A/N: The WE Chronicles is based on something myself and a few people are involved in, the characters in White Eclipse are completely original, as for some members in Tartaros, this was all before the canon characters were revealed, pretty much a disclaimer. Characters and backgrounds will be explained as the chapters go along, this is my first attempt at writing properly, so please bear with me.
I: Tayakata and Takeru.
It was only a matter of time before their plan slowly became reality, the wheels set in motion, both obsidian "mages" had their sights set on leaving the demonic guild behind to start the new chapter of their own lives. The sun slowly began to arise from its lengthy slumber, the sky paved in a copper and crimson laced ambiance, Tayakata was the first to awaken out of the others, there, she sat slowly, inching towards the edge of her bed. Eyes remained closed, her visage seeming entirely luxuriate, which was a rarity given the upcoming events that would slowly unfold later on. A sigh would slowly heave from parted lips of the dark "mage", as her eyes reopened, she glanced over at the lone frame that stood firmly on the oak dresser in her room, glancing at the picture that was protected by a merely thin layer of glass, her gaze remained fixated unto the image for moments, seeming like hours to her. The numbing ticking sound of the clock gently echoed throughout the room, after suddenly breaking her gaze to briefly glance over towards the clock, she sighed. "6.. Earlier than usual.." she muttered to herself, a small groan of disgruntlement shortly exhumed. She then stood from her seated position on the edge of the bed, and began to under go her daily ablutions.
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In the furthest lodging laid a restless male, in his bed; unable to tame his consistent stirring and fidgeting, thrashing side-to-side, he groaned in frustration at the dulled sound of a chirping symphony resonating from the very window he laid by, brows furrowed as an audible "Tch" heaved. Gripping the sheet that covered his frame tightly, he threw it off of him, scratching the side of his head as he grumbled obscenities to himself as the sound of the irritating chirping remained, it was then that Takeru sauntered towards the window, pulling it open half way in one swift motion, legs planted firmly in the ground as they began to separate shoulder width apart, her head slowly inched back as his chest rose, taking the largest of breaths, only holding his breath for a moment or so, until exhaling with his lips pried apart, an ink-like substance pouring from his mouth as it was aimed directly towards the birds that sang their morning song, a sudden loud chirp was heard moments before the Shadow Dragons Roar had impacted, after a few mere seconds.. Pure silence. As his empowering roar began to dissipate, no birds were in sight whatsoever, no song could be heard. "Tch.. Fucking birds.." he uttered to himself before raven orbs rolled in distaste, nonchalantly, Takeru Tenebrae slammed the window shut, and began to undergo the usual routine of his own morning, and what a perplexing start to his morning it was.
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By the afternoon, Tayakata sat idly within the main living area, occasionally tuning into the deafening conversation between the other members, it seemed as though the topic of conversation once again reverted back to the lapdog of Tartaros, Tobias. He was slandered carelessly by two members in particular, the Etherious known as Jackal, and the Lava-casting demon known as Maggie Solfatara. Their irksome conversation left Taya twitching ever so slightly, emitting an audible groan, the Ivory-haired female peered over her shoulder, grinning at the sight of her agitated 'rival's countenance. "Oi, Taya~ When are you gonna stop being such a moody bollocks and join in? You know you want to.~" she chimed teasingly. A raven brow raised as their gazes met, obsidian hues narrowed to convey a patent scowl. "Why? It's become such a boring topic of conversation, yet you both do it consistently. Go on a job, destroy a village, do something with yourselves." She spat callously. Blood-shaded orbs glistened in a moment of sheer frustration, fists of the latter began to clench. "That's calling the pot kettle black! Why don't you do something with yourself? All you do is laze around, lazy piece of shit." Maggie retorted with the same cold tone her rival perceived. A huff ensued from Tayakata as her head shook, it was at that precise moment where the man she was inwardly inquiring of his location, had slowly slinked into the now particularly heated to-ing and fro-ing between the pair. "Alright.. Oi, Takeru.." She called over towards the shadow-manifested being, Takeru glanced over towards the raven-haired female with a knowing expression. Now? "Haah? What?" He inquired. Taya gave him the smallest of nods as she slowly stood from her seat, a hand resting on her slender hip. "Let's spar." She retorted, it didn't seem much of a suggestion, almost as a declaration of some kind. At first, lashes of the latter began to bat as he watched her visage shift. I guess she means now then.. "Heh, fine by me, Taya. Normal spar? Or are we gonna push things a little bit?" He answered with a cocky grin embedded upon his features, getting into character. "I don't see why not, it'll be interesting, we both could do with a fair fight." Her tone also exhuming confidence, she too was getting into character.
