Duality [Zell]

The room hung suspended within silence, a single strange humming sound reverberating within the darkness that seemed to go on forever and ever until it would seem to even spiral out into its own mad cacophony. Michael pressed hand against his ears, eyes closing and tightening, teeth pressing hard together as he tried to block out this strange sound and in the end it would abate, for only a while. A small nagging voice crept through the shadows within the back of his mind, whispering and tearing away at him, slowly as it continued to sow the niggling seed: Self-doubt and so many things that came along with that. Another night spent without sleep, not that he needed it anyway, there were so many things he did not need but the idea of rest itself would have been nice. However there would be no rest, there was never any rest for him was there?

His heart was pounding to its own rhythm, rapid and painful within his chest, seemingly trying to beat its way through his chest like a fist. Over and over again, without rest it would attempt to do so without fail. He had not really even changed from his usual clothing, which was pitifully wrinkled and over all added to the appearance. Greasy hair was arrayed in a messy fashion, that while it did not lose its overall intended look it seemed obvious what was going on; hygiene had gone out the window, or he simply stopped caring about that aspect anyway. Small red veins would stand contrasted against the whites of his sclera, seemingly greater than when he had last looked into a mirror, though even now that wasn’t something he had done so often.

Blankets were arrayed over his form, feeling heavy as he pushed them away from him with one hand. They fell to the floor with a muffled sound, revealing the rather plain clothing: Ruffled polo shirt that at the moment was half pulled up and matching cargo shorts that were a dark blue color. By the bed was what appeared to be a packet of cigarettes, one of them withdrawn from the pack and paced between his lips, and with a snap a grey flame would leap to life from along his index finger. Pressing the flame to the butt of the cigarette, its end would glow for a moment, Michael taking a deep drag before extinguishing the flame and pulling the finger away. A clear grey smoke exuded from his mouth and then faded away into the air itself.

Bare feet met with the flooring, and then what appeared to be socks would form along them, dark within appearance. With one hand Michael would pull down one part of his shirt until it reached slightly past the hem of his shorts, tapering just after passing the first button. Pressing through the door that stood between his room and the great hallway, Michael walked through rubbing something from his right eye as he walked through. The first face that he saw was that of Razeil, bright and beaming as always even though Michael had no real patience for that. The young ethereal looked upon the powerful being for a moment and then grimaced as if he were the last person he wanted to see at the moment, though Michael would have rather not seen anyone at all.

If he could have punched a baby, okay Michael would have not, but the idea can be gotten. ”What?” He would ask humorlessly.

”Oh don’t be that way Michael. Would be better if you washed your hair though, I mean I appreciate the whole using deodorant thing but seriously, you have enough grease to fry chicken up in that thing.” Raziel noted wryly poking Michael’s hair and then pulling the finger away, pressing it to Michael’s face as some sort of evidence. He did not react to that other than scowling at him, hands digging deeply into his pockets as the cigarette hung within his mouth suspended there seemingly expertly. ”Well whatever, I have a few things that I need to talk over with you.” He said seemingly springing up from this without a care in the world.

”What would that be?”

”Oh I dunno, the possible end to this civil war business and whatnot.” Raziel noted simply flicking a bit of blonde hair from his fringe, seemingly matching the casual appearance that Michael was keeping up. ”Once that is done, you can go back to your rule and whatnot, long live the Ethereal King and all that nice stuff.

”You seem to have a lot of confidence that I will win.” Michael noted simply  holding one hand breaking off the burning end of the cigarette with a flick and then watching it fade away to nothingness.

”Why would I not? As powerful as you are, it should be a piece of cake and…well you have me.” He noted simply with a matter of fact expression playing around with a strange cube that hung on the end of a necklace around his throat. Soon enough they would find themselves within the throne room, Michael sitting upon the throne and resting one elbow on a rest as Raziel took his place at his side; The kings most trusted advisor. ”So more sitting? Sounds fun I guess.” Raziel muttered seemingly pulling what looked like a paper bound novel from nowhere and began reading it.

“Was it you or I who stumbled first? It doesn't matter. The one of us who finds the strength to get up first, must help the other.”

Putting on the war paint. Ouroboros and Zell were both suiting up, ready for war. Guardian and Vanguard both stood heavy guard, walking through with Death himself as he exited the elevator. Zell saw Shi and smiled, nodding. Shi smiled back, happy enough to see his disciple back in his heroic glory, though it was the sight of Ouroboros that returned his face to it's cold stubborn nature. He then took note of a younger Sean, tipping his straw hat with an attempt at a kind smile. The past was the past, and as such it must be buried with the bodies that had been placed within the ground. Yam was gone, but not forgotten, as his soul echoed through out Shi...literally pestering him to the point of desiring the release of himself at times. Guardian stepped forward and smiled as he stood by Sean, placing a hand on his head. Vanguard sent a crackle of Ultima energy as if warning Guardian of his faltering stoic appearance. Guardian quickly fixed it, setting up his blonde hair in the blown-up look. Zell glared at him slightly, if he didn't hate that face so much he'd probably have not minded his friendly nature...that was solely directed at Sean alone. "Ryurou-sama" Zell said, placing a fist in his hand and bowing slightly. Shi mirrored the motion and stood up as Ouroboros approached and slapped a hand down on Shi's shoulder.

"'Sup Dawg?" He asked, purposefully showing disrespect, and getting Zell to twitch, trying not to crack up laughing. Shi chuckled and rolled his eyes, looking out to the dark sky. It was so early in the morning, Sean being up (at his age) surprised Shi slightly. Zell was uncertain if he liked the idea if Sean was coming or not...in fact he wasn't even sure if Sean was coming. Vanguard and Guardian were both there, perfectly able to defend him form anyone whom came for him. Though Ouroboros was uncertain. Zell could sense it, Ouroboros' concern seemed to be in regards to Michael's Advisor. Those eyes....those damn Omniscient eyes... If Ouroboros could observe this man and surveillance him and be worried that Vanguard and Guardian couldn't keep him secured... it worried Zell. He didn't want Sean coming with them. His mind was made up and he was certain that Ouroboros would not argue.

"Vanguard. Call the other four. Tell them Envy is going with Origin and have EVERYONE forsake their roles as generals. I'll contact Winters-Atterrius and Traydor-" Zell began. Ouroboros grabbed him and turned him around. Zell's eyes began to glow, warning Ouroboros to not test him. Ouroboros didn't want to fight with his Original mentality right now. He shook Zell with his hand slightly. Zell audibly gulped and shook his head, already protesting what Ouroboros was about to say. "I-I'm not letting this happen."

"ORIGIN." Ouroboros snapped. Vanguard and Guardian looked shocked, shattering Guardian's stoic appearance with ease at these words. The seven Sin's had been under the ruse that Ouroboros was Origin. But if Zell was Origin, then that means that Ouroboros was Envy. "Listen to me. You and I are the Origin... you who triumphed over your deadly sin, and I whom have afforded us the opportunity. Trust me." Ouroboros said. Zell shook his head and turned around, squatting down to Sean's level. The ring still dangling around his neck as he smiled to little Sean's silver eyes.

"I don't want you to come... but... I know you wanna. STAY CLOSE TO ME...okay?" Zell asked as he pulled Sean in and squeezed, slightly forgetting his own strength and the fat he wasn't eleven anymore. "I can't lose you...you got me?" He said, almost as if it were a warning. Ouroboros cleared his throat and snapped his fingers, prompting everyone to follow. They walked out to the roof-top access. They would wait there for a moment before ten spheres of light appeared and flew out towards them, landing and revealing the remainder of the party. Xarlessa, Lock, Silus and the three wolves, Fera and Shael, Jordan and someone rather...different. It was Lucifer...Zell growled, and the boy, seeing a fully empowered Zell Atterrius seemed to be on the verge of shitting himself.

