There was a bit of a hiss about the air as the grass, flowers, and trees
each shared a dance with the mid-days wind. This particular oasis stood
almost as a barrier to the world around it, a beacon if you will; keeping
the world from being totally swallowed in darkness. Buried within the
tranquil field stood a small cabin, a domicile which hadn't seen residents
in quite some time; and it was this humble cabin which drew the attention
of Christian's glowing ruby eyes.
Closing up his color-saturated wings, he descended softly on the untainted grass. A deep sigh escaped his lips as upon landing, he went into a slight slouch. Exhaustion was beginning to take both his body and his mind. He hadn't slept for what felt like months and had been doing nothing but running or flying from one side of the planet to the other. At last though, he'd hoped that his stop here... that the house he called home in his youth; would yield him the opportunity to rest.
"I hate coming here..." Melissa's voice echoed in the back of his mind.
Christian offered no comment in return, he knew all too well the reason for his sister's loathing of this house, "Have you... been back here, since that day?" she asked.
"Occasionally." Chris responded truthfully, "...every now and again to tend to Mom's grave."
It was now Mel's turn to be silent, and again he knew the cause, in all these years he'd never brought it up face-to-face with her, but he knew that the girl harbored no love for the woman who birthed her. A clash of ideals of epic proportions was about the best way to sum it up. "So... why'd you send the Zoids here, anyway?"
"Well... I didn't want anybody to find them, and what better place to remain in solace than this?" She answered dryly.
Inserting his hands into his pockets, Christian lowered his head and started toward the house as a means to end the conversation. Neither of them really wanted to be here, Melissa more so than Christian so he quietly began contemplating ways to make the stay here as short as possible. It was easy enough not to live in the past, but the task becomes difficult when you're standing in it.
With the house but a stone's throw away, Christian stopped entirely and began to stare intently at the surroundings... the wind's strength growing in intensity, whipping his hair about in all directions. "What's wrong?" Mel asked, tension gripping her voice.
"...there's somebody here..." Christian returned, narrowing his eyes as he inspected the tall field grass. "I concur." Danius added internally, his senses admittedly more fine-tuned than the person he was attached to at the moment.
The movements were quick, precise; the rustling made from its footsteps masked by the ferocity of the wind. Whoever it was either had the luck of the devil or knew exactly when to strike an opponent. "So much for solace." Chris smirked, ready to pull the Cross Driver from its dormant state. Before he could do so, the attacker leapt from its earthly coverings and sprang high into the air. His eyes thrust upward to catch sight of a Demonshead bearing down on him, lances drawn. A heartbeat separated Christian's desperate roll away from the Zoid, and the black and red chimera from skewering the earth.
Chris had only gotten to his knees before the Demonshead uprooted its weapons and prepared for a second assault; snarling viciously from its overly large maw. Not giving the matter a second thought, Christian withdrew the two ends of his Cross Driver and connected the silver extensions into its staff form, twirling the weapon above his head while studying the movements of his attacker; waiting for the right opportunity to move in.
Maneuvering its giant lances behind its equally giant cranium, the Demonshead let out an impressive growl and chose to charge its prey. Running in at full speed, the chimera dove toward the humanoid only to be side-stepped by Christian who was prepared to bring down the Zoid with a single blow, only to be countered by the demon's lances. If the Zoid could talk, it'd probably be talking shit to the young man about now as it whipped around and again drew both lances to the front. This time though, the cylindrical weapons charged with radiant blue light; it was clear the small Zoid had its fill of entertainment and was ready to end the existence of the one who chose to trespass on its domain.
"That's quite enough, Daemon!" A voice called out in the distance which stopped the beast after a single step.
Both man and machine turned to face the source of the voice, catching sight of a purple Diploguns sputtering in from the direction of the cabin; stopping just shy of being beside its chimera partner. "Open your optics, you clod! Can't you see that this is Master Christian you've been trying to gore?" The Diploguns scolded his partner. "I apologize for Daemon's actions, Master Christian; you weren't injured, were you?"
"...oh! No-no, I'm fine." Chris replied after snapping out of a momentary trance, "Don't worry about it, I'm sure he just didn't recognize me, Raiden. I must admit that the thought escaped me as well..."
"Too true..." commented the Diploguns, identified as Raiden as he circled around Christian, "I'm glad to see you safe, I was under the impression that we would never be seeing you again. Though... I'm quite perplexed about your current appearance; might I ask what has happened to you over the past year?"
"I'm... sorry..." The land-based-beast interjected, hanging his head to the best of its ability.
"It's okay, Daemon." Christian reassured the Demonshead with a smile before turning back to Raiden, "it's a... bit of a long story. Would you mind if we continued inside the house?"
