First Night: The Silent Noise - A Chinese Bell

[Undying]

The Silent Noise - A Chinese Bell

Rest, with an occasional cloud...

A month has passed since the fight in the Asian HQ. No word has been heard from the Japan-headed teams, although the HQ remained calm. It was assumed that since at least two Generals were at the location, including the elusive, hard to find Cross. The Exorcists that were not sent to Japan with the various teams split, each sent to different mission, or often lounging in their 'home (the HQ).

However, sometimes, looking up to the skies, they see a cloud...

Rave, now officially code named Sword Dancer by the Order's High Council escaped after the incident in the Asia HQ, remaining hidden and escaping all the attempts to find him. He has been declared rogue and an order has been given to attack him on sight.

The first droplets fall...

In China, one night a castle vanished, and all the people were swallowed up by the ground. According to eyewitnesses, around sunset the ground shook and suddenly opened up and swallowed the castle, humans, and everyone inside. The Order, now very well aware that something is wrong, has sent out a few Exorcists to investigate.

The storm erupts...

The Exorcists meet the Noah right at the sight of the incident. As the fight ensues the Noah are attacked by a group of people using Innocence, although they aren't Exorcists. Upon investigation, it turns out that the people work for a Chinese mafia boss named Hu He. Apparently he has surrounded himself with a number of such powerful creatures and intends to take over the town, then move forward to the rest of the world.

The Exorcists must make their way through the maze of his stronghold in order to locate the boss and divulge the truth from him, about the occurrences here and in the other parts of the world.

-----------------------

Rules

- Only up to 4 Exorcists

- Up to 2 Noah

- Unlimited Akuma

- This is part of the arc.

--------------------------

Your objective: While the events are entirely up to you to RP (I expect SOME creativity here ladies and gentlemen), the final objective is this: You are to discover a hidden laboratory. Once you do, you will fight a boss monster, upon beating her, you will be teleported to China, where the final fight occurs.

Make it good.

Appearance (http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c39/SankonGanSou/BloodRayne2-vampirellaII.png)
Stats:

Health: 250
Attack: Normal: 15 With Bloody Blades activated: 35
Speed: Normal: 60 With Bloody Blades Activated: 90
- Attack Speed: Normal: 20 With Bloody Blades: 30
- Movement Speed: Normal: 15 With Bloody Blades: 30
- Reaction Speed: Normal: 25 With Bloody Blades: 30
Tactics: 25

Powers:

Fake Innocence: Bloody Blades:

Her twin blades are activated when her Blades are drenched with blood, her own or her enemies, doesn't matter (and she MAY damage herself for power-ups). When she does so, her powers will rise for the next five posts. You will need to think carefully while fighting her.

Other notes: She's smart. So I will expect creativity and smart moves from her, I mean, you, since you people will RP her. I expect team work and character development.

There won't be any GM intervention (unless you do something completely stupid or just mystically locate the bad guys), but as I said, I expect you to be creative - you're not going to just stumble on the enemies, puzzles, enemies, etc are expected. And I know you can do it really well.

Please note: the Boss is now aided by the Earl (it shall be RP'd shortly by me, or you may do so AWAY from your own characters (as they lack any knowledge of the boss, or that the Earl is now involved)), and therefore shall have a level 1-2 Akuma guard with her. Level 2's have 66 EXP each, please distribute as you see fit and use them as reference fo stats (do NOT kill Akuma from a single shot unless you're at half-General level already, and even then, provide some interesting play here!). Noah may also join with the Boss as allies if they so choose. However, if you choose to side with the Exorcists or battle the boss herself, she will be also aided by fake Innocence users.


The final boss, Hu He, is not to be encountered (or at least, not to be fought against) until all four missions are done. There will be a final development which must take place as you all make your way towards the final battle.
A note to the participating Noah

While you may freely give information to the Exorcists or randomly fight them whenever you spot them, I trust it to YOU to add some spice into this arc and make it really interesting. Noah were selected because they have talent and skill in RPing, so I expect a lot.

[Seff vi Britannia]

Dies let out a long, casual sigh. He hadn't bothered to go back to the Earl - first, he needed time to think. Displeased would be a soft word to use to describe his feelings at the moment - having being manipulated by the Earl.

"Ultimate weapon? Psh.."

He adjusted the position of his butt on the boulder he was sitting on. He rubbed the stump of his left arm gently - it was an act of defiance. The Earl had wanted Dies to merge with Kujaku and achieve his maximum power, but Dies had found another way. Grinning, he realized the displeasure would probably be mutual. He looked to Kujaku, sitting near him, and grinned.

"Dies. Seeing as you're playing truant, allow me to inform you of something. A castle in China has just undergone a very entertaining incident. According to the repor- ah yes... It dissapeared, taking everyone inside with it."

"Let me guess, you want me to check it out?"

"Yes <3. How is your arm, by the way? Kuku.."

Dies spat. He hated telepathic messaging, along with the Earl's cynicism. He pulled out a map, trying to find the co-ordinates the Earl had messaged him. A month had passed since the events at the Asia HQ, but Dies had not left China. He had stayed there, in a small village a way away from the Black Order base. He found the country soothing and relaxed, without the busy splendour of the cities of Europe, nor the complete blankness of the open plain.

Rolling up the map, he grinned at Kujaku.

"The castle was destroyed at Sunset, and it's midday now. We can be there by nightfall."

Kujaku leapt onto his back, and the two started to move.

[Reco]

Martosu sat on the train back to China, skimming through the coffee stained folder Komui had given him. The sun light reflected off the pages into Martosu's eyes.

This folder doesn't give me much information to go by. This sunlight isn't help any as well.

He tossed the folder on to the seat next to him before reaching up to rub at his temples.

Hmm, everything will reveal itself eventually..

He looked over at the finder across from him, "I'm going to take a nap, wake me when we arrive."

When the finder nodded back at him, Martosu let his eyes shut and slipped into a light sleep.

[sherenetms]

Just a little more.

Jade was racing against a train heading to China. It was gaining on speed but she wasn't going to let it pass without giving it a try. The next one won't be till nightfall. Too much time would have passed by then.

Grabbing her chance, she leaped from the rooftops and landed gracefully on the moving train, her midnight blue hair dancing merrily in the wind. Making her way into the train, she was greeted by an startled attendant who quickly led her to a compartment. Inside, she saw a finder together with a sleeping Exorcist. Nodding to the finder, she sat across the exorcist quietly, trying not to wake him up.

Feeling rather bored, she pulled out the folder Komui has given her earlier from the briefcase she was carrying and began to read through its contents. There wasn't much detail. As expected. She closed the folder and returned it to its original position in the case. Resting her chin on her hand, she glanced at the landscapes outside.

((Reco, hope ya don't mind sharing some room. LOL.^^))

[Seff vi Britannia]

Dies sniffed the steaming hot cup of herbal tea before tentatively sipping it. Across the wooden table, Kujaku was tucking into a jacket potato stuffed with hot jalapeño peppers.

So they'd got distracted.

They were seated in a small town about halfway to their destination. Dies didn't know its name, a result of not speaking Chinese. But the scent of food had lured them in from miles away, and it was delicious. The afternoon birds chirped in the air as they sat upon the rustic dwellings of the village, and the bustling sound of a market resonated from the village center.

Dies finished his tea, alarming Kujaku, who was trying to digest the spicy peppers. Dies hurled a few gold coins to the shopkeeper, who looked up with a surprised face.

"I hope that's enough?"

The shopkeeper started trembling, before nodding and running back into the shop, slamming a "closed" sign on the door. Dies turned and began to walk away, heading towards the market. Kujaku stood up to follow him, attempting to jam the entire potato into his mouth.

"Finish your meal. I won't be long."

The akuma was more than satisfied by this situation.

Dies strode through the market at a casual pace, taking careful care to push aside those who looked like pickpockets. The coarse cries of shopkeepers echoed out as they attempted to draw in customers, and the Noah had to fight his way out of perfume stands on several occasions. A few stands interested him. He bought several woven pouches, strapping them to his waist and left leg, and filling these with fireworks and various first-aid items sold by several of the stores.

In the corner of his eye, he noticed the glint of metal in the sun, and his hand reached for Shard instinctively. Looking round, he realized it was simply the shine of a weapons stall. He made his way over, and browsed the stall casually. He saw at first sight a beautiful short curved blade. The Chinese called it a Wakizashi. He called to the shopkeeper, gesturing to a set of shuriken, and inquiring about the price. The two haggled, and Dies paid two gold coins for a pouch full of the deadly throwing stars. Walking away, he stopped at the last minute, looking at the sword. The shopkeeper grinned – he had known Dies’ true intention all along.

The Noah went round the back of the stall, grasping the weapon in his right hand when the merchant offered it to him. He danced around in a circle of flashing steel. The lightweight and length of the blade made it a perfect weapon – he was able to wield it fluently, even with only one hand.

Dies smiled. He had assumed he would be able to pick up some fine items in small towns like these. With his main weapon now an exclusive ranged one, it would be important to have backups. Realizing that the Earl was most probably still manipulating him, he knew it was important to have tricks up his sleeve. The left one, to be precise.

Dies bartered with the merchant, and ended up paying seven of the large gold coins for the sword, which he slid into the sheath on his back that had formerly occupied Rinne’tenshou. Smiling his thanks, the Noah waltzed back to the shop were Kujaku was eating. The akuma had finished his spicy lunch, and was bouncing around, eager to move.

“Let’s go.”

* * *

Several hours had passed, and the sun was fading in the sky. Dies had reached the town next to the castle, or where it had formerly been. He was exhausted from the journey, though Kujaku was still hyper and ready to move.

“Ideally, I’d like to wait. But it seems urgent that we do this quickly. I saw more than one finder in that village.”

Dies and Kujaku had established a small camp on the outskirts of the village, and Kujaku had lit a small fire, more to keep himself warm than to see in the fading light.

“Still. Nightfall won’t be long, and I think it important to stall our visit until then.”

[Shiku]

Hiro got onto the train just as the doors were closing, when the staff on the train saw him they quickly bowed at him one of them came forward and led Hiro to his usual seat in the 1st class carriage next to the window.

Kahcunk Kachunk Kachunk....

The train rattled along the rail road, Hiro leaned bakc on his chair and closed his eyes, there was a lot of missions lately and he didn't have much rest so he decided to sleep until he reached China.

"I'm soooo huuuungry...." A voice broke the silence.

Damn....i forgot he was here...

"Then go order some food..." Hiro replied.

"Reallly???!!!! YAAAAY!"

Yes...that was the usual cheer of Keisuke whenever he was allowed to go and get some food.

Kachunk Kachunk Kachunk....

Hiro finally fell asleep, Keisuke was stuff his mouth with food like he hasn't eaten in days. It seemed like that everything was right and peaceful but unfortunately that wasn't the case, the Millenium Earl was still out there carrying out his evil plans creating Akumas everywhere and anywhere.

[Undying]

Dinnin slinked through the shadows, using his ability to roam around. He distanced himself from the Earl and other Akuma right now, as he needed time to think. He left that woman lying there - for no reason. True, he was hurt, but killing her would have been easy.

Then why have I left her?

The Millennium Eye had remained cold and unresponsive since then, which in itself was strange. Before, the Eye seemed intent on killing Exorcists or locating Innocence, but now... it was dead.

What the hell was going on here?

Exiting the Shadows, Dinnin looked around. He was in China - accidentally, since he wasn't looking where he was going - and sighed.

