Advent of shadows [Arteh and Humanity]

Idol's eyes opened with a start, his body jerking ever so slightly as he rose from sleep. How long he had been asleep this time was unknown and how long he had been locked within the cage he did not even know. All Idol knew was that the bars were something that both burned him as well as sapped away his strength the more he was around it. The days had stolen the strength he had gathered, leaving Idol more human than anything else. His hands were still burned red from grabbing onto the bars in an attempt to rip them off, healing far slower than he had ever been used to them doing.

For whatever reason, these humans were keeping him locked within the cage and draining his blood occasionally. Maybe they wanted it for some nefarious purpose, but at this point all he could do was keep himself from being bled out. His body could atleast keep that from happening, which was a blessing in a sense. Some people were moving beyond the bars, dressed within the black robes of the cultists with one of them wearing a more ornate robe than the others. She seemed to be the leader, and from what he could tell they had strange tattoos on their face.

”Here to release me?” Idol asked with a raised brow, more than anything hoping that was the case.

”No, i'm only here to check up on our...prized guest. Morgan, be a dear and make sure they behave.” She stated, turning to the girl beside her before walking off. This was likely going to be a long time.

–
”I can smell him….he smells like honey.” Shael muttered pressing his nose against the ground and taking a deep sniff.

”Are ya sure?” Jordan asked with a raised brow as he followed behind the short tan ethereal, crawling on all fours as he sniffed around.

”I smell Matt too….yeah definitely Matt.” He muttered to himself rapidly shifting into a raven and taking wing.

”Hey, wait up.” Jordan said with a slight whining tone, letting his own wings stretch out before following after..

By all accounts it made no sense. Mother Elize had long preached that the one they where looking for would take years just to find. Yet by complete accident he fell into Mother Elize's hands. Most people in the church where still in shock about the find. But Morgan was happier then she had been in years. Salvation was in reach, and Morgan couldn't be more excited. Even more so when Mother Elise asked Morgan to watch the precious cargo. So Morgan followed the Mother to where the man was being kept, carrying a special meal she made for him. It was the least she could do for him. While Mother Elize and Idol talked briefly Morgan just stood next to her, her hood covering her face and the tray of food hidden under her cloak. "Of course Mother, I will take good care of him." said Morgan as her leader walked away.

If her voice didn't give her gender away it would of likely been expected that she was male due to her height and the cloak gave her a rather blocky build. But as Morgan push the food out from under her cloak and into a specially made slot to put the food, it became complete obvious she was female, just really tall. After she push the food in the cell she reached up and pulled down her hood, greeting Idol with a smiling face. With her hood out of the way her long golden hair fell freely. It made one wonder how it stayed inside the hood so well. Potentially a nicer welcome then Idol got when he was first caught. Grabbing a near by chair she sat down in from of the cell.

"I apologize for your currently sleeping arrangements. There was no time to properly prepare a room for you. But please eat, you need your strength. I made the meal myself, think of it as my thank you. It took a couple of attempts to make so I hope you enjoy it Mother Elize constantly spoke of the wonders you could preform, but we never expected to find you so soon. We had plans for a grand room for you to stay in but we didn't have the money for it yet. I know Mother Elize said would I was but I want to introduce myself, I'm Morgan. Is there any name you prefer to go by? I always imagined Kegan was a title." Morgan kept smiling as she said it. IT would be hard to share her current faith. She had given everything to the church, even giving up her own education. She believed in what the Church of Ascension stood for, and their goal.

The room was dark, moist and all around humid as the man sat in a chair and was bound by rope and chain. Each binding was secured to a strong structure, one being a pillar the other being a rather heavy statue of a deity from the Patheos, or rather from his former Pantheon. The only light in this darkness were the flame that emitted a dim light form the large golden colored bowels that stood before the statues of the living gods...and then there was the lack of fire before those whom had passed, or had no physical incarnation in the world a this time. Finally there was Yamm's statue, and the brazier bowel before it filled with smoldering embers, radiating just enough warmth to not yet die. The bound man realized that it was only his arms and his waist had been bound, though he had been only in and out of his consciousness abotu ten times now. Pain wracked his body, breathing hurt as he looked down at his torso and his legs. His chin began to quiver and his eyes water as he looked at the irreparable damage that had been done. His breathing flattered and his head shot up when he heard footsteps.

"You're awake again? Well that's good." A voice said nonchalantly as a young man wearing glasses came into perspective. The bound man began to move and wiggle and squirm, trying to break free and trying to get away. Realizing that attempting to escape was futile he was left to whimper in the most pathetic manner, blabbering out again with his pleading to not hurt him anymore, to just stop this. The boy with the glasses cocked an eyebrow and shook his head. "Oh C'mon now. It's not that bad. Stop your whimpering. This wouldn't be so bad if you'd just tell me what I needed to know." He chided the man as if he were nothing more than a child whom had been complaining too much because he had to sit in church for an hour. Though the prisoner protested to knowing anything more than he had already revealed.