"Shara...where's Shael?" Zell aske,d instantly concerned.
"He went on ahead...he's gone to The Soul Shrine.... he will join up with in The Edge of Paradise." She explained, Zell's face was worried, but he shook it off, obviously not pleased with Shara's decision to allow him leave. Zell immediately went to the young boy, the one whom looked...scarily similar to himself in his youth and he put an arm around him.

"Damn, now we see whose the lucky one with looks." He joked, then looking to Fera and holding out an arm, welcoming her into a hug...if she chose too.
"Alright, enough. Not that I don't love my grandchildren I'd rather have this reunion with my son and their father here too." Ouroboros said. He turned to Silus and smiled. "Is it ready?" He asked. Silus nodded and soon Yancey held up his hands, and soon hundreds, if not thousands of small spheres rose and illuminated the night like stars. In but a few moments, he and these spheres...the Loyalists, would be back home...ready to take back the throne...one way or another.

They had all gathered for one real purpose, which was to regain the throne for Ouroboros, the true Ethereal King. Sean seemed to hover closer to Zell, for the moment feeling that was the safest place he could really be within the conflict that was to come; save perhaps for his Guardian. However anything other than stoicism seemed to be snuffed out by the one that was known as Vanguard, which drew a small amount of ire from Sean, however that only came about in the form of a grimace. Fingers would reach up and feel over the ring that was strung around his neck, titanic runes adorning it in wonderful blue gemstone; radiant it was almost. He was safe, and there would be no way that anyone would be able to harm him, not when Ouroboros and The Deadly Sins were all protecting him.

Looking up to Zell, Sean smiled widely as the two front teeth seemed to slowly be coming in, white nubs protruding from the pink gums now more evident. Upon noting everyone was gathered they would all go to the roof access, where Silus and three others along with his wolves would be waiting. There was one that looked familiar somehow, a short tan skinned male with a strange smirk that was playing across his face as the onyx eyes would dart about with rapid curiosity. It was until he saw a face that was strangely familiar that the male really seemed to come alive, when he looked upon Zell anyway. That was when Sean could draw comparisons, both looking so painfully similar that no one could deny some kind of relationship. Were these Michael’s kids that Sean had heard so much about?

One of them even looked so much like his mother that he could not help but gape at her, mouth slightly ajar. So he was eleven and already a grandfather? Sean found the truth to be slight shocking, but then again he had heard the ethereals being likened to rabbits before. Zell would walk over to the rather excitable looking youngster and wrapped an arm around him, offering to even let the red head join the embrace, which she did after looking over him for a second. Something within her eyes he could not quite place…reluctance perhaps. With all of this done, they were gone really, and soon enough came the isles, where they would make the confrontation itself and Sean was not ready in the least.
--
Raziel seemed to perk up lightly, jerking from his seat in the midst of reading the novel in hand. Something had caught his attention and whatever that something was it seemed to catch Michael’s own attention as well. A dark growl reverberated through the throne room, bestial in sound and somewhat dark…very dark ”Seems someone has entered the Soul Shrine…..oh my.” Raziel found himself chuckling lightly pressing a palm to his face is if already being able to tell who this someone was, though for some reason Michael himself was ignorant upon that fact. Quickly turning to the ethereal, the two necklaces dangling about his throat would jingle for a moment, jostled from the rapid movement, before settling against his sternum again. However as soon a she considered asking the question, nothing came out and all he could do was recline once again within the throne.

Soon enough however he would need to stand up, to meet with those that had come to challenge his claim and then deal with them accordingly. Raziel had so pleasantly stated over and over that they would need to kill his family, butcher them all if he should go unopposed. The question however was could he go through with something so callous, and he still could not supply the answer. He had his supporters, though something told him that even their support was wavering, that soon they would turn upon him; not that it would have surprised Michael, nothing would.  

”I think it’s about time we get moving.” Michael noted pushing himself from his throne, hands lingering for a moment before removing themselves. ”Lets just get this over.” Clothing would warp, changing until the demonic red armor would remain where cloth was once. Two strange eyes peered out from the chest portion, seeming to attempt to devour the souls of those that would be foolish enough to glare into them; into the void itself. Metallic sounding footsteps sounded off when he stepped upon the flooring, then became silent as if the armor had readjusted itself, silencing the sound that it was creating.

It did not really take long for the male to reach the castle gates, looking down upon the massive throng that had been gather there, of the traditionalists that had gathered perhaps in a show of support. The Ethereal King pressed through and looked down upon them with a semi-confident smirk. However he was far from confident within this moment, though they could not be the wiser upon his mental state, doubt from ones subjects did no good in the long run. So instead he would put on the best damn show that was ever performed, and when he was finished, he could once again sit upon his crown; ruling over what remained. Standing across from him was now the opposition, no longer could they be thought of as family, as Raziel put it he had no family; that pleasantry was ruined, destroyed.

They arrived at the bottom of the steps of Valhalla, Ouroboros being the only one who was actually on the stairs, at the middle. He chose to meet at the middle for many reasons, all of which he would likely explain at a later time. Though for now his only job was to wait for Michael and the pretentious prick whom orchestrated this entire thing. Whereas Michael would be able to call forth his advisor, Ouroboros called on his own, Ryurou Shi. Shi stepped up the stairs, standing at Ouroboros' heels like the right hand man, and he himself waited patiently. The Loyalists soon found themselves surrounded by Traditionalist forces, yet the vast majority of the Ethereal populous remained by their houses, or safe within as they looked...Neutrals...Ethereals whom had chosen that the strongest would rule them, and so they conceded to fate. Children in the streets all looked on, as literal brothers glared at each other. Ouroboros felt the hair on his neck stand on end and his eyes become sore at the thought of how many men and women would die in this little civil dispute.... no.... this civil war.

"Michael... come home" was all Ouroboros said to begin with. The way he said it, it almost seemed as if the solution was that damn simple, as if that was seriously all he had to do. Perhaps it infuriated the Male, perhaps it made him think about himself for a moment. Either way, Silus himself began to walk up the stairs slightly, falling behind. Soon, every general of Ouroboros/Zell's was behind him. Silus with Hocus and Kaisses on either side, Jordan, Lock, Xarlessa, Yancey stayed with Shael and stood closely with him and Fera as the Seven Sins remained around Sean, allowing him to see, but allowing no avenue open to exploit...all their eyes remained on Raziel, as if they knew. "None of us want this... Look at them...your brother... your children. Their not over here because they want you dead. They're here because they want you to come home. They want Michael to come home. I want Michael to come home, Sean want's Michael to come home...probably a juice box and a nap too, but that's beside the point." Ouroboros chuckled as he smiled, his eyes alight while looking at Michael. He had a feeling...that this was more about Michael trying to prove himself...and because of that no matter what he said, Michael wouldn't listen.

"Michael...look at what's happened to you. You can't tell me you feel even the slightest bit of well.... is this all really worth it? For what? A piece of metal you set on your head?" Zell asked as he stepped forward, removing the Paladin armor's draconian looking crown and tossing it to the ground in front of Raziel and Michael, his eyes looking like they were watering. "Michael...I love you. You're my son.... Silus, loves you, Shael and Fera love you. The sooner you come to terms with the fact that YOU CAN'T DO THIS ALONE, the sooner you're going to realize that the people who are...and ALWAYS will be there for you are the ones who are standing across from you... but it's not the one beside you..." Zell said, a tear rolling down his cheek as he glared at Raziel, he cracked his knuckles and snorted through his nose, a wry and uncharacteristically sadistic smile on his face. "I'm gonna enjoy this." He admitted as he stepped back.

