A Dance with the Devil (Closed to Milla)

The woman was frustrated. He could…understand? Being forced to confront the futility of ones flesh, to see that they were truly unworthy of anything else than total eradication. To realize that they only exist to act as a stepping stone to one more powerful than themselves. Ouro’s heart seized, and he didn’t know why. Somehow he felt kindred to the frustration…as if one day…long before he could remember he looked at himself in that same way. There was something about this girl that reminded Ouroboros of himself. Despite the obvious defeat, she kept fighting. What was she doing? Did she want him to kill her? He sighed as the swarm began to pointlessly make their way. With a flap of his wings he pushed the air, causing the swarm to redirect their paths, not harming them, but simply keeping them at bay. She was crying. Ouro closed his eyes and a snarl drew on his face as he placed a hand on his head, like a migraine had suddenly taken to him. An image flashed. It was that Zell Atterrius fellow…looking rather pathetic himself. But he still fought…and he still is… but where has his battle taken him?

”Please…I don’t want to do this. He can simply make himself a new arm, but the current one is unsafe. For him and for you all.” Ouroboros tried to reason with her. He desired nothing more than to have the arm and leave, no autopsy no foul in his opinion, however it was looking like the woman intended to fight. Ouroboros sighed as he went to take a step forward, still flapping his wings. With a sudden zapping noise and the clatter of bricks on the sidewalk. A glowing Ethereal arm stuck from the building behind Milla and soon Niall tore through the wall with a glare aimed at Ouro. Ouro scoffed and folded his arms, the Glaives of energy receding to allow him to take this stance. Ouro seemed calm and composed, but inside he was rattled. He could see that Niall was not amused by this…and that damn arm was scary. Niall was a weapon, a living weapon and he had no idea of it, which made him potentially even more dangerous. Ouro began to sweat a little under the collar, concealed but still it was apparent to him. He was experiencing…fear? No…it was simply extreme caution and a healthy respect for the blonde.

”You gotta be Milla then right?” Niall asked, his Irish accent still heard clearly as the Ethereal energy altered his voice, making him found like a chorus of angels were speaking along side of him at the same time. ”Great to meet ya. DO me a favor and next time just leave me in the lobby would ya? Spent fifteen years in a closet and I’m not exactly thrilled to go back into ‘em.” He said with a slight smile as he turned to look at Ouro again.

”Niall…” Ouro said with a bit of a strained groan. Just as he had thought, Niall’s arm was what he needed. Or he needed to copy it somehow, but even then, copies were never as good as the originals. He drew out both of his glaives and stuck the one out to fire at Niall. He was blindsided when he heard the clicking of feet behind him. Suddenly there was an apprehension of his wings as powerful nether tethering bound him to a source. He looked over his popped collar and his shoulder as he looked upon a blonde woman and he seething energy of the Aether. It was peaceful for him at the moment, though something inside him was stirred…angered? No…perhaps it felt liberated? So many emotions to process and not enough time. ”Miss I’m afraid I must ask you to vacate the area, you have come along this path at a rather bad time.” Ouroboros said as he looked to the woman.

”From where I’m standing, it looks like I’ve come at the right time.” She replied with a bit of pride in her voice. The voice triggered a rather…unique response within Ouro, as he could have sworn at that moment he was totally conflicted upon this person.

Arianna A small tiny and early silent voice whispered, as if it
were happy to see the woman…

Arianna echoed a raspy and disgruntled monstrous hiss came as if Arianna were a poison… He had never, NEVER had this reaction to anyone…thought that was not true…he had the same reaction towards Sean the first time he saw him…though he could hardly remember the whispering voice back then. Even as a whisper he still recognized it even more now. It was rather…irritating.

"I am here for the Arm of Ragnarox and that is all. I cannot leave without it. I would like to take it in such a way that does not require bloodshed, however with the resistances I've encountered I find it nigh impossible." Ouro sighs and shakes his head. "I understand the irregularity of such actions, however it is an essential and I'm afraid that I cannot leave without the arm. I truly, truly take no pleasure in this, but I MUST take that arm. There is too much dependant upon it." He proclaimed. Niall was lost but Arianna seemed to keep herself calm as she still held his wings bound in her Aether tethers. Ouro looked to her, he was not going to beg, nor was he going to ask permission of her, he was going to have that arm.