"I can't hear you over your whining. I also can't stand the fact that you keep passing out on me...have some willpower, be a real man for once in your life." Matthew teased the man as he began shuffling tools about on his spotless little table, some of the used tools sitting in small beakers of bloodied alcohol. The man's inability to stay awake for the torture process was delaying him, something that was unideal. Though he had to confess that he already knew everything he WANTED to know. The Location of the cult, the plan for godhood and ultimately the types of things they had used to restrain Idol. Now it was just a matter of milking as much information as possible from the man. Bleed him dry...one way or another. It took a moment, but Matthew found the perfect tool to help the man keep awake.

"If you're going to whine like a dog...and you're going to keep passing out on me... I'm going to kill both of these birds with one stone. You, Sir. Are going to look the part of a dog AND force yourself to stay awake." he said as he turned and revealed a small metallic construct, the construct looked like a crab form, though it had both tines on both ends and it was much thicker, perfect for wedging through human flesh. In the center of this construct were two small slits for a strap of leather to fit through. Feeding a strap of leather through, Matthew walked up to the man and shoved his head back before tying the leather strap around his neck, the fork applying a little pressure to the area by the neck and behind the breast bone as well as just behind his lower jaw and under his tongue. With the device secured the man would not be able to let his head relax or drop without causing himself to be impaled at both spots. "Good doggie." Matt said mockingly as he ruffled the man's hair and walked back over to his desk. The man couldn't look at his legs any longer, he could only look upwards at an elevation, the chair preventing him from leaning his head back any farther.

"Now I'm going to ask one last question, But you'll have three times to not answer me. After the third we'll play a new game." Matt said as he returned to the man with three household materials. "I always liked playing dentist." He said with a smirk as he revealed a pair of pliers in his hand as well as what appeared to be a screwdriver with a forked end. As he sat down on the chair next to the man he settled there and he smiled kindly before asking his question.

"What are your leaders really planning?" Matt asked. The man was still in tears as he let out a small pathetic whimper that proclaimed ignorance. Matt sighed and shook his head before grabbing the man's lower jaw firmly. The man didn't seem to want to open his mouth for him though. Oh well, taking the screwdriver he drove the prongs into the space just beneath the man's right eyes socket and slowly twisted, trying to drive it into the bone. When the man yelped he released the driver and immediately took the pair of pliers. "You can walk out of this alive...with your sight...with a couple cool scars to impress the lovers with...Hell you could have left here with all your teeth. Hell, ya still can...Well..." Matt cut himself off as he reached in and grapped a tooth and wrenched violently as he not only removed a tooth by a rather decent segment of gum. "...yeah...with all but one of them. Now I'm asking again....oh buddy, ol' pal. What are your leaders really after?" One more time the man prolaimed ignorance. Matthew disapproved of this claim and immediately reached in to take another, but the man shut his mouth. Matthew reached for the pliars and the man whimpered before opening his mouth again, slowly but reluctantly. Matthew just miled and patted him on the head.

"Goooood boy! See, I reward good. So this time...I won't take a tooth. But next time-I really don't know anything...p-please. I just wanted to ascend. To be the best I could be to make my parents proud of me." The young man said. Matthew looked down at the man and finally assessed the damages. His torso has small cuts all over it, each one had been the victim of pure, 100% alcohol injections. His arms has chunks sliced out of it and had alcohol filled cotton balls stuffed in them like a Thanksgiving turkey. The man's back had battery acid poured all down it, his flesh melted mostly away a while his legs had third degree burns from Matt putting his shins in water and boiling the water from beneath them.

"Alright...I'll believe it." He said as he pulled out a small needle and removed the cover. The young man began to beg for his life, but Matt just chuckled as he inserted the needle into his arm. "It won't kill you. This is a concentration of certain chemicals in a drug called Benzodiazepine. It causes long term amnesia. You won't remember any of this." He said before removing the syringe and standing up. He'd have to get this person shopped off to the hospital discretely, though Blair was the only one he trusted to do it. The man slowly began to slip under as the concoction of drugs worked and stole him of his consciousness and then of his memories.

"The miracles of twisting modern medicine." He said with a smirk as he found himself waltzing off to take a shower. When he was finished with that he was dressed in his fullest black attire before heading out towards the location where this "cult" was supposed to be holding festivities this evening. Matthew would be there, though a bit farther back in the seating arrangement. If you don't get what that means then you should probably note he has a sniper rifle and is going to start popping heads like a Left For Dead character popped pills. He was nearing the place he was supposed to be nearing when he took note of a raven, or was that a crow? Regardless it seemed to find him and land before him. An animal landing close to him rather than fleeing...oh why, oh why would THAT happen? Matt placed a finger to his lips and made a silent hissing noise to symbolic that Shael should be quiet and that he didn't want anyone following him. Especially not anyone that Shale would bring with him.

Matt took off a little as he ducked down a few alley ways and into the cover of night, doing all he could to elude contact with all others as he prepared the plan in his head.