"This is your family Michael. I know my words do not hold any gravitas to you. But yours is a family. Listen to me Michael... I know what it means to be under the influence of corruption...under the influence of power. Your sins have not outweighed the love of your family...and they never will. Mercy is a bittersweet gift Michael.... but Love is an unconditional one." he said. Of course none of them thought Michael would step down, but then Zell looked to Shael and Fera if they had anything to say.

Shael looked up to the male that looked so much like his daddy, and yet there was something different about him, perhaps it was the look within his eyes but something was different. It were as if he were hollow, as if someone he simply torn into him and ripped everything from him, leaving only the dead silver eyes that were looking over all of them. Something about them scared him, as that were not even his daddy anymore, a hand clamped upon his shoulder and looked to see Fera steadying herself somewhat. Her expression was blank, yet he could feel it through the indistinct link; she was in as much pain as he was. Ouroboros spoke up to the self-styled Ethereal King, bidding him to come back home, to return to his family. Sean peaked through the barricade created by the Seven Sins, looking at his son or what he had become.

How the plea was spoken made it sound as if it were the easiest thing within the world, as if he could just return home and everything would just vanish. No, life was never that easy and Michael held no illusions that it would be easy. The generals arrayed before him were daunting, but nothing that Michael could not take, not with who was standing at his side, yet he would have preferred to avoid the conflict as a whole. Yet there was one thing that his mind wondered to, one question that still burned within it, and it was “what home?” Hadn’t he burned that bridge when he murdered Silus’ precious pet wolf, when he spoke those simply words to him and perhaps ruined everything? A small hope remained before that and now its smoldering corpse had already fallen into decay.

It was then that he noticed something, Sean was the kid being so closely protected by the clones of Ouroboros. The young ethereal massaged the bridge of his nose, a sigh escaping through his lips with a hiss. A metallic crown was cast before him, pinging along the ground before settling. He glared at it, uncertain what the purpose of the gesture was and a little uncertain who this was that claimed to be his father, he knew who his fathers were and he was not one of them. His own children it seemed had even turned against him, for whatever reason it was they had done so, and yet he could not force himself to begrudge them for it. Perhaps Silus had fed their head with lies, how he was the cruel monster that the enchanter believed him to be.

A small grimace formed upon his lips, gloved fingers raking through greasy hair, seemingly straightening the dirty locks. ”Come home?” He said chuckling dryly to himself, a small smirk playing across his lips. ”If only it were that easy.” The smirk died within that moment, the clawed tip of his gauntlet tapping lightly against his forearm, a small stream of smoke trailing from the cigarette that was still clenched between his lips.

”Daddy…just come home.” The sound of his son’s voice caused him to pause for a moment, the burnt end of his cigarette falling off and hitting the ground silently. Raziel looked to Michael with a raised a brow, as if wondering if that alone would cause him to waver. If anything, he was more than aware that Shael seemed to hold great power over his father. Now Michael was left speechless, pulling the cigarette from his mouth and crushing it under foot. Silver pools met with the dark onyx ones that were held within the tan male’s skull, narrowing morosely as if even now more than ever he just wanted to embrace his child.

”Okay, since all of this huggy feely stuff is out here.” The book within his hands slammed closed, as he looked over those gathered to oppose them. ”I’m sure you didn’t expect Michael to back down to you after you spouted some pretty sentimental garbage at him. It’s adorable really.” His tone was dismissive, crude In a way, and perhaps meant to draw a negative rise within the others. Michael looked to Raziel, seeming snapping from whatever torpor he had fallen into.

"I guess not. We love you Michael..." Zell sighed. He sighed as he closed his eyes. He opened them again and stepped forward with the most unique glow beneath the emerald orbs. "Tough love is still Love." Zell said, The ground beneath Raziel would fire up as a pillar of Black Obsidian. Zell teleported above the pillar and met the pillar with his own blow. Godsbane in his hand as he moved to slash at Raziel's throat. Raziel's eyes narrowed and he smirked. He turned into, exposing his throat even more. It was a death sentence, even one such as Raziel could fall victim to the Godsbane. Zell's face showed no pleasure, it was solid and as stone resembling the man he knew only as his mentor...the man he knew as Death itself. The blade closed in and Zell knew all the more something was wrong. This was not a normal situation...it was not a situation he was looking forward to...but he didn't know...until the blade almost touched his jugular.

 ”Stop.” Raziel said. Godsbane froze in mid air, no manner of strength could force it to move. Zell's eyes widened in shock but quickly narrowed as he processed what had happened. Zell was immediately irritated and it showed as his brows furrowed and slanted down as a look of anger filled his face. Raziel literally jumped, bringing his knees up and landing on Godsbane's blade and landing in a squatting position. He smirked at Zell and placed his hand right above Zell's hand on the hilt. His eyebrow wiggled as if taunting Zell. Son of a bitch obviously new more about Zell than was desired. "I should thank you. You kept MY blade company." He said with a smile as he brought up his left hand, his middle finger pressed against his thumb. His eyes closed and he seemed to give off a pleasant smile. "Buh-Byes." He said, , his middle finger firing off his thumb and flicking Sell in the chest. With a sickening pop Zell's right arm was dislocated form the way he clung to Godsbane, and he was sent reeling like a bullet, lobbing into someone's house near the edge of the Ethereal city. Lock stood by Sean, within seconds Zell appeared on the bridge and started walking, the chest-piece sparking with electricity and slowly repairing, a glare on his face.

"Oh Come on. Don't look at me like that... I could have ACTUALLY hit you." Raziel said as he looked down at Zell, playing this entire scenario as a joke. The bastard was...rather quite good at arousing Zell's Ire. Ouroboros on the other hand, was still calm and calculating, though he was shocked to see Godsbane obeying Raziel....almost concerningly so. This was a most unfortunate turn of events....and for the first time in a long time... Ouroboros wasn't sure he was powerful enough. Apparently this battle had begun. Ouroboros tried to summon forth Godsbane.

"Raziel was my wielder before you, and before him, Ragnarox...before him... Jehovah. I have ordained few worthy of my tutelage. While there is a difference of ideals, by my own makings I am to remain loyal to my wielder's, chronological precedence. I agree with your ruling Ouroboros... but I am bound to my duty as Godsbane, as you are bound as King of my Kin." The blade informed. Ouroboros growled as he summoned forth Sovereignty and slashed out, barely enough to even scrape Michael if it even touched him at all. In truth he was attempting to feign that damn armor he had. Triggering him to use the little tool a little early. Ouroboros reasoned that Michael knew the dangers of an up-close Ouroboros, and with (what Ouro believed to be) inferior reflexes he didn't believe that Michel would think himself able to dodge.

"The die is cast." Ouroboros sighed, as if put-out or exhausted by the decision chosen for him.

The die had been cast, Raziel had already decided that this would play out like the great battle it would. Michael would not go against what he had started, in fact the ancient ethereal knew that he would only follow what had been brought forth, a bloodbath that was waiting to happen. Within his hands was Godsbane, a blade who’s very existence seemed to transcend reality itself and with it, Michael felt as if they had already won. It was a surge of confidence within him that drew upon the changes within his rises, silver now turning into a radiant light blue; runes forming as the very irises seemed to contort. It was all a joke to Raziel, they were but lambs lining up to the slaughter. ”Well Michael I think you have this one.” he noted lightly, seeming to flow into a rather lose looking stance, so many apparent flaws within it.