"As much as I would hate to disappoint you, I cannot allow you to simply rip my son's partners arm off and go on your merry way. Regardless of your intentions, frankly you have caused too much trouble, and I can't sit idly by." She said taking a step forward he elegant dress seemed to feel away at the sleeves revealing two gauntlets, each one radiating a different energy, one of them Aether...the other one Nether. The Aether tether’s tightened as she stepped forward, threatening to rip his wings right from his body. With a snarl he flapped his Ethereal wings with a small amount of focus he was able to unlock the Seal placed upon him by the Ancestor Mages that cursed his father, and he…for a brief moment… had the power that was his destiny, His birthright….the power of the Ethereal King. The Ethereal energy consumed the Aether and the tethers faded away. There was an unusual gravity between the two. Aether and Nether powers conflicting with Ethereal, the situation was rather interesting, had anyone taken the time to notice the energy manifesting as sparks and dancing around on random objects for a split second before transferring elsewhere.

"Your Sons....then this is your daughter... So then You are Arianna?" Ouroboros asked, confirming that which eh already knew. It had been so long…the last time he saw Arianna he almost destroyed her family for no reason. The dark ethereal was a changing element, and no matter how pure an ethereal is…he can always be tempted by the dark energy, such was it’s nature. He sighed as he looked to her, his wings fading and his power repressing. "Arianna... Nothing in the world will ever tip the wages of sin... Arianna, I want to ask you something. You have three children that I know of, the twins and this girl yes?" He asked her. She only looked at him with dark suspicion, which was to be expected honestly. She would not know him in this form…the last time she saw him the energy she believed to be Ethereal was truly Dark Ethereal, and he looked much, much different. Though perhaps in time she would know, or perhaps something magical would finally stump the illustrious Hales. Only time would tell.

"Miss Hale...I have three children of my own... If I were to tell you that someone was coming to kill them, simply to spite you...then your entire race, you would prepare to defend them would you not? Now what if I told you that in order to defend them, you needed the only eye I had left? Would you not attempt to take it from me? To save your children and your entire way of life? He asked her. He did not expect her to give him a valid answer, nor did he expect her to understand. She was thick skulled…likely where her twins got it from…and this girl here as well.

””As I said, regardless of your intentions, I cannot allow it. If someone were to threaten my race in such a way, they wouldn’t have been allowed to persist, and I wouldn’t waste my time searching for the eye of someone like you. That aside, you’ve assaulted someone I care for, its….unforgivable and you expect me to allow you to rip his arm off for a race of people I care nothing for?” She asked him. The question itself was rhetorical obviously, but Ouroboros’ patience was waning, and that little voice inside him was no longer a whisper, but instead an all out cry for help. This was not going well and soon Ouroboros would be in a situation he did not want to be in. He looked back to Niall and scoffed.

”I wonder…why do you care about him? He is one of the people I seek to save, he is one of the people who will die. You claim to not care about them, but why is he any different?” He asked this of her and she simply turned up her nose like an aristocrat, as if she were above him. That bitch just made the biggest mistake…of her life…and very likely her last.

”If saving someone requires that you mutilate them, you know nothing, and why I care is irrelevant, I do and that’s enough of a reason for me. She responded. It was infuriating. The woman couldn’t even respond to a simple question.

”As he couldn’t just grow an arm back.” Ouro said with a snort through his nose. He flapped his Ethereal wings and created a large gust of Ethereal energized winds to blow Arianna away, though she created a convex wall of Aether energy in front of her and spawned her Aether weapon. Was she going to use it already? Was he that much of a threat to her? Here he thought his anonymity was strong. He used his ethereal transporting belt to move past her, turning and spawning Godsbane as he turned to dice her. Nether energy came to her defense, but it only stopped the blade, the energy slash was something else entirely. Suddenly, Ouroboros panicked, Revealing his Eyes for a slight moment, careful to not let Arianna see. He was right to do so, he turned his head and dashed out of the way as a large blast of energy shot past his head. Self preservation had won out, and Ouro canceled out his attack.

”Get him now!” called out a voice to Milla. A man with shaggy black hair and a wife beater with a toothpick in his mouth had fired out a shot of random energy at her attacker with his strange gun. With a smirk towards Ouro he fired again, causing him to back spring next to a fallen golem, giving her and her swarm the perfect shot.

