The Chinese Bellflower [Filler Arc]

[Undying]

Please note that this is a filler arc for Jade (sherenetms' character) and Dinnin (my character) only. This is near the Asian HQ.

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

The stark plane glittered slightly in the moonlight, the sand losing the heat it generated during the day quickly to the chill of the night. The shadows seemed to dance around, mesmerizing.

Suddenly one shadow shot out into a moonlit patch, a long, thin line of blackness within a sea of silvery light. The shadow bulged and stretched upwards, leaving the ground and slowly reformed into the hulking form of Dinnin the Akuma, his green eyes shining through the desert.

After the long annoyance with the Exorcists, the angry Akuma decided he had had enough. Noah, Exorcists, he just wanted to kill something and enjoy it, throughly. The Millennium Eye burned his skin through his armor, but he was so used to it he didn't even notice it anymore.

He looked around slowly. The plain was dark and empty of life, and for now, that's exactly what he wanted. Stupid Noah annoying him, he mused.

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

Elsewhere...

The golem beeped and frantically beat its wings around, trying to get Jade's attention to transmit its message.

"Oooh, shut up already..." she mumbled, and then got out of her warm makeshift bed.

"Hello, Jade-chan!" Bak Chan, the leader of the Asian HQ, called through the phone merrily.

"Screw you," she muttered, then louder "what do you want, don't you know what time is it?"

"Oh, well, yes. But, you see..."

Jade placed her palm on her face, annoyed. Then something Bak said made her lift her head. "What did you say?"

"I said, Jade, that there is a large group of Exorcists that's headed to the Asian HQ. They will need a guide, and that's why we're sending you to meet with the groups and guide them quickly to the HQ.

((Shere takes it from here))

[sherenetms]

"This is bad...," Jade mutters to herself. It has been a while since Bak-chan hung up the phone, but his voice was repeatedly playing itself in her mind.

"I said, Jade, that there is a large group of Exorcists that's headed to the Asian HQ. They will need a guide, and that's why we're sending you to meet with the groups and guide them quickly to the HQ."

To have such a large group of Exorcists from the main HQ heading the same way could only mean that something big and dark is coming. And whatever it is, Jade had a feeling that it is going to be full of bloodshed and deaths.

"Arr...how inconvenient," she raised her arm and gave herself a soft slap on the cheek. With the constant increase in the number of Akumas lately, sleep has been scarce. There was hardly any time for rest. And just when she thought she could treat herself to a nice warm bed, even if it was merely a simple makeshift bed, she has been entrusted with another mission, this time involving some social service.

"A guide? Can't you just assign a finder or something to do this?" Jade almost yelled through the phone.
"Oh, come on, Jade. Think of it as being a tourist guide. It'll be fun!!" the annoying supervisor of the Asian HQ had insisted.
"A tourist guide? Are you INSANE?? I rather fight a fire-breathing akuma with long-scaly tails-"
"You mean a dragon."
"A fire-breathing akuma."
"A dragon."
"Oh, whatever, Bak-chan! I rather fight that than do this." Jade rolled her eyes. "Like I said earlier, can't you just assign a finder to do that?"
"I'm afraid that's not possible," Bak-chan's voice was grim. "The Exorcists from the main HQ aren't the only heading this way, Jade."
"What?! Wait a sec....you mean....they are coming too?" she gripped the receiver tightly.
"That's what i believe. And probably a whole lot of Akumas too. That's why we rather send an Exorcist than a finder."

Jade let out a sigh.

Great, she thought. "First, i was offered to guide some Exorcist. And now i got Akumas thrown into the deal as well."

Tonight, sleep would be far away.

[Undying]

Dinnin was walking, enjoying the cold of the desert - he wasn't affected by it, though he still felt it - when he noticed several lights ahead. Grinning, he walked forward even faster, nearing the lights.

A group of twenty people, probably traders, were sitting around a fire, eating and drinking. It was a caravan - a phenomenon passing in this day and age, but these were still traveling merchants.

Dinnin would have not cared for them, if not for the appearance of a woman in the circle. Dressed in flimsy pink robes and very athletic, the feature that made Dinnin's eyes widen in rage was her long, black hair waving with her movements as she moved around, stretching and dancing.

Dinnin reached for his sword, drool falling from his lips. It was time... for killing.

