Honor the Destroyer [Spirit of Destruction Quest ~ Grunty]

Location: Onitoshi

Without even opening my eyelids, I speak, "It is seriously too early for a report. Can it wait until later?" The scout speaks, "We believe that we have located the Shrine of Destruction, my Prince. It is in Saicity in Yochi. The Gothstone district." My eyes open slowly and as the golden orbs take in their first glimpses of the day, my lips are curled into a smile. "That is undoubtedly worth waking up for. Bring me a map of Saicity. I want to know exactly where the shrine is." The scout nods and vanishes. From the shadows, Torizo, my Phantom, emerges and looks at me. "This could be dangerous. You should let me go in your place. I can be in and out with no problem." I grin and shake my head, "I've been looking for a reason to visit the Earth Realm briefly. This is a good enough reason for me. There is something that I must do first though..." The scout returns with the map, "My lord, you do know that your physical body was destroyed, don't you?" I look at him and inquire as to his point...

[Enter Spiritual Impression Quest, which will be done in another thread prior to my next post.]

209 words

Subject: OOC: Sorreh for teh shortness ^ ^' Tue Dec 22, 2009 1:13 pm

"Do yer chain hang low? Does it wobble to th' flow? Does it Shiiien in teh light? It platinum? It's gold? Could ye throw it ov'r yer shoulder? When yer hot, it make ye colder? Do yer Chain. Hang. Low?"
A small fox trotted, sedately singing along a road leading out of the Lower Commons. She'd come by a few funds and figured she ought to go see the old coffee shop where she'd first learned to manifest herself in this world. She'd brought some vodka to mix with whatever she ordered, and she was in fairly high spirits.

[Continued from... Mind Over Matter]

The scout salutes and vanishes from sight and I release ethereal call and the twelve forms converge on me. Find the Shrine that I am looking for. Do not do anything to it, but locate it and let me know." They all nod and scatter to start searching the different shrines in the park. While they do that, I walk over to the fish pond and sit down by it and look down at the fish. Looking around, I wonder how it could be that a shrine dedicated to a spirit of darkness and destruction could be in such a calm and still place. I would expect it to be in the heart of the Western Forests where there is chaos and destruction and violence all the time, but not here, so it makes me wonder what else lurks around corners that I would not expect to find such things in. Knowing that a Shrine of Destruction must have a guardian or challenge of some sort, I enjoy this moment at the pond looking at the fish, who while they are confined to such a small space, they make the best of it and continue to move regardless of their limitations.

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[OOC: Per Kitsu's permission, I am finishing this quest solo...]

My peaceful time at the pond is ended when one of the ming'yons dashes over to me and nods to me. I rise and walk behind the yokai as its leads me towards the center of the park. As I get closer, I begin to feel amazing power. Moving even closer, I begin to see a floating orb at the shrine. As the shrine draws near, I notice that the orb is a deep stormy black with energy flowing all through and around it, it is truly amazing. My operatives gather around me and I reach out to touch the orb. One of my agents interrupts, "Master, is that wise? You don't know what it could do to you? Perhaps, you should let one of us try it first?" I look at the orb first then at him. "What sort of sovereign is afraid to suffer what he would ask of his guardians? No. I will do this myself." My hand continues forward and as the flesh of my fingers touch down, my palm is almost magnetically drawn to it. Looking into the orb, I can see so much destruction and so much fury! Everything around me fades away and I am swallowed up by darkness.

When I reappear, I find myself in a realm that is surrounded by desolation. There is no vegetation and everything around me is worn down, rusty, and dead or dying. I find sadness in this scene. "What has happened here?" A spirit appears on the side of me, "This is what happened because Lucia was trapped here and attacked. She annihilated enemy after enemy until nearly everyone became her enemy. I suppose you have come looking for her to gain her power." I shrug, "I'm not sure. I was told that I could find a power that could give me great strategic advantage in battle, but that was it. I know nothing of this Lucia." The spirit looks at me and says, "So without knowing what exactly you were looking for, you journeyed here?" Shaking my head, I respond and start walking forward, "No, I knew that I was looking for a shrine dedicated to some Spirit of Destruction. You can relax, Lucia I believe, I'm not going to try and kill you. Why make an enemy of a Spirit of Destruction after all? Especially when she is a very powerful Kamikonjou. That would explain why your aura entices me so much." The spirit glances over and grins at me. She speaks, "You are reckless, boy... yet you are also very intuitive. If you do not wish to fight, then how do you expect to gain my power?"

