Level 2: And be ash...
i Darkness... I am... Who am I? Am I darkness, or is the darkness me?This black, inky feeling, it takes over my senses and consumes my spirit... I wonder if this is what those pathetic humans, those Lilim, call fear? No, this feeling is much more than fear. When it's in me, I sense nothing else; I feel as though I can reach the truth to this existance, this life, somehow... Yet, in this haze, I cannot breath. It's not clear at all, and yet it is the only path to Nirvana. It defines me, this cold void of feeling. The darkness is in me and I am entirely of it, yet I AM it at the same time. Am I unique, or am I a part of some design? What am I here for? Who am I? What am I supposed to do now? /i
Down on Ragol, in Coral City; Luxury District.
Laeryn Moira stared out of the window and into the driving rain, the coffee mug in his hands heating up his flesh. Another new sensation. He sat in a brown, floating photon chair that was placed to overlook the sunrise. It was raining; the sun wouldn't be coming up today, Lae remarked with significant bemusement. There was a chair across from his, still photon, but white. The carpet of the flat was also white, along with the kitchen, bedrooms, and bathrooms. The entire apartment was white. That color is a hypocrisy, Laeryn thought, how can it be the absence of color, and yet the embodiment of light? He also heard a soft piano playing in the background with the weak patter of the rain; neoMAX, he believed that was the title. "How foolish... Lilim are still incapable of taking credit for their achievements as a whole; they're too concerned with the issues of their identities. Titles, names, distinguishments... The products of a weak mind, don't you agree, Miss Arcadia?"
A Newman girl sauntered into the Laeryn's sitting room with her own coffee mug. Unlike Laeryn, she was holding it by the handle, avoiding the heat of the drink. "... I... Guess so..." The Newman girl, Arcadia, sat next to the Dark Haired FOmar, her posture and expression a mixture of tense lemonade and fresh, clean rain. Attraction, of course. Arcadia was slowly growing to like ( i Really like... /i ) her darkly cool houseguest. Her only qualm was... Well... "Laeryn... About last night..."
"What?" His dark and rather classy voice broke throught the calming applause of the rain. Rain really does sound like a stadium full of people, all clapping and applauding... And for reasons Laeryn couldn't yet fathom, rain made him want to cry. In his mind, rain was cruel, especially if it was supposed to sound like a sea of joyful Lilim. But why?
"It's just... I'm not sure..." Arcadia crossed her legs and looked at the floor, her large, round glasses slipping downward to the tip of her nose. "Was it really necessary to..." She hesitated again. Laeryn was just about the only friend she had ever had, why would she want to question what he did? i I need more training with shooting and with people... /i She thought sullenly, her eyes still glued to the floor. Her grip on her coffee cup weakened.
"To what, kill them?" Laeryn snarled, his blood red eyes viciously framing his vampiric fangs. "Yes. I did see it necessary. They were TRASH, Arcadia. Consider it a credit to the undeserving Human race that I removed such filth from their gene pool."
"They were people!" Arcadia stood up, her haste and fervor causing her to push her cup onto the floor, where the brown liquid stained the otherwise taint-free carpet.Tears fell down her face as she began to remember the trauma. "They... Those men... They didn't deserve to die, Laeryn!"
Laeryn stood up and held Arcadia by the shoulders. When she couldn't meet his eyes, he took his left hand and held her head in place for her. "Arc. They were going to rape you, beat you, and kill you. Those bastards were going to make you b suffer /b .It was either them or you. Did you deserve to die? No. Did they deserve to live? No. Like I said, they were pathetic wastes of carbon. It was b fun /b ,Arcadia. I enjoyed killing them!" He was screaming at this point, and he soon after loosened his grip, realizing that the damage was done. Arcadia sank to the floor, weeping. Fog mired her glasses and her vision.
"They... I don't... No..." She was weeping on her knees, her forehead pressed to the ground, her tears staining the carpet. The exotic smell of fresh coffee drifted into her lungs. She turned and saw dried mocha through the fog of her tears. The pale, rusty brown that had scarred her carpet looked slightly like dried blood...