The Berserker wasn't used to thinking so much; he killed, or chased new targets. But now he wanted to know why he didn't kill that woman.

And he had no plausible answer.

Why?

He shook his head, and made a resolute decision to kill her the next time they met.

((Shere - as I let you control Dinnin, remember that he is still in the process of changing. Do be considerate :)))

[Seff vi Britannia]

Night had descended upon the province, and Dies and Kujaku had left their ramshackle camp, with Dies kicking the ashes of the fire to the wind. The two were now probing around the area where the castle had been.

"Kujaku, put it down. You're making too much noise. You know there were bloody finders in that village, we have to keep a low profile."

The akuma dropped the dusty skull he had been playing with, and walked beside Dies. The Noah poked the dust and ashes with his feet, overturning the occasional rock.

"This is crazy. If not for the information we have, we would never have guessed there was a castle here. Shit, i need some light."

He pulled from a pouch one of the small fireworks he had purchased earlier. It fizzed with yellow sparks as it illuminated Dies, Kujaku, and the surrounding area. Back at the village, some of the residents poked their heads in the direction of the light. Dies, however, was preoccupied scouring the ground.

"Footprints. Quite a few of them... Damn, they're scattered. The dust has eroded a lot of them. Whoever was here knows how to cover their tracks. Damn."

"Stop! Who are you!?"

Dies turned round to face a group of three finders, cowled and caped, who had clearly rushed from the village upon seeing the light. Kujaku ducked behind Dies, but they had already seen him.

"An Akuma! I-I-Impossible! A Noah!?"

Dies smiled, rolling his eyes, then looking down at his hand. The fuse on the firework was burnt right down to the bottom.

"Yup."

He hurled the firework at them, and it exploded in a shower of red sparks, representing a dragon, before fading as quickly as it had come. There were three more flashes, then total silence and darkness.

Dies stood over the finders, each lying with a bullet exactly two milimeters below the voicebox.

"Hopefully that didn't attract too much attention. Kujaku, can you pick up a scent?"

((Just remember that it is NIGHT when you arrive at the castle. Try and arrive shortly after Dies killing the finders, if you can.))

[Shiku]

"We will arrive in China shortly, please get ready to leave the train."

Hiro opened one of his eyes when the voice sounded over the intercom, he yawned and stretched his arms Hiro's golem., Shi, was busy nibbling at the scraps of ice left over in a cup which appeared to have belong to Keisuke who was sleeping right now.
Hiro reached over and shook his shoulders gently.

"Oi...wake up we're here."

"Huh-? Wha-!"

Keisuke had managed to knock over the cup that the golem was in, Shi flew out and landed on Hiro's shoulder and appeared to be slightly angry at being interrupted by somehow other than Hiro.
By the time Keisuke had gotten ready Hiro had already left and was standing near the exit.

"Hurry up..."

"Yeah yeah,....coming..."

They stepped onto the platform, it was a hot day and being in their exorcist uniform they were feeling really hot right now, luckily they had some normal clothes underneath their exorcists coat which they took off in the train.

"Now...let's go."

They walked out to the streets brightly lit by the burning sun.

[Reco]

Martosu, Jade, Keisuke, and Hiro walked along the crowed streets. Occasionally a shop keeper would suddenly appear in their path, trying to sell them an item.

They are too trusting at a time like this. They should at least be wary of me since my Ssang Do on my back are glaringly obvious without my Exorcist coat.

The group walked through the maze of streets littered with shops that seemed only a mouse can fit in. Martosu stopped to make sure they were walking in the right direction by gazing down at his map.

You have got to be kidding me...

Martosu called out to Jade and Hiro, "We are no where near where we should be. See, we are supposed to be going this way."

Martosu held up the map and pointed at the correct route. "Seriously now, let's get our act together."

He turned around and set out in the direction they were supposed to be going. By the time the group reached where the castle once was, night had fallen over the land.

Now to find this labortory...

Martosu walked forward before noticing bodies on the ground. He went to investigate them, but before he could reach them a sound alerted him to an enemy's presence.

((Anyone can rp Martosu in their post.))

[sherenetms]

((Reco, the castle isnt there anymore. It's supposed to have vanished. ))

Jade walked quietly beside her new comrades; Martosu, the guy she had seen on the train, and another two exorcists named Hiro and Keisuke whom they had ran into at the train station in China.

The sun had set over the horizon by the time the four of them arrived at the site of the incident. All that was left at where the castle originally stood were sand and piles of rocks scattered all about. And also dead bodies. The white coats worn by these corpes confirmed their identities; they were finders sent by the Order to keep the place in check. Disgusted, Jade turned her attention elsewhere and began to scan the area around the site. It was pitch-black and she could hardly see anything saved the plain outlines of the surrounding trees and bushes.

It's so dark and chilly.

Just as they were about to proceed with their investigation on the piece of dusty land, Jade experienced a tingling sensation that filled her with uneasiness. She stopped in her tracks, allowing the rest to move a few steps forward before bringing her hands close to her face. She whispered to the pair of bracelets hidden beneath her uniform's sleeves. Waves of blue aura emerged from them and began to form themselves into two blue mystifying butterflies fluttering merrily about.

"Koushisama, Himesama, alert me if you find anything strange," she said softly to the pair. Almost immediately, the glowing butterflies disappeared.

It wasn't long before the larger of the pair of butterflies returned. Jade let it settle on her arm before asking,"Koushisama, what is it?" The butterfly flapped its large wings frantically about. The exorcist stared at it attentively while it conveyed the news of its findings telepathically to her. However, they were interrupted halfway by Martosu who had earlier gone to inspect the finders' corpes. Although the appearance of the mystical butterfly shocked him, he wasn't distracted. Instead, with his voice barely audible, he said, "We've got a guest."

True enough, 'Koushisama' sent one final message to Jade telepathically.

"There is a Noah lurking around here."

((The blue mystical butterflies can only be seen by those compatible with Innocence. Thus, Noahs/Akuma cannot see nor sense its presence.))

[Seff vi Britannia]

Kujaku leapt up and down excitably, and Dies looked at him, amused. I he dim light of the full moon, Dies could see around five meters ahead of him. Kujaku, with his 20/20 vision, could see a little further, though his sharp nose made up for what even his eyes could not see.

“Alright Kujaku, but are you sure that’s the right way?”

The akuma was frantically pointing behind them, in the general direction that Dies had killed the finders in. Dies growled. Kujaku had a sharp nose, but he didn’t want to light up another firework and give away their position again.

“Trust me, they’re nearby. They stink of innocence, too.”

Exorcists… thought Dies sourly

“How sure are you?”

“My nose doesn’t lie…”

“I’m blaming your nose if I light this place up and there’s nobody there. I have a reputation to upload, I can’t make a flashy entrance and there’s nobody there!”

“TRUST ME DIES, THERE IS SOMEONE THERE!”

“WHY ARE YOU SHOUTING!?”

“YOU STARTED SHOUTING FIRST!”

Dies held up his hand, gesturing for silence, before grinning. The dull thump of boots into dust and ash had alerted Dies to his surroundings.

“Good nose.”

With that, Dies pulled another firework from his pocket, before drawing Shard from its holster and shoving the firework inside. The result was a botched, makeshift rocket launcher. Dies aimed into the air, and fired. The hammer caused the fuse to ignite, and the firework shot into the air, the large spark giving off a great deal of light. Sure enough, there were three figures standing by the dead bodies, not a great distance away.

The arrival of the order confirmed something – the disappearance of the castle was no ordinary event. Most likely, the order assumed it was the Earl. But Dies realized that it would be stupid even for the Earl to send the Noah to discover something he himself had done. Maybe the exorcists would know something.

The firework thumped into the ground, still burning. The light it gave off allowed Dies to see properly – though it would have the same effect for the exorcist.

“I really need to get my eyes shined, eurgh.”

He fired a shot at the trio, and it thumped harmlessly into the ground by one of their – it looked like a girl’s, feet.

[sherenetms]

((Wasn't there suppose to be four exorcists? Martosu, Hiro, Keisuke and Jade?))

Distracted by the ill news that they had just received, Jade was completely unaware of a certain presence marking on their little group from the dark. Out of a sudden, a blazing firework rocketed past the top of their heads before landing on the ground a short distance away from where they stood. Instinctively, Jade turned towards the direction in which the firework had been launched. The burning firework acted as a torch, although its flames caused the shadows to dance around, creating unnecessary illusions.

Whoever shot the firework is doing a good job hiding himself.

"You mean the Noah," Koushisama telepathically asked her. Heh! I'll know when i find him.

Just then, a clear shot ringing from the woods caught her attention. She felt something landed close to her feet. Without taking so much as a glance at the object, she activated her innocence and sent several glowing blades flying towards the direction of the shot.

"Koushisama," Jade called to the mystical butterfly. She gestured towards the direction in which she had sent her blades flying. As if it understood her orders, the large glowing butterfly disappeared once again from sight.


*Dies may dodged all the attack, but from hereforth, he will be spied upon by Koushisama, who is currently completely invisible to Dies and Kujaku.

[Seff vi Britannia]

Next Contestant (http://www.supload.com/listen?s=4TXFB3O5JLXW)

"Ow!"

Dies flinched as something scraped his arm, drawing a thin trickle of blood. He dropped to the floor, going into the splits. His arm healed, stitching itself together. Dies was relieved that his regenerative powers worked again.

"That attack could have been aimed a lot better. Mayhap, they can't see as well as we can? Helpful."

"In any event, it seems the female was the first to react; making her the most dangerous enemy."

"Dies... since when have you started a running documentary on every battle you get in to?"

"..."

"Er..."

Dies stammered slighty, before focusing again and cocking his weapon.

"Now to launch Zeeker!"

"STOP THAT!"

Kujaku's angry wail was cut off as Dies launched Zeeker from the barrel of his gun. The missle sped towards Jade. It seemed like a straightforward attack, but Dies grinned evily. If the missle hit something that wasn't the target, it would divide, creating two more of the missles, up to what Dies refered to as "The limit."

For good measure, he reached into the pouch on his leg, and pulled out a handful of the steel shuriken, hurling them in the general direction of the exorcists.

((If we're playing damage, then Zeeker inflicts 20 wether you're hit by one or twenty, and the shuriken inflict 3 each. But seeing as i vastly "out-stat" all of you, i think we should just play RP.))

[sherenetms]

((I'll have to thank you for your generousity and kindness. =D))

Sensing that something was coming towards them, Jade quickly activated her Shield of Soul. The gigantic invisible barrier proved its usefulness when a small missile was stopped midway in its track. But instead of disappearing immediately like how normal attacks usually do, it ejected two identical missiles which continued to multiply everytime it hit the barrier, each targeting the dome from different directions.

In addition to the missiles, the shield also managed to hold off several shurikens which had flew sinisterly towards the exorcists.

"Urgh!! This isn't how i thought things would be," she said, her innocence now gleaming brightly and surrounding her with a blue aura.

Leaving the Noah to the others, Jade focused on getting rid of the annoying missiles before her barrier collapse. When a total of 16 missiles have been duplicated, they stopped multiplying. Concentrating on her innocence, she directed her flow of energy into the Shield of Soul. As usual, the barrier began to absorb the missiles' attacks, destroying some in the process. Nevertheless, when the barrier began to collapse, a few of the missiles that wasn't destroyed successfully penetrated it's energy field, hitting Jade with a force that cause her to slam backwards onto a tree.

