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       #Post#: 1457--------------------------------------------------
       Aki [2-3]
       By: Chente Date: January 14, 2022, 8:56 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       [Akinator]
       Len has joined the RP.
       ((OOC)) Mary :: The sun beamed down through the window onto Aki
       as his eyes fluttered. The brim of his gi was slightly torn, he
       had some blood on his lips  and he felt very tired, but
       otherwise he was alright.
       Invalid Command! I'm calling the CIA on you! (pla)
       Aki inhaled : the first breath of non-fabricated in two long,
       long years - the longest of his life. A mere four months failed
       to convey the level of fatigue manifest on his form - on
       calloused, scarred limbs - but he'd succeeded, at greater a cost
       than any other.
       Aki :: No time to waste..
       Aki sat up, glancing to his palm - the energy he'd torn from
       Pandemonium's frame, derivative of Akasha herself. What did he
       do with this..?
       Aki presses off of the ground in the moment to follow, wasting
       no time. He'd decided in an instant what he wanted to do : and
       that was to seek the guidance of one who'd directly taken a blow
       at the expense of his and Pandora's actions : the Chieftain
       himself.
       Cercis has joined the RP.
       ((OOC)) Mary :: As Aki heads out of the building, he hears
       gunshots in the distance. Wonder what thats about?
       Aki snaps his attention to the distance : gunshots. Distant,
       too. How distant? His senses had been honed to a fine point in
       his training : so where, pray tell, did the noise come from -
       and how urgent a matter was it to actually pull him away from
       his focus on the energy in his grasp?
       ((OOC)) Mary :: How urgent was it, Aki did not know. It sounded
       atleast a few dozens yalms away.
       Aki noted the location, before setting off toward the
       Chieftain's residence with a breathtaking pace. He wanted to :
       he really did, but there were some things he simply could not
       play around with, curiosity be damned. If he was fast enough, he
       may even be able to go find out what it was after a convers
       Aki ation with the Chieftain.
       ((OOC)) Mary :: On his way, Aki saw Ez similarly heading towards
       the Chieftain's Abode. The two shared eye contact.
       Aki nods, and then accelerates. Ez could probably sense it.
       ((OOC)) Mary :: Aki heads off as Ez stares for a moment. "..Aki?
       He's back?"
       ((OOC)) Mary :: [Chieftain's Abode]
       Aki takes a shortcut through the districts, vaulting over hut
       and stone alike with a peerless step. His grip, firm, tightens
       ever-more as he felt himself drawing nearer and nearer : the
       weight of the life it'd taken settling in.
       ((OOC)) Mary :: Reaching it, Aki would realize that he had
       rarely ever come here. Ichor's palace was quite a traditional
       area; the guards for it were even required to dress in the old
       school ritual gear: deer head mask, loincloth and affects. How
       they all continued doing this during winter, Aki had no idea.
       ((OOC)) Mary :: Nonetheless, following the torches, Aki reached
       Icabard's abode in the palace grounds. When a meeting wasnt
       under way, this should be where one would find him.
       Aki slows his pace somewhat, advancing - and only then taking a
       moment to overlook the mass of divinity tucked away in his
       grasp.
       Alicianrone Sage has plugged out!
       Len has left the RP.
       ((OOC)) Mary :: Aki reaches the front door to the abode, adorned
       with traditional horns on the edges to add that fierecesome
       decorative feeling.
       Aki rattled one of the horned sets to indicate his presence
       before knocking at the door a single time, making a note to
       utilize the essence-baring hand to do so.
       ((OOC)) Mary :: ''Just a second!''
       Aki stands, patiently.
       ((OOC)) Mary :: Twenty seconds later, the door opened slowly, as
       Aki took in the sight of the chieftain. "Oh, hi there Aki.
       You're back."
       Aki nodded - it's a slow nod. Heavy, given the context of the
       situation, and the fatigue he'd yet to fully shake : before
       presenting his hand, and with it, the essence captured within.
       "At a cost." he confesses.
       ((OOC)) Mary :: Icabard ruffled his hair across his stubble as
       he looked at the energy in Akis hands. "That essence; I know it
       well. Akasha's."
       ((OOC)) Mary :: Icabard :: The same one that burned down
       villages in the name of the gods. I assume you have much to say,
       so please, come in, and make yourself at home. You look tired
       and weary, son.
       Invalid Command! I'm calling the CIA on you! (pla)
       Aki stepped along, slumping into a chair - his grasp, unwavering
       - unrelenting. "It was Pandora's final test." he confesses :
       "The final stage of our training." he continues, allowing his
       exhaustion to seep into his words. Right to it, he was : no
       fluff. No exacerbated tale. The context demanded such.