I tap my temple, "I plan to learn from you actually." Part of the reason is that I question whether or not I can beat her in a duel. She is very powerful and has a penchant for destruction, which is something that I currently cannot match. "You seem lonely here too. I will stay and keep you company for a while. If you will help me in my quest, I will do everything I can to free you from this prison. Now since it would give me no satisfaction to simply be given something and I doubt you would grant anything without testing me first... I challenge you to a game of strategy." Lucia looks at me and smirks, "You are bold, but you are a smart negotiator. If you can defeat me in this game, I will give you a taste of my power. Here in my pendant. I have imbued this with three spells that you can use one time each. The first will strengthen one of your magixal abilities, the second power will instantly heal some of your wounds, and the last will allow you to unleash a Spiritual Light attack that you won't believe. If you lose, what do I gain?" I look at her as we stop walking and face one another. "What is it that you, the Spirit of Destruction, wants?" She looks around and grins sinisterly, "If you lose, you will willingly take my place here and I will return to the dimension of the three realms. Do you still wish to make the wager?" I think about that one for a while and I tell her that I want a taste of her blood as well.

She signals for me to come closer and I obey. She takes in a deep breath in my direction and her eyes close as she discerns what I am. When her eyes open, she seems puzzled, "Wow, you survived all these many years in Onitoshi? You all always were resilient. The Kamikonjou of Darkness. Let me guess, my blood will allow you to enhance one or some of your powers, yes?" My expression holds solemn as I reply, "It should. The blood of spirits empowers my people. So in order for me to risk my eternal freedom, I need a little more incentive than a pendant." She smiles and nods to me. "It is agreed then. Name the contest." Nodding, I extend my hand and we appear in a temple and she shows me a line of board games. I walk past them and grin at one of the battle games... "Kami vs Kami? How fitting this one is. Can I have Dark Kami instead?" She touches the board so I touch my side expecting my kami to change to Dark Kami, but only half of mine change. The other half remain the same and she walks over leans against me. "You really are a complex one. Blood of both, essence of darkness, yet power of the pure. How is that possible?" I am silently staring at the light kami forces on my side when I begin to enter my transformed state and as the transformation completes the light kami becomes "Avenging Angels". I revert back to normal and breathe rapidly to calm myself. "Being around you makes things more intense. The Dark Kami are far from united. My mother was what we call a White Wing. A Dark Kami who is able to purify themselves to the point of becoming basically a Cursed Light Kami. I inherited from her spirit energy powers." Lucia chuckles and says, "It is called Spiritual Arts, young one. Are you ready to begin?" I nod to her and ask what the objective is. She tells me that the battle is won when the enemy commander has been captured. I nod to her and assess the battlefield before any of my forces begin to move. She walks over to her side and once she is ready I feel a surge of energy flow through me and her figures disappear from the board as everything outside of my line of sight is covered in darkness. All commands are felt thru our contact I am told and we can only see what we find. Upon learning that, I begin issuing orders immediately. I would abandon the center and actually split my force into three separate forces. I want to lure her into the middle, by revealing one of my forces to her near the center.

Meanwhile, I figure that we can also converse and get to know each other more. "So where are you actually from Lucia? The humans have a shrine to you, but you are obviously a kami." Lucia smirks, "A shrine that no one pays homage to except for the power hungry and the curious I suppose. I am forgotten here just as those who put me here wanted. I was born in Nalco in Koushi. I grew up under the strict rules there and kept getting into trouble because I preferred fighting and defending what I loved. When I was a girl, they sent me to live in Novartis with my Uncle who was an Field Grade Officer in the Forces of the Northern Heavens. He told me martial arts and bushido and how to use my powers. The things he could do with the Spiritual Arts amazed me, so I wanted to surpass him." Her voice trails off as we issue more commands and follow up with, "So what is Novartis like?" She responds, "It is a beautiful and fertile land. It is like Spring all the time and the people are kind to you there. The humans of Yochi would consider it to be very traditional in architecture and even in how we dressed. It isn't congested like Nalco which is full of so many spirits. I know what you're leading up to, but I have a question for you before I answer that one. What is your name?" I smirk as my forces move into position and dispatch scouts to move ahead so that I know when she approaches. "Forgive my manners, I am Prince Psyre, the Veilos Tyrn of the Dark Kami faction known as the Veilos Syli Regime." Her eyes lift towards me while I issue more orders since she is almost within range. Looking up to meet her gaze, she speaks, "You speak Old Tongue?" I peer quizzically at her and she translates, "Prince Psyre, the Psychic Crown of the Psychic Throne Regime of the Dark Kami. You would have to be a descendant of the middle born then, yes?" I shake my head, "The Elder. The middle son was exiled followed by his sister later. The youngest is currently the strongest, but I am planning on changing that. The loyalty amongst the Dark Kami is no more. I plan on changing that too."