He had an idea what the male was speaking of when he said that, Ouroboros in motion as soon as the words were spoken. The attack with the blade would have been dangerous, but Michael would not allow himself to be struck by it. A black crystal that hung around his neck would glow a bright purple color, metal contorting as it re an angry red. Within a second it was forming a weapon within his hand, red armored male stepping backwards, only positioning the place by which the blade would have struck only a millimeter from the metal. If this were a kill strike, it would have actually done something, but Michael could already see something within it, half hearted resolve. Either he was trying to get his void armor to activate early or he was simply trying to catch him off guard, either way; Michael would show him a surprise.

Within the time of stepping back, everything seemed to move at exceptionally slow speeds, Ouroboros only moving at above a crawl as everything was being run over by a mind now enhanced. He could see everything as if they were clear, nothing beyond the sight of the male. His left hand twitched, blade turning and in a flash he would slash out at his father, aiming to rake the blade across his torso. It would not matter of the cut was small, because the damage itself would be monumental, even the smallest cut spreading its corruption. Whether or not damage was done, a tendril composed of dark ethereal would sprout from his back, aiming to jab at Ouroboros with a bladed end. The fight was one and no one knew how long it would go on.

Raziel however was doing his own thing, disappearing within an instant, jumping into the midst of the army that was spread out to oppose them. Upon landing, a great boom echoed from that point and any that were standing near him were thrown back. Within a flash all of those that stood close to him would disappear in a splash of thick blood, and gore. The only indication of his doing that was the blood that was dripping from Godsbane, immaculate blade now dyed darkly with ethereal blood. "Well that was easier than I thought.” He muttered, cleaning Godsbane with a flick of his wrist. ”So everyone, welcome to your final minutes of existence. As I’m sure all of you can guess by now, I’m going to kill all of you. ” A bright grey aura radiated from the male, as he shifted back into that stance of his.

His son thought himself clever, summoning forth the Blade of Corruption like that? Oh Yes, Ouroboros knew this blade, he was all too familiar with it. The pathetic Godsbane Wanna-be-blade that would spread necrotic damages. Ouroboros noted that his eyes had changed slightly. Oh Good, so they weren't playing games. Straight to the action then. Ouroboros' fighting skills currently were equal to Michael's, and if Ouroboros had to estimate, his armor and the blade itself meant that this "eye" was somehow using his ethereal energy to augment his capacity to simply will such objects into existence. The mind was the only thing that Ouroboros could think of. And if his mind was that advanced, then Ouroboros movements were as slow to Michael as Michaels was to him. Despite this, Michael currently has no idea what Ouroboros was planning. Using his own fighting skills he spawned six ethereal tendrils, and like a spider blocked with one arm as he leapt up with the others, getting knicked in the arm by the construct that Michael spawned. Ouroboros' eyes narrowed and he smiled. Well, his son's Ultima form was impressive, but it wasn't enough unfortunately...but that didn't mean Ouroboros wouldn't gladly "humor" his child. Besides...after this the child's ego would likely be shattered...

One of the six arms had successfully been devoured by the corruption before Ouroboros ripped it off, preventing it from spreading any further to the other additional extremities. The suit itself began regenerating from the damage done by the construct that almost took the armor completely, and perhaps his arm alongside it. The energy he used however was immediately reprocessed, Ouroboros' eyes activating. Holding out his hands he growled as Ethereal Sovereignty appeared in one hand, Misanthropy and Imperium also appearing on the scene. Misanthropy let out a loud and ungodly howl, proclaiming it's utter hatred for all existence, while the Imperium sung out in a radiating hymn of love and benevolence. Sovereignty however made no noise, only flashed with brilliance as reality itself warped. Zell stepped forward to meet Raziel and summoned forth his own blades. Helitrope surged with an Ethereal energy that transcended that of even the first Ethereal user, and Blaspheme which let out a roar that made Misanthropy sound like a miserable pup. His Occuli Ominpotente activated and a surge of ultima radiated from the man as he stood there a blade in each hand. He started walking towards Raziel, not a flaw in sight, his walk turning more of a run...and then into an all out sprint as he drew back Helitrope. With a slash he released two blasts of Ethereal energy through his Kushala-tatsu, not to mention his own blade that was fallowing through, and to top it all off he'd make it count for two strikes by activating a vibrant blast of the insane and unknown Ethereal, for a grand total of six strikes for one swing. He allowed the blast to propel him back as he dug Blaspheme into the ground and began skidding, when Shi leapt out over the skidding Atterrius and swung down with his mighty Scythe, and Lok ran in up close and personal suddenly vanishing form all forms of existence, waiting and planning.

Ouroboros moved forward, still at Michaels own skill level and began slashing out, allowing himself to seem like he was dragging along. While he loved Michael, he was near certain that even with his new found perceptions and talents he would not be able to anticipate what was to come next. Why? Because this exact same tactic had been used against Ouroboros...and he, one whom had this "talent and perceptions" his whole life had been unprepared for it. In a flash Blaspheme and Helitrope had vanished and instantaneously reappeared in two of the tendrils that belonged to Ouroboros. His emerald eyes activated and the Ouroboros image had taken effect. Ouroboros ten swung with his full skill, which would seem as though he were at normal speeds. To Michael there would likely be difficulty...being able to perceive but not react... Ouroboros was going to fight all out it seemed. Four blades, each with two Kushala-Tatsu effects... three necrotic cuts, three dark ethereal cuts, two pure ethereal cuts, two ultima cuts and two...whatever the hell this Heltrope thingy was...

Items:

Zell Atterrius:

The self styled god watched over the masses with mild amusement, a small bit of blood falling down his cheek as the strange silver orbs scanned over them curiously. Michael was dealing with his own dangers, though of course he was busy with his own problems. Zell would step forward to meet him, Raziel’s own stance seeming to shift somewhat, something about it different than before and perhaps a little threatening in how he held it. White canines flashed out from beneath his lips as he watched every movement with a certain anticipation. ”Come at me.” He muttered one leg sliding back, one hand pointed forward as if pointing out his first…victim. Six strikes would lash out at him, yet the ethereal was not cowed in the least. A small amount of energy would radiate from the blade within his own hand. ”Nice trick, I think I’ll try that.”IN a blur of motion his blade was swung, seeming to mimic the Kushalutatsu, enough to easily negate the attacks that were sent towards him.

When they met, a loud boom would emanate from where they had clashed, and within that instant Shi jumped at the male with what appeared to be a rather deadly looking scythe. Taking a step forward, the blade would barely miss flesh, one hand clamping around the handle of the scythe, and tearing it from Shi’s hand. Within an instant, the blonde rapidly slammed the butt of the scythe against the death incarnates face, causing a jet of dark blood to spurt from it. ”You rack disciprine.” He muttered wryly, pressing a foot against his stomach and forcing him back, rolling along the ground. ”So that the best we got, or should I start fighting the kids? Seems like they could do much better than you people.” He taunted directing Godsbane towards those set against him.

The attacked that was aimed to slice through Ouroboros’ chest met with ethereal tendrils that took the entirety of the swing, leaving him untouched. Michael internally cursed, as he considered a counter measure to what was happening before him. However things somewhat went south from there, more blades appearing within the grasp of his father, within the ethereal tendrils. In that instant it seemed that he was moving far faster than before, with perhaps more skill than Michael was capable of acting with. There was no way that he could really hope to match Ouroboros at this point, but that did not keep him from trying. He was still within the back step however, mind trying to process everything that was happening before him, and yet his body was pitifully slow, too slow to really react to it.