"Not at all, Master. Come along Daemon."
Once inside the cabin, Christian proceeded immediately to the kitchen and exhaled quite loudly as he crashed down in a seat beside the main table. The rickety old wood held strong, but groaned in objection to the harsh thrust of weight upon it nonetheless.
"Master Christian, might I inquire as to what became of Mistress Melissa."
Without giving her brother time to answer, Mel's upper body appeared from the bulk of his orange wing, surfacing with a relieved smile on her face, "Oh! I'm right here!" she beamed.
"Astonishing!" Raiden remarked, sputtering backward as a visual display of his excitement, "Mistress, I am most pleased to see you're safe as well! Although..." his tone taking a turn for the somber, "...this leads me to bring but more questions upon myself... Master Christian, have you any explanation for what my optics bear witness to?"
"Not much of one..." Christian sighed, leaning back in the chair, pointing his face to the ceiling. "It happened about four or five days ago... I dunno, one minute I was fighting Danius, the next minute I woke up looking like this."
"Danius? ...ah yes, Danius Gabriel. The young man who attempted to destroy Master Vykk's Descat before it completely evolved. Is that correct?"
"You got it." Chris returned.
"Hmm... records indicate that you yourself had slain the young man." Raiden added questioningly.
"Unfortunately... not everything in this world is as cut and dry as that." Chris shot back, letting out yet another sigh.
"I see..."
"RAY-RAY!" called a squealing voice from upstairs, drawing Christian and Raiden to divert their attention as a short, brown-haired girl came thundering down the steps.
"Ah! Mistress Rika! Good morning!" The Diploguns exclaimed joyfully, flying over to the little girl who promptly brought herself to climb atop the Zoid to give herself a better vantage point.
"Who the heck are you!?" Demanded the girl, waving a pointed finger in Christian's face, "...that's my line." he promptly shot back, giving the girl a baffled look. "Don't you know it's rude to barge into people's houses uninvited!?" Rika screamed once more.
"Mistress Rika, please show some respect." Raiden pleaded, floating away from Christian lest the girl leap at him in a fit of rage, "...that man you're screaming at is Master Christian Obscura. He's a very important person to both Daemon Kopf and I."
The girl seemed to calm herself a little in accordance to the Diploguns wishes but continued to scowl at Christian, "Well... I still say he's a pretty rude guy."
"Mistress Rika..." Raiden sighed, as hopelessly as he could conjure.
"Hey Raiden, I'm gonna go use the shower. I'll be back down in a few..." Christian informed the floating Chimera, already half-way up the steps.
"Don't go using up all the hot water!" The girl hollered.
After ascending the steps, Christian made his way past a few doors and turned to the second door on the right, shutting and locking the portal after making his way in. Using the technique Danius had taught him, he sucked his wings and tail into his body and promptly threw off the black flight suit he'd been wearing for days. If it were able, his skin would be sighing in relief at the chance to get some fresh air for a change. His body, though emitting a strange funk, looked no different than it had before the encounter with Danius... save for a black mark on his back that otherwise marked the position his tail emerged from.
Climbing into the tub, he turned both knobs to the right and closed his eyes, letting the water drench his entire being, "God, I'm so tired..."
Back downstairs, Rika carefully hopped off of Raiden and climbed into the kitchen chair Christian had just been sitting in, "So... who is he, again?" She asked.
"Master Christian is the man Daemon and I had been living with before coming here."
"He seems weird..."
"All humans are weird to me, Mistress Rika."
"Even me?"
"Yes."
"Is that a bad thing?"
"I don't know..."
"How come he has wings? and a tail?"
"I'm afraid I don't know that either..."
"Will I have pretty wings and a tail when I grow up?"
"I'm not sure... he's the first human I've ever seen to possess such features."
"I want pretty wings like his... then I could fly like you do Ray-Ray!" The girl squealed, entertaining herself with delusions of soaring in the skies.
The tub knobs squealed from being turned off, after stepping out of the tub, Christian wrapped a towel about his mid-section. Wiping the mirror free of condensation, he picked up a black comb lying on the sink and proceeded to comb his soaked blue hair back. He wasn't much in the mood to properly style it at the moment. "Dad was about the same age as me when he lived here... I wonder if his clothes would fit me." Scooping up his flight suit, Chris opened the bathroom door and slid back out into the hall.
The room in the back... his parents' room. His hand quivered as it approached the knob, shaking violently as he attempted to turn the device. Creaking with age, the door slid open, revealing a calm, clean, empty view to his red eyes. On the inside of his mind though... all he could see was red, everything destroyed, his mother and sister's broken bodies lying helplessly exposed on the bed. Christian clutched his temple in pain and clenched his teeth, leaning on the door for support as his mind was flooded with new, horrific images courtesy of Mel's memories intertwining with his... showing him the monstrous details of what transpired in this room... the gruesome things he was too weak to prevent.
