Those of Old (Open)

One week and three days ago, a building near the edge of town had suffered an explosion- an explosion not free of occult traces. However, the explosion had been a rather internal one, not making it to the outside of the building, and that combined with the fact that it was on the edge of the city combined to make sure that few ended up noticing it, and those that did didn't get there until it had been cleared up- finding only rubble, parts of some intricate and forever wrecked and unsalvageable machine- and some blood. One or two of the nearby residents, however, kept a sneaky eye turned towards the cleanup operation- and as such, rumors have begun to spread about a man in knight armor being pulled from a wreck, bleeding.

A man in gold-painted knight armor and with a gold-painted sword in its scabbard clanked down a rather empty night street. He'd been in this strange world of witchcraft abounding for week and a half and he didn't understand it. He didn't understand this strange world at all. He'd merely been lucky the new lieges had provided for him. He'd seen people fight, though, and it reminded him of what he did best, of his job: of being a knight. Coupled with the strange new half-death and the strange new powers he had- the spirits, the bending of the spirits- he felt it was his place to be a knight, why stop? Even if it meant a little bit of a different thing, he could still show his honor. He could still find glory.

And as such, he found himself clanking in his knight's armor, patrolling the city. However, he spotted something on the ground- one of those little boxes of witchcraft, reading "GAMEBOY". How strange. How very strange. He hadn't ever really understood the boxes of witchcraft, it was only ever just poking them and then witchcraft. But... apparently they were normal and... apparently he would have to get used to it. So many things to get used to, so many things... And as such, he found himself stopped, lost in thought, holding a dirty gameboy, then pressing a button and jumping back and dropping it as it turned on and then fizzled off. "Box of witchcraft..." he muttered, and then lost in thought again, in the middle of the Atlanta street.

Julia walked down the streets of Atlanta. The streets where pretty busy but people just walked around her. She walked slowly, she had no need to rush. Despite her literal white skin and her unusual dress she didn't seem out of place. She looked down on these pitiful excuses for life. As a whole they were all stupid, worry over little things that didn't matter. Julia turned down a block to a part of town which was known for being far from good.

She continued to walk, an air of superiority hung over her. She mostly ignored the lowlife filth around her. But then she heard a high pitched whistle, shortly followed by other cat calls. She turned to see who made those despicable noises. A group of boys, low life gangsters, where whistling at her and snapping pictures of her with their phones. There were about four of them. Julia sneered, she was just going to continue to ignore them, but they were dumb enough to speak.

"Hey baby why don't come over here and give us a kiss." said one of boy.

"We only want to 'play' with you a bit." said another.

The other two boys only nodded, agreeing wit what the other two boys. The sneer on Julia's face turned to a sadistic smile. They wanted to 'play' huh? Well the best type of prey where the ones who invite death, they shout so many regrets. Julia crossed the street, no really bothering to look to see if a car was coming. Not like it could kill her anyway. She got to the other side of the street and smiled.

"Well boys, I would love to play with you." said Julia, a false inviting kindness in her voice. "But I don't think you can 'play' with someone on my level, but I am willing to give it a shot." The boys smiled, thinking they probably roped in an idiot. One of the boys reached out and grabbed her arm. Julia's face twisted into a sadistic smile. A ball of black and red hellfire appeared in her hand and in one swift motion smashed the ball of fire into the boy's head. He fell to the ground writhing in pain, the fire quickly covering his body. She laughed as she willed parts of the fire to jump onto the other boys. She laughed even louder. This was the most fun she had in a while.

"Maybe this will be a lesson to respect your betters boys." said Julia. "That is saying if you live, but you all are covered in hellfire so that's doubtful. It'll burn until it runs out of things to consume. You won't even have any ashes left. "

The Golden Knight was snapped out of his reverie by a new spirit, screaming, literally, into the afterlife. The knight snapped into looking at the new spirit, alarmed. He could make out between the slowly stopping screaming something about burning, and fire, and a crazy woman. The Knight stopped for a moment to consider this, and then took on a further alarmed expression. A witch! Wasting no time, the Golden Knight pounded down the road noisily in his armor, bending the astral energy of the spirit around his arm for use in fighting the innocent-killing witch! After all, the duty of a knight is to slay a foul witch!

And with this frame of mind, he pounded down the streets, eventually coming within earshot of the dying gangsters- this caused him to pick up his pace, and eventually he turned a corner and saw the foul one who had committed the acts! He could tell by her foul white skin and her attire- there was no mistaking her, this was the very image of a WITCH! He called out a challenge: "WICC- WITCH! I shall smite thee- you and stop th- your terror!" He mentally checked himself from old english repeatedly, using the modern english he had absorbed from the spirits. He was aware the challenge was over the top, but that was what was required to be an ideal knight, after all.