[Seff vi Britannia]

Dies smiled. The barrier had stopped Zeeker, but to do so would require a considerable amount of strength. Grinning, he dropped projection planes over the other three exorcists. The planes created a sphere of flashing light - all the three exorcists (Shirou's and Reco's) inside would see would be a miasma of colours. An illusion, essentially.

Dies strode casually up to Jade, who was panting against a tree.

"Why did the Black Order send such a weak exorcist? You might have shown the most power out of the exorcists here, but do you think you can fight a Noah?"

Dies spat on the ground. He was being cocky, but he could afford to be. It seemed that barrier was the woman's final trick.

"So then, how would you like to die? A bullet? A sword? Being warped to another dimension?"

He grinned savagley.

((It will take all of you one post to break out of the projection plane. That means you can't attack Dies or Kujaku for one post. :P ))

[Reco]

The colors of the projection plane the Noah had created blocked out everything else from Martosu's sight. But he still could smell the ash on the ground.

So it's an illusion. It would be so much worse if I were transported else ware. Now, there must be a base to this plane.

He pulled his Ssang Do off of his back, activated the second level Innocence and placed the end of each blade into the ground next to his feet. Even if the colors blocked the ground from him sight he knew his feet had to be standing on it.

I'll have to try something I haven't done before.

He sent the electricity into the ground then forward. The plane was disrupting the flow until he meet no more resistance.

The base must be around there...

The electricity doubled back until it hit the base and began to disrupt the plane. It ate away at it until a hole in the plane began to grow big enough for Martosu to fit through. He ran through the hole before it closed again. The effort of trying a new technique made him begin to sweat.

He looked around when he spotted the Noah looming over Jade.

"Jade! Pay attention he's right on top of you."

[sherenetms]

((Black italics are Jade's own thoughts while blue italics are Koushisama's telepathic messages. Red italics will be Himesama.))

Being wrapped up in another dimension sounds fun.

Be serious.

Like i'm not, Jade shot a sarcastic remark at the butterfly. The Noah was standing close by, a little too close in Jade's opinion.

Do you think i can risk an attack?

You could, but my guess is that it'll be pretty pointless.

Ignoring the butterly's last comment, she took one last glance at the Noah looming over her.

"How about this instead?"

With that, three glowing blue blades materialized from within the Noah, cutting him inside out. For a moment, they remained there. ANd then, all three blades faded away, leaving no traces of the attack. There wasn't even a single drop of blood or tear on his clothes. Jade grinned and grabbed her chance to escape. The damage has been done.


((The Celestial Waterblades materialized from within Dies's body, so there is no chance of escaping it.))

[Seff vi Britannia]

Dies raised an eyebrow curiously as there was a slight scraping inside his stomach.
“That was your attack?”
He coughed and fell forwards as the invisible blades lanced through the front of his chest, but managed to stay on his feet. His regenerative powers kicked in, sewing together the gaping holes in his chest. Luckily, the blades had punched only through the kidney, and not a more important organ.

Dies focused his power, letting it out in waves. He turned around to face the other exorcists.

“Alright, that was lame. And here I was being gentle? Besides, you think it’s a good idea to try and kill me? Don’t you want to know what happened to this castle?”
Dies grinned at his own wit. That was a bluff, of course, but it functioned to play with the exorcists.

Spinning round, Dies unloaded the contents of his magazine – 6 shots, into the exorcists – one of whom seemed to have broken the projection plane.

* * *

The two figures watched the skirmish from the sidelines – around seventy meters away from the still-burning firework, and out of the visible range of all the participants. They were dressed in dark silk garments, with high collars and masks covering their faces.

“Lao Shan… that is a Noah, correct?”

The taller of the two pulled up his mask slightly in answer to this question. His eye burned a bright green.
“Yes. Accompanied by an Akuma. I count four exorcists.”

The smaller one grinned.
“Alright! Cataclysm!”

He threw his hand upwards, and a wall of black fire ripped itself from the ground, glowing with a strange light. It illuminated the battlefield, and tore between Dies and the Noah. He moved his hand again, and a spear of the black flames shot towards Dies, who sidestepped it.

As Lao Shan and his Black-flame wielding partner stepped into the light, Dies raised his weapon, aiming it at them.

“And you are…? More exorcists?”

“Not Quite. My name is Leng. This is Lao Shan.” The smaller one swirled a disc of black fire around on his fingers, before hurling it at Dies. The Noah fired twice into it, and the flames dissipated. The second bullet carried on to barrel into Leng, who summoned a wall of black fire from the ground to shield himself.

“What do you want?” Dies spat.

“Now now, don’t be so hasty. Don’t you want to know what happened to the castle?” Leng grinned, before summoning flaming discs to his hands again. Lao Shan pulled a long katana from a sheath on his back, before rushing at Dies. The Noah pulled out his own sword to defend himself, but Lao Shan completely manoeuvred around Dies’ blade and scraped his arm with the sword. In the split second of perfectly honed reflexes possessed by duellists, Dies noticed the man’s glowing green eyes. Lao Shan grinned.
“Occulus Diablos.”

Then he twirled, slamming his sword into Dies again. This time, the Noah pulled up his curved Wakizashi just in time, and the swords slid again each other with a wailing shower of sparks.

((Leng has the ability to summon/control Black Flames. While they are supposed to only attack the Noah, I imagine you guys would want to find out information from him. (Aka, don’t 6 on 1 me! : <. Lao Shan has the ability to see all the possible outcomes in a split second for a given situation (ala, Wrath’s “Perfect eye”) ))

[sherenetms]

((LOL. Don't worry, Jehuty. That's kinda unfair anyway.))

The sudden appearance of the two strangers startled Jade. She was expecting the Noah's attacks, but it seem that now his attention had been fully diverted towards the two men dressed in silk garments, especially when one of them had on purpose shot a spear of black flames at him.

Puzzled, Jade stopped abruptedly in her tracks to watch the interesting event that was occuring right in front of her eyes. I'm hell sure those aren't exorcists.

Then how do you explain their powers? the smaller of the two butterflies suddenly appeared beside her.

“And you are…? More exorcists?” the Noah asked, his weapon aimed at the duo.

“Not Quite. My name is Leng. This is Lao Shan," the smaller one answered.

Bingo. See, Jyusan-hime. I was right.

As a fight erupted between the Noah and the two men, Jade quickly rejoined her comrades.

[Seff vi Britannia]

I can escape anything REMIX (http://www.supload.com/listen?s=I28DYMPJIAFH)


Lao Shan thrust his blade forwards, and Dies sidestepped, but the mysterious warrior’s blade was there before him, and Dies leapt backwards with a deep gash on his cheek. He snarled, keeping his sword in a guard position.

“You read my movements well. Too well. Tell me, Lao Shan, why do you eyes glow like that?”

The black-cloaked Lao Shan grinned also, replying;

“My innocence. Occulus Diablos. It allows me enhanced vision, as well as being able to see every situation for a single given situation. I simply chose the most likely one and move to counter it.”

“I see…”

Dies grinned, throwing off his cloak. His cut-off arm was clearly visible, although covered in a long T-shirt.

“But it’s no good knowing my movements if your body can’t keep up!”

He rushed at Lao Shan, striking forwards with the tip of his blade. At the last moment, he twisted the blade to the side, crouching and turning into Lao Shan, with his back to the warrior’s chest. As the innocence-user’s blade swung down, Dies opened a dimensional door, appearing behind and to the left of Lao Shan. He rushed again, swinging his sword at his opponent’s neck, but Lao Shan calmly flung his katana over his shoulder to deflect the attack.

“My innocence allows me to see behind me, too.”

Dies snarled, pressing forwards, as Lao Shan spun round and the two went into a close engagement. The blades moved in a dazzling circle of flashing steel and yellow sparks before becoming deadlocked at 45 degrees.

“Innocence? I thought you said you weren’t an exorcist.”

Dies broke the deadlock. He forced his blade down, taking Lao Shan’s with it, before continuing the spiralling momentum and launching a roundhouse kick. Dies boot scraped across Lao Shan’s eye, drawing a thin line of blood at the eyebrow.

“I’m not.”

He leapt forward, placing one hand and the other behind his back, before spreading his feet. Now he attacked with a quick series of thrusts and jabs, forcing Dies to leap backwards. Lao Shan followed him, swinging at his legs. Dies planted his blade into the ground, and Lao Shan’s collided with it, resulting in a loud chiming noise. The Noah leapt onto his blade before jumping again, into the air. He spun around and drew Shard from his holster.

“Yo, you have some versatile techniques there. So do I. Zeeker.”

The missile leapt from the end of Dies’ gun, and sped towards Lao Shan, who sidestepped, slashing down with his sword. Two more missiles burst from it, and these shot towards Lao Shan. Once again, he sliced them apart only to find himself facing four missiles.

“I know the routine of your attack now. My eye is able to keep up.”

“Shit…”

Dies cursed as he saw that Lao Shan’s claims were correct, as he sliced apart the missiles until the limit, 16, had been reached. He began to spin, twirling his blade in a 360 degree arc around his body, and destroying them.

“It’s useless, Noah. Against these eyes, you can do nothing.”

Dies grinned, grabbing his sword from the ground and rushing at Lao Shan. A strike to the shoulder was easily countered, but Dies was able to react in time, pulling his blade upwards to stop a straightforward jab.

I definitely have the speed advantage, but he can predict my moves. Then, surely…

The Noah slashed sideways, and was blocked by Lao Shan’s blade. He jabbed again, bracing his legs and preparing his legs to leap, pulling his blade backwards, into a position for an upwards slash. As Dies jumped, Lao Shan’s eyes flickered as he thrust his sword into the air. When it hit nothing, Dies grinned. He was only a few centimetres from the ground.

“I’ll just do something UNPREDICTABLE!”

The Wakizashi roared upwards, cleaving through Lao Shan’s torso. Dies returned to normal speed, leaping into the air and landing again on both feet. Kujaku, who was watching the battle from the sideline, grinned slyly.

“So he slowed down time around himself to make Lao Shan’s attack miss. Rather than relying on normal vision, it seems that he really does totally rely on his eyes.”

Back on the battlefield, Dies grinned. Lao Shan thrust forwards again, and Dies ran onto his blade. The katana slipped cleanly through his kidney. The Noah merely smiled, and thrust his hand forward, gripping Lao Shan’s eye with two fingers. He pulled backwards, ripping the eyeball from the socket, dripping with blood. Dies pushed himself from Lao Shan’s blade as the warrior began howling in pain.

“An eye for a kidney. Problem is, that exorcist woman shredded that kidney to bits a short while earlier. Hey, that’s why God made us with two, right!”

Dies grinned sadistically as he crushed Lao Shan’s eye in his hand. It shattered into tiny shards of innocence.

“Bastard! You took my eye, I’ll kill you! Wait until Hu He hears of this, you bastard Noah!”

Dies’ eyes plucked up curiously.

“Who’s that?”

That was when Leng decided to intervene. He placed himself between Dies and Lao Shan.

“That’s enough, Lao Shan. You’ve said too much. Apologies, Noah, but I’m going to have to kill you now. Preservation of secrets and all that, no hard feelings?”

“None at all.”

Shut your eyes, Kujaku.

Dies stepped aside, to place the still-burning Firework directly in Leng’s vision. The fuse was nearly spent. Dies waved and closed his eyes.

The firework exploded with an enormous explosion of light, blending Lao Shan and Leng, along with the exorcists.