A while later, he finished ripping the woman limb from limb, he sheathed his bloodied sword back into his back, and moved on, intending to find a place as far as possible from the Noah.

[sherenetms]

It was barely daylight. The stars were still gleaming brightly in the western skies, and in the eastern side, a red horizon was slowing making its appearance from the range of mountain tops.

"Hurry up, Zihui!" Jade's voice echoed through the valley as she made her way down a steep slope. Zihui, the blonde finder who was assigned to assist Jade in the previous mission and had since been stuck to her, was facing some difficulties descending the rocky hillside.

"Er... Ms..Ms-s.Gonghou?" his voice trembled a little as he tried to climb down the slope. "I think i might need a little... -"

Jade, who was already at the bottom of the slope, paid the poor finder no attention. Little was she distracted by his constant whinings as she surveyed the vast desert that stood out before them.

Earlier that night, they had been camping under the leaves of the Chinese red pines in the Yousong forest. Merely minutes after receiving the message from Bak-chan, Jade had already cleared the campsite and moved westward in an effort to catch up with the group of exorcists heading to the Asian HQ. Having constantly being assigned to missions in such areas, Jade no longer need a map or a guide to move around. She know the lands and valleys well enough, including the hidden caves and short cuts. In just a few hours, they had managed to cover a distance of several leagues by cutting through valleys via caves and taking short cuts. And now, after travelling for almost 4 hours straight, they have reached the wide desert plains that seperate the middle east countries from the borders of china.

The path hereforth shall be extremely dangerous, Jade thought. On such a bare land, they would have very little chance to escape unseen if attacked, let alone hide.

A sudden scream from the back accompanied by several rocks falling and a slight land slide indicated that the finder had already made his way down. Brushing off the dust from her midnight blue hair and travelling cloak, she turned behind and gave Zihui a killer stare which would have pierced right through him had he not quickly turned away. Making sure that the finder clearly understood her "stop-being-an-idiot" message, she continued her journey down another slope.

[Undying]

Dinnin continued walking, rage boiling in his veins. He hated the mere sight of long black hair. One look at it reminded him of her... the cheating, annoying slut. She said she loved him...

He shook his head and removed those thoughts. Useless. The Millennium Eye glinted in the pale light of the morning, and he suddenly noticed a ruined town in the distance. Several stone buildings, a few remaining walls of buildings and a dry fountain in the town center.

Dinnin approached the fountain and sat down, looking up at the paling skies. He wondered what will the new day bring.

[sherenetms]

It wasn't long before both Jade and Zihui made it down the hillsides. By then, the sun was already rising up the eastern skies, bathing the desert plains with a warm soft morning light. Knowing well that they would never make it across the desert in time before the sun fully rise up, Jade searched the barren land for some shelter or anything that would provide them with some shades.

Not far off from where they currently stood, Jade spotted what appeared to be a ruined town. With its damaged walls, partially destroyed rooftops, broken pillars and dried up fountain, it must have been abandoned for a very long time. Still, they needed shelter, and that town will serve just as well as any other towns in the heat of the morning sun.

Signalling to Zihui, Jade began walking towards the ruined town. Just then, she felt a sudden tingling sensation on both her wrists. Innocence?

Jade brushed off the thought immediately. Could her innocence be trying to tell her something, or is it just the heat of the morning sun playing with her senses?

[Undying]

Dinnin lifted his head, staring around. His thoughts were unfocused until just a second ago, when something passed across the edges of his consciousness.

Innocence?

He looked around and spotted two figures walking into the city. A man and...

Dinnin's eyes widened in rage. Two in one day...

A black haired woman, tall and very attractive, walked behind the other figure - Dinnin dismissed it with a glance - and she had Innocence on her.

And Exorcists, a woman, with long black hair. Dinnin grinned evilly. He melted into the shadows and slid around the edges of a building, appearing as a dark spot above the Exorcist. He slowly left the shadows realm and fell straight on top of the Finder, splitting him in half with a single stroke.

"Hello, Exorcist!"

[sherenetms]

Jade was walking silently. All throughout their journey into the ruined town, the silver bracelets on both her wrists had been vibrating violently. But her attention had been focused elsewhere. Something malevolent....something dark....an evil presence is in that very same town as them.

Zihui, as ignorant as a child can be, quickened his pace at the sight of the town. After hours of walking, climbing, abseiling and more walking though the roughest terrains he has ever seen, the ruined town looked almost as welcoming as the new teahouse in the the town of Kiyou.