He morphed the astral energy around his arm into a very durable shield in front of his sword-less arm, and pulled his sword out of his scabbard, taking astral energy from another one of the spirits and using it to make a sharp shell around his sword that extended the length of his sword. He prepared, from the looks of it, to charge, putting his shield in front of him, and his sword pointed forward and moving his legs into a position ready to run.

Julia was enjoying the painful screams of the gangsters while people just watched in horror. After a few minutes one of the bodies was completely gone, no ashes, no nothing. A few moments later she heard some yelling. She turned to face the person and her face turned sour when she saw who threatened to 'smite her'. A knight stood in front of her. He had sword covered in blue energy and shield made of it, it was curious. She let out a laugh.

"I'll be damned, a knight, haven't seen one of you for a long time. And from your speech I take it you didn't take the long way here." She calmly walked up to the knight. She reached to put her hand on the breastplate of his armor. "Real armor too. Wow, I'm amazed." She walked around the knight, examining him. "And before you go blaming others of witchcraft I would look at yourself, Strange blue energy on your sword, heck you even mad a shield out of it, that must be witchcraft. Your lord would be very disappointed in you. I mean, you turned your back away from god. How could you do such a thing if you were loyal to him. Tell me, from which year do you hail?" By now the boys she had set on fire had burned into nothingness. She stood on her tip toes, trying to kiss the knight's helm around where his cheek should be. "Don't worry you can tell me. I mean you're a brave strong knight. There is nothing little old me could do to you." She wondered what he looked like under his helm.

"I mean, I'm just so weak. If you were to do anything, I'm not sure if there was anything I could do to stop you." coddled Julia. "Would you at least let me see the man behind the helm?"

The gold-painted knight stood there confused for the first two or three seconds, but when she started to say that he would shame his lord, he began to fly into a rage, angrily swinging his sword by the time the witch stood on her toes. "HOW DARE YOU BEHR- BESMIRCH MY A- HONOR!" Specifically, he swung his sword repeatedly at her torso, stepping forward and waving his shield around angrily, not caring much for defense and really only going straight for offense, grip tight on the hilt of his sword, indenting on the leather grip as he swept his sword furiously left and right at the evil, seductive, honor-insulting witch in front of him, unconsciously gathering a small amount of astral energy to further sharpen the sword. How DARE she insult him?! HOW DARE SHE?!

"Me? Besmirch your honor? I did no such thing." said Julia. "I can't besmirch the honor of someone who already threw it away."

Julia smiled as she dodged backwards. She had hit the nail on the head. Like most knights she had encountered screwing with there honor cause them to go crazy. She kept dodge back, the knight seemed to of thrown aside any restraint he had. It was the first time she had gotten a reaction this great. She laughed, continuing to dodge. The knight was able to get a shallow cut across her stomach, not enough to damage anything or to cause her guts to spill out, but enough to make her bleed. She shuddered with pleasure.

"That felt so good." moaned Julia. "Let me return the pleasure." Two balls of hell fire appeared in her hand and she threw them at the knight, not keeping his guard up was a mistake.

He was already enraged. And then the further insults reached the armored man's ears. Roaring in further rage, he waved his astral shield around, hitting the first fireball by pure luck and knocking it aside, and then having the presence of mind to actually block the second one. Continuing his rant with "YOU FOUL WICCE! I shall NOT allow such INSULTS!, he struck, wheeling his sword arm around not to strike her at melee, smart enough to have his shield up now, but to manipulate the astral energy of the other three spirits now, to create slashes and stabs made of pure astral energy, thin sharp lines of cutting sent at her in rage.

"Insults? I throw no insults at you, only the truth." said Julia. She threw some fireballs at the waves of energy that swung from his blade. "See, even now you turn your back away from your lord and from god for power. You are no knight! You are a fraud!" She jumped back one more time, laughing.

"Come at me false knight. If god is still on your side have him smite me now!" said Julia, a smirk on her face. She leap into the air and in a burst of hellfire the wings of Rixis, the demon she had defeated appeared on her back. She held out her hand and a whip of hellfire appeared. With a crack of the whip multiple fireballs flew from it, all heading towards the knight and the area surrounding him.

He scowled behind his helmet as the witch blocked his attacks with unholy flame, and revealed herself to be a demon. "Turn my back from God?! Fool! Truly, I am fighting for God, if I am slaying a démon such as yourself! I did not come here of my own accord! It was God's will as I lay dying! And it is the will of God that démons be smited! And as such I shall smite you with the power he has granted me!