“Because they saw such a bright light, their pupils would have closed as a reflex. It will take a few minutes for their eyes to adjust to the dark again. Let’s go, Kujaku. We have a name.”

Dies threw his cloak over himself and Kujaku shifted back into his human form. The Noah threw an outwards projection plane over both of them, meaning all anybody who looked at them could see would be a moderate amount of sand, blowing around in the wind.

[sherenetms]

((It's getting kinda boring with just the few of us here....))

Urgh. Jade winced in disgust as the Noah crushed the man's eyes into pieces, thus destroying the so-called innocence along with it. As much as she wanted to help him defeat the Noah, she was suspicious of his identity and that of his mysterious power.

An Innocence user who isn't an exorcist?

Just as the rest of her comrades recovered from the Noah's last attack, a blinding flash of light exploded in front of them. She instinctively brought her arms up to her head, shielding her eyes from the light. By the time the light faded away and their eyes got used to the dark again, the Noah and his pet akuma had disappeared from sight. Damn, it was just a trick to escape!

Turning towards the other three exorcists, she asked,"Are you all okay?"

"We're fine," Martosu answered. "It wasn't much of a fight. I think the Noah wasn't here to ambush or attack us by any chance."

Jade blinked at his statement. He's right. The other guy did asked the noah if he wanted to know what happen to the castle. This could only mean that the Noah was also here to investigate about the castle's disappearance.

From the corner of her eyes, she observed the two man in black silk garments. The man named Lao Shan was still howling in pain, blood streaming all over his face.

"Hmm....seems like it. But they-" Jade cock her head towards the duo standing not far away. "-interest me more for now." With that, she started towards them. From the conversation between the Noah and the two of strangers earlier, she found two clues.

One, the Millenium Earl had nothing to do with the castle's disappearance.

Two,a certain someone by the name of Hu He could be involved in this case .

"Let's just hope they have the answers to our questions," Martosu replied.


((*yawn* Anyone can rp Jade in their post. It's 3am here and i'm too sleepy to think.))

[Seff vi Britannia]

"Leave it. You've had plenty to eat."

Dies kicked away the small half-eaten chicken that was lying on the floor as Kujaku's hands grabbed for it desperately. They moved through the twisting streets of the nearby town silently, staying in the dark.

"Those guys attacked me, but not the exorcists. Yet the exorcists did not help them."

"A third party, against the Earl but nuetral to the Order."

"Correct."

Kujaku whistled, breaking the silence.

"So. Where too now? Woo Hey, what was his name? You're looking for that person, aren't you."

Dies turned his head to face Kujaku. The akuma had become very perceptive all of a sudden, ever since -

"Eurgh. Now i'm missing a kidney as well as an arm." Dies spat out copious amounts of black blood, which covered the floor. The wound on his stomach had sealed, but blood had dripped for a long way behind him earlier. As soon as the exorcists had light, it would not be difficult to track him.

"Come on, Kujaku. Someone around here will know something. What time do the markets open?"

Kujaku rolled his eyes.

[Reco]

The unharmed man seemed to be disinterested of his comrades plight. This intrigued Martosu so as he reached the pair he asked, "Do you no longer care for your partner? So much blood loss near the brain could be fatal if left untreated."

The man replied, "What could he offer now? He can no longer serve and fight, therefore he is dead in my eyes."

Martosu was aghast at his response and turned to Jade, "If we heal that man he might be more willing to tell us what we need to know."

Jade was slightly hesitant, "I don't want to drain my life force for someone who is a stranger to me."

Martosu sighed, "Alright. I'll just have to do it the painful way." He picked up some dried grass and wood that was on it's last leg and walked toward the howling man.

"What are you doing?", Jade called out.

"Don't worry. I was alone for four years, I know how to treat wounds like this...", Martosu replied. He reached the man, took hold of his shoulder and forced him to sit. The man struggled against him but it was futile. Martosu sparked the grass and wood with his Innocence, making it flame.

"Who are you?! What are you doing?!" the man yelled.

"I'm going to heal your wound. Now sit still or you are going to make it worse.", said Martosu before he placed his blade in the flame, long enough before it started to glow. The man's remaining eye widened and he tried to back away.

Martosu grew slightly annoyed, "Don't look at my blade, look at the beautiful sunrise that is starting to come up over the trees." Before the man could do anything, Martosu held him to the ground and pressed his blade on to the wound. The man's screaming got louder before Martosu was satisfied with the wound and let the man go, removing his blade at the same time.

The man panted on the ground while Martosu leaned back to look at the sunrise. When enough time had passed, the man gathered his composure and glared at Martosu with his remaining eye. "What was that for?", he growled.

"Hmmm, I figured by helping you out a little you will tell us some information", Martosu replied calmly. He looked at the glaring man, "How about it?"

[Reco]

The man looked at Martosu, "Alright, we work for Hu He. Our mission is-."

"You shouldn't tell them anything else, Lao Shan."

"Oh? Now you care for me? No, you just care to control my mouth. And after all we have been through Leng," Lao Shan mockingly sighed.

Martosu interrupted their banter, "Would one of you at least tell us where to find Hu He?"

Leng looked at Martosu distastefully, "I suppose I could. Go east and you will find a small cave. Enter it and you will eventually come upon Hu He deep inside the rock."

Martosu stood up, "Thank you, we will be on our way then." The group turned east, into the sunrise and began to search for this supposed cave.

((Blah, short post. It is 4:39 am for me...))

[Seff vi Britannia]

“Hu He?”

The elder looked at them curiously. He was a wizened man, with a snow white beard and a kindly face.

“He is a mafia boss. His organization is spread widely. He causes no trouble for this town, though his henchmen get carried away sometimes. In fact, he seems to care for the town’s development. He takes an interest in the schooling of the children and advises us on military and economic matters.”

Probably a front. Dies muttered under his breath.

“That explains everything then. I and my companion have had a run-in with two of his henchmen. I seriously hurt one in self-defence, and I feel I should probably offer my apologies to Hu He. Old Father, where might I find him?”

“He’s always been one for extravagance. I would imagine a palace of some sorts, but I have no where. I would suggest you ask one of his pickpockets. It’s market today, so they will be out and about.”
The Old man smiled warmly. Dies unfolded his legs and stood up, going over to Kujaku, who was standing near the door.

“My thanks, Old Father.”

* * *

“Now then, Kujaku, pick pocking 101. Generally, pickpockets will “bump” into you and slip their hands inside your pocket, removing a copious amount of mone-”

“You know this, how?”

“You probably forget that I lived much of my childhood on the streets of Amsterdam as a pickpocket. Now the truth is, even in a crowded market, you hardly ever get bumped into. The shoulders are wider than the hips, so any bumping would occur higher up, not near your waist. But for people who are not alert of their surroundings or with low reaction speeds, it’s hard to differentiate.”

Dies paused, before continuing;

“Now, we’re looking for one of Hu He’s pickpockets. They are probably trained well, and there’s an easy way to differentiate between skilled and amateur pickpockets. The larger the amount of money you take, the easier it is to notice you. Experienced pickpockets will take only a few coins at a time. So stay behind me, OK?”

The two stepped out onto the market. Dies’ pocket was visibly bulging with gold coins. They had not passed the first stand before Dies felt his back pocket lighten by a considerable amount. Kujaku opened his mouth, but Dies silenced him with a finger.

“Amateur.”

They continued walking, and Dies took the occasion to buy various drugs and herbs, mostly of the smoking variety. They stopped at an expensive silk store, and Dies bought a large roll of fine silk. It glistened in the colour of sand, and was easily large enough to cover both him and Kujaku. The Noah made special care to drop a few coins on the floor as he paid the merchant, grinning slyly.

He’s flaunting the money to attract the pickpockets. Interesting.
Kujaku murmured to himself.

“I must say, eastern crafts really are fantastic. This cloth is specially designed to make concealment clothing. Look.”

Dies threw it down on the floor, and it seemed to disappear. Within a few seconds, their eyes adjusted and they could make out the slight shadows on it.

“Imagine if we hadn’t known it was there. We would never have spotted it.”

Dies bent over to pick up the cloth, and felt the weight in his pocket decrease by the tiniest amount. He turned round with the speed of a viper, grabbing the small boy’s face with his hand, gripping tightly.

Despite the boy’s repeated attempts to bite his hand off, Dies had dragged the kid to a small alley. Kujaku stood guard at the entrance, while Dies had bound the boy’s limbs with thin bits of rope. He squirmed and wriggled, but couldn’t break loose.

“Relax. I’m not going to hurt you, and you can keep the money, but I need some information.”

When the boy didn’t reply, Dies went on.

“I’m looking for a guy called Hu He.”

The boy seemed startled for a second, but then he went back to normal.

“Dunno who dat is, mister.”

“Don’t bullshit me. Your eyes gave you away the second I mentioned the name. Talk, or this is going to get painful.”

The boy didn’t reply, and Dies pulled out one of his shuriken, stabbing it into the kid’s arm.

“I’ll make you a bloody pincushion unless you talk, kid.”

“Ow! Fine! He’s my boss! He organizes most of the pick pocketing in this town. Who are you, a cop!?”

Dies stood up, pulling out the shuriken.

“No. I’m much worse.”
He turned around, brushing back his hair. When he faced the boy again, his skin was a dark brown, and a line of black crosses had appeared on his head.

“Y-y-you’re one of t-them!?”

Dies raised his eyebrows slightly.

“A N-n-noah! Haha, this changes things. The boss has been looking for you and y-your kind!”

“Where can I find him?”

“Heh. I’ll take you there!”

Dies slid behind him and used the shuriken to cut him loose.

“Lead the way, kid.”

[sherenetms]

The group started eastward right after Leng revealed the location of Hu He's hideout. After a long walk through the forest's rough terrain, they arrived at a steep slope overlooking a wide lake. By then, the sun had began to rise and its rays bathed the land with a warm glow. The light reflected by the water illuminated a hidden cave wide enough for seven or eight men to walk side by side on the opposite shore. Vines and overgrown shrubs created a near-perfect camouflage for the cave. Anyone would have missed it if they simply glance across the lake. Should they reached the lake before dawn, they would not have spotted the entrance to the cave.

"So this is the cave?" Jade looked disappointed. Personally, she was expecting something bigger and grand, perhaps with an archway or stairs leading towards a massive door.

Another fantasy of yours?

Shut up.

How interesting...perhaps you were expecting some doormen as well.

I said shut up, Jyusanhime.

And a red carpet readily laid out.

"SHUT UP!" Jade yelled at the annoying mystical butterfly that was fluttering about her head. She turned around to see Martosu, Hiro and Keisuke staring at her with a stunned look on their face. Feeling embarrassed, she quickly apologized. "Sorry, Jyusanhime was mocking me."

"That butterfly can speak?" asked a puzzled Keisuke.

"Well, telepathically," Jade glared at Jyusanhime.

"What happened to the other one?" Martosu asked.

Jade looked at him, amazed. "That's pretty keen of you," she smiled. "Koushisama is currently spying on the Noah who attacked us earlier on. He should-"

She stopped abruptedly as something passed across the edges of her consciousness.

Speaking of the devil, Jyusanhime said as Jyuniikoushi linked his mind of Jade's.

Jade, the Noah is moving, the larger butterfly said, his voice filled with urgency.

W-What?

He's found someone who could lead him straight to Hu He. As a matter of fact, they are making their way there right at this moment.

This is bad. Koushi-sama, continue to follow them and keep me updated on the Noah's moves.

I will.

