliates off the board. Jack pulled the worn package of cigarettes from his pocket and placed a cigarette in his mouth.

Arrogance born from a false sensation of wisdom, how cretinous. Jack flicked his lighter and lit his cigarette. But it was a problem when such arrogant entities had power, and even more so when they had intelligence, for both of these qualities would reinforce their belief in their own righteousness and divinity. Jack was sure to remember however, that he as much as anyone else was vulnerable to such a state of mind. He was indeed, even more vulnerable in the position that he stood.

He took a drag on his cigarette. But it was enough worrying about the future. You couldn't have the long term without the short term, and now was the time to become acquainted with his new companions. He smiled. In the future, at least in the future he sincerely hoped for, he would be able to fight until his last breath for these men, calling them not only his companions, but his comrades.

Jack... Elliot, said a quiet prayer to himself... he prayed for deliverance from this storm... but he would not be one to stand idly by and watch it happen, he would ensure that he played a key role in the events to come...

"Yo! that was some pretty crazy **** huh?"

Nexius wrote:

Cheon, Cuore.
 

Spoiler:

 

TheDarkestAnimeFan wrote:

Ghosty, Nex

Spoiler:

 
 
Team Maxwell
 
“Oi!! Maxwell!!... Max… Snap out of it!!... Hey!! Voices; close to heart yet distant in nature; attempted to reach Maxwell who was still rooted to his spot above the stairwell, still hosting that slight tug at the side of his mouth, which kept sporadically twitching. His eyes reverted back to simple Orange globes, void of the previous flowing energy that they hosted. Suddenly a jolt of electricity, travelling through the held sword, surged throughout his body, forcing an involuntary motor action which in turn sent a command to his neck muscles and spinal cord. Maxwell neck snapped back as his body arched and his chest stretched back; jolting all his senses back to reality before he slowly brought back himself to face the scene in front.
 
Maxwell’s eyes widened as the outcome of the battle which began and ended in only an instant hit him where it really mattered.
 
“About time you got back.” The voice in his head, clearly distinguishable, now that the dissipating dread that had shrouded his mind was lifted.
 
Using the back of his right hand the Demon Hunter wiped off the cold sweat that littered his forehead. He tried to push himself up but it still felt as if the lower part of his body had not a single ounce of strength left. So he could only watch as the two monsters with a quick pace, headed towards the helicopter that the being that appeared to be constructed of dark energies had arrived in.
 
Another voice, different in tone, akin to that of a being that would appear to having a forked tongue, “Quick, this is your only chance, follow them !!” the words slithered into his ears as if someone was whispering to him from standing right behind him; edging him on. “Hurry!!” The two men now climbing into the craft, which within seconds took flight and turned away from the citadel’s roof; “Nooo!! You Idiot, you let a Golden opportunity slip by…”
 
“Silence Creature!!!” the first voice resounded within Maxwell’s psyche.
 
Even if Maxwell wanted to follow the powerful beings, his body just wouldn’t budge from its rooted position. Once the flying metal machine had flown quite the distance away from the citadel, did Maxwell felt energy once again revitalizing within him. Slowly standing up onto his two feet, Maxwell looked over at the bay where the battle seemed to have arrived at its end as well. The specks of energy scattered in the sea, yet mostly heading towards solid ground.
 
Suddenly Maxwell broke his silence, not directed towards anyone in particular, he simply stated his mind out loud; “I came here to get my questions answered. To make some sense out of this world which seems to have gone to Hell; but all that keeps happening is me digging further into a pit that gives no indication of hitting its core.”
 
The storm summoner raised his right arm and held it in front, pointing towards the sea. A strong gust of wind bellowed from behind him, his coat ruffled by it as wind blew beside Maxwell. The snow which had littered his clothes was whisked up into the air and joined the rest, which by now was flying away from the citadel, alongside the entire large patch of storm clouds travelling towards the sea. Soon the light blizzard would reach the people resting at the bay, further darkening the area which was already dull due to the grey clouds blocking the sun. Snow would start falling down onto the battered creatures while sea waves would crash onto each other due to a squall which accompanied the stormy clouds hitting the location. Though the area would not be in full control of Surge Maxwell, he would try to use the fading control that his ability granted him to shift the winds as such that any floating pieces of the exploded yacht would be thrown up into the air and swerve into the direction of the bay where the rough sea would do the rest of crashing them onto dry land. The stormy weather that which moments ago, was over the citadel would now be left into the capable hands of Mother Nature. It would dissipate sooner or later as she saw fit. Though Maxwell hoped it would be later for that would give the vampires and other creatures that are affected by the sun and water enough head start to escape to better suited sheltered locations for their recuperation. The storm headed their way would hopefully be their final battle of the day or act as a reminder that they shouldn’t take this new open world lightly and never forget that monsters aren’t the only thing that’s a threat to one’s life.
 