Laeryn was sitting in the VIP room of a club in Coral City. It was midnight outside, and the party around him was just beginning. The VIP room was situated above the club, so that visitors could still see the psychadellic main floor of the club, where individuals dressed in glowing clothing and accessories danced among lights brighter and more neon than their clothing. Laeryn was sitting on a loveseat, with two vapid blondes hugging his arms excitedly (Though that was their job, of course), while Laeryn simply let them hug him, showing no initiative to be at all interested in them. A table with "party favors" was located in the middle of the room. Lae noticed that the twins who had been smothering him smelled faintly of most of the items in the tray. Due to the tinted nature of the VIP Room windows, none of the common party-goers could see into the room. Which, as far as Laeryn was concerned, was perfectly fine. "Those Lilim... They don't need to fear my presence. Not until they can know true suffering..." The twin girls in Bunny outfits (Provided by the club out of hospitality) both chimed in at Laeryn's statement:
"What do you mean, Lae-baby?" The Bunnies were either deaf from years of club music, or they weren't too bright. Their hearing wasn't impaired by the music outside, as the room was soundproofed, allowing only a slight measure of each song's pounding beat and tempo to pass through the private walls. Laeryn decided on the latter option.
"Nothing you need to concern yourselves with." He stared left, and saw the first twin blush among her already red face, the red was unknown to him, though she did seem to be a bit more... Free. At least, more than most Lilim. He attributed it to the unnatural scent of her breath matching the same artificial smell as the goods on the table. The girl on the right had the same exact facial expressions and the same scent, so he attributed her odd behavior to that cause as well. "Well... I'm sure you girls will be able to enjoy yourselves without me." Laeryn removed his limp arms from their grip, and walked out of the room to find his host. He couldn't stand the idea of staying there any longer with those unnatural women. Laeryn figured that companionship would allow him to understand his new human form, since his new body tended to crave it, but not a forced and imprisoning relationship. Laeryn realized that, though his newly discovered loneliness took over his mind at times, he could embrace his more difficult emotions for a time, if it meant a greater payoff. i What did the Lilim name this principle? /i He pondered as he tapped the door to open, then the realization hit him as he passed into the hallway i That's right. It's Choosing the Lesser of Two Evils. /i
"When you walk away, you don't hear me say, please... Oh baby, don't go..." Even with his deep voice, Laeryn managed to pull of classical music with ease as he walked down the hallway. Where the hell was his host?
"You know, that song doesn't suit you at all..." A Ramar spun a lock of his silvery hair around his fingers, smiling as he emerged from the inky blackness of the Club's Backstage area. He smiled, his unseen hand on a hidden Ophelie Seize in his pocket. "I'd simply guess that you were the type to sing songs of a more... Dark variety. i Kom Süsser Tod /i and all that."
Laeryn looked at this guest with a look of slight confusion, "What's that supposed to mean? Kom Süsser Tod?"
"Oh, it's something you need not concern yourself with, Laeryn. It's much too early in your lifetime for you to be contemplating the nature of DEATH, of all things."
"Oh really, Zaziel? Then what should I be concerned with?" Laeryn, instead of using his progenitor's trademarked cocky grin, glared at Zaziel with furious intensity.
Zazie smiled, his obvious vanity becoming apparent in his blindingly bright teeth, ignoring the nature of Laeryn's response. "Oh, don't worry my friend. Just be concerned with living, for the time being. There's so much wonder in life, like myself! You can't pass up the beauty of Zaziel, along with the beauty of life!" After he said those words, a pale Newman with dully flaming hair came out from the same darkness where Zazie originated from. Her hair reminded Laeryn somewhat of a Phoenix.The Newman girl was poring herself over a digital data board, which Zaz quickly snatched from her and looked over. "Oh... I'm sorry, my esteemed guest, but I have some business to interrogate... ERM, I mean i attend /i to." Zaz turned to his assistant and adressed her with a tone of absolute authority, "Arcadia."
The Newman Girl looked up at her employer almost instantly, and responded with a serious, "Yes, sir?" Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Laeryn staring at her with a rare expression of wonder. Arcadia blushed, and turned her head the opposite direction of Laeryn while asking her second question, "What is it that you need?"
Zaziel chuckled deeply, his face breaking into his usual, affectated smile. "Aww. You're so polite. It's almost cute. Hmph, too bad I pick my assistants on skill, not looks. Stop trying to please me, it won't work." He said it with a surprising handle on his politely social voice.