With that, Jyuniikoushi's presence vanished. Jade turned towards the rest of the group.

"We need to get to that cave. Now."

[Shiku]

((Phew! Im finally going to post....))

Hiro walked with his hands in his pockets, they had been walking for a bit now.

Where's that damn cave...

Hiro was a patient person but he still didn't like walking around all the time.

"We need to get to that cave. Now." Jade said her voice sounded urgent.

Hiro noticed so he asked Jade what was wrong.

"What's with that tone and face? Is the Noah coming now or what?"

((yeah short post since i dont really know what to post.))

[sherenetms]

((LOL. Read from the start again. =D ))

"News just came in from Jyuniikoushi that the Noah is currently headed towards that guy named Hu He," Jade impatiently answered Hiro. "If we want to retrieve any information at all from him, we need to get to him before that Noah did."

She gazed far across the other side of the lake. "There-" she pointed towards a cliff. "-is where we should be going."


((My post couldn't be any shorter but i need to go off urgently now.))

[Seff vi Britannia]

The kid didn’t stop talking as he led Dies and Kujaku through a slight forest. It was mostly along the lines of how Hu He would reward him for bringing a Noah straight to his door. Dies didn’t pay much attention.

“What’s up, Kujaku?”

“I feel something in the air.”

“Water?”

“Ha. No. Have you got that feeling, the one you get when- ”

“You’re being followed?”

Dies grabbed the kid by his shirt.

“Are any of your friends following us, kid?”

“Nu-uh! Why would I share the reward Hu He is gunna give me, mister Noah!?”

Dies dropped him. The child’s reasoning was sound, if slightly self-obsessed, Then what? Kujaku’s nose was never wrong. It would be better to be safe than sorry.

“Kid. We have to travel alone now, for safety.” As the child opened his mouth to interrupt, Dies said quickly; “Don’t worry. We’ll tell Hu He it was you and you alone who brought us here. So can you give me directions?”

The kid smiled ecstatically and nodded.

* * *

“So then you’ll see dis huuuuuuuge lake, mister, and dat’s where Hu He lives.”

“Right. In a cave?”

“Yup.”

Dies smiled warmly, and then walked behind the kid. In one swift movement, he drew Shard and fired a single bullet through the back of the kid’s head. The front of his face exploded and he fell to the ground, dead. His body twitched slightly as his blood ran outwards.

“You’re right. We ARE being followed. But why who – or what, I don’t know.”

The two trekked through the forest, and eventually, glimmers from the surface of the lake that the child had spoken of reached their eyes. Dies grinned as he formed pocket planes under his feet, and began to walk across the water, to where he could see a vague silhouette of what looked like a cave.

* * *

[[Inside the Cave, level two.]]
[[Leng]]

“How are you feeling now, Lao Shan?”

“Not bad.”

“Good. Because Hu He is going to beat you to the point of near-death, so you’re going to need all your strength. You might be fine with only the one eye, though.”

“Shut up.”

Leng grinned sarcastically.

“Anyway, it’s probably best you rest for a while. I need to go and check up on my brother, I’ll be back shortly.”

He trekked through the winding passageways and entered a small room with an oaken door. Inside, a white-bearded scribe was taking notes.

“Ah! Leng! How can I assist you?”

“Samjej, is my brother back yet?”

The old man played with his eyebrows, before his eyes popped open in realization.

“No. Some of the other pickpockets said they saw him being dragged away from the market by a cloaked man, though.”

“What!?”

At that moment, the door burst open to reveal a wide-eyed teenager wearing ragged robes.

“Samjej! Oh, Leng! Samjej, I have urgent news! The man that dragged Ling away from the market, I remember what he looked like!”

“Can you draw me a picture?”

Leng smiled as the boy took a pencil and paper. This boy’s artistic talent was unrivalled in the province. Sure enough, it took him only a few seconds to draw a picture. He handed it to Samjej, who passed it to Leng. Leng glanced at it angrily, then screwed up the piece of paper.

“That is the Noah. I swear, if he’s touched a hair on Ling’s head, I’ll –”

Another teenager burst into the room.

“Samjej! Urgent news! One of the scouts just sent forward a message by pigeon! Ling’s been found dead in the forest! It was a gunshot wound!”

Leng roared in fury, striding from the room. As he passed one of the weapons racks, he pulled a double-bladed axe from it’s case.
“You’re going to die, nameless Noah. I’m gunna rip out your heart and hand it to Hu He on a platter…”

Leng cursed under his breath as he made his way towards the top level.

((Can you guys RP going inside so Leng and Dies can fight, plxkthanks.  ))

[sherenetms]

((I'll just hurry with this since i need to get off soon))

The four exorcists stumbled through the uneven ground as their eyes began to adjust to the darkness inside. Like all other caves, this one had a passage that lead into the darkness beyond.

Activating her innocence, Jade sent a single celestial waterblade flying through the dark passage. The glowing blade dimly lit the passage way as it flew right to the end before disappearing behind what looked like a door to Jade.

"It's safe for now."

With that, all four of them moved onwards into the cave.

[Shiku]

"Ne ne...it's still too dark i can't see...." Keisuke said sadly like a kid who just lost his toy. "Allow me to light it more brightly!"

Keisuke activated his innocence and he made a fire ball which was floating in front of them, it lit up the cave quite nicely and it was warm.

"You should've just done that at first..." Hiro said coldly.

[Seff vi Britannia]

Dies' theme - Black Dream (http://www.esnips.com/doc/332acfca-5c92-43a9-8b30-fb15b8740ff6/10-black-dream)


Dies strode across the lake, skipping across the still water, supported by the pocket planes beneath his feet. The cave was a gaping shadow, easily large enough to fit several men through at once.

“Oh?”

A figure was standing in the entrance of the cave, cloaked in black. In his hand; a giant weapon, a multiple-bladed halberd. His eyes were full of scorn and fury.

“Oh, it’s you. Ling, was it?” Dies skipped off of the water, a slight trail of the blue liquid following the path of his feet. “I can’t imagine you’ll let me pass, will you?”

“Ling… WAS MY BROTHER!”

He flipped the glaive upwards, and a wall of black fire burst from the ground, soaring towards Dies. The Noah span sideways, pushing his sword into the path of the fire. Dies grit his teeth and slid the blade through the flames, which dissipated into ash.

“How nice for him. That’s right, your name is Leng, isn’t it? Well Leng, I have business with a certain Hu He. Step aside, or I will make you step aside.”

Leng swished the glaive around, and a slight trail of black fire followed it before being pushed away by the wind.

“You killed my brother, Noah whose name I never knew. It is YOU who will Die. You should know, I am stronger than Lao Shan.”

Dies laughed dryly at the ironic use of his name.

“So your brother was that little pickpocket? Yes, I gave him a bullet through the brain. You should have seen the way his head exploded, it was- ”

“Enough! This is a fight to the death, Noah. You want passage and I require vengeance. We shall see who needs what more.”

“My name is Dies.”

Dies turned to face Leng, his sword held backhanded. He waved Kujaku away, and the akuma disappeared from sight. Leng smiled sarcastically.

“How ironic, Dies, for that is exactly what you shall be doing.”

For a brief, timeless moment, the two exchanged glances. Bolts of lightning flashed between them, Dies’ heartless, cold blue eyes, and Leng’s brightly shining red ones. For a brief moment, the two respected each other for what they were; fighters, rogues. For a brief second, complete tranquillity descended upon the lake.

…

The leaves of a sakura tree, shredded by the icy wind, floated across the cave mouth, twisting and turning in the breeze before resting on the lake, where they began to sleep.

…

…

A small rodent rustled in the grass by the cave mouth. It reached around with it’s furry paws, retrieving some variety of nut, before scampering back to the undergrowth.

…

…

…

“CATACLYSM!”

Leng swung his halberd upwards, and two pillars of swirling black flames erupted from the ground. They span in violent circles, igniting earth and grass, before Leng gestured again, and the two sped towards Dies. The Noah grinned, opening a dimensional door forwards, and coming out in mid-air right in front of Leng.

“…Fast!” Leng cried out as he brought his halberd up to defend himself against Dies’ rapid thrust. He pushed the glaive forwards, and Dies’ sword arm slid underneath it. At the last moment, he withdrew the blade as Leng’s halberd smashed into the ground. Dies landed on the floor and ran up the shaft of the halberd, jumping once more and launching a forward thrust at Leng’s face. A spiral of black flames formed in front of Leng, absorbing the impact from the thrust. The spiral turned swiftly into a smoking black spear, and Dies withdrew, rolling backwards. The two fighters had switched positions, and it was now Dies with his back to the cave.

Leng grinned, and swung his halberd up again, forming two more flaming cyclones. They dashed towards Dies from either side, and the Noah backflipped, landing with his feet apart on the rock face. The cyclones met at where he had been standing, and he smiled as he launched himself from the front of the cave, spinning his sword as he jumped through the fire.

He landed in a roll, moving his feet underneath him and rushing at Leng once more, leaping into the air and hurling his sword before spinning, drawing his gun, and firing four consecutive shots. Leng blocked the sword with the flat of his halberd and it span aside, clattering to the ground. He then turned his body sideways, and the bullets streaked past in front and behind him. They hit the water one by one, resulting in meters of spray for each one.

“What the… how do those bullets create that much spray…?”

Dies appeared beside him.
“They’re not normal bullets. They’re formed from compressed Real Space.”

He swung his hand into Leng, who was sent flying backwards. Dies retrieved his sword and slid it into the sheath on his back.

“You say you’re stronger than Lao Shan, but you’re failing to understand something.”

Dies began to increase the manifestation of his powers, and dimensional bonds became strained, causing the air to crackle with dark purple energy. Leng’s eyes burst wide open in sudden understanding.

“I came nowhere close to using my full power against him. I needed information; it would have served no purpose to fight him at full strength. And my plan worked; he told me a name. So why don’t you tell me, Leng, exactly how is it that you possess innocence yet not be an exorcist? And exactly what is Hu He planning?”

Leng ginned savagely.
“Hah. He gave me this innocence. And his plan is obvious, don’t you see?”

Leng began to twirl his glaive above his head, casing a ring of roaring black flames to form around it, following the blade.

“By creating powerful soldiers like me, HE CAN DOMINATE EVERYTHING. THAT INCLUDES YOU, NOAH!”

Leng brought his halberd down, a broad Slash. A roaring dragon of black fire leapt from the weapon, screaming it’s way towards Dies. As it touched him, the Noah placed his hand on the dragon’ nose and squeezed. The attack burst into ashes and smouldering dust.

“W-w-with one hand!? I-I-Impossible!”

Dies looked at him coldly, before appearing in front of him, the barrel of Shard pressed to Leng’s temple.

“The difference between us, Leng…”

Leng stammered and stuttered as his eyes caught up with the movement and he realized his position.

“Is just too great.”

Dies pulled the trigger once. Leng’s head exploded in a fountain of blood as the chamber clicked round and the slide blew back in Dies’ hand. He fell to the floor limp, half of his brain blown out. The bullet had gone on to hit the water, creating an enormous spray of glistening foam. Dies stepped into the darkness of the cave, and all was tranquil once more.

[Reco]

"Why do you venture into my masters haunt? And so very thoughtlessly at that," said a voice sharply. Martosu halted at the sound and turned his head every which way to find the person who just came upon them.

"Did I say I could only be found at your height? Look closer to the ground, Exorcist." Martosu was starting to become fed up with the teasing and touched one of his swords,"How about I just light up the cavern? You might feel some tingling but it would be worth it", he bluffed.