Idol
–
Idol's eyes fell upon the girl that the strange woman had referred to as Morgan, wondering what torments they had for him today, Sure, the cage was a pain within itself but he didn't quite like the blood letting they did everyday, watching the golden fluid being drawn from him and likely used for terrible things, whatever it was that a human could use such things for. They had referred to the robed woman as mother, so that suggested that they were some manner of maternal figure to them, meaning that his assumption about the terrible things was not too far off.

The first thing they did was apologize for his sleeping arrangements, even though he could barely sleep without harming himself somehow. Pressing a fingertip against the bars of the cell, a small hiss emanated from his flesh as he wrenched the hand back which was now a burnt red. Biting on his lower lip, he looked at the food which smelled fine enough and despite the fact he did not need much food, it was more courtesy that made him eat it. ”It...it's just a title but my real name can't really translate into any language your people speak.” He stated simply, hesitantly eating the food which tasted atleast well done.

”I don't know what your cult hopes to accomplish with this….mission of it's but they're dealing with forces they can't possibly comprehend.” He warned rather direly, narrowing his eyes as if making sure everything he said would be serious. The whole ceremony was only fifteen minutes way, so she only needed to keep watch on him for that long.

–

Shael
The raven let out a cawing sound as it flew through the air, following where it felt like Matt was, though why the smell of blood was faint upon him he could not quite tell. Maybe he had been in a fight with someone, that always explained it to the young ethereal anyway. Eventually he found said familiar face, though as to why they had the gun he could not quite tell. Maybe Matt had taken an interest within high ordinance fire, if that were the case well he would find out soon enough. Taking the silence gesture seriously, he rapidly shifted into a rat and scampered after the male, keeping silent while trying to find out what their whole plan was in this thing.

–

Michael
”And I lost him.” Jordan muttered with a growl, rolling his eyes as he looked around for the crow that was Shael. Well, atleast Hyperion was having fun in a more laughing in the back of his head way.

You act like he doesn't run off whenever that guy is involved. The voice noted with an almost amused tone despite being just in his head. Which made sense, Shael not only had a way of running off but also just looking for that friends of his. Jealousy is an ugly color on you too.

”I'm not jealous.” Jordan muttered with a sigh, though he could feel skepticism in response to the statement, meaning that likely he was not believed when he said that. Still, the entrance to the cult was before him, a door within a rundown alleyway protected by some kind of magic. He held the rune that allowed him to step through the illusion, lifted from one of the cultists as well as the robe they concealed with them. Shifting into their form Jordan had decided to take their role to sneak into the cult without issue. Some would look in his direction as he walked past them within the corridor but it was nothing beyond simple recognition.

“Marty, you excited for the ascension tonight?” One would ask, a female that seemed somewhat friendly towards the form he took.

Marty? That is just ridiculous, I mean how much did their parents hate them to name them that>

”Yeah, it feels like we've been waiting forever.” He said with a nod, which seemed to placate the cultist.

“We're all gathering in the auditorium for the event, see you there.” With that done, she walked off and left him with an idea of where to go.

Morgan smiled as 'Kegan' took a bite out of his meal and seemed to enjoy it. Morgan didn't think her day could get any better, but it did. Although some things he said confused her. Was this the tests Mother Elize warned her about? Morgan was told that Kegan and his race where a tricky bunch and don't like being captured but reward those that see past their lies.

"Cult? What are you talking about?" questioned Morgan. Her expression was one of pure confusion. The Church of Ascension wasn't a cult, if they where then they wouldn't of captured one of the beings they where looking for. Maybe a few years ago when she first joined her conviction could of been challenged, but at this point it was to late.

"I don't know what you mean by cult but Mother Elize took us all in, using her own money. Back when the Church was just starting times where hard, food was scarce and we where reticulated, but in the recent year we have really taken off! You would be proud, we still don't have much influence outside of this state but after tonight that will all change! Mother's prophecies so far had proven to be true and she said that today we let go of all our problem and become something greater then each of us alone!" said Morgan excitedly. She would of talked more but she was cut off by a bell ringing. It seemed to snap Morgan out of her excited talk and she looked at the clock, a bit sad she couldn't get to know Kegan any better. She ended up talking longer then she planned.

"It's time already?" thought Morgan out loud. She got up and opened a drawer. After moving a few things around she pulled out a pair of Iron cuffs. "Umm... I don't mean to be rude or anything but I was told once the bell rings to put these one you and take you with me to the ceremony. I know it maybe a bit painful but the ceremony shouldn't take to long and Mother Elize will probably take them off afterward." Morgan motioned for Kegan to hold out his hands. Once he did the two would be off for the ceremony.

Matthew just quietly let Shael follow him as he walked quietly to his destination. As far as he knew there was going to be a ceremony in this exact area, and given the number of people gathered here he was fairly certain that this information he had received was correct. Silently he took his position and managed to make himself comfortable, setting up his gun on a small portable tripod and sat in shadows as he watched. He was sure that no one would find him with any form of conventional method. Now it was a matter of waiting for things to transpire.