With only a few seconds to think over what he was doing, Michael brought up the blade within his hand, and coated it in Dark Ethereal energy. The slashes would slam against it, forcing Michael back as the field would shatter and along with it the blade in his hand. Dark Ethereal crystal would fall upon the ground before vaporizing, leaving only the stump that was attached to the handle. The gemeni handle was the only thing not damaged by the assult, any excess that would have hit him was soaked up within the void armor, Michael slamming against the doors of Valhalla and then flying through. He managed to stop himself atleast ten feet from that, cursing lightly and looking to the small cracks that radiated from the point of impact. ”Dammit.” Michael cursed under his breath, having wasted his ace in the hole already.

Casting the powerful blade aside, Michael would look to the cloud of smoke that radiated from where the impact took place, eyes narrowing. A low growl emanated from his throat as one of the sigils within his eyes would begin to glow brightly, everything within the palace becoming painfully obvious to Michael, especially within a certain radius. Forming around each hand was a powerful cannon, a pure ethereal cannon on his right hand, and a dark ethereal on his left, energy forming within the barrel and firing forward, as what appeared to be wings of ultima would form on his back, acting as shielding for his flank.[/color]

Lok was still gone for the time being, which was fine as far as Zell was concerned, it just meant less time for the bastard to get himself killed before the plan could roll into effect. He was left weaponless for the time being, but it didn't stop him from fighting, it didn't stop him from fulfilling his role in this battle. He charged for Raziel, the man was too cocky. It would be the end of him, he had no idea what was planned, what fate was to befall him. While Zell didn't know the future for certain either, he at least knew they had a plan...and that was far more important than any petty skirmish or insult the ethereal was flinging about. Zell summoned forth Blaspheme while leaving Ouroboros to Helitrope. Zell ran at Raziel, his combat esp was more than enough to keep his mind on par and to tell him exactly what Raziel was going to do, but his reflexes failed him. Zell flipped forward with a power-strike down, unleasing a cloud of the corruption when it hit Godsbane, which countered with an Ethereal black, dispersing the dark energy. Zell drove through with a thrust, to which Raziel just stepped to the side and began humming "Zippity doo-dah" as he stuck his foot out and swiped Zell's legs. Zell falling forward repositioned his weight and managed to drive his blade into the ground, letting him swing his legs into the air where he shoved off his blade and back-flipped and strick at Raziel from behind. Raziel yawned as he acted like he was going to scratch the back of his head with Godsbane's hilt when he let out a little "huh?" before turning around to see Zell slamming into the blade with his own.

"Oh, wow. Nice rebound." Raziel said as he slid the blade off to the side, displacing it. Zell slipped past as Raziel ducked, avoiding his hidden tanto he pulled from his sash. Zell landed with his tanto, driving it into the ground and throwing a foot back at Raziel's head. Raziel leaned forward as the foot connected with his nose, doing absolutely nothing. Zell grunted as he shifted immediately, seamlessly side flipping and double slashing with his blade and Kushala-tatsu. Raziel brought up his own blade, mimicking Kushala-tatsu much to Zell's Ire. That was not an Ethereal tactic, it was an ancient tactic of Death itself, one so unique to Death that even the denizens of the Abyss knew nothing of it's technique. Zell was....infuriated. "Stop flippin'!" Raziel snipped as he kicked at Zell's shins, Zell jumped back slightly as Raziel expected, which was met by Raziel's knee to his stomach and a swift shot to the groin before the knee kicked up into Zell's jaw and an open palm to the chest, sending the male backwards. "Damn... talk about balls of steel...those are almost like... mytitsarentfakium" he chuckled as he lifted his foot up and started to shake it around, purposefully placing himself off balance.

Shi took his charge, and Raziel moved like water, without the need to even uproot his planted foot, or touch down on the one he was shaking out. He didn't even look to Shi as he moved his blade to intercept the Scythe. Shi growled as a large blast of Nether flew out from the Scythe, one that was met by the wrath of Godsbane. MEANWHILE Ouroboros scoffed as Michael formed his own little cannon and wings. The kid wanted to play ball it seems. Ouroboros took to Helitrope and slashed out with a combination of that and Sovereignty. He was able to deflect the one blow, but the blast from Helitrope wasn't enough to stop the one strike at him. It tore through his armor and left the skin exposed as it began to heal over but nothing majorly done yet...his armor wasn't exactly impervious to damage...and the damage to the armor wasn't going to heal over instantly...it would still take time. He growled as he aimed forward and let the Transmutation sphjere fly threatening to tear limb from limb as he unleashed the Kushala-tatsu from Helitrope.

Raziel was enjoying himself, granted the efforts against him were at best unimpressive, not even the attacks brought by death itself capable of stopping him. Not even the children stood a shadow of a chance against the living god that stood against their family, the one that held Michael within thrall much like a diabolical puppeteer. ”This is going nowhere fast.” Fera muttered fingers dancing along the hilt of the blade that was dangling at her waist, taking note of the situation that was unfolding before them, that she would need to react quickly before anything else happened. However it seemed that they would need to do something, need more power to have any hope within defeating someone as powerful as Raziel; they would need the raw power that the two held within. ”Shael, do you think we should?” She muttered to her twin, low enough that only the male with his enhanced hearing could hope to hear.

The tanned male looked to his sibling with a rather questioning look, as if she had gone insane or something along those lines. However he could only nod, as if she were speaking the truth, and nothing else could come any closer to being the right way. First the red haired female would take a step forward, simply tapping a foot against the ground, looking to Sean as if silently telling him to keep back while he thought over something. Shael would remove the dark green jacket, revealing something upon his right shoulder, a rather strange light blue marking that looked a little out of place on his rather tan skin. Something about it radiated power, and the power that he was containing, that something was keeping from spilling forth. Something was brewing within the female’s head and it was nothing good at all.

”I don’t know about any of you, but I think it’s time we took the fight to Raziel.” Reaching for the shoulder of her shirt, she tore away the cloth that was holding it back, revealing a similar marking but black as night. Shael also took the initiative, following his twin as they seemed to be holding hands, skin contact seeming to hold some value within this.  Raziel seemed to pause within his battle, head moving out of the way of a bladed sweep that would have removed it, looking upon the ethereal children that were stepping forward from the rest, a purpose within their eyes. An intrigued smirk appeared upon his lips as he deflected another swipe aimed towards him, and then met a burst of nether with his own attack, tapping the ground with the tip of his bladed weapon.

”Bring the fight to me? This must be good.” He muttered looking down upon the female that had made such bold claims and within an instant something had happened. The markings upon their shoulders seemed to issue a bright lightly, this light spreading out along their bodies in the form of rather interesting looking Titan runes. Upon Fera they took the color of a dark purple, while Shael they were glowing a bright silver as they started to cover their entire bodies, as more and more energy seemed to spill from them without ceasing. From Shael it was a bright glow that reminded one of Pure Ethereal and from Fera it was the dark ethereal, these auras rising into the air until they began to intermingle spiraling around one another until they seemed to form a myriad of colors. Their power together seemed more than enough, well enough to cause the cocky blonde ethereal to pause for a moment.

Shael’s eyes glowed light seafoam blue crystals and Fera’s became like flaming coals within her skull, glaring down upon the damned ethereal that had been hurting her family. Drawing the blade from weithin its sheath, it began to twist and warp into a demonic weapon, radiating an indigo flame that licked up at the ground as if for kindling. With one motion of his hand, Shael caused the entire ground to twist underneath Raziel, thrusting upwards as the ethereal was brought along with it, and anyone else that was unfortunate enough to be underneath the large portion, as if began to careen to the left as the blond began to slide down it; slamming Godsbane into the ground as he went. ”Now things are getting good.” He muttered launching himself forward, landing upon the side of the earthern wall that was pulled upwards as it seemed to begin falling hard to the ground.