"Christian..." Mel's voice trembled.
Closing up his color-saturated wings, he descended softly on the untainted grass. A deep sigh escaped his lips as upon landing, he went into a slight slouch. Exhaustion was beginning to take both his body and his mind. He hadn't slept for what felt like months and had been doing nothing but running or flying from one side of the planet to the other. At last though, he'd hoped that his stop here... that the house he called home in his youth; would yield him the opportunity to rest.
"I hate coming here..." Melissa's voice echoed in the back of his mind.
Christian offered no comment in return, he knew all too well the reason for his sister's loathing of this house, "Have you... been back here, since that day?" she asked.
"Occasionally." Chris responded truthfully, "...every now and again to tend to Mom's grave."
It was now Mel's turn to be silent, and again he knew the cause, in all these years he'd never brought it up face-to-face with her, but he knew that the girl harbored no love for the woman who birthed her. A clash of ideals of epic proportions was about the best way to sum it up. "So... why'd you send the Zoids here, anyway?"
"Well... I didn't want anybody to find them, and what better place to remain in solace than this?" She answered dryly.
Inserting his hands into his pockets, Christian lowered his head and started toward the house as a means to end the conversation. Neither of them really wanted to be here, Melissa more so than Christian so he quietly began contemplating ways to make the stay here as short as possible. It was easy enough not to live in the past, but the task becomes difficult when you're standing in it.
With the house but a stone's throw away, Christian stopped entirely and began to stare intently at the surroundings... the wind's strength growing in intensity, whipping his hair about in all directions. "What's wrong?" Mel asked, tension gripping her voice.
"...there's somebody here..." Christian returned, narrowing his eyes as he inspected the tall field grass. "I concur." Danius added internally, his senses admittedly more fine-tuned than the person he was attached to at the moment.
The movements were quick, precise; the rustling made from its footsteps masked by the ferocity of the wind. Whoever it was either had the luck of the devil or knew exactly when to strike an opponent. "So much for solace." Chris smirked, ready to pull the Cross Driver from its dormant state. Before he could do so, the attacker leapt from its earthly coverings and sprang high into the air. His eyes thrust upward to catch sight of a Demonshead bearing down on him, lances drawn. A heartbeat separated Christian's desperate roll away from the Zoid, and the black and red chimera from skewering the earth.
Chris had only gotten to his knees before the Demonshead uprooted its weapons and prepared for a second assault; snarling viciously from its overly large maw. Not giving the matter a second thought, Christian withdrew the two ends of his Cross Driver and connected the silver extensions into its staff form, twirling the weapon above his head while studying the movements of his attacker; waiting for the right opportunity to move in.
Maneuvering its giant lances behind its equally giant cranium, the Demonshead let out an impressive growl and chose to charge its prey. Running in at full speed, the chimera dove toward the humanoid only to be side-stepped by Christian who was prepared to bring down the Zoid with a single blow, only to be countered by the demon's lances. If the Zoid could talk, it'd probably be talking shit to the young man about now as it whipped around and again drew both lances to the front. This time though, the cylindrical weapons charged with radiant blue light; it was clear the small Zoid had its fill of entertainment and was ready to end the existence of the one who chose to trespass on its domain.
"That's quite enough, Daemon!" A voice called out in the distance which stopped the beast after a single step.
Both man and machine turned to face the source of the voice, catching sight of a purple Diploguns sputtering in from the direction of the cabin; stopping just shy of being beside its chimera partner. "Open your optics, you clod! Can't you see that this is Master Christian you've been trying to gore?" The Diploguns scolded his partner. "I apologize for Daemon's actions, Master Christian; you weren't injured, were you?"
"...oh! No-no, I'm fine." Chris replied after snapping out of a momentary trance, "Don't worry about it, I'm sure he just didn't recognize me, Raiden. I must admit that the thought escaped me as well..."
"Too true..." commented the Diploguns, identified as Raiden as he circled around Christian, "I'm glad to see you safe, I was under the impression that we would never be seeing you again. Though... I'm quite perplexed about your current appearance; might I ask what has happened to you over the past year?"
"I'm... sorry..." The land-based-beast interjected, hanging his head to the best of its ability.
"It's okay, Daemon." Christian reassured the Demonshead with a smile before turning back to Raiden, "it's a... bit of a long story. Would you mind if we continued inside the house?"
"Not at all, Master. Come along Daemon."
Once inside the cabin, Christian proceeded immediately to the kitchen and exhaled quite loudly as he crashed down in a seat beside the main table. The rickety old wood held strong, but groaned in objection to the harsh thrust of weight upon it nonetheless.