Laeryn thought, i "Almost? I believe the proper expression in that situation would be, 'Your manner is very becoming, I enjoy being around you...'" /i Did he, though? He found that he was impaired by the sight of this strange girl. There was just something about her manner, like he said. "Uhm..."
"Oh, of course." Zaz looked at the impaired Laeryn with a sideways glance, and then excused himself. "I have to be going now. Arcadia, show our guest to the armory, will you? I'm sorry I couldn't be there to show it to you, but I have a little bit of a gift for you in there. Consider it... Your birthright." Zaziel smiled, flipped his waist-length hair, and turned away from his associates, humming as he left to maim, kill, destroy, and torment. Zaz really liked that phrase; actually, it was his motto. Laeryn called BS on that one: i What kind of dance club has an armory? /i
When their company had completely exited from the room, Arcadia turned and stared at Laeryn directly, which she found rather odd; she wasn't one to check anyone out, and she was equally surprised when this man stared back at her. She noticed that, through his robe, he seemed to be rather fit, and his shoulder length black hair was neatly combed; it framed his dark face perfectly. And the fact that his red eyes seemed to- no, they i did /i glow in the pitch black hallway, and this only added to the mystique of this stranger. Arcadia attempted to realize her most charming smile through her bright red face, but to no avail. Then she tried words: "Uh... Uh... Um... Here, c-Shall we...?" Well, at least she could manage some form of useful speech. She had surpassed her own expectations! She walked towards the armory, still red enough to act as a beacon for wayward ships at sea. He followed her around several corners, the beat of the club a long-forgotten memory.
Laeryn did some checking out of his own, though, due to the fact that he's a man, what he thought can't be stated here. Arcadia's hair was dark vermillion in the blackness of the hallway, and Lae was almost certain that her hair was a dull fire when in brighter environs. Laeryn noticed how the glasses added a level of intelligence. i But then again, i'm not stupid enough to allow her the benefit of the doubt. /i Behind her glasses, Arcadia possessed remarkably deep blue eyes, like the border the author sees when he stares at the start bar of his computer, or, more accurately, the sky after a rainy day, or simply the waters of the ocean. They were... i Peaceful, and remarkably pure for someone in this day and age... /i
After a classic eternity of long, awkward silence, Arcadia had finally lead Laeryn to the Armory. Once there, Arcadia led him to a nondescript salmon colored door. She fumbled with the ring of keys in her hand. Despite the seemingly vacant look, Laeryn sensed something... There was a feeling in that room; it seemed to reflect the empitness in his soul. Darkness, oblivion... Death crouched silently behind the veil of darkness that room supplied. "Say. Arcadia." She turned to him and smiled. "Have you ever been afraid? Truly, utterly terrified... So much that you can't move, or think, or even breathe? I don't understand... What do you do in that kind of situation...?"
She saw it in his eyes. Laeryn looked like a child who was scared of the dark. Though, on the outside, he was 22, the look in his eyes belied his age. i Now... What would Mom have said in this situation? /i Arcadia turned to him and hugged him, burying her head in his chest. "Well... It's simple. Never run away. Stay here with me and face whatever might be scaring you. Humans are weak on their own, and that's why we're social creatures. We all need a little help." Laeryn looked down on Arcadia, a blush creeping out of his pale skin.
"Let go of me." He broke her embrace and, pushing her aside, protectively motioned for her to stand in back of him. Of course, she complied, hugging her arms to make up for Laeryn's lost warmth. Once she was safely out of the way, Laeryn placed his hands on the door in front of him, summoning his Technique energy into his hands. A purple gleam of coalescing darkness shone around his hands, similar to D-Cell energy; the power of his attack amplified, and Laeryn smiled. "You come on to strong! What if I was a rapist or a murderer? Be more careful..." The entire door began to glow with black light, "But then again, if being scared means i'm human, then i'll always face my fears!" The door burst off it's hinges, leaving an open passage to his "future".