       ((OOC)) Mary :: Aki took a seat on the sofa as Icabard sat at a
       chair. He put down a cup of ale on the table for Aki, and took
       some sips of his own cup.
       Aki :: She finally succumbed to it : I was to utilize Ragnarok
       to stop the figure that manifested before the spell crumbled and
       it cast it into the village.
       Aki :: Did she warn you of this?
       Aki grabbed - greedily, almost, at the ale - with his free hand.
       It'd been a long time since he'd had something to drink.
       ((OOC)) Mary :: The entire place was cozy, and gave off a homely
       vibe. Dreamcatchers were placed around for good luck and a
       picture of a family and what you presumed to be a younger
       Icabard sat on the wall. Icabard nodded.
       Aki held the cup firmly after a long, heavy sip. "I figured as
       much." he responds. "I'm lost, now : I clung to her for
       guidance, and in doing so, I lost sight of my own paths. My
       desire to triumph over them accelerated this process.."
       ((OOC)) Mary :: Icabard :: She was tormented soul; a heartless
       with heart, or some nonsense like that. She knew the day of her
       demise would come eventually, from the toxins she had gorged
       herself on.
       Aki :: I can't help but feel at fault, in some way : I don't
       even know what to make of this, now - or do with this.
       ((OOC)) Mary :: Icabard :: To think she would leave it to you
       however; well thats just kind of cruel. But you laid her to
       rest, as she wanted. And from what I can tell, learned the power
       of Ragnarök.
       Aki scoffed, at the first statement : "I gave her the
       opportunity to do so." he muses..."But I don't know what to do
       with it, now. It's heavy - the weight of lives, in abundance. Of
       things taken, and lost."
       Aki :: ..She said, in her last, that maybe she'd been wrong.
       Aki :: I want to assure that even in the case of that, that her
       wrongs paved the path to some sort of right.
       ((OOC)) Mary :: 'Akis stomach rumbled as Icabard took out a
       piece of paper from the stand. "Talking about this over an empty
       stomach wilt make it harder to think of an answer." said Icabard
       as he got up from his chair. "Care for some biscuits and jerky?
       It should be finished cooking now.''
       Mary from underneath the table*
       Aki paused for a moment, realizing the extent of his own hunter.
       He controls himself, though - steadies his tone. "I'd very much
       appreciate it."
       Aki hunger*)
       Alicianrone Sage has plugged in!
       Alicianrone Sage has joined the RP.
       ((OOC)) Mary :: Icabard placed the paper down on the table,
       right infront of Aki before he put on a pair of mittens hanging
       from the rack. ''That paper is her dying will. Originally, I was
       supposed to read it after I slew her with Ragnarok, but since
       you did.. you read it." said Icabard before heading into the
       kitchen.
       Aki gulped. Her death was a certainty : he knew this. It was the
       path she walked. The life she chose. That made it no easier,
       though. A shaky hand - be it from malnutrition, fatigue, or
       simply distress - reach forth, taking the paper into its grasp
       with the placement of his ale by the wayside.
       ((OOC)) Mary :: Aki read it bit by bit. "Icabard. I remember the
       glazed look in your eyes. The quiver of your lips, the pained
       howling-- when you screamed until you couldn't scream anymore.''
       Aki glances back up for a moment : this clearly wasn't his, to
       read. He continues, regardless - though he notes that, aloud.
       "It refers to you by name."
       ((OOC)) Mary :: Icabard called out from the kitchen. "Oh. I
       didn't think she wrote personal letters anymore. Read it out
       loud for me?"
       Aki promptly does so.
       ((OOC)) Mary :: Aki read it and said it out loud: as both he and
       Icabard heard it in Pandora's voice. "We had such a long journey
       together; I was but a child at the time-- a prodigy, but a
       fledgling magician nonetheless. My faith in humanity was long
       since gone then, after the cold-blooded murder of my mother.''
       Aki continued along. He understood Pandora well enough to have a
       grasp on most of this, bar personal intricacies.
       ((OOC)) Mary :: Pandora :: When I first saw you striking at the
       training dummy those years ago in the Ava tribe hunting grounds,
       I did not know that I would come to see a pure soul; a hero in
       the making. I cackled, believing them to be but more cattle for
       the battles, sheep for the wars.
       ((OOC)) Mary :: Pandora :: Master Kreuschtz sent me to guide
       you, on the words of the Archmage of Divination. I could not
       believe, in any capacity, that the man before me would be the
       hero to unite the tribes of Sarrz. That in helping you, I could
       ever help myself. Selfishness that even in death, I cannot deny.
       Our success felt like a miracle.