"I dunno, Taya, I doubt you'd be able to handle it. You've been slacking lately, it's cause Nami's been on your mind alot lately, hasn't she?~" Pushing ones buttons was something Takeru was good at, almost too good. Although it was all part of their plan, she couldn't help but grit her teeth at such an articulation. "Don't you dare mention her name." She couldn't muster the words from her any quicker. "I'll do what I want, try and shut me up!", "With pleasure." The pair couldn't wait to begin, instead, they launched into their spar in that very space. Takeru lunged towards her as his hand began to become bathed in an ink-like substance, an aura forming around his fist as he charged towards her. "Shadow Dragon's Claw!" Upon uttering the technique of his attack, once close enough to his opponent, he slammed his clenched fist towards her jaw, Taya's upper lip began to twitch as he charged towards her with his assault, A vector suddenly protruded from her midsection and hurtled towards her opposition in an attempt to ward off or divert his clenched fist elsewhere, instead, Takeru challenged the vector head on and slammed his fist into it's forearm, striving to break through it completely at the centre, Tayakata soon grinned at the sight of his punch landing a direct hit upon her summoned vector, enclosing the space between the duo, she slid towards the right, her palm extending outwards as a charcoal-shaded seal appeared at her hand, only for a small orb to appear from within the seal, growing rapidly in size before release. "Shadow Sphere." The articulation was enough of an indication that her counterattack would then be released from its confinement, directing the sphere into Takeru's hip. "Shit!" He suddenly cursed, a delayed reaction from the Shadow utiliser as he suddenly turned sideways, allowing the orb to just barely skim passed his side, the intensity of the orb leaving a mild singe-like mark on his clothing, allowing no time for Taya to regain her composure, he span on the heel of one foot as his other was raised, delivering a devastating roundhouse kick towards her leaning frame.
Direct hit, eyes clenched shut as she felt the wind suddenly leave her lungs, the sheer intensity of the kick sent her flying back a few feet away, creating the distance, Takeru used that to her advantage, repeating the same process as he did this morning, his feet separated shoulder-width apart, his chest rising as he took the largest of breaths, allowing the magic within him to circulate and grow in power, his breath remained held for a few passing seconds. As Taya's feet dragged against the ground in an attempt to regain her balance and footing, her eyes widened as she noted the stance he donned. She knew that stance particularly well, having seen it on more than one occasion, in the midst of finally coming to a standstill, Takeru released his roar that spewed vigorously from his mouth, the ink-like roar came crashing towards her. Her main prioritiy at the moment was to evade the empowering roar, but also had to get the ball rolling of escaping without suspicions becoming aroused from the other spectators that appeared to have sat leisurely in their places. A light bulb struck! a pair of Vectors protruded from her spine, duplicating in size by almost tenfold, with its palms opened, forming into a cross shape, its objective was to protect it's host. A method of defense that was proven effective and successful in almost every time of its use, this was no different. Once the roar had landed, its absolute strength caused the vectors and Taya to slowly be pushed back against her heels, teeth gritting as the pair reached a stalemate. Takeru refused to let his attack be dismissed, his head thrashed forward somewhat, injecting more force and power into the roar. Taya wanted this bout to be completely believable and genuine, thus, letting her footing loosen, along with her vectors defensive stance, suddenly; she was taken along with the roar, its power threw Taya into the wall behind her, its strength so intense, it literally slammed her through the wall, sending her hurtling outside. In the midst of their planning, Takeru knew what to do if this moment were to occur, as the roar began to dissipate, he burst from the balls of his feet and charged towards the opening in the wall, taking chase after Tayakata.
