Roleplay:In the Shadows

This roleplay is closed. Sorry!

Overview
Celia, Trinity, Zapor, and many others have been lost due to this battle. Viola City cannot be worth this much. Not to mention the current way the battle is going, who knows if there is even a rebellion army left standing. So, with everything taken into account what is keeping everyone going? Well, after Christina is sent back to the intersection to see the remaining forces an investigation into the third faction, leads her to a great secret. Lexi is sent farther into the enemy camp where she meets the princess of the Storm Family, her original assassination target. Clock-Watch must deal with a constant threat as well as his investigations into the origin between the rebellion and the government. Finally, there is Saren, drug into an ancient temple by his scythe to learn the secrets of a new power; The Reaper's Ring.

Participants
NeoExlucky

Saren the Dark Lynx

Zapor888

Darkest Shadow

Time

Involved Characters
Zero Evol

Delta Radon

Eliza Hamilton

Knave Veron

Leah Dubio

Echo Radon

Saren Arcturias

Christina Transon

Lexi the Hedgehog

Clock-Watch

Part 1 (A): Digging Deeper
Saren found himself moving to the outskirts of the city, away from Trinity and Zapor's battle and farther into the dark woods where many strange creatures were roaming, though none seemed to wish to challenge Saren. "We're getting closer." The scythe told him.

"Good." Saren said as he travelled deeper. "I'm surprised none of these creatures are challenging me, but what exactly will I be doing..?" Saren asked.

"You're going to stand there while I perform the ritual." The scythe told him. "I wasn't too sure at first, but as we fought I began to feel a prescence here. I'm sure you realize this by now, but I am not a normal scythe, in fact I am not actually the weapon at all, I am only do, communicating to you through it."

"Huh, I thought you were a talking scythe... Who manifested as a hot chick.. Oh well." Saren shrugged.

The scythe paused for a minute. "I am the Elemental Lord of Shadow, and the one who gave the power of umbrakinesis to the world." The scythe told him. "And also a male."

"Alright.. So lets get this ritual started.." Saren said, he was giddy at the prospect of what might happen.

"When we get there..." The scythe noted. "Tell me, what is your knowledge of the Legend of the Elementals?"

"Absolutely nothing at all!" Saren chirped.

"When Mobius was first created." The scythe began as the pair continuted their journey. "The elemental spirits were entrusted with creating the lay of the land. We built our own homes based on our elements, every element had some part to play in this world, except for one. Destruction did not have a place in this world, and so he decided to make one. He created a new type of element and with it, a new form of sentient beings. Demons as they are called now. The demons destroyed all of our work. My sister Void, and I were forced to call a war against our brother, Destruction, and summon all the spirits in the world to help slay him and his demons. Every spirit fought together to stop Destruction, and even the Meta came to our aid when we asked for them, and soon the demons and Destruction were sealed away in an underworld of sorts." The scythe paused.

"Afterwards, a byproduct of the demons was discovered, Humans, and because of our disdain towards Destruction we empowered their hearts with the ability to use their souls as shields and gave them the ability to use kinesis, Nature's Wrath. As a result of this, a new species was created, Mobians, and they to were given these blessings." The scythe told Saren. "However, humans and mobians alike can still be improved upon, we know this from seeing certain mobians enter a heightened state of empowerment, a super form, if you will. We know that Destruction still has a lingering effect on some people as well, as we've seen with Dark Forms and what Radon had become near the end of his life. There is an artifact that we can use to give you something that is...in between a super and dark form. Something to grant you amazing power by calling upon your dark roots, but leaving you in control of your own actions. My child...how far are you willing to go to gain power?"

"Well, only one way to find out pops!" Saren chuckled, showing his eagerness to acquire power.

"Even if it changes you?" The scythe asked. "Even if it could make you lose your power, or make you a different person?"

"It's not like I have any regrets ya know... I chose this so I'm seeing it through to the end.. So lets do this!" Saren replied, determination showing through his voice.

"I see..." The voice said as they continued through the forest. "Do you have any questions before we begin?"

"No.. Let us begin.." Saren said, a grin on his face.

The pair came upon a clearing in the forest where a small stone building stood, ruined and covered in moss. "This is it." The voice said.

"Huh.. Wasn't expecting it to be so.. Dilapidated." Saren mused. "Ah well, as long as this works I don't really care."