"You're welcome? But you didn't have to asplode the door y'now..." XX
The room was, as Laeryn thought, a reflection of his soul. It was dark, and it was cold. In the center of the room, there was a dais, and on the dais was a pedestal with... "Arcadia. Is this what we're here for?" Another call of Bull: i What kind of man makes a room for one weapon, and then gives the weapon away? /i
She stepped up to the pedestal, examining Zaziel's note, which was complete with a drawing of himself. "He says that it's called 'Fueki Tenebres', which means Absolute Darkness when read in Japanese and French, respectively."
Laeryn stepped up to the weapon, examining it's form through the purple photon field that surrounded it. It was, in all variants and meanings of the word, calamitous. It's blade was black, and the hilt was red, and Laeryn surmised that it was originally white. There were no extra accoutrements on the weapon, unlike the Shouin Lumiere's windy and airy hilt that extended about 1/3 of the blade. This sword was longer than most, and the only similarity it shared with Shouin Lumiere was that it was also a double-edged straight sword.
He looked. And he liked.
"Let's call it Absolute Darkness instead. Multiple meanings and languages for something as simple as this are futile. I mean, you would hardly be able to pronouce the name before I killed you with it!" He laughed, as if that sick joke was hilarious. He picked up the blade, testing it out on an invisible opponent. "It feels like it were an extension of my arm... How nice." Laeryn decided that, bad karma or not, he would keep this. The sheath, which was placed right above the blade on the pedestal, seemed to be covered in scriptures and vajras, as if they would keep the sword from causing a major catastrophe. Well, I suppose they failed, didn't they? "Let's go."
Laeryn - nyreaL
Nyreal - laeryN
Lol.
Since Arcadia was bound to the well-being of Laeryn, she took him to her office after they had obtained Laeryn's weapon. He had been playing with the sheath the entire way there, opening and closing it as if it were a child's toy. All the while he was giggling to himself, again as if the prosepect of death was exciting to him. She entered the room, and let out a sigh of relief. Her shoulders nearly fell off her body as she removed her jacket and hung it on the rack by the door. Laeryn immediately sat down on one of two red chairs that were placed to the left of the entrance. Before she sat down, Arcadia gasped and hopped over the fron tsection fo her desk to the business end. After a few minutes of rummaging through her i highly organized /i desk (it resembled a mass grave, actually), Arcadia piled several disheveled documents onto the chair next to Laeryn. "ACK!" Overdue paperwork is obviously an ACK situation. "I'm sorry Laeryn, but... Uh... Gotta motor! I need to deliver some overdue paperwork, but i'll be right back after that, okay?"
Laeryn nodded. "Yeah. Go ahead. Don't hurry on my account; it's warm in here."
Arcadia picked up the papers and ran out the door; she ran a bit like a FOmarl. As she ran, Laeryn noticed a small S-Rank Pistol with a long barrel attached to her waist. A... RAnewearl...?
i Hey... She left her jacket here. Moron. /i Laeryn grabbed the jacket sighing, and walked out the door while dusting off white specs from his black and red robe.
Arcadia's office was located backstage of the club, near a doorway that led into an alley between four respective companies, all of which were owned by Zaziel Naminara. Due to the nature of her job as Zaziel's assistant, she did alot of running back and forth between the four monolithic corporations. They were placed in a four square pattern, with one corporation in each section. It was odd, though, Arcadia runimated as she ran from the club, over to the farthest company, Unlimited Space Ltd, how Zaziel had managed to build the four companies in such a short amount of time. It had only been twelve months since "Mechanical Errors" had ripped apart a good percentage of Pioneer 2, and yet his once-small businesses had grown at phenomenal rates, even though Ragol's economy was in a recession. Arcadia wasn't stupid, she knew that her overlarge salary was coming from i something /i that was slightly on the wrong side of the mind. And about Pioneer 2's computer failures... Arcadia was the head of the recovery team that was responsible for salvaging the once-proud remains of Mintaka, Vega, and Antares. Being Zaziel's assistant didn't just mean filing his paperwork and fetching tea. She was told to report nothing of her crew's findings to the media, on pain of death (Zaziel so slyly implied). That in itself wasn't overly suspicious. Freedom of the Press would cause riots, and potentially a regime change. Thusly, it was obvious that Freedom of the Press had to be banned. But then again, what were the victims to do, wander around wondering why their loved ones had disappeared? That aside, at first it seemed like just a normal salvage mission. Then she noticed something rather odd... Instead of there being holes and twisted metal pointing i outward i , as one might expect from life support failures and oxygen explosions, there was one point of entry, one giant HOLE that appeared to be made by a giant photon blast. There was also photonm residue and markings inside each ship indicative of a battle. i No... It wasn't a battle /i , Arcadia Funaho told herself, i Not a battle at all... Stepping on ANTS is more accurate. /i
Then she heard something.