Now in somewhat of a righteous fervor, Alan raised a long stream of astral energy and flung it at her, in the form of many blades, as fireballs flew at him, which he dodged most of, blocked the one headed directly at him, and then made himself a path of astral energy over the hellfire surrounding him, on which he charged at her, sword extended.

"But I am no demon... no, I have something far stronger. I have slain a demon and stole it's power for mine. Tell me false knight, could you face a demon a live like I have? Live centuries like I have?" yelled Julia, cracking her whip again, sending more fireballs at the knight's spectral blades. She didn't feel like being bothered to dodge, and from pass experience the blades seemed to be able to clash with her flames, something not usually seen.

The knights powers were impressive, she couldn't recall seeing anything like it, it interested her. Not only could he form and improve his weapons it seemed, but also constructs considering he was using the strange blue light to reach her level. "You now claim you are fighting on god's behalf but he has betrayed you! He no longer loves you and your demon-born power! You are not an angel! Just some poor sinner who is to blind to see the truth!" She then threw the whip in front of her and the flames extended to a large wall of pure black flame. "If you truly holy then this wall of fire will flee from you, not able to touch you with no aid of your demon-bless power!"

The Golden Knight found himself only more and MORE enraged by the speech. "You still call me a false knight, démon! YOU DID NOT SEE ME DUBBED! I fell for my lord, and for the Lord! AND I WOULD GLADLY DO IT AGAIN!" And with that, Alan chargd, roaring in anger, straight through the wall of hellfire, shield and sword still out, but not extended to protect him, and as such he was burnt as the armor heated up from the fire and continued to be very painfully hot. Yet he continued to charge, still roaring, yet now the roar was in pain as well as anger. But he did not relent.

"My honor is my SHIELD! And my conviction is my SWORD! God protects me, god arms me!" He shouted as he ran, taking his shield arm and taking a tendril of astral energy, transforming it into a hammer. As he got close, he raised both arms sideways, and then he struck and slashed downwards with the sword, aiming to slice her torso open, as he went with the hammer simultaneously and swept it sideways at her head, still charging. "I SHALL NOT ALLOW MYSELF TO FAIL!"

Shocked... Julia was shocked.... an emotion she hadn't felt for nearly 1000 years. The emotion paralyzed her temporarily. She was able to out of the blade but the moment of pause she took didn't give her enough time to dodge the hammer. She was sent flying, and slammed hard on the ground. Blood dripped out of her mouth and the side of her head. Her hellfire Dissipated. She stood up painfully, a smile on her face as her body shuttered with pleasure.

"If god truly protected you why is your melted. You truly are a false knight. Abandoned by god you still think you fight for him when he doesn't protect you. Your delusion of your honor is amusing. Yes... you make a wonderful plaything."

"False knight? Ha! You try to deny the evidence of your own eyes, démon-wicce! You try to deny my hammer upon your face! You try in vain! Wicce, I ran through your fires, and they did not taint me! Your words shall have no more success! I shall not be swayed to move to the forces of Hell! God brought me back! I have no lack of faith! I shall obey my duty to god! Prepare to be slain, witch!" The witch's hellfire may have dissipated, but the knight didn't relent- that's not what knights did. Instead he moved forward, advancing to her position talking and moving while she stood up, and then decided to try and slay the witch, taking his sword and swinging it wholesale, slashing sideways at her neck.

"Don't get me, wrong I do not deny the hammer, but that was no act of god, only a man." said Julia, ducking under the knight's blade. "I forgot how stupid people where back then. No matter, you are starting to bore me with your ignorance. I'll just have to end this."

Orbs of black fire appeared her hands. She sent one of the orbs as a feint to distract him. Meanwhile she side stepped, trying to get around to his side or back. A sadistic smile appeared on her face. If she could pull this off successfully she would love it. She then lunged at the knight. "Burn with me false knight!" The orb expanded, if it hit they would both be engulfed in the flames.

A zealot he was, but a fan of burning to death from demonic fury the knight was not. So when the witch ducked around and jumped behind him, he whirled in alarm and raised his arms, taking all the astral energy from his attacks, shield, and his sword, and redirecting it all at once into a sphere of blue force that enveloped his body at the exact same time that the hellfire expanded, racing to protect the knight and close the gap before the hellfire could enter and burn him to death. And the knight found himself immensely lucky and not burning to death- the sphere had formed fast enough, and so he held the sphere, as a wall of fire rushed around the walls of the sphere, he held fast, keeping up the defense with effort as hellfire surged into the sphere, threatening to burn through it with occult energy. Alan couldn't allow that, so he slowly marched toward the edge of the sphere and struck at the witch from it, sticking his sword through the sphere. "I shall not fall to a wicce!"