The vectors sustained a heavy blow as an aftermath of the roar, fragments slowly falling from its structure as she had appeared to be kneeling on one knee, panting ever so slightly to regain her breath from the distance that was produced between them, using it as an advantage. Takeru suddenly emerged through the opening, and stood ten or so feet away. "Give up, girl?" He inquired cockily. Obsidian locks fell forward as she glanced towards her fellow guild mate, her head shaking. "Not a chance." She uttered coldly. Her hands then slammed into the ground as her gaze remained fixated upon his smug form. "Let the world tremor." She murmured to herself. Upon her utterance, A darkened seal suddenly materialised beneath her kneeled posture, the seal large enough to swallow Taya whole. Within a matter of moments, the ground beneath the pair began to tremor viciously, gradually; the tremor's intensified, cracks slowly emerging from the seal as a result of summoning her next technique. The cracks emitted a black glow that spewed upwards into the sky, taking form of a geyser-like effect, the cracks continued to part the pathway between the duo, making it's way towards Takeru in an endeavor to potentially encase and devour him within its enlarged openings. No matter how many dives, strides and leaps that Takeru took to evade the openings, they would be chasing him shortly behind, as he landed on the ball of his foot after leaping once more, his balance was misjudged, causing him to flail somewhat to regain his posture, but alas, the deadly openings and the tremors that gave birth to the openings refused to dissipate, Takeru fell backwards and eventually, the opening had swallowed the Shadow-manifested being whole. a colourful array of obscenities were heard as he tried to pull himself up from consumption, but it was no use, soon, he became consumed. The openings began to retract in size, eventually closing once having its satisfied fill.
Tayakata soon stood with a straightening posture, all fell eerily quiet, brushing the dust from her hands as she huffed. "What a shame, all bark and no bi-!" Suddenly, she was cut off by a sudden barrage of vicious tremors that she did not summon. She smirked to herself knowingly, fully aware of what was about to happen, knees bent in a defensive stance as she braced herself, A loud crash was heard, accompanied by a small dust cloud which stemmed from Takeru's former position, a black mist-like aura emitted from the dust cloud and blended in. Slowly, as the dust cleared, it revealed Takeru once more, bathed in the blackened aura around him, she observed the newly reformed male who opposed her, intricate obsidian patterns embedded into his porcelain skin, his raven hair standing upright, his countenance almost entirely covered in the darkening patterns. "Ah.. Dragon Force, things certainly just became interesting.~" she cooed mockingly, Takeru stood with an emotionless visage, before bursting from his stationary position, his thickening aura still pouring from the pores of his scaly skin, his velocity appeared to have been enhanced dramatically, which caused Taya's eyes to widen somewhat, his darkened fists producing an abundance of mist as he prepped another Dragon's Claw, only this time, with each miss and evasion on Tayakata's part, it created a large crater into the ground, Taya sprung back, trying her best to avoid collision with the Dragons Claw's. "Catch me if you can!" She taunted.