"How silly of you to say such a thing." The voice now came from near Martosu's leg. Martosu reflectively stepped away, drawing his blade at the same time and pointed it at the human. He narrowed his eyes, "And how silly it is of you to be so cocky. Who are you and what do you come to bestow upon us?"

The man appeared to be three feet tall and was covered in black cloth. His bright purple eyes shown brightly in the blackness. "My master hates unwanted visitors. You should have messaged ahead of time. Now how will I tell my master about this? He hates unwanted pests ruining his foundation."

He unwrapped the cloth covering his face, reveling a fake Innocence embedded in his forehead. It flashed brightly when the man activated it. A thunderous roar echoed through the cavern as a golden dragon emerged from the mans head. "Now engage me in battle, or I will sweep you away."

[sherenetms]

Jade gasped in awe when the dragon fully manifested itself, coiling its long golden body loosely around the tiny man. It resembled the legendary Chinese dragons, except that this one had a few extra limbs that are well equipped with long, bloody talons. With a body that was approximately 15 feet long, the dragon blocked half of the passageway, preventing them from further entering the cave. Every single time it roared, the walls of the cave would tremble and cause several rocks to fall on them.

“What kind of monster is this?”

“Now engage me in battle, or I will sweep you away,” the tiny man laughed sinisterly. “Karichee! Devour thy enemies!”

The dragon let out a final roar before charging towards the four of them at a deadly speed. They quickly leaped aside to dodge the dragon. It shot past them before halting and turning back. Just as they rolled over to the sides of the caves, the dragon began to emanate an eerie purple aura. It bent its body upwards and opened its jaws to reveal an orb of energy. Jade gasped as she realized what it was.

“Watch out!”

A strong blast of energy erupted from the orb, scorching everything in its path and creating large cracks on the ground. But the worst has yet to come. From the large cracks, several thousands of dragon spirits rose. They surrounded the exorcists, gripping their bodies and restricting their movements. Jade tried to destroy them with her Celestial Waterblades, but every time one fell, another came to take its spot. At the sight of this, the tiny man began to chuckle before it grew into a series of laughter.

“See!!! You can never defeat my Karichee. At this rate, be prepared to die!”

“I-I don’t t-think so,” Jade struggled to free herself. As much as it was hard to breathe, it was even more difficult trying to concentrate when there were dragons all over her attempting to crush her bones. Lifting her arm upwards, she tried to focus on the man who was now rolling on the ground, clutching his stomach and laughing uncontrollably. Several glowing blades materialized from the thin air and shot towards him. Just as they were about to pierce the idiot like needles on a pin cushion, the golden dragon suddenly appeared in front of him, taking in the attack. While the man was safe from harm, the dragon suffered several damages as the blades struck through its armor of thick golden scales. It let out a slow ghostly wail which sent shivers down Jade’s spine.

The man caressed the dragon’s head affectionately. “Poor Kirachee. I’m so sorry, I’ll pay more attention next time. You-“ he glared at the exorcists, particularly Jade. The dragon spirits’ grip suddenly tightened on their bodies. “-are going to pay for hurting my beloved Kirachee.”

From a corner of her eyes, Jade saw Martosu winked at the other exorcists. Despite having dragon spirits crawling all over him, he looked calm and bored, as though the unearthly creatures were nothing but insects. Without so much as a glance at the tiny guy, he nonchalantly answered, “Oh really? I was already getting impatient from this little game of yours.”

“Why you little-“

“Innocence level two, activate!” A loop of electricity expanded from where he stood, destroying the dragon spirits near him as well as freeing him from their grasp. He brushed the dust on his exorcist uniform off and ran his fingers through his shoulder-length hair. Then he coolly stood up and faced the man.

“Now, let the game begin.”

[Reco]

The man narrowed his eyes at Martosu, "So it shall." Black barbs rose out of Karichee's back as she roared, making lose rocks dance across the cave's floor. She eyed Martosu, snorted, and launched six black barbs at her prey. Martosu ducked to the side, evading all but two as they tore into his arm. He hissed in pain but stayed on his feet.

"You see, Exorcist, our power is just to great", the man said, "How about you just stand there so I can kill you easily?"

"I wonder, how do you fit that ego of yours into such a small brain? Or do men with small brains try to mask that fact with an overly done ego? No matter.." Martosu created four rods of electricity and sent them toward the dragons back. She swatted at them with her talons, captured one and slammed it into the ground. The remaining three rods sank into her back, making her growl, then all four shrank into spheres and exploded outward.

She rose up on her hind limbs, roaring at the indecency bestowed upon her. The top of her head hit the top of the cave, creating cracks in the stone. She lowered her head, huffed, and glared at Martosu. She suddenly rushed forward with her mouth open. Martosu was fast enough to prevent her from grasping his head but she bit into his arm and forced him against the cave's wall.

"You will never be able to defeat my Karichee," the man taunted, "bring me closer, Karichee, I wish to see his demise in a prime local." The dragon gently wrapped her tail around the man, bringing him closer.

Martosu gritted his teeth against the pain and looked into the dragon's eyes, "Why do you follow such a deplorable man? You deserve so much more then him."

"Such an odd Exorcist you are to speak such words to my Karichee," the man twirled his thumbs, "Karichee, show him you are mine to command by completely destroying him."

The dragon yanked him off the wall and tossed her head back, sending him though the air and hitting the far wall. Martosu turned himself over as she raised her claw. He pointed his sword that belonged to his uninjured arm just as the claw was moving down, ruining itself though on the blade.

The dragon flung it's claw backward, spraying blood everywhere. The blood acted like acid, burning into the stone. The cave grounded at the stress, the floor dipping a foot but staying intact for the time being.

[Seff vi Britannia]

* * *
Level Six of the Cave.
The Earl and Hu He.

The two figures cast giant shadows across the well-lit chamber. This was Hu He’s personal room, his private quarters. He sat on his gold and platinum throne, his features obscured by dense black clothing and a wide hood. The Earl was wearing his usual colours, and bouncing around the room with glee.

“A trade, you say, Mr. Millennium?”

“Yes. <3. In exchange for the secrets of the innocence creation device, I will offer you an army of akuma to do with as you please. With a garrison of these devils at your command, conquering this province will become only a matter of time.”

“I’m doing a fine job of that already-”

“True, true. But your soldiers are few in number and now, it seems, you have a small force of exorcists opposing you.”

“What about your Noah? He’s killed one of my best men, and ripped out the eye of another.”

The Earl stared grimly at him.
“That is…unfortunate. He seems to be going off by himself again, for I would never have instructed him to harm you or your men. *sigh* He’s always been a bit of a wild card, that Dies.”

“Very well. I accept your offer.”

Hu He reached down by his side, taking a small scroll from a pouch resting by his throne.
“Here are the blueprints for the innocence creation device. I’m guessing you have the resources to make it.”

“Naturally <3”

The Earl clicked his fingers, and a number of level two akuma dropped down into the room, emerging from the shadows. He clicked his finger again, and more akuma emerged.

“Your base is now full of these soldiers. Command them as you wish. <3”

With that, the Earl vanished.

* * *

Level three of the cave
Dies and Kujaku

“Hey, Dies!”

“What do you want.”
Dies snarled as the Earl’s thoughts rang telepathically in his head.

“I’ve made a deal with Hu He, so the premise of your mission has changed. You’re no longer trying to get to him, but you need instead to protect him.”

“Right.”

Dies closed the telepathy link as a few level one akuma materialized in front of him.
“Hu He is on level six, Dies-sama. Follow us, please.”


((The place is now crawling with level 1 and 2 akuma. They will attack you on sight, though you can one-shot them (at least until the ones at the boss, anyway.) It shouldn't take you guys too long to arrive at the boss, either.))

[sherenetms]

Jade activated her Shield of Soul to its maximum power just as a shower of the dragon's blood rained on her and her comrades. A sizzling sound was heard as the acidic blood began to corrode its way into the stone floor. They were lucky that the barrier had managed to shield them from the hazardous spray of acid.

As the last drop of blood falls, Jade quickly rushed over to Martosu’s side. His left arm was bleeding endlessly. “Just relax. I’ll heal you.” She raised both her hands and placed them close to his wounds. Waves of blue aura emanating from her palms began to surround Martosu’s entire left arm, healing the wound.

“Oi, woman!” the three-foot dwarf called out to Jade. “If I were you, I’ll give up on trying to heal him and pray for my last breath.”

Annoyed by his remarks, Jade sent several spinning Celestial Blades flying at him. Several dragon spirits exploded in flames as the blades passed right through them, causing the entire cave to tremor. Noticing the oncoming attack, the dragon planted herself in front of its master. She raised her claws and attempted to stop the blades by swatting at them. Instead, the ethereal blades simply passed through her claw and struck her chest. While the blades alone did not injure her severely, the onslaught caused the rather enormous dragon to stagger on her feet before falling backwards onto the ground.

Immediately, the entire ground began to tremble vigorously. Jade felt the floor beneath her collapsed and, before she knew it, both Martosu and her were falling down from a large crack.

[Reco]

Jade and Martosu tumbled through the air, with the occasional rock bouncing off of them. Martosu began to wonder if they would just fall endlessly before they hit the surface of a large, underground stream. They plunged deep into the water before Martosu was able to take a deep breath.

They both started to kick their legs until they reached the surface. Taking a gasping breath, Martosu tried keep his head above water but his weakened arm couldn't take the strain. As his head went under the surface Jade reached out to grasp his uninjured arm. She swam to shore, pulling Martosu behind her.

She gripped the gravely land, pulling herself and Martosu onto it. Martosu landed on his back, looked at Jade then at the crack they just fell trough. "I hope the other two can deal with that man and his dragon, because there is no way we can reach them now."

"I'm sure they will be fine, can I finish healing your wound now? It will only take a moment," said Jade. Martosu looked at her curiously, "Sure, since it wont take that long." A blue aura glowed from her palms as she finished healing his arm. When she was done she sat back, "We should continue on now. More enemies can appear at any moment."

Martosu knew she was right and sat up, "I agree." He stood up as Jade did. They walked for five minutes, following the stream before Akuma bullets landed near their feet. Martosu fired a random bolt of electricity into the darkness, hitting a level one Akuma. As it exploded it lit up the cavern, showing at least twenty level one Akuma.

"Akuma? Why would He Hu have them under his control?", Martosu wondered.

[Seff vi Britannia]

Dies followed the akuma through a meandering stream of back tunnels. The walls were moist, covered in lichen, and dimly lit by candles wedged in metal braziers, screwed into the wall.

So, the Earl now wants me to protect this guy? Eurgh. First he wanted me to kill him. That freakin’ bastard, he’s just toying with me again. He sends me in one direction then sticks a roadblock there. Everything’s a game to him, that’s why he’s always got that annoying smile on his face. No matter what the outcome, it was something he predicted. One of his “desired” scenarios.

Dies rounded a corner to enter a well-lit chamber. At the end laid a huge door, made out of wood. It was large enough for three men to stand on top of each other in. Before it, stood a guard.

“Dies-sama. This is the entrance to Hu He’s throne room. We will leave you with the guard, Lao Shan.” The akuma vanished, and Dies peeked curiously at the guard.

“Of course, I’m still standing in the shadows. He can’t see me.”

Dies stepped forward, placing a foot through his dimensional door. The passageway led to right in front of the gate, and Dies knocked curtly on it. Lao Shan jumped in alarm, drawing his sword.