Already part of the battlefield had been warped beyond comprehension, and Sean found himself being pulled away from what had become a battle of gods almost. Within an instant the female known as Fera was upon Raziel, Dark Ethereal energy wreathing her blade as she brought it down, bisecting the portion of earth that her sibling had seemed to pull upwards from the very ground. However the attack itself had been deflect ted by Raziel as he simply hung from the edge of the construct and then pushed off with amazing strength, like a bullet flying through the air as it seemed a vine would wrap around his wrist, catching the male mid air and then slamming him back into the falling mass of earth with a resounding boom. The female seemed to instantly disappear within a flash of purple mist and appeared back beside her brother, flourishing with her blade as the construct fell with a resounding boom, however that did not mean the fight was over, now, it had only really just began.
--
Ouroboros seemed to scoff at his attempt to attack hi, but for how long he would be laughing was yet to be seen. Michael was not one to be brushed aside so easily when dealing with someone in a manner like this, even with his blade having been just shattered.  He was powerful, The Ethereal King and The Abyssal One, there was no way that he would allow himself to be stopped so easily, even against the great Ouroboros. While one of his attacks found themselves being deflected by his blade, another one hit him right on target, sheering through the armor and doing minor damage to the male in general. Ouroboros would let out a rather spine tingling growl before leaping forward along with the transmutation singularity, Michael simply reacting in the easiest way possible. Within an instant he was gone, leaving behind only a small amount of green mist, though he simply chose the higher road.

He appeared above the male with the cannons still aimed downward; however they were not his main offensive tactic. Around Michael appeared a rather sickly looking grey pale glow, one that was akin to his Ultima energy but something about it was different altogether, as he drew upon the power of his own ethereal energy, and began to animate the shattered pieces of his Blade of Corruption. They rose from the ground in little shards, glowing as they were all trained upon the ethereal, and within an instant they would begin a rather dangerous dance. Like a shredding maelstrom they would lash out at Ouroboros, aiming to turn him into a rather messy pile of mush upon the floor, even if that were not the case, the poison within them would do the job just fine. If that did not work, then Michael would simply unleash a barrage of powerful blasts upon him.

"Damnit!" Ouroboros said as his occuli processed the energy seeing quite visibly his tactic. That however would not save him entirely. He noted the shift in energy and the blade shards beneath him, and it actual startled him. He moved instinctively but still took several shards to the Paladin Armor. One brushed past the left arm, the other nicked the right calf and one to the right shoulder. Ouroboros immediately stepped, the ethereal channeling rods activating and moving him behind Michael. Helitrope and Sovereignty slashed out, aiming to not only remove the cannons from existence, but probably an arm. There was a bellowing roar as Misanthropy, The Black Blade swung out as well along side the celestial singing of The Imperium slashing through air. Michael would not end up like Sean, Ouroboros went through great pains to ensure this as Imperium pre-emptively prepared to reconstruct the destroyed portions of his son's body...should there be any. Four blade slashes, and eight Kushala-tatsu blasts were bound to do something, if not sim0ly provoke a reaction. The damn blade shards kept coming, Ouroboros released Misanthropy and held it there with his empathic connection, using it as a post to kick off from. He flew back through the air, the shards chasing after him on a curved trajectory before breaking into four streams, circling around him. He growled and Misanthropy shot to him disappearing into the shards as they covered Ouroboros, blocking him completely from view. The necrotic effect had claimed his armor for the most part, the damned blade was proving nearly as troublesome as Zell's. He still had a little energy left form the channeling rods. He entered a state of extreme focus as he stood there. Suddenly, his hands started whipping about tendrils and swords as well as they flourished. He spun on his heels and swung out the blades at inhuman speeds generating dozens and then even up to a hundred kushala-tatsu for a grand total of twenty five swings in one and a half seconds.

The Kushala tatsu enveloped him like a sphere and fired out, propelling the shards back before they all fired out at him once more. He stepped out of the "Vertex" or converging point as the shards all slammed down, seeming to compile into large X like crystal structure. Ouroboros forced himself to swallow the excess saliva that was caused from panic. This little shit actually had him worried.... mostly because those shards hurt like a bitch. It would have been easier to simply deal with the one large blade rather than these shards. "IT's like fighting fucking Silus all over again." He growled, remembering the damn Yggdrasil gauntlet and the infernal soul-shards. He looked to Michael with a sigh. The necrosis claimed the right calf and shin's armoring, leaving the leg exposed. At the same time it also claimed from the shoulder to the Xyphoid process, leaving the entire half of the chest exposed. "The son of a bitch- sorry Sean- is skilled...something he got from the both of us. But he IS more like me in personality....he's Vain... he likes to talk...so do I..."....but Ouroboros showed no fear, no hesitation...for all anyone knew he was as calm and in control as ever.

"I thought I taught you better than this? Seriously...if you hadn't come from my chest I'd have thought Sean cheated on me.... or should I blame Raziel for making you his bitch?" He asked casually, knowing that any descendant of Ouroboros would be enraged by the question...except Silus....he'd cry and make the person feel bad.

********

The children had their chance to make a difference in this battle it would seem. Silus and the wolves made their move. Yancey took his human form and settled down with his healing light, Hocus taking to his own human form before drawing a bow and arrow, infusing it with his own energies, and Kaisses in his "warn-a-brotha" ball cap charging at Raziel a huge Earthen Ethereal construct solidifying behind Raziel to prevent his running away. Though running away didn't seem like anything he'd do. An arrow imbued to explode, flaming swords and nature spirits combound with the "son of Gaia and Romulus" and a healing light made things seem well off in most cases.....unfortunately this wasn't most cases and Silus could see it plain as day.

This wasn't even fair on their part...

Zell growled as he tried to stand up, body wracked with pain as he scampered to his knee, looking at Raziel with a glare. Was this really how this was all going to end? No...he wasn't going to let it end because Ourobros was a pretentious prick and denied him the chance to have the power to save his family. He would see his family through this...all of them...alive....even if it killed him. He stood up and clenched his fist as he snapped his fingers, Blaspheme returning to Ouroboros and Zell holding out his hand. "Esthel Hui Fon" He said, immediately Vanguard stepped forward as did Techno (identical to the old blonde Ouroboros) yet his tattoos seemed to glow. Zell turned and threw his hand into the clone, ripping from him a shimmering blade before placing a hand on Techno and a healing light forming over the wound. Techno staggered back and took a knee as he tried to regulate his breathing. Vanguard charged at Raziel Ultima energy causing an unusual gravity about it. Zell pointed the blade at Raziel and growled as he himself ran, teleporting next to Fera.

Like a whirlwind of death the shards would converge upon the ethereal, all of the aimed to shred him into mincemeat, offering death no matter where they struck anyway. It was within this moment that Michael activated another little ability of his eyes, instantly everything within this battle becoming open to him, as he felt something, a large surge of ethereal energy from somewhere else, but somewhere close by. Within that moment Ouroboros seemed to pull a teleportation maneuver of his own, appearing right next to him with a flurry of slashes that he could barely react to. However he saw them coming, and that was more than enough for him to work with, as the ethereal wings would swiftly shift, moving from their position to take the brunt of the slashes, being damaged but otherwise leaving the cannon like constructs alone. It seemed like he was planning to disarm him, but Michael had no intentions of ending up like his father, he would not be made a cripple. With his move failed, Michael summoned the shards once again, like a swift barrage that cut off any chance for him to attack once again, to take advantage of the whole within his backs defense as they seemed to close.