"I suppose it has been left to rot for years." The scythe said. "Underneath it is where the catacombs, and the temple, are. We need to head down there."

Saren entered the building, a grin slowly etching itself onto his face.

The building itself appeared to be very worn, and have the appearence of a shed, though Saren, through his power of shadows, could detect that there was a trap door with an interesting amount of darkness collected on it's lock. "You've been able to control shadows." The scythe said. "You can turn physical objects like weapons and yourself into shadows for travel, you can also wield a shadow as a weapon itself, given a form from a spirit. The question now is, can you turn shadows into physical objects. As an example, that trap door will require you to fashion a key out of shadows, which will require a large amount of concentration." The scythe paused for a moment. "So no booze."

"Got it." Saren muttered. Truthfully the closest thing he has ever come to using shadows like a physical object woukd be the times when he had spawned tendrils from someone elses shadow to bind or strangle them. Now fashioning a key to a trapdoor with a lock on it might be a tricky thing, especially when he didn't know the lock.

Saren went to examine the lock very closely for a few minutes, trying to figure out just what sort of key he'll need to create in order to open it. "Well, here goes something.." The ghost lynx muttered as he concentrated on the shadows, trying to force and mold them into corporeality in the shape of a key.

The shadows molded into a shape, but didn't seem to go into a key quite yet.

"Every element gains power from an emotion." The scythe told Saren. "Fire uses passion, wind uses bravery, etcetera but shadow, light, and void are the only three which do not, they all have a focus on the mind. Your strength from an element, where shadows and light gain power, is from the heart like all kinesis. The mind plays a big part in your kinesis with shadows as well, or more specifically, your desires. Focus on your desires Saren, what is it that you want. Money and Booze, they aren't things that your kinesis will accept, what do you truly want out of life? Why are you a Mythic Knight? Focus on these, and you will accomplish your goals."

Saren sighed, he was pondering why he even joined the mythic Knights. He wasn't friends with many of the members and they don't mesh well with his methods. "Huh, why did I join anyway.. I mean it's not like I really gave a damn.. I guess I want what I want because I don't have it..."

With that in mind, he tried focusing on his avarice, failing that he tried apathy.

The shadows took the shape of a key almost immediately afterwards. "You want what you don't have. That appears to be working. Perhaps it is power you want, after all the knights are bound to discover power in their quests. Most umbrakinetics and heliokinetics want power. The question is, what do you intend to do with this power." The voice paused. "I sought power to seal my brother away. Many umbramancers seek power for study, power to kill, and power to protect. It is the same with those of light as well. Many legends will tell you the shadows are corrupting, but so to is the light blinding. The shadows and the light go hand in hand. I suppose you cannot have shadows with out light, nor can you have light without shadow."

"Why do I want the power...? That's easy.. Because power is the key to unlimited opportunities. Not friends, not love.. But power." Saren answered, focusing on the meaning behind the words and showing an almost callous disregard for others close to him in a way.

Part 1 (B): A Shining Hope
Christina continued on her way towards the battle, when a small pebble was thrown her way. It was almost unnoticeable, but Christina would have very clearly caught it. Above her a woman's voice could be heard. "Hey Christina." She whispered as up above stood Treasure Evol, the girl from her previous adventure with Neo.

Christina looks up to see Treasure. "Treasure! How have you been?" She asked her. Coming from the tone she said it in, Christina moved on from the whole affair incident, like it never even happened. She hasn't seen Treasure since that adventure, so she was pretty excited.

Treasure jumped from the rooftop onto the ground in front of Christina. "What are you doing? Are you...apart of the war? How did you even get here?"

"If a war is what you want to call it, then yes I am." She replied, "The way I got here was a long story. But when did you get here?"

"I've been here, fighting forever." Treasure noted, still seeming a little off, as if she was hiding information. "We weren't told you were coming to. Is anyone else with you?" She paused for a minute, her expression softening slightly. "Neo?"

"If only he was." Christina sighed, "From what I've been told, he's being locked up and tortured somewhere. I feel horrible for him;it's hard to imagine the pain he's going through right now."

Treasure looked down, hiding her expression for a moment. "I...see...that will be taken care of soon. For now, I need to know something else." She paused. "Why are you with the rebellion?" Her voice held an element of respite, and in that moment it was clear, Treasure was not a member of the Shadow Legion or the rebellion.