“Halt, who goes the- Wait, it’s you!”

Dies glanced at him disdainfully.

“What do you want?”

“Bastard. You killed Leng! I don’t know why Hu He has sided with your boss, but I’m not buying it. You look like a dirty rat. Ah! Don’t do that! I can still see your movements, even with the one eye!”

Dies removed his hand, which had drifted casually to Shard’s holster.

“I thought I told you before, Lao Shan. Even if your eye can read my movements, if your body can’t keep up…”

He appeared in front of Lao Shan, smashing him to the ground using the palm of his hand. He proceeded to draw Shard from it’s holster, aim it at Lao Shan, and pull the cocking handle.

“What’s your eye telling you I’m going to do now?”

Lao Shan grunted, and his eye flashed slightly.
“The most likely situation is that you will put one of those bullets directly two centimetres below my voice box.”

Dies shot him in the head.

“Wrong. Even if you predict something near-perfectly, things can always be slightly different.”

The spent cartridge dropped to the ground as the doors swung open, and Dies stepped inside. Sitting on a throne was a cloaked and hooded man. Dies bowed sarcastically.

“Hu He.”
It wasn’t a question. Dies could tell who this man was.

“You’ve killed another one of my men, I see?”
His voice was laced with subtle rage and anger.

“Well, I can’t see why you employed him in the first place. His sword skills are below par, he was overconfident, his mouth was too big for his own good, and he challenged an opponent he stood no chance against. I did you a favour by getting rid of him.”

“Very well.”
He gestured with his hand, and a door opened behind his throne. A red-haired woman stepped out, and stood by his throne.

“This is….”
Dies didn’t hear the name. He was busy focusing on the power traces of the akuma covering the cave. It seemed the exorcists were gradually making their way here.

“She will destroy the exorcists, when they arrive here. I trust you to assist, and honour the partnership between your master and myself.”

“Right.” Dies rolled his eyes sarcastically.

Hu He stepped down from his throne, and proceeded to leave through the door the woman had entered through. Dies skipped over to a rock and planted himself upon it, pulling a copious amount of food – and a disgruntled akuma, out of a pocket plane. Kujaku and Dies began to tuck in immediately.

“I’m shore herez teme whore a rikkle schnack befhour dey ahrrhive.”
Dies spoke with his mouth full, and Kujaku grinned.

“Yippy!”

((Undies - i hope this post is alright. If it's not, just delete it or edit it to your wishes xD))

[Undying]

Somewhere removed from the current battle

Jarlaxle and Yase

"The Earl just sealed a contract with him." Jarlaxle, now a level three, stood to his full 9ft of height. His seemingly eyeless helmet was looking in the direction of the cavern that formed when the Exorcists fell.

"Yeah. Should we move in and help?" Yase, also in his Akuma form, was hovering near Jarlaxle's head.

"No. I think I have a better plan..." Jarlaxle returned to his human form and pointed to a building not far away. "Hu He will be there with his final bodyguard if the Exorcists arrive."

"And since we've placed the teleporter devices..." continued Yase.

"...They will arrive there soon enough," finished Jarlaxle, grinning. Yase grinned in return.

"So then, shall we?"

Jarlaxle nodded.

((Do note that we're away from you all, I'm setting up the final ending of the arc and I added an explanation why would the rest arrive :p. Jarlaxle and Yase will play a minute role in this arc because I don't want to interrupt your plans right now :)))

[sherenetms]

Akumas? Weird.

"Either way, it doesn't sound good," Jade replied. She focused on the akumas as they continue to close on her. In a split second, a single Celestial Blade materialized from within each of the akuma. All of them stopped midway in the air before exploding into nothingness.

"Well, that was fast," Martosu commented.

Jade smiled meekly. Just then, another group of level one akumas appeared from the darkness. This time, Martosu took care of them with his lightning bolts. When the last akuma was destroyed, they both continued onwards.

* * *

After walking along dark corridors and cold passageways and climbing up and down several flights of stairways, the two exorcists finally found themselves in a huge cavern. There were epic pictures carved onto all four walls, depicting ancient battles and warriors conquering lands. Right on the other side of the cavern, a large dragon statue approximately 50 feet tall stood majestically over something that looked like a massive steel door.

Moving closer to the door, Jade noticed that attached to the centre of it was a square wooden sliding puzzle made of 80 tiles, each bearing a black stroke on it. The black strokes were all positioned in an awkward angle. At one corner of the puzzle, a tile is missing.

This brings back memories, Jade thought. As a child, her father often brought home puzzles of all sort and made her and her brothers solve them. Should any one of them fail to solve the puzzle, all seven of the Gonghou siblings would be punished equally.

Noticing that Martosu was looking at the puzzle with a confused look on his face, Jade explained. "This is a sliding puzzle. We are suppose to unjumble the puzzle by only making moves which slide the tiles into the empty space. This, in turn, will reveal another empty space to slide another tile across. At the end of the whole trouble, we should have a word...i say a chinese character judging by the strokes. Do you understand?"

The guy looked far more confused than before. Frustrated, Jade began to demonstrate. First, she slid one tile down into the empty space in the corner. In place of the moved piece, she slid another one of the neighbouring tiles into the empty spot, thus combining the two strokes on the two pieces of tile which she had moved.

"See?" she asked him again.

"Oh! I get it," Martosu nodded excitedly. "So then, is there a way out of here or is this just another dead end?"

"I'm not very sure."

The both of them began to look around the cavern. They inspected every corner until something caught Jade's attention. "Look!"

Hidden beneath layers after layers of dust, the carvings on a large rock could barely be seen. Jade dusted the spider webs off the rocks and gasped in astonishment. Skilfully etched onto the rock was an ancient chinese script probably several centuries old. Being born into a family of scholars, Jade was able to decipher the message quickly. By then, her expression had changed; she was staring at the script with a grave look on her face. Turning towards Martosu, she struggled to get the words out.

"That puzzle is our only way out. And-" she began moving quickly towards the steel door. "-it's got a time limit meaning we only have an hour, from the second i moved the tiles earlier on, to solve it."

[aI]

((Dies I'm around now...))

Gabriel stepped out of the Earl's portal into a large lit cavern...At one end a double door stood with blood seeping underneath it's lintel..With a quirky smile Gabriel turned his head to see Dies and Kujaka sitting at the other end eating..

Eating and as gracefully as ever

He thought as he put a hand in his pocked and rested the other on the hilt of his sword and walked over towards Dies.

"Hello there brother..The Earl thought I might need to help you with your little problem....However"

Glancing back at the pool of blood which was seeping underneath the door he smiled again.

"I see that it wasn't a problem at all but rather a small bump in the road that you tread..I hope it was fun."

After hearing from Dies what the Earl had conveyed to him Gabriel nodded his head in mute approval and went over to the side of the cavern to stand in a shadow against the wall waiting for the Exorcists to come..

((Gabriel and Dies are now waiting together in the cavern..Hope you don't mind what I did with your character :p..If anyone enters whilst I'm not here Gabriel will back up Dies who has my permission to RP me if I'm not here..If i'm here...well I'll do it then ^^))

[sherenetms]

Jade placed her ear on the wooden puzzle. True enough, there was a soft ticking sound coming from the back of it. She slumped onto the ground, staring at the puzzle. Her mind began to work quickly as she tried to figure out the Chinese wording.

“What’s going to happen if we don’t solve this puzzle within an hour?”.

“Then this wretched place is going to start crumbling down and we’re going to be stuck in it for a very long time,” she replied, her eyes fixed on the puzzle. Her fingers moved over it, randomly sliding the tiles across any empty slot. Frustrated, she turned towards Martosu and briskly asked him. “Are you good at riddles?”

The guy merely raised an eyebrow and asked,” What riddle?”

Jade walked back to the large rock and said, "It's in chinese, but i'll roughly translate it for you." Running through the script, she read a portion of it aloud.

“It has the horns of a deer, the head of a camel, the eyes of a demon, the neck of a snake, the viscera of a tortoise, the claws of a hawk, the palms of a tiger, and the ears of a cow. And it hears through its horn, its ear being deprived of all power of hearing. It can fly among the clouds or hide in water. It can form clouds, can turn into water or fire, can become invisible or glow in the dark. It can bestow good fortune and prosperity, yet wreck calamity upon its enemies. It is the Guardian of all rivers, falls and seas. Find it and you shall unlock the puzzle.”

“Well?” Jade looked at Martosu. He absent-mindedly rubbed his chin.

“Hmm…riddles….I’m not particularly good at them, but this one does not seem to be that difficult.”

“I have a rough idea of what it is, but I’m not too sure….,” Jade pondered. “My guess is that it is a mystical creature, maybe a chimera….but I never knew that chimeras have the insides of a tortoise or the ears of a cow! And chimeras have the head of a lion, not a camel. It’s ridiculous!”

Martosu nodded in agreement. Jade continued,”The Guardian of all rivers, falls and seas……has the horns of a deer….the head of a camel……the eyes of a demon….”

“For some reason, this reminded me of the little dude’s pet Karichee-“ Both Martosu and Jade suddenly stood up, their eyes sparkling with joy. The two of them simultaneously said.

“Dragon.”
“Dragon.”

[Reco]

Martosu quickly went over to the door, looked at the puzzle attached to it but to him it was just random lines haphazardly painted on. He turned to Jade, "Do you think we are supposed to configure the Chinese character assigned to the word dragon? The clue would be worthless other wise."

Jade inspected the puzzle to see if the tiles could be arraigned into the modern Chinese character for dragon, "There is no way I can form the word dragon from these tiles."

"Language does evolve over time, think of an ancient character that used to mean dragon when this place was made."

"Exorcists!", a boisterous voice called out as fire blazed toward them from the right. They dodged the attack and turned to look at the enemy. It was a peculiar looking level 2 Akuma that was seven feet tall. Its large white head was cocked to the side on top of its small torso with two little arms and two stubby legs waving in the air. Three black holes in it's head formed two eyes and a mouth, contrasting to the pure white hue convering the rest of its body.

Martosu stared at the strange looking Akuma as it spoke, "Earl-sama wishes you to be gone from this place. No..he wishes you to be gone from existence itself!" The Akuma furiously waved its arms up toward to the fifty level 1 Akuma that appeared out of the blackness. "He gave me these to help aid in your passing. Now die!", he screeched.

The level one Akuma opened fire on the Jade and Martosu, making them quickly jump to the side behind a very large, solid pillar. "Even if they are absurdly weak, it might be difficult to continuously weave around their bullets long enough to destroy them," Martosu spoke to Jade.

Jade gave a suspicious little smile ,"There is no need to worry about that." She focused on her power then a split second later, one Celestial Blade formed within each level 1 Akuma. As they exploded, the level 2 Akuma grew furious,"Don't you understand?! You are supposed to die! There is no need for your kind in Earl-sama's new world!"

Martosu knew they didn't the time to be fooling around, "We need to get that door opened soon. So one of us needs to work on that while the other fights the Akuma alone."

[aI]

Gabriel stood out from the shadows with a sigh...This waiting was getting boring..Even for him maybe it was time to go find something to do...Nodding to the still eating Pair out the end of the cavern he strode over to the door opened it and walked out into the hallway carefully treading around the still corpse of the Chinese man whom was missing most of his head..

"He never cleans up after himself" he muttered as he wandered down the maze of corridors towards the sounds of Fighting which echoed up from the desolate caverns which populated the ground around here.

((Is on my way towards Jade & Martosu will be in the cavern next post..))