Giving the wings a great flap, Michael was propelled forward as he whipped around, looking upon Ouroboros as he attempted to deal with his own attacks, yet seemed as calm as ever. That cursed blade misanthropy would shoot out and mostly defend him from the deadly shards, but Michael could tell that he was taking some heavy damage, or enough to count. So long as he continued to wear him down, Michael had a feeling that he could land a decisive blow, if he did not tire himself out first anyway. However with each strike, some of the shards would split into pieces and those pieces would only join the steadily growing maelstrom, a flurry of smaller and harder to deflect shards. Sure this would not be able to last forever, but it was enough to slow sown Ouroboros, wear him down until Michael could go in for the kill. ”Just a little more.” Michael muttered to himself taking note of the decay that was beginning to take hold of the affected areas, destroying armor and flesh. Yet he could feel something within his arm burning, for release it would seem and oh how he wanted to release it.

Even that little maneuver would only make the shards more dangerous, nearly reducing them to small metallic powder that he was controlling, floating around in a cloud that was ready to shred through flesh much like nothing. Yet, what seemed to break this thought process more than anything was one thing, a rather feral looking grimace forming upon his lips as he glared down upon the male, runic eyes narrowing. So he was Raziel’s bitch? Energy coalesced within the cannons, perhaps more than he had intended, enough to destroy anything within the radius of the blast, and then some, perhaps too much for him to be able to instantly recover from. A bright light that was filling the entirety of the hallway that they were standing in, this all took place within the span of a second and then the powerful shot was fired off. At the start there was a deafening boom that resounded, followed by the actual attack that was going towards Ouroboros at unbelievable speeds, shattering anything within its path as the blade fragments that remained simply moved back from the blast, far enough that they would not be vaporized

A large cloud of dust was throw up from the impact of the shot, seeming to reach even the front door, Michael let himself hover to the floor, blowing away a small portion of the smoke around him from , wings of ultima seeming to be crumbling of their own volition away, even the cannons beginning to crack from the overexertion. He had used a little too much energy with that one, he could barely even keep up with the constructs that he was forming. A single drop of indistinct perspiration fell down from his forehead, following along his cheek before dropping down to the floor. ”Yeah…who’s the bitch now?” He muttered tersely another potion of said constructs falling to the ground before grumbling into dust. Even with the eyes he could not see through the smoke, dust thrown up by the powerful burst of energy that he had expended.
--
Raziel was somewhat impressed by the show of force that the youngers were showing, but it was still nowhere good enough to actually kill him, no, they were far from being able to do something like that. He simply lay in wait within the earthen wall that the little Shael had created, waiting for the right time to make a grand reveal, to show that he was mostly playing around with them and would probably kick it up a notch. If they got him serious, that was when he would make them regret their wretched existences, for even thinking that they would harm him. Oh, the Fera child had done a small amount of damage, but not like she would ever know that, a small light within the darkness appearing as the minute cut dissipated, along with the blood that flowed from the wound; a light green liquid far different in appearance. Within that instant something emerged from within the rubble a bright golden flame that seemed to burn without heat as it changed into something, a physical form that resembled wings and with a flap the male was released. Bits of rock would fall away from his clothing as he looked upon those that had now taken arms against him, Godsbane clenched within his fingers.

These wings would flex before flapping powerfully, releasing a powerful gust of wind that would blow back anyone and anything too close to him. First the flaming arrows, which he easily dispatched with a flick of his wrist, some of them simply being sliced in half as he danced around the burning remains. One of them charged him with a rather familiar energy, one that he had seen somewhere before. ”Well well well, if it isn’t that energy.” He muttered with a slight annoyance looking to the red haired female standing next to the shorter tan male, one that seemed to take the appearance of a twelve year old, merely a child in a battle of gods. His own energy formed around the blade, and within an instant he unleashed a slash at Vanguard, before disappearing within an instant, appearing next to the male and then slamming a foot into their back, forcing them towards the blast itself. Twirling rapidly, he slashed through an attack launched at him by Fera, and with impossible speed he rushed the female, as vines seemed to sprout from the earth itself, seeming to barely miss catching him, as the male maneuvered around any bit of earth, until he simply moved fast enough that what appeared to be a sonic boom was emitted.

Then came a simple barrier of the plants, one that was meant to slow him down, though with a few slashed, effortless ones it did nothing to that effect. Though what they saw on the other end of that wall was nothing, and by the time they caught sight of him, the blade was already sticking through Fera’s chest, thick red blood painting the blade.

Perfect...just a little more. Ouroboros thought to himself as the energy continued to fly at him. He intended on making good use of this attack at him, though to say he wasn't worried would be a lie in and of itself. His Paladin armor WAS regenerating, but it was very slowly as the remnants of the necrotic energy were still in partial effect, slowing down the process. The blast was here, almost here and he could feel himself welling up with power. He heard Godsbane....no...none other would know this feeling...but it was certainly a feeling that was unique to the chosen wielders of the God slaying blade. The blade cried out, silent to all save for Raziel, Ouroboros and Zell. Ouroboros' face froze, his jaw dropped as he turned and looked from Michael and his blast to the conflict with Raziel. His heart froze and his eyes became wide as the pupils turned the size of pin tips. Fera was on the edge of The Godsbane...the ultimate slayer of Ethereals and Immortals. He had forgotten at the attack launched at him, but it did not matter, as he instantly turned intangible when his subconscious commanded it. He activated his limiter, and released himself to be at his fullest power. (+2 ABL teleport +2 Flight Ether-wings) He moved once more to Michaels level in the air, a tear moving down his face as he looked at Raziel and scowled before looking to Michael.

   "When I lost your sister... because of the ONE MAN I thought I could count on killed her...it ruined me... How about you? Does your heart shatter? Does it bleed!?" He spat, venom in his every word as he wiped his cheek with the back of his hand. "It's almost funny how it turned out. I tried everything I could to spend time with you...I put off so many things just to spend time with you and Sean...and now this is what it's come to? What you've become isn't even worth my time, you're a sad...lonely little boy. But as much as I love you...I can't do this anymore...Fera's blood is on MY soil.... Now..." He growled. He threw Sovereignty at Michael before charging him with Blaspheme and Helitrope. Sovereignty phased through and reappeared behind Michael with several slashes, Ouroboros conjured up his Ethereal Singularity, swirling and pulling in every shard imaginable that even came close to Ouroboros. With the shards temporarily "removed" from the equation, Ouroboros unleashed a flurry of slashes, the second Michael deemed himself able to estabe the barrage, he would have a nasty surprise. The Ethereal Paragon, Aetherius would arise and use his being to cover the area as a dome. Ouroboros unleashed another transmutation right for Michael as his suit finished converting the effects of the necrosis into energy for him to use. As it was fired Ouroboros' limiter burned brightly and pulsation went throughout the isle as ultima energy raged around him, sparking...and as was his tactic, being as the singularity, the tendrils and Duhrnara Mori (Aetherius) were both ultima in nature, they were augmented greatly and much more deadly than before without needing to "pay the price" of exhaustion for having his item start them off. The skies darkened and Ethereal lightning sparked... soon (next post) an ethereal lightning storm would begin...

    "This is over Michael" He sighed as he looked to Zell and nodded.