"Like I care." said Milla, still swinging even though the enchantment was long gone. Her swarm still buzzed around the two, but she held them off. She would of kept going if it wasn't for Niall busting through the building. She backed up a bit. She was breathing heavily and she let out a chuckle.

"At your service and sorry about that, just needed to drop you off somewhere." said Milla, her voice on edge. It was attempt at a joke but she wasn't exactly feeling funny, not like she was funny in the first place anyway. It wasn't until this man's wings where capture did she noticed someone else had shown up. Her mother was here. A surge of relief washed over her body, shortly followed by the fatigue of the battle as her adrenaline stopped running. She staggered slightly until she found something to lean on. She watch her mother fight this man. She was a lot stronger then she remembered. Or was it that Milla was weaker then she thought she was.

But that wasn't the end of the surprises. A beam shot passed all of them, aimed at the mystery man. It caused him to run back. The man who shot the beam to get him and Milla snapped into the fight again. Although she didn't really have any energy she forced her swarm to attack Ouro again. Creating a well by his feet to trap him in with the swarm.

Spoiler:

The well triggered and Ouro snarled as he was trapped. It didn't take long for him to recognize that he was outnumbered...but not outmatched. He could do this, not easily, but he could do it. He recognized the man with black hair, and it forced a scowl onto the Perfect beings face as he felt the swarm coming right for him. There wasn't much he could do at this point. Yes he could simply break the well again but at the moment that would only provoke further confrontation...confrontation he did not want at this second in time.

      He cursed himself for taking it easy on the Hale girl and her irritating mother with the mole. He looked to the man with black hair and snorted. The tattoo on his arm, the marking was altering, he could feel the tingle in the skin that always resonated form when he did. He felt the seal, the seal that took the greatest mages in known history...and it was...undone. Ouro smiled and the man with the black hair shifted, revealing two guns, aiming and letting out several blasts of energy discharge from the magical firearms. A bit overkill. The swarm reached Ouro first, causing him to grimace as they dug away at him. He let out a little howl of pain before transforming into a form of Ethereal mist, passing through the well of the damned barrier and flowing up into the air, to the ledge of the building just behind Niall. He solidified with his arms folded over and a little blood streaming down his face.

      "This has become far too crowded for my tastes." Ouroboros said as he sighed, suddenly his Ethereal wings reappeared as they arched out as if they were about to blow another gust of wind.

      "Wait! What the Hell do you mean saving out people?" Niall protested as his arm faded and skin began to crawl and form over it once more. Ouro looked down at him and sighed.

      "In three months...All of Ethereal kind will cease to exist." Ouroboros said. His eyes went from closed to a half open glare down at Niall. "I was hoping to save our race and you too by using your arm as a weapon, though it seems as though it is not going to happen at all at this point." Ouroboros said.

      "Ya can't just show up and try to take off my arm, at least tell me what's going on!" Niall snapped back. Ouro arched an eyebrow. Little blondie is getting a head of his own? Oh my now THIS was something not even the nigh all-knowing Ouroboros couldn't have foreseen.

      "What happened? Things have reached critical mass. We are at the event horizon of our very existence, have you never wondered why there are no other Ethereal out there? It's certainly not because they didn't exist. We are at the point of no return, and soon all Ethereal kind will whisp away as quickly as it appeared if we don't do something. I'm sorry to place this on you, I wished to take your arm and leave, fight this battle on my own while you regrew a new arm for yourself and lived here in happiness...but now you have forced my hand. It's time to choose Niall, will you stay with them and fade away like a battered memory? Or will you fight with us and ensure our survival? You have to choose Niall." Ouroboros said. His eyes seemed to glow as he glared. "Are you one of them...or are you one of us?" HE said. He looked back to Milla and smirked.

      "Impressive display by the way." With that he crouched and then shot up, jumping into the air and flapping his large wings, a large Ethereal vortex spawned in the air, a projection of the Ethereal Arch, and within a moment, he had passed, leaving the rest of them behind.

       "So...things are really bad on this side huh?" The stranger said. He scoffed and itched his lower jaw scruff with his pistol and he grunted. "He's not gonna like this...not at all."

 

 (Ouroboros has exited the thread)