"At last, Ms.Gonghou, a place to rest!!" he said joyfully as he walked passed Jade. The Exorcist snorted. What an idiot, she thought.

Just then, in a split second, something dark felled from above them right onto the eager and obviously unsuspecting finder. He felled to the ground. Blood was pouring out of his body like an endless stream, drenching his fair golden hair in crimson red.

Jade, stunned by the attack, found herself face to face with an akuma. With horns on his forehead and a deep blue hide for skin, his cold green eyes sent shivers down her spine. No, the voice in her head said. It is more like a beast.

"Hello, Exorcist, " he said, his voice echoing through her mind.

Recovering from the shock, Jade made her first move. She ran swiftly down one side of the town centre, intending to distance herself as much as possible from the akuma. Bringing her arms together in front of her, her voice instinctly called out, "Innocence, activate!"

The pair of silver bracelets on her wrists suddenly gleamed blue. The carvings on them started shining brightly, forming a ring of glowing ancient chinese characters and mystical symbols around each of Jade's wrist. Making sure that the akuma was a safe distance away from her, she stopped running and turned to face her opponent. Focusing her energy into the innocence while maintaining her attention in his direction, she raised her right arm and brought it downwards in a split second as if cutting the thin air. Her voice thundered through the entire town. "Celestial Waterblade, unleash your wrath!"

A shower of glowing, translucent blades rained upon the akuma, causing the ground to tremble under its attack.

[Undying]

Dinnin blinked as the Exorcist ran away, and then sent an attack of some unknown nature at him. Laughing maniacally, he simply walked through the attack, ignoring the damage. This woman had no idea what she was up against, obviously.

He moved towards her, just slightly faster, and placed his sword on his shoulder, grinning all the while.

"What, that all? Come on! Show me what you got, woman!" With the final word he charged forward, lifting his sword for a single, powerful strike.

[sherenetms]

A single drop of sweat trickled down her forehead. The Celestial Waterblades did the akuma no harm. Laughing, he continued to walk towards her. He walked right through my attack without getting hurt? SOmething tells her this wasn't going to be an easy battle. Her Celestial Waterblades could not harm him.....and judging from his appearance and build, a close up fight would definitely mark her end. He's got to have some kind of weakness, she thought anxiously.

Glancing from side to side, a tall and rather large buidling approximately 20 feet tall came into her view. The stone building looked old, but compared to the other buildings in the town, it was one of those few that had managed to retain its structure. Grinning, Jade quickly deviced a plan. Without further delaying, she swiftly made her way towards the old building.

[Undying]

Dinnin raised an eyebrow. Running again. Stupid woman... could she not stand there and wait for him to kill her?

He followed her, walking in a slow and steady gait, shoulders rolling. He showed supreme confidence, knowing full well that the woman could not beat him. Though her blade damaged him somewhat, it was nowhere near enough to bring down the almighty Akuma. Foolish woman...

"I will kill you yet, woman!" He shouted, laughing.

[sherenetms]

The soft breeze caressed her face gently as she ran speedily towards the old building. Without stopping, she turned her head behind and saw that the akuma was once again following her trail, his cold laughter piercing her ears.

As much as Jade hated running away from a battle, she understood clearly that being chivalrous and gutsy alone will not help her win against a strong opponent like that akuma. If a direct attack doesn't kill him, something else has to, she thought.

Entering the building, she quickly scanned through its interior. There was a wide hallway just beyond the entrance. On both sides of the hallway, small staircases led the way up to the second floor. On the opposite side, a huge archway covered in thick layers of dusts stood alone, the room beyond it dark and unwelcoming. Without hesitating, she quickly but carefully made her way up one of the staircases and onto the second level, her light steps hardly making any sounds on the old wooden floors. She silently slipped passed the many rooms, their doors hanging ajar, and into a narrow corridor before making a sharp turn into a large room where she disappeared behind an array of of gigantic shelves covered in spider webs and layers after layers of dust.

She found a hiding place behind one particularly enormous shelf filled with books and scrolls. Crouching down on the floor, she waited silently for her enemy. "Just wait a see, my little friend," she whispered softly, her lips twitching into a sly grin. "The game has just begun."

[Undying]

The woman entered a building, probably intending to hide inside. Dinnin rolled his eyes. When will they ever learn. Every time it was the same. Fight, run, hide, die.