Arcadia turned, her innate fear of the dark instilling paranoia. She tried to convince herself that it was water dripping (It HAD been raining for the past few days), but then the noises became more and more powerful, filling the air with wet taps. If they were people, then there had to be several of them... The complete lack of visibility didn't help. She equipped her God Hand from around her stack of work, just in case. The halfglove did give her a heightened sense of security, though. She also began to walk backwards, surveying for any movement that was human shaped. The constant wet flops still refused to cease. She continued backwards until she hit something in her way... It was flabby, too much unlike a wall, and it was also moving. She didn't need to read to find out what would happen next, so she dropped her stack of papers and did a cartwheel in the air, aiming for the head of the fatty wall with her foot. Arcadia knew she had connected when the presence behind her grunted and made a sick crunching sound into the wall to her left, at which point she took her Wondershot from its holster and fired a gleaming golden shot at the wall to her now left (She had turned to face her other possible assailants ), with her eyes shut. Arcadia confirmed her worst fears when she heared several shouts of " MY EYES!" and "UGH!" emanating from the space in front of her. Though her eyes were closed, she could feel the light behind her closed eyelids as if it were the light of day. Sunstone, es.
Then she felt something huge and strong grasp onto her hair and fling her against the same wall to where she had blasted her Wondershot at. When she met the concrete of the palisade, the wind was knocked out of her body when her left shoulder and head hit the wall at about six feet from the floor. Her prone form slid down the wall as if she were Jell-O, and rested on the ground. She tried to open her eyes, nothing. She figured that she had a concussion. Arcadia attempted to bring herself up on her left arm, but to no avail. She had heard a "POP" when she hit the wall, so she figured that she'd have to snap it back in at a later date. If there was going to be a later date. Her eyes were still shut, but she could feel at least four large presences surround the space in front of her. There was a snicker among the crowd.
Then a voice, riddled with spit, Whiskey, and ignorance, rang out in her mind, "Yahoo! Look what we've got here, boys! Fresh meat! I knew the boss wouldn't let us down with this one!" She felt a hand move slowly upwards from her ankles; a hand which she quickly snapped with both of her legs. "Jim-boy, you never did have a way with the ladies..." Arcadia still couldn't manage to bring words out of her mouth... She screamed, her mouth was wide open, waiting to accept speech, but it wouldn't come. It was as if she had a blockage of sand in her throat, completely blocking her words... Her voice... And her hope.
"So Boss-mayn, whadda we gunna do wif 'er?" A sound (Of Kentucky Fried Chicken) rang out to the right of her.
"Wayl, I believe we're going to have fun, just as the Big Boss intended us to!" Handcuffs were promptly placed around her ankles and hands, and she felt a squeezing lack of blood in her lowest and highest extremities. "Hee hee hoo!" The leader's voice rocked back and forth, laughing at his hysterical joke. Arcadia, despite the futility in her efforts, continued to scream without a voice. She felt something cold and hard--a knife--press against her exposed midsection. The blade continued up her skin, touching, but not cutting, it's way up to the base of her shirt. As you would expect a rapist to do, he grabbed the top of her already barely-existant shirt and, using leverage, cut it open with one swift motion, freeing her pale breasts from their paltry confinement. The hemms and haws from the crowd above her faded out into oblivion, as the voices in her head gave rise to a more important conversation...