"Master Christian, might I inquire as to what became of Mistress Melissa."
Without giving her brother time to answer, Mel's upper body appeared from the bulk of his orange wing, surfacing with a relieved smile on her face, "Oh! I'm right here!" she beamed.
"Astonishing!" Raiden remarked, sputtering backward as a visual display of his excitement, "Mistress, I am most pleased to see you're safe as well! Although..." his tone taking a turn for the somber, "...this leads me to bring but more questions upon myself... Master Christian, have you any explanation for what my optics bear witness to?"
"Not much of one..." Christian sighed, leaning back in the chair, pointing his face to the ceiling. "It happened about four or five days ago... I dunno, one minute I was fighting Danius, the next minute I woke up looking like this."
"Danius? ...ah yes, Danius Gabriel. The young man who attempted to destroy Master Vykk's Descat before it completely evolved. Is that correct?"
"You got it." Chris returned.
"Hmm... records indicate that you yourself had slain the young man." Raiden added questioningly.
"Unfortunately... not everything in this world is as cut and dry as that." Chris shot back, letting out yet another sigh.
"I see..."
"RAY-RAY!" called a squealing voice from upstairs, drawing Christian and Raiden to divert their attention as a short, brown-haired girl came thundering down the steps.
"Ah! Mistress Rika! Good morning!" The Diploguns exclaimed joyfully, flying over to the little girl who promptly brought herself to climb atop the Zoid to give herself a better vantage point.
"Who the heck are you!?" Demanded the girl, waving a pointed finger in Christian's face, "...that's my line." he promptly shot back, giving the girl a baffled look. "Don't you know it's rude to barge into people's houses uninvited!?" Rika screamed once more.
"Mistress Rika, please show some respect." Raiden pleaded, floating away from Christian lest the girl leap at him in a fit of rage, "...that man you're screaming at is Master Christian Obscura. He's a very important person to both Daemon Kopf and I."
The girl seemed to calm herself a little in accordance to the Diploguns wishes but continued to scowl at Christian, "Well... I still say he's a pretty rude guy."
"Mistress Rika..." Raiden sighed, as hopelessly as he could conjure.
"Hey Raiden, I'm gonna go use the shower. I'll be back down in a few..." Christian informed the floating Chimera, already half-way up the steps.
"Don't go using up all the hot water!" The girl hollered.
After ascending the steps, Christian made his way past a few doors and turned to the second door on the right, shutting and locking the portal after making his way in. Using the technique Danius had taught him, he sucked his wings and tail into his body and promptly threw off the black flight suit he'd been wearing for days. If it were able, his skin would be sighing in relief at the chance to get some fresh air for a change. His body, though emitting a strange funk, looked no different than it had before the encounter with Danius... save for a black mark on his back that otherwise marked the position his tail emerged from.
Climbing into the tub, he turned both knobs to the right and closed his eyes, letting the water drench his entire being, "God, I'm so tired..."
Back downstairs, Rika carefully hopped off of Raiden and climbed into the kitchen chair Christian had just been sitting in, "So... who is he, again?" She asked.
"Master Christian is the man Daemon and I had been living with before coming here."
"He seems weird..."
"All humans are weird to me, Mistress Rika."
"Even me?"
"Yes."
"Is that a bad thing?"
"I don't know..."
"How come he has wings? and a tail?"
"I'm afraid I don't know that either..."
"Will I have pretty wings and a tail when I grow up?"
"I'm not sure... he's the first human I've ever seen to possess such features."
"I want pretty wings like his... then I could fly like you do Ray-Ray!" The girl squealed, entertaining herself with delusions of soaring in the skies.
The tub knobs squealed from being turned off, after stepping out of the tub, Christian wrapped a towel about his mid-section. Wiping the mirror free of condensation, he picked up a black comb lying on the sink and proceeded to comb his soaked blue hair back. He wasn't much in the mood to properly style it at the moment. "Dad was about the same age as me when he lived here... I wonder if his clothes would fit me." Scooping up his flight suit, Chris opened the bathroom door and slid back out into the hall.
The room in the back... his parents' room. His hand quivered as it approached the knob, shaking violently as he attempted to turn the device. Creaking with age, the door slid open, revealing a calm, clean, empty view to his red eyes. On the inside of his mind though... all he could see was red, everything destroyed, his mother and sister's broken bodies lying helplessly exposed on the bed. Christian clutched his temple in pain and clenched his teeth, leaning on the door for support as his mind was flooded with new, horrific images courtesy of Mel's memories intertwining with his... showing him the monstrous details of what transpired in this room... the gruesome things he was too weak to prevent.
"Christian..." Mel's voice trembled.