He itched for something new... something different. But regardless, he will not leave until this woman died. He continued walking towards the building, not in any hurry. She had nowhere to run, now. He got near the exit, and waked in.

Time to play cat and mouse.

[sherenetms]

The creaking sound made by heavy footings on the old wooden floor reached Jade's ears. He's here.

Slowly and silently, Jade backed towards an opened window beside the bookshelf. Peering over the edge, she gripped the window frame and pulled herself up on the sill. She carefully turned back and peered at the doorway through the small gaps in the bookshelf. Raising one hand upwards, her lips mouthed the words "Celestial Waterblades". The translucent glowing blue blades of her innocence once again made their appearance, this time hovering silently and out of sight near the doorway, their elegant sharp edges pointing towards it. Then, she waited, her ears straining to pick up any sound of footsteps.

[Undying]

Dinnin slowly moved around, trying to discern where the Exorcist headed. A line of footprints through the dust clearly showed towards a door, so Dinnin turned to it. He was used to side-door ambushes so he simply charged forward, swinging his sword and trying to splinter the door. It gave in and shattered into tiny pieces while Dinnin thundered into the room.

[sherenetms]

The sound of footsteps slowly making their way towards the door kept Jade on her toes. She was ready, and eager, to execute her plans.

For a moment, everything was quiet.

Suddenly, the door shattered into a thousand pieces from the force of a giant swinging sword. The raging akuma rushed in, his muscular arm swinging the sword madly around. Without hesitating, Jade uttered, "Soul Bind, seal away."

A sudden knotted sensation tugging at her heart tells her that the innocence was working its power on the akuma, although not for long. Immediately, she directed the hovering blades downward on the akuma. Dust and pieces of shredded papers and splinters flew upward as the wooden floor began to give way to the attack. Not wanting to stay for the aftermath, she jumped out through the opened window. Halfway through mid-air, she turned her body and directed yet another shower of Celestial Waterblades on the entire building, this time focusing every bit of her energy on them. The heavy rain of mystical blades pierced through the stone structure from every single side. Landing gracefully from her jump, she quickly ran for cover as the entire building collapsed, forcing great clouds of dust to rise up from the sandy ground.

[Undying]

Dinnin was steps away from the woman when the attack came in, full powered and immediate. He was caught in the bind for an instant, but could probably break free within instants.

But before he could... another attack slammed into him, finding the dents in his armor and slashing into his internals. On its own, the attack wasn't much, but the floor beneath him gave away. He fell through...

And experienced a sudden Deja Vu sensation as the building fell on top of him. These Exorcists had this annoying habit of dropping buildings on poor Akuma, he surmised.

Buried beneath a few hundred kilograms of wood and stone, any human and even some Akuma would be finished.

Not Dinnin. With a single heave, he smashed through the debris and extracted an arm out. Then he smashed his other arm through and pulled himself up, easily extracting himself out of the rubble.

"Bah, you Exorcists and your home dropping habits..." he growled through gritted teeth as he brushed a few scrapes from his skin. He was wounded in some places, including an annoying puncture into his lung, but he ignored those wounds. Berserker and Akuma, he was nearly immune to pain and wounds.

He scanned the area for the Exorcist, but could not see her in the dust. "Oh, come out come out, Exorcist! Enough with this game! Let me cut you!"

One thing about that woman intrigued him. Unlike so many others, she resisted and battled. And while normally he enjoyed a little resistance, that scum was proving to be a worthy adversary! Maybe he would battle her at full power. She was certainly worthy of that.

[sherenetms]

Damn. Frustration filled every bit of her soul. On a normal basis, any akuma ranging from level ones to level twos would have been destroyed. But that one akuma.....that one particular akuma simply wouldn't die!

That bloodthirsty beast is still standing after all these attacks...what kind of akuma is that?

Hiding behind a partially rundown house in a distance from the collapsed building, she heard the akuma's voice booming through the entire town.

"Oh, come out come out, Exorcist! Enough with this game! Let me cut you!"

Great. Jade slumped onto the sandy ground. After the previous attack, she no longer have enough energy to fight, run or to devise another plan. But she wasn't defeated yet, and she has absolutely no plan on giving in to the monstrous akuma either. But how exactly is she going to defeat him, she had absolutely no idea.