i I don't want to die... I have to much to live for! I can't die here... I haven't lived enough! /i
b But isn't this what you always wanted? To die? It'll be a nice end to your pathetic life! /b
i My life isn't pathetic... I'm not really pathetic... /i
b YES IT IS! Noone loves you! You're completely alone in this life, Arcadia! /b
i No! I... I won't be able to meet the people I can make happy if I die... /i
b What happiness? You can only hurt people! You're USELESS! /b
i No! That's... Not... ALRIGHT! Maybe it is true, but how will I ever know if I give up now? I'm weak, and I'm pathetic, I know, but if I keep trying... Maybe I won't hate myself anymore. I'll keep on living for the people of Pioneer 2, for love, for peace, and for... /i
"LAERYYYYYYYYYYYN!" Her voice finally broke through the haze, and she screamed out her determination for all the world to hear. Her vision had also returned, and she suddenly felt very cold as her mind slowly returned to consciousness. But, as if summoned, she felt her jacket fall onto her now-completely bare skin. She was glad that she had sprung for the model that covered past her waist (o.o;). After the initial relief of having her old friend, she noticed that on the jacket was a small note in glowing photon pen, and it read: "They did nothing to you but remove your clothing. Just let me do the work."
Noticing the commotion, the leader of the four hitmen (Whose face was elongated, with teeth of negligible upkeep), smiled at her. "Oh... Who's this Laeryn, your little girlfriend? Hee hee heee hawhaw!" That sickening, disgusting mouth... Arcadia wanted to rip it off, but she still found herself immobile, despite regaining her senses.
Then a darkly elegantly cool voice reverberated off the partitions of the alley: "No, you pathetic Lilim. b I am Laeryn! /b "
To the leader's left, he saw a hand burst out of his comrade's chest in a river of blood, the hand was claw-like and brutally savage, with all of its fingers tense and twisted. He saw the heart of his friend in the palm of the hand. This was quickly burst by Laeryn's hand, and his arm was then retreated, leaving one man dead.
"Now... Enjoy my Brilliant NIGHTMARE!" There was a purple flash in the dark, and the two remaining flunkies burst apart, their blood and innards now colored a brilliant ephemeral purple, staining the walls with their uselessness.
The leader of the gang fell backwards onto his rear, and retreated on his ass until he hit the opposing wall. Sensing his fate, the man clutched his arms around his knees, rocking back and forth frantically. Laeryn approached slowly, his red eyes piercing the soul of his victim. Amidst frantic babble, Laeryn made out the phrase "Who... Who... What... Are you...?"
"That's a very good question," Laeryn said, slicing off a piece of i vital equipment /i with a devious grin. He laughed, but not a little boy's laugh, a darker hysterical laugh. It was terrifying, unstable... It seemed that that laugh was a harbringer of things to come. "I'm the i true /i descendant of Eve, of course. The one who assigns Destiny to you pathetic mortals! Or, since that may be too much for you to understand, simply call me b DEATH! /b " Laeryn's left hand began to glow purple, and he grabbed Arcadia's attacker's head, slamming it into the wall, cracking his skull. He psionically focused the purple light, and used it to explode the limited contents of his victim's head on the wall.
Laeryn, unphased, wiped the blood and brains onto his robe, popping into a new purple and black robe from a spare capsule. He then picked up Arcadia's still naked body (By her back and the nape of her legs) and carried her back to her apartment, with directions courtesy of the BEE system.
In a dark, secluded computer room, Zaziel sat snickering over the events that transpired on a security camera. He stood, shot the computer and monitor he was watching, and left to perform more important matters.
Laeryn placed her in her bed, and conscientiously wrapped her in a spare robe of his so as not to get her white linens stained with blood, though she still found some dried on her lower lip when she awoke.
"Oh... Laeryn... You... Saved me... Thank you."
Blush inducing action involving lips
"This was probably the best place for you to recover, and I made sure that we weren't followed."
"You didn't stay up all night protecting me, did you?"
"..."
After Laeryn's little "proclaimation", he retreated to the kitchen. He sat huddled in a corner, a small tear escaping his physical and mental grasp. Arcadia came in soon after and hugged him from behind, and she enjoyed a good cry.
Next Time on Phantasy Star: Cosmic Waltz!
Nyreal: MAMA MIA! MAMA MIA!
Light: Galileo Figaro!
Mint: Magnificooooooooooo...
Nyreal: I'm just a poor boy nobody loves me...
Laeryn: He's just a poor boy from a poor family spare him his life from this monstrosity!
Nyreal: Easy come, easy go. Will you let me go?
Level 3: Bohemian Rhapsody
Light: Rainee...
Nyreal: Mother...