Our two forces meet in battle and my forces attack quickly and move uses speed to their advantage before I tell them to fall back. My two flanking forces move into position. I need to make sure that it is enough of her primary force in order for this plan to work. My forces continue to pepper hers with volleys of magix as they fall back. Just a little bit further. The force backs itself into a corner and she charges full force as they switch into full defensive mode. The first of the flanking forces charges in behind them at full force to plunge into their ranks. The size of her attacking force is still greater than mine, so I must move quickly. The third force is making a quick pace for her main camp which is lightly defended. I stay to the more concealed route to hide my motives while she is trapped in a pincer attack.

Hoping to distract her further, I inquire, "So since you eluded to it earlier, why are you here?" She looks up and asks, "Are you not worried about your commander?" I shake my head, "They will protect him." She chuckles and responds, "I discovered that I had a power that my superior, the Hogosha of Koushi felt I should not have. I call it, Divine Uprising. With this new power, I was able to turn the tide of a battle in my favor. I could pick a section of demons and on command, a fairly wide area around the target would be engulfed in rising surge of raw spiritual energy that decimated enemy ranks. It was the genesis of the Angel of Destruction title. Seeing that I could dominate the demons in battle and still wanting to surpass my uncle, I trained and trained until my skills with the power were honed to a level of satisfaction. As my missions became more dangerous and crucial, I mastered that power, but that is where I should have stopped apparently because when I perfected the Divine Uprising power... those in command reported that the Hogosha was displeased at my wanton destruction. As if the demons would show any mercy! When I perfected it, I unlock another power they gave me the ability to command the very might of the Heavens. With it, I instilled fear into the hearts of demons and the attacks against the Great Pillar slowed greatly. All would have been fine if they had tried to imprison my uncle for "promoting sinful tactics". I showed them sinful tactics at that point and rescued my uncle. When it came time to face the Hogosha, I would not flee. I stood ready to fight and they banished me here where I have been unable to escape. When I arrived here, it was filled with both demons and beings that were similar to kami. You can guess who I killed first. Battle is consuming, young Tyrn. The more you enjoy it and let it control you, the more you will see what everything outside of this bastion looks like. Still, I would destroy all of them all over again if they got in my way. Your forces are dwindling..."

I look up from the board at her and nod, "Yes, they are. That is why I will assimilate your forces to replenish mine. Surrender or she dies. I will only ask once." Lucia looks at me and smiles. She releases her hands and chuckles, "I like you, Tyrn Psyre. You have defeated me in our challenge. My pendant and my blood is yours." Bowing respectfully to her, I accept the pendant, which she places around my neck. One of her fingernails extend to slice her bosom and I stop her. A grin covers her face as her attention is turned to me. "You are worried that my blood will consume you and drive you into a fit of destructive fury?" I look at Lucia and can only nod as her words are true. "Wait until you learn more of your own history then, young Tyrn Psyre. My blood will not change from what you already are. It might even boost your powers a bit. Come and take a drink." When she slices into her bosom, my fangs bear towards her as I step closer. Grabbing her into a close embrace, her right hand comes up to run through my hair as her left moves my head towards her breast. "Drink and I give you Divine Uprising." My lips close in over the wound and I begin to drink from her bosom. It seems to excite her as much as it does me. She speaks as I feel my mouth fill with her blood and my mind receives a surge of energy that I could not have anticipated. "Yes, young Tyrn, enjoy the drink and break the seal on that which should never be restrained in such a beautiful Eilaras os Thesia, Avatar of Fury." As we separate from one another, I can feel a great rage building inside of me in some foreign location surrounded by demons. Looking around, I flex my power in surge like release that unleashes the Divine Uprising power on a gathering of demons that advances towards us first. At the terrifying control that I have over this ability, I smile at Lucia and she caresses my face. "You're not ready just yet. Return to the shrine and do not forget your pact here." The rage just drains and so does my energy. I nod to Lucia and tell her, "I will find a way to free you from here." She steps forward and kisses me and I feel another surge flow thru my body before I am back in the historic park and I fall forward. One of my agents catches me and tells one of the others to pay respects to the shrine as they get me back to Xartias to see the healers and find out what's wrong with me. Agent 3 nods to Agent 1 who is the Leader of my Traveling Guard and begins chanting a prayer. The rest of us are engulfed in energy and vanish from the Earth Realm.

2805/3222

Spirit of Destruction Quest Complete [1222 words]
Upgrade: Spiritual Arts: Divine Uprising (Mastered)
PWC (Veilos Syli) = 3222

Updated Psyre

Updated Grunty

» Gremlins (spirit awarness quest)
» spirit of light (possesion quest)
» Dream A Little Dream (Battlerealm Quest w/Grunty)
» Blood for Gold Arc - 2nd Entry: Savior or Destroyer?
» Phase II - Eminent Destruction (Heavenly Manifestation Arc)