With the dark clouds gone; the citadel’s roof was showered with the day’s light though not completely bright as the sky above was still littered with post-storm grayish white clouds that had yet to completely break apart or shift away over time.
 
With Surge’s vision still activated, Maxwell noticed a purple spiral swirling into existence from somewhere in the skies above at the other end of the citadel. Though he couldn’t make out the shape of this object, the frequency it broadcasted was like a whiff of a floral aroma spreading through an open meadow under a moonlit sky. There was a feeling of connection that Maxwell had by now become quite accustomed to and would be able to easily isolate it from any mass of signals bombarding into his psyche every time he would use his mystic ocular vision and let his mental prowess roam free.
 
Without turning from his spot of facing the scorched roof where the final battle of the world’s control took place, Maxwell spoke his final words. “Cheon, I have arrived to the conclusion that this place is no longer what I hoped it was. I will not find the answers I am looking for here, at least not anytime soon.”
 
The small Purple haze, now taken the shape of a triangular object, soared down from the skies and made its way to where Maxwell and the lone exorcist whose body emitted the unique dual colored soul energy, had thought about taking their last stand against relentless beasts that were intent on making this world their own. But circumstances saved them from sticking their noses where they would have clearly been chopped off, alongside their many body parts.
 
Maxwell shuddered at the mere memory of him witnessing that dreadful fight. Maxwell wondered if he would have received less of an eye opening shock if he viewed the fight with naked eyes. But watching those infernal energies clashing and then the darkest one simply devouring the other like it didn’t even mattered if it existed, the dread that clawed at his soul during that instant was a feeling that Maxwell never wanted to experience again… ever. Thus he made up his mind now at this very moment that he needed to take his head out of the clouds and rebuild himself from the core up. If there were beings as such controlling the world; then what he has faced before and thought were something to take notice off, were simply scraps and couldn’t even hold any notion of even being compared to such presence that the winning creature held and the gravity of the situation that he had fallen into… Maxwell knew that this was a life changing experience and there was a lot to do from this point on.
 
The Midnight Blue feathered Raven with the Dark Purple wing and tail feathers that Cheon had met during his encounter with the Demon at the Island Church; flapped its wings overhead Surge Maxwell before gliding onto his left soldier as Maxwell returned from his chain of thoughts and continued to speak to Cheon, “Earlier I felt as if dark claws were piercing this world, slowly ripping it apart and there is nothing I can do to stop them… taking under consideration what took place right in front of our eyes, I was right to believe so.” Maxwell clutched his chest as if a soaring pain rushed through his body. Memories or rather the feeling of despair and anguish of those souls that he felt reaching out from the vile fog, flashed into his mind. “The fog, it was just one of the many beginnings of a series of events that may unfold in the future, events of catastrophic proportions.”
 
The Mystic winged creature dug her claws into Surge Maxwell’s shoulder and “KAWED” loudly as if it was annoyed or feeling impatient. It then hopped off its partner’s shoulder and flapping its wings it took to air, once again fluttering in front of the Demon Hunter.
 
Maxwell finally stepped forward, stopping at the edge of the roof of the stairwell that he was standing upon. “I will take my leave now. Search for the answers elsewhere. This feeling of bleakness… I need to get stronger. Much stronger, if I hope to win against my demons.” Maxwell clutched his fist as he ended.
 
Surge Maxwell twisted his head downwards to look at Cheon, the Orange eyes glowing with a darker blight as energy once again surged through him, though not in a menacing way, “Farewell my friend. We will meet again, for whenever that may be.” And with that, the being known as Surge Maxwell, dispersed into the ether.

Spoiler:

 
“KAW!!” The Raven called as it soared toward the great skies, disappearing into the clouds, out of sight.
                                                                                                                                 
It “KAWED” one last time as it headed towards the blue sea. The ocean waves crashed violently onto each other. The iron bridge was visible far in the distance and where once a luxury yacht moored, only a few soaked planks of wood were left behind, a testament of the intense battle that had taken place there; but the Raven flew upwards into the stormy clouds where upon exiting them a thunderous roar shook the air for a second as a small patch appeared in space, in front of the bird, blurring reality itself; the Familiar flew through and disappeared, crossing into a realm in-between time and space.

Spoiler:

The yacht finally sunk into the cold dark waters, tattered bits of debris floating to the surface from the shattered vessel, leaving a field of broke wood, discarded doors and other trash of various sizes. Neither Fenix, Asher, nor whatever horror had been in the coffin could be found floating in the wreckage.