       ((OOC)) Mary :: Pandora :: Yet deny it I cannot; I coached you
       over hours and hours into unearthing Forseti, believing it to be
       pointless prattle needed to prove to my master how foolish the
       endeavor was. Yet when you took the axe from the stone, for half
       a second, I began to believe.
       ((OOC)) Mary :: Pandora :: Ones and zeros, logic and fiction.
       These principles are what hold all enchantments together. Yes,
       or no? You proved yourself to be a yes, but even then, I could
       not believe. I cowered from the light I saw before me, almost
       resentful.
       ((OOC)) Mary :: Pandora :: For if I cannot understand it, what
       value can it truly hold? I told you it was a fluke that day when
       we started our journey to unify the tribes. Those days when you
       couldn't believe in yourself, and I simply held you back. You
       never needed me to be a hero. It was never 'Pandora and
       Icabard'. It was just you.
       ((OOC)) Mary :: ''When we ransacked hell for over a month in
       search of the Nether Stone, surviving on what we could find and
       never giving up.'' An image of the two fighting headfirst
       against a hellhound pops up in your head as the next line
       continues. Flinging  spells over lava, slashing monsters and
       claiming loot.
       ((OOC)) Mary :: //Icabard comes back with the biscuits and
       jerky, placing a plate infront of Aki as he takes a seat,
       listening intently. "She actually wrote this?"
       Aki accepts a portion, nodding. "So it'd seem."
       ((OOC)) Mary :: Pandora :: And how could I ever forget how you
       obtained the golden apple of Horashii from the Aodoulan Bull? We
       had to rely on Scathach's ghost to even reach its lair, and I
       fell into the Empty Sea. Even though I had done little to help
       you on your journey and spoke with nothing but malice; you still
       dove in to save me -while- fighting off the Bull. It's
       embarassing, really.
       Aki sighed - "Stubborn." he remarks. "She'd plenty of time to
       say this before.."
       ((OOC)) Mary :: You needn't have even spared the bull in the
       end, fighting it not to death-- but into submission. Yet, you
       still did. A kindness, but I still believe *it's not
       manslaughter if its not a man*.
       ((OOC)) Mary :: In the end, after many years of adventure, and
       the two of us settling down on our own terms; me with Judas and
       you with Pamela, you became High Chieftain. You might believe
       that the greatest thing we had did together during those years
       was to reunify the tribes under your rule as high chieftain.
       ((OOC)) Mary :: //Icabard tapped his index fingers together,
       sighing. "Pamela.. What good is it bringing up all of this now?"
       ((OOC)) Mary :: There was a long break in text on the paper,
       followed by a single phrase, and another break. "But I believe
       otherwise."
       Aki continued to ponder it : there was surely a point to this.
       Pandora was a stubborn sort : meticulous, and calculative. There
       was something to this.
       ((OOC)) Mary :: Pandora :: As awful and selfish as this sounds,
       I believe that the greatest thing -you- have done; was to
       survive that moment from before; to survive despair. To be a
       true hero, ongoing in spite of suffering, for the sake of
       others, selflessly.
       ((OOC)) Mary :: That moment I spoke of earlier: that pained
       moment where you screamed into nothing over Kahls death. The day
       you stood up to Akasha with Ragnarok, and slew her with it. It
       is your defining moment, and the greatest thing you have ever
       done.
       Aki 's gaze rose, glancing over toward Icabard, at that.
       Elijah  has plugged in!
       ((OOC)) Mary :: //Icabard :: Kahl was the third member of our
       little rag-tag group. I assume you know what happened to the
       town of Miscare?
       Aki(CactuarSmoothie) <---- There is no town called Miscare. It
       was wiped off the face of the map.
       Aki :: Not specifics. I just know it's gone.
       ((OOC)) Mary :: //Icabard :: The entire city was smited with
       extreme prejudice, along with my best friend. I took to it, to
       face off against the angel in a twelve hour battle, with
       Pandoras aid. We won, but Kahl would never come back.
       Aki :: I can't even feign surprise : my run-ins with Angels, as
       of late, lend plenty...
       Aki glanced back down to the paper. Was that the end?
       ((OOC)) Mary :: //Icabard :: It wasn't always like this. In the
       past, an angels appearance really was a miracle. Now however,
       they practically run nations.
       Aki :: What changed that?
       ((OOC)) Mary :: //Icabard :: I don't know. Akasha never told us
       anything before we dewinged her. She sits now in Catniss Point,
       asleep, so she couldn't answer even now.