Christina clutched her fist, "Well, the way I see is that what they're doing is just not right." She replied.

"But by fighting in a war you plan to fix this? You think combat is how we can get through this? This isn't how we fix a country, especially when your sending troops to their own death." Treasure said.

"Trust me, I always believed that violence is never the answer, but this is the only option we have." Christina sighed crossing her arms.

"No it isn't. There are multiple ways to solve this and your taking the easiest one! Why not choose to solve this peacefully?" Treasure stopped. "That's not going to happen is it?" Her hand drifted to her side where she grabbed her extendable no staff.

Christina stared at her for a few seconds with a very confused look. "You make it sound like it's an easy thing to do, Treasure. It's not like we can whip out a treaty and manipulate both sides to sign it...." Christina replied. Then she put her hands on her hips, Are you asking me to stay neutral in this?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying." Treasure said. "This isn't our country and it isn't our war to fight in. Your the one who is currently manipulating both sides."

"I just..." Christina paused, because she had trouble trying to say it. "I just feel like if I drop out of the rebellion that Neo and the rest of the Knights are going to frown upon me."

"Neo wouldn't want us to be fighting this battle!" Treasure noted coldly. "Are the knights going to frown at us for it, yes, but Neo would have gotten us out of here had he not been captured. Why are you all focused on fighting in the war instead of trying to save Neo? Do you know how many of us are here, trying to do that?"

Christina tried to argue against it, but she finally gave up. "Touchè..." She sighed and gave a soft smile. "You're right. I think the best idea is to put the war in our back pockets and mainly focus on saving Neo."

"Glad you see it my way, now." Treasure started. "We need to scale back a bit and focus, we need this battle taken care of, right now. Reinforcements are coming in the next two hours from your side, and that should cause the other side to flee. Leaflet and Nevermore are currently taking care of the citizens in the city, and I believe Frostpaw and Hart are running distractions right now on part of the Government's army. We should check in with the rest of your side and see how they are doing."

"That's a good plan." Christina nodded.

"By the way, we're not alone." Treasure said in a hushed whisper. "There are two people watching us right now."

The hedgecats expression turned from determined to slightly frightened in an instant, "Who?" she whispered right back. A chill ran up her spine as she shivered.

"I don't know." Treasure said. "But don't let them know we know. Lets head back to Main Street where we'll have more numbers."

Christina nodded as she walked back to Main Street with Treasure. She kept on having thoughts about the war going on and how Neo is doing, but most of them were about the condition Fey was in. She shook her head and refocused on her current goal.

Part 1 (C): The Warring Dragons
Clock Watch was still in the middle of the residental buildings when the sword resonated once more, letting him know that there was something, or someone coming. Possibly the person who was making such a loud racket earlier in the building.

"Oh, great. That's just what I needed." He muttered to himself. He hid around the corner of one of the houses. "Hopefully I can get a look at who you are now. Maybe it's just a friend? But probably not."

The person who came out wasn't a threat at all, in fact it seems like Clock hid for nothing.

"Hello?" A little rat girl asked, her fur was maroon and wiry, and she wore a silver jacket over blue heels. She looked to be about 13 years old. "Damn it...I guess they all evacuated without me..." There was something odd about her right arm, but being hidden under the jacket sleeve made it hard to detect.

Clock-Watch moved towards her. "Hello. What are you doing here? I thought this place was deserted." Just seem friendly, confrontation is always bad.

The rat girl jumped, and very quickly extending some sort of mechanism for claws to come out of her sleeve, which she poised at Clock Watch. "Don't...don't come any closer..."

Clock backed up a bit. "What!? No, no. I don't mean any harm, I promise!" He thought about the letters from before. "Do you know anything about the Storm Dragon or the Inferno Dragon?"

"W-what?" The girl asked. "Yeah...yeah I know about them. What do you want to know?"

"Just some general information, nothing much." Clock replied. The key to a good testimony is that it's simple.

"Well they both descend from the uh...origin of the country, they founded both sides and are considered the original masters of the land." The girl said. "The people who came here divided in half then, half follow the red dragon, and the other half follows the blue dragon."

Hm. The two families that everyone was talking about are probably related to those dragons in some ways. "Which side followed which dragon?" This might be a step closer towards learning about why they were brought here. Clock knew he should trust the people he was with, but he couldn't, not without knowing more.