   Zell was mortified and enraged. But nowhere nearly as much as Silus was.
   "Fera!!!" He growled as he himself ignited with Ultima energy, enough to rival that of even Ouroboros in his own empowered form. Zell's heart sank, because he know as long as she was on that blade...she could not be saved...and if she dies to the blade...there is no resurrection. His eyes turned bloodshot as tears began to form, but he calmed himself. Shi charged, trying to get Raziel to withdraw the blade. Zell noticed this and hoped for his success, because that was more than he could hope for at this moment. Silus seemed to notice something as Raziel went to defend himself against the attack and Silus moved in at his own pace, becoming all the more reflexive and quick. (+4 FS) Raziel drew the blade from the girl and clashed with Shi's Scythe. Raziel arched an eyebrow as if questioning the Asian in a condescending manner. Silus began to close in as sure as the sun would set.

    "This must be why my mom never let me play with my sister. Oh Herro Ord Man, Can I have some Pes-see?" He asked. Shi didn't show any emotion, his eyes simply turned to Silus closing in, rather quickly compared to his usual. "Oh come on, you're sending THIS one to attack me, what's he gonna do? Hug me to death or something? Pfft... well it's gotta be more interesting than this crap." He said as he stepped back and slammed Godsbane's hilt into the back of Shi's neck and driving him towards the ground. "Diabetes would kill me before you ants...Okay, come one kiddo. Come Give Uncle Raz a BIG-HUG!" He laughed as he brought Godsbane back to deliver one of Godsbane's signature energy blasts, but suddenly Godsbane snagged. Raziel looked to find Shael there. Shi chuckled as he fell onto Fera, scooping her up and rolling forward before stepping away to Zell, laying her at his feet. Shael had his arms crossed as Godsbane snagged on his throat. His hand reached up and he grabbed Godsbane near the base. Raziel went to pull on the blade, to find it would not budge. Shael then did what many before him found impossible...

   "Rock smashes scissors bitch."

Godsbane shattered under his finger. Raziel would likely fall through and when he did Shael hoped he would have been at lease impressed enough at the sudden breaking of the "immortal-slaying blade" that he had forgotten about Silus...who literally stepped through Shael, lowering himself and driving Yggdrasil right for his stomach, and much to his dismay, if he tried to turn intangible there was a rather interesting consequence...not that Raziel would know... and if he tried to back up there was the scythe of Lok waiting to slash across his back.

   "Hold still Fera. I'm not gonna let anything bad happen, I promise okay!" He said. He smiled at her and nodded as he brushed her hair aside slightly, trying not to let his granddaughter see that he was crying. "Death was not our destiny." He said. Those words rang...so true, especially as he forced his left eye closed and then opened it again. Suddenly there was a surge of unnatural energy as the effects of The Godsbane was removed from Fera, and her wound instantly sealed over as if she had been totally unaffected...unhit...as if somehow the moment she got stabbed were erased from history. A little blood dripped down onto her shirt as Zell's eye bled, a side effect of using the eye. He blinked and then wiped it away before smiling at Fera with his slightly unusual red eye with green arrows showing out in every direction from the pupil, the symbol of Chaos and the symbol of the Eye of Ragnarox. He pulled out an old eyepatch form his back pocket and put it on, a dragon adorning it decoratively. "Sorry about that, just stay down for a second let yourself get reoriented." Zell ordered as kindly as he could. He stood up and looked to Yancey, commanding him to keeping "Little Shael" under constant healing until someone else was critical. Kiasses level the terrain once more with his nature abilities before allowing them a rest.

Bits of the constructs fell to the ground like glass, shattering upon contact before fading away into nothingness. Yet even within his weakened state, Michael could see it, no, the eyes had forced him to see it almost. The blade running red with blood, one person’s blood in particular. It was almost as if he could feel the blade himself, jutting through his abdomen, a strangled growl slipping through tightly shut lips as the constructs simply fell away, fading away as if he simply no longer wanted to keep them up. A small trickle of blood began to fall down from his left nostril, yet he could feel that his end of the fight was not over, not by a long shot anyway. Yet something within him did not care, it seemed more like a chore than anything, this fighting. What could he do now though? It had all gone too far, he was too far into this to simply walk out, he dug the hole so it was time to deal with the consequences of his actions; to die or to kill. However one thing stuck within his mind, one image that perhaps would haunt him, if he survived this ordeal; the look upon Shael’s face, one of utter shock, and heartbreak.

Ouroboros rose from the pillars of smoke, spitting words laced with venom, yet he took them, without even changing his facial expression. Muscles were aching, crying in pain as if the exertion he had put upon his body were more than it could bear. A bright grey light rose over his body, seeming to heal it slightly, the pained muscles and joints seeming to silently sigh I relief from the healing that washed over them. More attacks were set upon him, yet his own armor had its time to refuel, to allow itself to react once again, to protect him from anything that would have destroyed him, and then there was the power of his own ultima energy, reinforcing his own body. The area had been destroyed, enough that the skies grew visible, a great storm beginning to brew over him, a storm of pure ultima energy, something was happening yet he could not tell what. All he could do was attempt to react as the blade sovereignty was thrown at him, preparing to side step as it simply went through him and attacked from behind, slicing through flimsily made constructs and biting down into the armor.

Michael leaned forward, small bits of the armor clattering to the floor along with plashes of thick red blood. Yet when it came to the singularities, they simply found themselves being consumed by the small black void that his armor conjured, pulled in and negated as if they were never there in the first place, yet there was nowhere to go now. The ethereal paragon formed itself into a dome around them, cutting off all routes to escape, he was stuck within this dangerous situation. The Blade Soul Slayer formed within his hand, a weapon pulsing with his own energy. Michael rose to his full height, not one to let himself fall to his knees, to show any weakness, especially not now. His eyes were distant now, as if not really into anything around him at this point, as if he had truly given up. The blade within his hand found itself falling from his grip, falling to the ground noisily, as the ultima energy surrounding him took on a dark tinge, something sickly about it as it would begin to form an orb around the male, glowing blacker now than midnight. A cold gust was being released from this orb as the blade that was known as Soul Slayer seemed to fade away into a grey dust, as the very ground beneath him began to crack.

--
Raziel pulled back with the shattered stump that was Godsbane, a low growl rippling from his throat as he attempted to disengage from the male that had done the impossible. ’Well, looks like I should start getting a little more serious.” Raziel muttered as his eyes quickly shifted, pupils becoming ringed with a circle of strange runic markings, everything becoming clear near; especially the scythe that was so close to slicing through his back. It was within this moment that he perhaps managed to keep himself from being eviscerated by the child’s weapon, then elaning forward slightly as the scythe would glide over his back. Oh, this was getting good, yet he had already disabled two of their fighters, the female and by proxy the poor little wild child. Within the snap of a finger he was gone, standing a good few feet away from those gathered against him, still holding the blade that had been destroyed. ”Woah, so Michael is getting serious now isn’t he?” Raziel muttered with a sly smirk, feeling the rather malevolent energy reaching him, snickering before once again turning his attention back to those that were trying to kill him.

”Snapped my goddamn blade, little punk. Looks like I have to kill Michael’s little love toy afterall.” He grumbled as his own ethereal energy radiated through the blade, making up for where there was nothing, though it wasn’t the ultima energy that he was so enjoying, it would suffice. ”I do like the gauntlet though kid, might try it.” The strange cube that hung around his neck shifted, and glowed a bright white, before seeming to shoot from its position and begin to meld around his right hand. Forming something, a gauntlet of some kind, strange looking shards of the same material floating around him and the gauntlet itself; much like the gauntlet hat Silus wielded, but a silver color. ”Okay, time for round two!”