Tayakata and Takeru were well away from Tartaros, unable to sense the presence of the other members, it had appeared they were left to their own accord, an accurate prediction assumed on both halves, the pair slowly delved into the darkened forest that shielded Tartaros' actual whereabouts from wanderers. As the last punch was deliberately missed from Taya's form, crashing into the ground, the pair suddenly stopped. Taya panted gently, as did Takeru. "They didn't pursue." She suddenly broke the silence between the duo by uttering. Takeru's appearance slowly began to shift once more, reverting into his original mien. "Aye, you're right. Continue with the plan?" He asked. "I'm not staying there another day, we're going." She instructed, soon, the pair eventually began to walk side-by-side together, en route towards their destination. On occasion, the pair would summon an attack that was substantial enough to indicate to their now former members that their bout was still ongoing, if they were watching from afar, that is. "Oi, Taya.. What made you wanna come along?" He asked curiously, Taya simply shrugged before firing a bombardment of Shadow Spheres. "I couldn't stand it any longer, four years was enough for me. And with still no luck on seeking information, It's time I moved on." She answered bluntly. "And you?" She added. Takeru hummed to himself as he placed his hands firmly in his pockets, thinking of a short statement that also spoke volumes. "I wanna be the strongest, y'know? And being a part of that shit-kicking guild did no justice for that whatsoever, they all believe they're the strongest. But they're wrong. Once I join this place, I'll show them what it's like to oppose someone who has real power." His declaration was enough of an indication for Tayakata not to press onto the matter, simply, she nodded in acceptance of his articulation. "How confident.", "Meh.".
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"Ne, ne, It seems as though they haven't come back yet." The ivory-haired demon heaved in an agitated tone, folding her arms firmly above her chest as she leaned leisurely against the opening. "They're not coming back, are they?" She added. "I highly doubt that, after all, they were the ones who would most likely be first into leaving." A voice from behind the other spectators piped up, a regal form sauntered towards it's fellow guild mates. "Hehhhh, I suppose you're right, Daityas.~" Maggie cooed as she flashed a devious grin towards them, Daityas, the current evil sovereign of Tartaros, the very king of Hades himself, stood at the opening, lips parted to reveal his tongue tracing the lining of his lips, a darkening chuckle exhumed. "They will soon meet their end, all in due time. For now, let their bonds grow with others, and then simply take everything from them.~"
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"Are you sure it's here?" Taya inquired frustratingly, Takeru waved dismissively. "Stop complaining, Taya, damn! We're really close." He reassured, the darkened and lifeless plains were gradually replaced by a bitter cold, white plains stretched out as far as the pair could see, snow gently and silently fell above them, the ambiance that the duo trudged through seemed all too fictitious. Minutes later, Takeru's trudging through the snow came to a halt. "There.." He uttered quietly, pointing over towards the largely built establishment, that looked particularly dated. Taya glanced in the direction that her fellow comrade pointed towards, a brow slowly raised. "That's it? It really doesn't look like much.", "Don't judge a book by it's cover, Taya. Come on!" He suddenly chimed before running down the snowy hill, his speed picking up from running downwards, Taya's eyes rolled before pursuing. Eventually, the pairs journey had ended, their destination reached. Tayakata glanced upwards, picking up a small muffled sound of what appeared to be a roaring laughter coming from inside. "Heh.. Alright then.." Takeru said to himself before stepping onto the concrete porch, giving the door a very firm knock, which would easily be misinterpreted as a simple slam. "Oi! Open up!" He declared. The roaring laughter suddenly came to a standstill, a creaking sound of doors swung open from above them, causing both heads to look up, they were greeted by a raven-haired, cerulean-eyed male. "Huh? Who are you two?" The male asked with a skeptical countenance. "I'm Takeru, and this is Taya." He simply answered back, no thought of an add-on to their introduction. "Uh.. That's nice.. What do you want?" The male asked once more. Taya's eyes rolled yet again at the conversation ongoing, it lulled her into a state of boredom, and they were only on the doorstep. "We want to join." She suddenly intervened. The male who stood above them from the balcony grinned obnoxiously, leaning on the railing on his elbow as he glanced down at her. "Oh?~ Is that right?~ Well, I'm not sure if I want to expa-", "Cut the shit, are you going to let us in or what." she snapped back bluntly, which provoked a comical sweatdrop from Takeru. "Looks like girly over here has an attitude, heh, cute. Alright.~" he chimed in a mockingly seductive tone before turning his head to what looked like he was speaking to someone. Moments later, the doors suddenly opened, greeting them was a male with an unusual combination of both a Vermilion and Tangerine blended hue. "Hey! Welcome!~" he exclaimed gleefully, much to Taya's distaste, as the pair walked in, they couldn't help but look at their surroundings, everything seemed rather cozy, homely, even.