The sun had now risen high up in the sky. In the immense heat, Jade unbuttoned the collar of her Exorcist uniform. Her fingers touched the cold and smooth surface of a gem. Looking downwards, she held it loosely in her palm. A simple but stunning pendant stared back at her, the ruby sealed in the middle shone brightly from the blazing sunlight. Yes, the promise.

"I haven't forgotten, Shuuei," she said, suddenly feeling energized and very determined to take this akuma down. Her grip tightened on the ruby pendant. "I won't forget, I will never, never ever forget."

With that, she got up and started moving further away from the destroyed building. He may not like this game of cat and mouse, but he's going to have to bear with it until she devise another plan.

[Undying]

Dinnin rolled his eyes. For one second she's fighting like a powerful warrior, the next she's back to running again, just like a woman. Hefting his sword he ran after her, intending to finish the fight as soon as possible.

[sherenetms]

Jade quickened her steps as she realised that her adversary is now following her at a swift pace. Buildings after buildings shot passed her as she made her way to the centre of the ruined town. As she ran, she sent a few of her Celestial Waterblades flying backwards at the akuma and some into the old structures, causing them to fall onto the streets and slow him down. Spotting the dried up fountain that she saw earlier up ahead, she stopped in her tracks abruptedly and turned behind to face the akuma.

"Let's get this over with."

[Undying]

Dinnin rolled his eyes as several of those glinting blades hit the buildings around him and caused them to collapse, blocking his way. He lifted his foot and kicked the rabble a few times, pushing it away so forcefully it crumbled further, allowing for easy passage.

He continued walking brusquely, following the Exorcist, when noticed that she stopped and turned.

"So, you're fighting me now? Finally! Don't disappoint me, Exorcist!"

[sherenetms]

This better be good. Jade had an idea, but to implement it, she will need to risk everything she's got.

Standing firmly on the ground, she repositioned the invisible shield hovering around her body in front of her. Pulling another one of her Soul Binds on the akuma , she directed the shield forcefully onto him, hoping that the collision would daze him a little. Without stopping to see the effect of the collision, she continued to direct the shield against him, pushing him backwards until his body was trapped between the rubble and the shield. Using this one golden opportunity to target the akuma's weaker points, she commanded another rain of Celestial Waterblades to penetrate through the side of his body where the armour had failed to protect. This time, though, the attack came through more organised and consistant. The translucent blue blades constantly pierced and slashed through the same points on his body like a fast-flowing stream, a method Jade hoped would damage and weaken the akuma, as the invisible shield held him tightly against the rubble, limitting his movements.

[Undying]

Dinnin stumbled backwards from the force of the blow, and just as he made to move forward, a rain of blades rammed into his sides, hurting him - but without spilling any blood.

Roaring the attack away, he charged forward, intent on killing the woman. He hated to admit he was impressed by her; not many had an attack that could so easily penetrate his armor and hurt his internals.

He enjoyed the pain, relishing each moment as jolts shot across his dark soul. How enjoyable it was, that sensation, so primal, so satisfying. Nothing could hurt one who enjoyed pain, but his joy would only be complete when he sword cleaved the woman in two.

The time for killing has come.

[sherenetms]

The attack successfully weaken the akuma. He staggered,....and got straight back to his initial plans of ripping her apart with his sword.

"Once again, he prevails," she said sarcastically before swiftly making her down the to opposite side of the fountain.

The fountain may have dried up, but the splendour of its architecture needed no stream of sprouting water in order to look alive. It was skilfully carved from stone, with many designs and pictures depicting courageous acts of warriors in a battlefield, and adorned with pieces of colourful ceramics. A statue of a horseman receiving a scroll from a flying eagle stood majestically on top of the fountain. The style of fashion in which the horseman was clothed tells Jade that this landmark must have been built ages ago to mark a historical event.

"Well, sad to say, but this is your end, Mr. Horseman." Jade sent a single Waterblade flying through the base of the fountain. Immediately, the whole structure begin to tumble down. Seeing that the akuma is now reaching the centre of the town and is quickly closing up the gap between him and the falling fountain, she sent another array of Waterblades flying at the structure. Immediately, the horseman, the eagle, the base, everything exploded into a million pieces. Tiny shards of ceramic and sharp pieces of rocks flew towards the akuma as clouds of dust flew into his view. Hoping that such a move would help slow him down, she aimed for his vital parts, his neck, chest, stomach..... Immediately, a continuous rain of Celestial Waterblades targetted themselves there.