[Undying]

Chinese Mafia HQ

Jarlxle and Yase

"And so, Mister Hu He, I trust we have your full cooperation on this matter?" Yase eyed one of the serving girls sideways, and nodded in approval.

Of course, only an Akuma could realize that it wasn't a girl at all.

"With these new blueprints, my powers will grow further... I believe it a fair trade. My aid in exchange for this."

"Excellent," said Jarlaxle, who was seemingly focused on Hu He the entire time, apparently ignoring the man who was slow coming up behind him. "Your fort's defenses are astounding, I could hardly believe they can do this much..."

Hu He nodded with an unpleasant smile. "Yes, but first, I must make sure that what you say is true..." he clicked his fingers, and the man behind Jarlaxle jumped on him. Faster than almost anyone in the room could follow, Jarlaxle spun, grabbed the human's neck and smashed him against the floor, using the man's momentum for an added blow, smashing his face against the hard floor and breaking his neck in one swift motion.

"You were saying?" Yase stood up and pocketed his hands, while Hu He nodded his approval, clearly impressed.

"Excellent. You may do as you please with my defenses and men. My resources are at your disposal."

Nodding and bowing, Jarlaxle and Yase slowly walked away from the room.

"He's good." Yase mentioned.

"Agreed. But if I am right, then this Innocence I sold him will place him as a rather powerful adversary for that interesting Rave fellow."

"Rave? I thought you had no interest in renegades!"

"True, but unless I am much mistaken, Hu He made him come here. If this evil leader went himself to meet the renegade Exorcist, there must be something special about him."

"Such as what?" Yase lifted an eyebrow. Jarlaxle was definitely being mysterious.

"For one thing, he has an Akuma stuck to his right elbow. For another, his Innocence is unique and extremely powerful - there are virtually no Exorcist with his level of offensive power and versatility. But what's most important is that he faced against the old boss of this mafia, Enishi Seta."

"And what you just gave Hu He is...? What for?" Yase suspected he knew why, but he wanted to make sure he and Jarlaxle were thinking along the same lines.

"Yes. What you're thinking is true."

Yase snickered. That was definitely an ironic plan, and it should place the Exorcists at a dreadful situation.

[sherenetms]

Nodding in agreement, Jade rushed out from behind the pillar towards the steel door while Martosu proceeded to fighting the akumas. In the midst of all the attacks, Jade noticed something peculiar about the dragon statue. Every time an akuma fired a bullet at it or the door with the sliding puzzle, an invisible force would repel the bullet back at the akuma, killing it instantly.

The dragon statue and the door must be protected by some kind of charm. Nevertheless, it's doing a good job protecting itself and we won't have to worry about the puzzle getting shattered.

Running as fast as she could while dodging the bullets, Jade sent several blades flying towards the akumas passing by her. A loud explosion told her that her celestial blades have met their targets. She reached the door and began to unjumble the puzzle. The invisible force she saw earlier acted as a shield which prevented the akumas' attack from reaching her.

"Now, let's see....dragon," she mumbled to herself. "How did the ancient seal script form of the word dragon look like?"

Jade tried to recall the time when her father had taught her how to read the ancient seal script on a piece of scroll which dated back to the Qin Dynasty. When she could finally picture the form of the chinese character, she began the tedious task of solving the puzzle.

* * *

No, Jade. You should slide that one down and the other piece across, Jyusan-hime commented as Jade struggled to unjumble the last few pieces of tiles.

It has been more than half an hour since Jade started on the puzzle. By now, the ancient chinese character for dragon was almost complete, with only a few of its strokes still jumbled up. Behind her, the sound of swords clashing on a hard surface and loud crackles of electricity followed by explosions was heard as Martosu continued to fight the level two akuma.

"How much time is left?" Jade asked Jyusan-hime without lifting her gaze off the puzzle, her hands quickly sliding the tiles around.

Approximately 7 minutes.

"Gah!" She slid another tile into its respective position. Another five more tiles. Come on!

"Jade! Are you done with the puzzle?" Martosu called out to her while blocking an attack from the akuma.

"I'm almost done. I'm ALMOST DONE!" Another tile slid into place. Four more.

Jade, 5 minutes!

Jyusan-hime's voice startled Jade. Her hands began to tremble. The last four pieces were turning out to be a major problem as Jade could not slide them into their respective places without having to move the other tiles again. This is testing my patience.

Just do what you have to do and stop grumbling! You have only 4 more minutes, Jyusan-hime warned her. The ground was beginning to shake violently.

Stop yelling at me! You'll only distract me more.

I'm not yelling!

Yes, you are.

That piece is suppose to go up, not down. Jade slid another tile into its correct placing.

You're changing the topic.

You're being impossible.

Don't get me started.

3 more minutes!!


Dust and tiny rocks fell from the ceiling of the cavern as the ground continued to tremble, a sign that they are running out of time. Jade gritted her teeth in frustration. She moved one of the tiles across and another one vertically up before meeting another dead end. The fight taking place behind her wasn't helping either. Much to her annoyance, the ruckus was getting louder every second.

2 more minutes, Jade! Hurry! The mystical butterfly fluttered about anxiously.

"Okay....Okay....Calm down," Jade tried to relax. Her hands were trembling so much that it was difficult to properly slide the remaining tiles into their correct position.

1 minute!! Hurry!! I don't want to die!!

You're an innocence. You can't die unless a Noah destroys you.

But still-

Jade and Jyusan-hime were distracted halfway as a rather large rock fell in between them, missing Jade by by a few inches as she leaped sideways to avoid it.

"That was close."

"You alright, Jade?" Martosu yelled from across the cavern. The exorcist and the akuma were still engaged in a fierce battle despite the cavern's state.

"I'm f-fine," she answered meekly. She quickly got up and continued to solve the puzzle.

10 seconds!!

Jade slid another tile downwards.

9 seconds!!

She pushed one of the last two tiles upwards. Midway, it got stuck. She gave it a push but it refused to barge.

7 seconds!!

A drop of sweat trickled down her forehead. She slid the tile downward and attempted to slide the tile up again. The tile move further upwards this time, but was stuck just centimetres away from where it should be. She slid it downwards again.

5 seconds!! We're not going to make it, Jade!!

Before trying her luck again, she dusted the frame and removed the tiny little stones that was hindering the tile's movement.

Let's make a run for it while we still can!!

By then, the whole cavern was trembling violently, causing dust and rocks of all sizes to fall from the crumbling ceiling.

"Jade! Let's get the hell out of here! The whole cavern's falling down!" Martosu shouted. The akuma was laughing sinisterly. Unlike Martosu who was standing close to the dragon statue, he was hovering near the entrance of the cavern.

"Jade, we have to get out of here. We'll find another way out!" Martosu's voice was desperate.

"Seems like this is your end, Exorcists!!!" With that he disappeared into the darkness beyond. Just as he exited the cavern, a large boulder fell from the ceiling, blocking the entrance.

"Great! Now we'll never get out!" Martosu slammed his fist against the steel door in frustration.

Ignoring the butterfly as well as her fellow exorcist, Jade proceeded with her task. This time though, the tile slid upwards without getting stuck again. Satisfied, she moved on to the last remaining tile. It slid upwards into the last remaining empty space, thus completing the entire character. At that very moment, the dragon's eyes began to glow. The trembling slowly stopped and the metal door slid opened, revealing a brightly-lit passageway.

"We did it!!" Jade's voice echoed through the cavern.

Smiling at each other, Martosu and Jade walked through the door.


((If there's anything wrong, let me know. I'll edit my post.))

[aI]

Gabriel stood upside down on the ceiling of the Cavern watching intently the fighting that was going on below between the stupid Akuma and the Exorcist..Whilst this was going on the other was solving some sort of puzzle on the floor..

After seeing the Akuma leave and blocking the entrance and the industrial one on the floor with the tiles finally solve the puzzle and as they both walked through the now open door together he walked upside down across the ceiling dodging crumbling bits where the fall of the boulder hadn't done any good and then jumped through the doorway onto the ceiling on the other side.

Smiling he started whistling a little tune to the Exorcists below and waited for them to find him.

[Seff vi Britannia]

“Gone?”

Dies glanced casually at Kujaku. The two were lying down on the rock, staring up at the ceiling.

“Yup.”
The akuma turned to him, smiling. He cleanly shovelled the rest of the chow mein into his mouth, before burping slightly.

“You know what I’m planning?”

“Yup.”

Dies grinned. Ever since he’d regained his memories, a greater bond seemed to be shared between the two, to the point that Kujaku could usually interpret Dies’ scheming with a great degree of accuracy.

“Eurgh.”
The Noah gazed upwards thoughtfully. The Earl was screwing round with him again. Changing the mission at every turn, forcing him to move in queer directions. Placing a new piece – Gabriel, on the board. No doubt to make sure that Dies followed the Earl’s objectives. But with Gabriel having left to meet his own ends, it gave Dies free reign…

“You know, Kujaku. I imagine that if all the exorcists and all the Noah were lined up a chess board, with God controlling the white pieces and the Earl controlling the black…”

“Hmm?”

“Heh. I get the feeling I’d be one of the black pawns.”

“Porns? I don’t think you’ve read enough to actually turn into one, Dies…”

“No, not like that. P-A-W-N-S. You’ve never played chess?”

“Nope.”

“Me neither. But I know how the game works. The pawn is generally seen as the weakest piece. But the thing with the pawn is… if he’s used right…”

The Noah stood up, stretching himself. The Red-Haired Female, Hu He’s bodyguard, stood idly by his vacant throne, looking at the pair with one eye, keeping the other fixated on the door.

“He turns into a powerful piece. The Quuen. A piece with ability to move anywhere on the board, in any direction. Able to instantly escape and present danger. This is what the Earl has underestimated.”

Dies pulled his sword from the sheath on his back.

“You know, I’m only doing this because he doesn’t want me to.”

“I know.”

[Reco]

Martosu walked along the corridor with Jade when he started to hear a faint sound travel through the corridor. He continued to walk along to see if Jade would notice the sound as well but when she continued to act as if nothing was amiss he was forced to inform her. He stopped walking and called out to Jade when she continued on, "Do you not hear anything at all?"

Jade stopped and turned to look at him, "No. Did the ruckus you and the Akuma were making damage your hearing?"

Martosu was slightly taken aback by her response. Before he could reply the sound got louder, loud enough that he could now figure out that it was whistling.

But who would be whistling in a place like this?

"Surely you can hear that whistling now." Martosu noticed she was no longer looking directly at him, but at the space that was behind him. Martosu turned his head to see a man in white walking upside down on the ceiling.

The whistling stopped.

[aI]

((Schweet stuff..))

Gabriel stopped whistling and looked at the two exorcists who to his own view were the ones walking upside down on the ceiling whilst he traversed a rather bumpy and uneven floor.

"Salutations neighbors" he said lifting a hand in greeting..."It displeases one such as the Earl that there are loose ends wandering around..Not to mention my brother likes his alone time and I do so enjoy watching his handy work..It is therefor with displeasure that I must inform you of the problem which lies in your path....."

saying so Gabriel walked over to the wall and stepped onto it and began to descend to the floor below him.

"A sojourn with me..Or death....The choice I leave to you" he finished pulling his Sword from a small white patch of nothingness beside his hand and stepped onto the floor he bowed to the pair and waited for an answer.

[Reco]

Martosu looked at the man, "I believe I cannot fully agree on ether of those choices." He withdrew both of his swords out of th