Part 1 (D): The Storm Family
Lexi continuted her assault into enemy territory, leading further from the group, and farther away from the battle, as she got closer to the enemy lines, war started to become almost a non-existing thing. Buildings were fully intact, and the sounds of campfires burning wood, people chattering away, and most importantly, the abscence of cannon fire. Things were looking good on this side.

"Man, the government really knows how to keep things tidy over here..." Lexi muttered, continuing to sneak past. "Okay, where are you general..?"

Looking over everything it was easy to see all of the soldiers, but what became a surprise was seeing the princess as well, not with everyone else, but was now inches from Lexi's face.

Lexi stopped dead in her tracks from the surprise. Not expecting to see the princess, she had hoped that she hadn't noticed her.

"Hello!" The Princess said cheerfully.

"Uh...hi?" Lexi said, a bit worried and confused at the same time.

"What are you doing?" The princess asked, apparently not realizing that Lexi was on the opposite side of the war. "Are you hiding from someone? Who are you hiding from? Is it Phillip Schuyler? He always likes to do things like this..."

"Um....no..I'm actually..." Lexi started. The princess, her previous assassination target was right in front of her. But the main reason she was here in the first place was the general. Perhaps she could use this as a way to get to the general. "..looking for the general. I need to tell him some stuff." Lexi said.

The princess blinked at Lexi. "I'm a girl." She said, and slowly it was clear that she was the general.

"Oh. In that case..." Lexi started. If she was going to assassinate the princess/general, she would have to be careful about what she does. "..I..needed to tell you something!" Lexi said, making it sound as beleivable as possible.

"What is it?" The princess gasped. She turned her head around. "Is it about big brother?"

"Big brother?" Lexi asked, not knowing who he is.

"The king." The princess told Lexi. "Is it about my brother, the king?"

"Oh. No...it's not really important..it's...uh.." Lexi tried to think of a way to get the princess far and alone she could end her without anyone knowing. "...Can I..have your autograph?" Lexi internally punched herself for asking such a dumb question.

"My autograph?" The Princess asked. "You...aren't part of this army are you?"

"No, I'm.." Lexi tried to think of a good lie. "Just a fan, and always wanted to .eet you." In Lexi's mind, she knew one of two things would go down. A: The princess would find out she's with the rebellion, or B: The princess would actually buy the act.

"I know you're a spy you can stop the act." The Princess said in a hushed tone. "What's going on out there?" Something about this didn't make sense. Was the Princess against the government?

"Well..." Lexi started. If she was gonna come clean, she might as well spill everything. "The rebellion is getting their butts kicked, one of my friends is dead, the other is with the government, our whole entire plan is falling apart, and there's a jester guy. You want me to continue or do you see the struggle?"

"There is a third side of the war, I am aware." The Princess said. "Who all have you fought from their side?"

"Just the Jester." Lexi told her, slightly confused why she hasn't called for any guards.

"Only the Jester? No one else?" The princess asked. "Strange why isn't she out yet..." The princess turned for a bit and looked back at Lexi. "Tell me, when will the reinforcements for your side arrive?"

"I don't know. Our army planner didn't say anything about reinforcements." Lexi told the princess. "Why are you suddenly concerned about the rebellion? I thought the government hated freedom of speech." Lexi said, last part quite sarcastically.

"The government is concerned with the problems of the people." The princess said. "For a while, that was your side, then we found a third side to this war and now they are a bigger problem." She paused. "I'm Princess Aqua, by the way."

Lexi crossed her arms and looked away. "...Lexi." She told her. "Anyway, what do you know about this third side?"

"From what I can tell, they're are powerful and are trying to destroy both sides of the war. Right now, my troops have mentioned that polar bear has been distracting them from their goal, my guess is he's working with the Jester." The Princess mentioned.

"Great, now an polar bear is attacking...wait, how come you don't stop fighting the rebels, possibly try to join up with them, and go after the 3rd side?" Lexi asked.

"Because not all of us are for fighting with you against a common threat, mainly my brother, the king?" The Princess said. "Most of us are fighting to avoid his wrath."

"Well, it's not like I can say that it's different from our side. The rebel leader's brother doesn't even care if we get killed as long as they win." Lexi said.