       ((OOC)) Mary :: Pandora :: Even now, I open my eyes, and see
       Judas again, that betrayed, hateful, disgusted look in his eyes
       towards me as he burns alive. I close them, avoiding the truth
       only to open them again and see my baby boy on fire before me. A
       split second, there was no pain for them-- but they were gone
       nonetheless. Raptured with the angels
       ((OOC)) Mary :: Pandora :: I close my eyes, pondering. If I
       died, would I ever see them again? I open them, knowing this to
       be impossible. My blood runs with countless spells, experiments
       and horrors. I am damned to hell.
       ((OOC)) Mary :: Pandora :: And thus, I know this much: I will
       not let you be the one to soil your hands with my death.
       Selfishly, I leave that into the hands of another with bated
       breath, who I hope will prove me wrong.
       Aki pondered it, showing no change in tone from the statement :
       he'd figured it as such. "When was this written?"
       ((OOC)) Mary :: Icabard :: Four and a half months ago.
       Aki(CactuarSmoothie) <---- Before she asked for you to join the
       Society.. and the Mortalists.
       ((OOC)) Mary :: Icabard sighed, thinking over what Pandora wrote
       in his letter, his face storming.
       Aki pondered it : "Before she tried to recruit me.." he mutters,
       plainly, flicking the token about in his grasp. "Before I fought
       Sofiel, too."
       Aki :: ...Hah.
       Aki :: I'm not even surprised...
       Aki :: It's certainly a weird feeling, regardless.
       ((OOC)) Mary :: Pandora :: I cannot say sorry, I cannot
       apologize-- so I leave you with this idiom: 'Hotei.. pe fortuna
       dios.. usque in Aeternum.'
       ((OOC)) Mary :: Pandora :: With regards: Pandora Hoffen,
       Archmage of Enchantment, Advisor of the Greater Sarrzian
       Tribelands, Widowed wife of Judas Yuhwe.
       Aki closed his eyes, gumming. Forevermore, huh.
       Aki humming*)
       ((OOC)) Mary :: Icabard :: I--
       ((OOC)) Mary :: Aki and Icabard hear a loud knock at the door.
       Elijah  has plugged out!
       ((OOC)) Mary :: Icabard :: Just a second!
       Aki rose. "I'll get it."
       Aki :: Hold this for me.
       ((OOC)) Mary :: Icabard :: Sure thing.
       Aki offers it forward. His sudden rise spoke volumes : but he
       had a bad feeling, as all. It was likely just paranoia, given
       the sensitivity of the subject - but it was better safe, than
       sorry.
       Aki has plugged out!
       Aki has plugged in!
       Aki has joined the RP.
       Aki promptly moved to answer the door.
       Aki i be crashin)
       ((OOC)) Mary :: High Soldier :: Sir! High-level report coing in
       from Johanna and Surt. Enemy batallion from Salendria on the
       horizon!
       ((OOC)) Mary :: The soldier looks at Aki for a moment before
       Icabard calls from inside the abode. "Report-- statuses?"
       ((OOC)) Mary :: High Soldier :: Affirmative! All units and
       batallions are ready; including Tribe-structured ones. All
       chieftains have already unanimously agreed to send troops,
       irregardless of your veto. All but one advents are accounted
       for: Advent of Mortixis, Len, sir!
       Elijah  has plugged in!
       ((OOC)) Mary :: Icabard :: Len? Sent word to Ez to locate him.
       If the Salendrians are heading towards Catniss Point, we'll have
       to expect heavy assault: likely a bloodbath.
       ((OOC)) Mary :: Icabard :: The more we can prepare and limit the
       damage, the better. Send word out to have all guards on
       high-alert in the tribelands in order to prevent any flank or
       guerilla attacks.
       ((OOC)) Mary :: High Soldier :: Sir, yes, sir!
       Aki inhaled. One breath in - Out. He turned to the Chieftain,
       remarking plainly : "Do you have a blade of any sort? Mine
       shattered."
       ((OOC)) Mary :: Icabard :: Indeed. The one on the post, above
       the deer head. It's a real blade.
       Len has joined the RP.
       ((OOC)) Mary :: Icabard :: It's a treasure I acquired in Sento:
       a uchigatana is the name for it, I believe.
       ((OOC)) Mary :: Icabard :: As for me... FORSETI!
       Aki reached out for it. "Home." he remarks - "I'll try not to
       tarnish it. I'll leave the essence to you - far better hands
       than I. My job here isn't to safeguard that. My real goal hasn't
       changed : I've come to end a war."
       ((OOC)) Mary :: As he shouts, a tremor rumbled around the house,
       followed by a war-axe breaking through the wall and flying past
       Aki, narrowly missing his head as it lands in High Chieftain
       Icabard's hands.
       Aki :: Does that ever get old?
       ((OOC)) Mary :: Icabard :: Nope.
       Aki :: I thought not.
       ((OOC)) Mary :: [Gained 4 TP, +20 SK]
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