The sun was beginning to poke through the drab grey of the sky’s quickly thinning cloud coverage. The harsh light of the sun sparkling as it reflected off the water of the bay and began to cover the beach and shore in its warm yellow light. Several shrieks, roars and other less discernible but equally as terrifying sounds echoed throughout various parts of the city at the delayed dawn. Quite a few of the warning noises coming from neat the beach the survivors now stood upon, one night of horror down, many more to go.

Asher limply clung to a rusted buoy which somehow still stood obstinately against the sea after years of decay and war. A massive arm looped through barely managing to keep his body from collapsing back into the sea. Large black bags hung under his now dim golden eyes, his hair was as pale and brittle as a broom a decade past its expiration date. And his whole body before so powerful and strong was now gaunt as if he hadn’t eaten in weeks. A small, flat wooden raft was pushed by a tall black figure towards the buoy.

“You said you wouldn’t directly interferer brother.” The natural melody of Asher’s tone was gone his voice horse as he struggled to form the words.

The raft budged against the buoy, the cloaked figure leaning on it wearily. “I didn’t.” Asher let out harsh laugh which gave way to a coughing fit. “I merely gave them tools to equal the playing field.”

“And the little vamps string?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about brother”

“That paltry magic should have never been able conduct that level of energy” The tall cloaked figure gave a noncommittal shrugs of its giant shoulders and remained silent . “Well finish it then”

“Finish what brother? I am not going to end you, there are far too few of us left in this world, and even less now after your little tantrum.” The cloaked figure pushed his cowl back, his golden hair was slightly longer, but otherwise he looked just as Asher had prior to the explosion. “What is it those humans say that, blood is thicker than water?” He said as he rolled Asher onto the ship.

Jerrod

The events that unfolded in front of Jerrod spooked him quite a bit, as he watched the various horrible, heroic, and untold events that happened around the the world it reminded him of his own adventures in these past few days. His ship crashing due to the fog, the giant sea serpent, that deranged murderer, defiling the church, the separation from his crew, and that was only the beginning.

The irking room soon reminded them that they had overstayed their welcome, as Jerrod walked out of the room rather spooked that was very odd for his standards. Anna and Fredrick would be smacking him upside of the head if they saw him like this, so he should perk up a bit but it was just difficult after seeing all of that....

"Guess you could say that..." Jerrod stated with a light but hidden smile and an emotionless shrug, as he finally let himself transform back into his human form. His captain like garb now mangled from the events that transpired, but it was nice to be back in normal skin for once.

"Allow me to introduce myself formally then, as you know my name's Jerrod and I'm a lycan." Jerrod stated, as he quickly proceeded to the next point after stating the obvious "I used to work as a merchant with a bunch of interesting people tagging along, but as you can tell that's no longer the case."

"It pays well during this time that's for sure." Jerrod stated with a carefree smile, as he remembered the days he spent with Anna, Fredrick, and Lerox.

"And you?" Jerrod asked, as he slowly turned his gaze towards the new tall man, waiting for him respond.

Jack analyzed Jerrod for a moment, perhaps it was a healthier decision to refrain from deceiving his new traveling companions. The world was changing faster than he had originally thought, and he needed this man to understand and trust him sooner rather than later, there was not time to play dumb.

"Well... the truth is I used to be a holy man, a priest. These days, not so much." Jack reached for something on the back of his belt, hidden by his trench coat."I suppose you could say I'm a merchant of sorts... but some people would call me something closer to a slaver." Jack revealed a vile black book from behind his back, the unholy aura that poured from it was almost palpable. "I... don't usually reveal this to strangers, but considering what we just saw, I can't really afford to keep secrets." A semi-wicked grin began to creep unconsciously across Jack's face. "I've been an emissary for several unholy beings, I arrange deals, I make deals, I steal souls, I sell souls. I don't like to think of what I do as slaving, but I suppose selling souls into temporary servitude in exchange for power is just that... But I do try to use that power for good and to protect the innocent."

What was he doing? perhaps he would need to reveal secrets, but how he was doing it, he'd just dug himself a grave. He was definitely still inebriated. Damn it this is why he didn't do business while drunk! If the man before him was an honest man, Jack knew he certainly wouldn't trust him now, not with the way he had just phrased everything. He was lucky if this didn't initiate hostility between the two of them. What was he thinking? "Hello good sir, I steal souls, would you like to be friends?".

Jack sighed "In all honesty I don't know if what I'm doing is actually for the greater good, I... I suppose I just have to have faith in my God, and that the path he has laid out for me will lead to good ends." Jack took a long drag on his cigarette, he paused for a moment to regain his cool. "As you can tell, we don't exactly have all the time in the world, so I need to know... Can you trust a man like me?"