[Undying]

Dinnin charged straight into the cloud of dust, not slowing in the least. He ran as fast as possible, still heading in the same direction. Hefting his blade, he prepared to swing it as soon as he left the cloud of dust.

He increased the length and tempo of his steps, stepping over the fountain and kicking straight through the short fence that separated the pool from the street. Exiting the cloud of dust - he could feel a few of the waterblades that have pierced through his internals, but he didn't care.

Blasting through the wall of dust, he saw the Exorcist a short distance away, and charged forward, bringing his blade to bear and swinging around quickly, then slashing with an uppercut and another straight across cut, all the while stepping and pressing forward on the Exorcist.

[sherenetms]

Damn it. Jade's plan to slow the akuma down and then attack his vital points came through as a complete failure. Not only did the explosion failed to slow him down, most of her Celestial Waterblades missed their targets, causing her adversary only a slight damage.

As the dust cleared off, the first thing that came into her view was the sharp edge of the akuma's sword, slashing the air in front of her. It missed her by a tiny milimeter. Shit, he got here so fast! Recovering from the first assault, she tried to dodge the second one. As she flipped sideways, she felt the blade ripped through her left sleeve, slashing her arm in the process.

Jade gripped her left arm tightly. The cut wasn't serious but the never-ending flow of blood could weaken her tremendously. Cursing the fact that her opponent is still very much alive, she speedily distanced herself from him and ran towards one of the old partially collapsed buildings. She jumped and grabbed onto the top of the wall before heaving herself up single-handedly. Being light weight and slender, running on rooftops and walls would provide Jade with a better chance of escaping the mad akuma.

[Undying]

Dinnin followed the woman, trying to cut her all along, but when she jumped up on the roof he stopped. Though he would have enjoyed a rooftop fight immensely, the buildings were crumbling and old, and he realized that his great weight would make him fall right through.

So then, what to do... suddenly he thought, why not climb the roof? It would make a wonderful ending to this woman, impressive as she was. The thought wasn't his own, though, and Dinnin wondered what made him think it.

A glance to his chest showed him the truth. The Millennium Eye glowed softly, and Dinnin understood it was communicating with him by imparting mental images into his consciousness. Strange. Jarlaxle didn't mention anything about it being such a thing.

Regardless, though, it was right about one thing. He really wanted to kill her now. She impressed him, and since she was a dark-haired woman, that should have been impossible. He lifted his hand and smashed it into the wall of the wall, fingers digging in. Then he lifted himself up, brought the other hand up and grabbed the roof, then climbed up over the roof.

As he suspected, the aged structure creaked dangerously under him, but it held. Seeing the woman, Dinnin grinned madly and charged forward, slashing with his sword.

[sherenetms]

Climbing up onto higher rooftops, Jade turned back to find her adversary grinning at her. As she suspected, the akuma had followed her right to the top of the buildings.

Now that is one pure idiot, she gleefully thought.

He wasn't far behind, but neither was he close enough to attack her once more like he did previously. Glancing around, she realised that this is her one and only golden opportunity to strike him down considering how the odds are now against him. On an old and relatively weak structure, his movements would be limited, and he could be easily attacked in close-ranged battles.

Swfitly running along the rooftop of a rather tall building, she made sure that the akuma was following her closely. She jumped over a hole in the roof and noticing that the narrow rooftop was coming to an end, she increased her speed....and dropped downwards suddenly, disappearing over the edge. Just after the fall, she gripped onto a wooden beam that was dangerously left hanging outwards.

Despite her injured arm, she started to swing from beam to beam until she reached the hole which she had earlier jumped across. She peered through it and saw the akuma coming. He jumped across the hole and then stopped abruptedly at the edge, no doubt searching for her.

In a split second, she pulled herself up from the hole and appeared behind the akuma. She jumped and grabbed the back of his neck while directing a single but nevertheless, powerful Celestial Waterblade through the gap in his armour, plunging it downwards through his heart.

[Undying]

Dinnin gurgled as a blade pierced his internals, sliding down through his throat and into his heart. That woman! He extended an arm, grabbed her and pulled her towards him, intending to sever her head from her body. Unfortunately, the aged building gave away and they fell down. Dinnin growled as his internals burned by the touch of the Innocence-wrought weapon, but preserved. He pulled her towards him, intending to keep her alive just long enough to kill her himself.