"Hi.. Yeah, anyway, Uh.. We've come to join. Eheh, yeah, that's it." Takeru answered the gleeful males welcoming. "Oh wow! We haven't had anyone join here before! This is new! Right this way!" He instructed optimistically. "Alright, oi.. What's your name?" Takeru asked as the pair began to walk behind the cheerful one. "Oh, silly me, how could I forget to introduce myself! I'm Kuro! Kuro Crane!", "I see. I'm Tak-" Suddenly, Kuro span around and clasped his hand onto his mouth. "No no! Save that for the initiation!" he instructed rather firmly, Takeru couldn't help but blink at the male with widened orbs, suddenly taken aback. As Kuro's hand eventually withdrew from his mouth, he finally lead the pair upstairs, upon opening the door, it revealed the male who had spoken to them prior to Kuro letting them in. "Well well well, this is a first. Alright, come on over and get your guild marks" He spoke. After the pair had approached him and told him where they wanted their guild mark, he simply slammed the marking gun unto their chosen areas before grinning knowingly. He wavered his hand, gesturing them to come forward, as they did so, he stood away from the balcony, pointing towards it. "Call this the initiation process of joining us, we want you to go over there and stand on the railing, one after the other. State your name, your magic, why you became a mage, and your reason for joining. Have fun.~" He simply uttered before awaiting who took the first stride forward. It didn't take long before the first person walked forward, shortly after, standing on the railing of the balcony.
"My name is Tayakata, the magic I possess is dark manipulation. I became a mage to seek revenge for the loss of my sister, I planned to seek vengeance and put an end to those responsible for taking her life. And I have achieved just that. Now, I want to begin to a new chapter of my life, and seek solace as a part of joining this very guild, I no longer wish to have any affiliation with my former guild. My objectives have been fulfilled." Tayakata became somewhat consumed within her own articulation, looking up to the very snowy heavens above her as she spoke, almost forgetting her surroundings, and who she was with, eventually; she came around, shaking her head somewhat. "Ah. Sweet. Welp, welcome aboard, Taya.~" Cooed the Cerulean-eyed male who appeared to have stood merely inches behind her, before she could retort, hands were firmly slammed into the back of her legs, pushing her off of the railing completely, causing her to descend to the snowy ground, brows furrowed in frustration as a vector sprouted from her spine, slamming against the ground to soften her landing, Taya descended gently onto the ground on her feet, her head snapping upwards as she gave the male a deadly scowl.
"Alright, next!" He called out, gesturing for Takeru to take the stand, abiding by his instructions, he did just that. "Ahem..! I'm Takeru Tenebrae, but you can just call me Tak for short. And I'm a Shadow Dragon slayer, which obviously means I use Shadow Dragon Slayer magic. Pfft. anyway, I joined because Tartaros was lame as shit, and I plan on becoming the strongest in Fiore, mhm. That's right, the strongest in Fiore. And I'll get there, all in due time. And being a part of this guild will help me achieve my goal!" He passionately exclaimed, grinning broadly in the midst of his declaration. "Huh.. I think I'm gonna like you, Tak. Welcome." The other raven-haired male answered back before repeating the same process as he first did with Taya, Takeru came plummeting towards the ground, landing on his back with his arms and legs spread out wide, he flashed the broadest of grins, all teeth bared. "Taya.. I think I'm gonna like it here.." He simply spoke as she patted the snow from her black dress, shortly after; offering her hand to him. "Uh huh.. Up you get.", After Takeru took her hand and was pulled up, the pair walked back into the guild, only to be introduced by all the current members that stood together in the main living room, all with smirks etched upon their features with arms folded.
"Welcome to White Eclipse, Tayakata and Takeru!"