The Millennium Eye, recognizing Innocence in its vicinity, had other plans. Created in ages past by the Earl as means to both take over humans and as a key to restrain the mad Nero, the sentient being embodied the Earl's deep-seated hatred for Innocence, along with the Noah's dark memories and influence. Glowing brightly, it began to emit heat and burn the Akuma and the Exorcist - after all, Akuma were merely weapons of slaughter; expendable, so the Earl didn't care if they died.

Dinnin felt the pain keenly, although it also helped him as it destroyed the Innocence weapon inside his body by sheer presence, along with the desperate woman's loss of power and blood. He realized that the artifact intended to burn the woman and him, as well. Beside the fact that he was intent on self-preservation, Dinnin also demanded the right to kill dark-haired women solely to himself. So what options did he have?

Apparently only one. He melted into the shadows, dragging the woman with him. At first he couldn't believe his eyes, but the Exorcist actually followed him into that realm. An impossible feat - only very few creatures could enter this realm, Akuma and Noah included - but she was there, undeniably.

As always, the Eye was shut down within the Shadows. Nothing - Innocence, Dark Matter - could work within that realm. That was the price to pay for transit there. For Dinnin, though, it hardly mattered. Physically powerful and a mighty warrior, his abilities with Dark Matter were only a secondary side to his fighting.

"Interesting," he said holding the now-unconscious woman roughly. He could kill her now, bite her neck out and drink her blood, or take the less brutal way of simply severing her head from her body. But she had put up a wonderful fight, and her attacks weren't weak.

And now, she followed him into the realm of shadows, which should be an impossible feat for a human without special abilities.

Despite his berserk nature, Dinnin was not a fool. Perhaps it was the long time spent with Jarlaxle, something of the other's cunning and calculating personality rubbed off on Dinnin. He would keep her alive. Killing her later would not be a problem anyway.

Sliding back into the realm of humans, he noted that the Eye was dull and powerless. Ignoring it and the searing pain in his insides, he placed the woman carefully on top of the rabble and slid back into the real of shadows, intending to leave. He was wounded and weakened now, and besides, killing a downed opponent was boring.

But he will keep watch over this woman. An interesting specimen, she was.

[sherenetms]

((You are freaking me out, Undying))

The blazing sun blinded Jade for a moment. She blinked. What happened?

Then, it all came to her. Flashes of images appeared in her mind like a movie playing on its own. She had tried to stab the akuma with her Celestial Waterblade, which went straight through his heart. Somehow though, he wasn't dead. He had grabbed and hit her. The next thing she knew, she was already here, lying on the rubble.

"Damn," Jade started cursing. She was feeling dazed. Her injured left arm had stopped bleeding, but it felt numb. Worse, she felt pain jolting through her entire body. Pushing herself up into a sitting position, she looked around warily. The akuma was nowhere to be seen. Dead?

"No, he can't be." Something tells her that the monstrous being is still very much alive. And that she will not be this lucky the next time they meet.

She got up slowly, her whole body aching. The sun was now high up in the sky, its heat scorching the land dry. She staggered and struggled to walk. At the entrance of the town, she came across Zihui's dead body. The finder's eyes were still wide open, his expression was that of a person in shock. A single tear rolled down her cheeks.

Zihui. The finder had been annoying, irritating and practically useless. But he was a good companion, kepting the mood lively at any given time. When the night is dark and silent, he would tell stories about his family back in his homeland and how he longed to return to them. When Jade is angry, he would tell her jokes and perform amusing tricks. When she needed to rant, he would listen keenly, even if it meant mental abuse. And now the poor guy's dead. She closed his eyes and muttered some prayers.

Suddenly, a beeping sound coming from underneath his coat caught her attention. As an exorcist, Jade knew this sound all too well. The golem was attempting to free itself from the finder's coat. As it flew out from the collar, Jade caught it in her right hand. She immediately contacted the Asian HQ.

((I'll leave everything to Undying from here.))

[Undying]

"Jade? Jade? We've been trying to reach you for a while now, what happened? Well, never mind, you can tell me later. There's a change of orders, we need you here, ASAP." Bak sounded rather hurried and distressed, so Jade began heading back to the HQ, wondering what happened.

-Arc end-

Jade will now be in the HQ as this Filler takes place before you all arrived there.

EXP gains:
Jade: 3
Dinnin: 3