Chapter One: Ex Nihilo

[Quantum Rain]

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A war already thousands of years since its beginning, some worlds have already been devastated, but hope remains for those who wish to defend it... or destroy it.

Aeon's armies are amassing once more, though they emerge from the shadows of defeat against the Reapers in the service of Exitium, they hold courage still. Exitium sees this happening, and is already prepared to strike again, this time to kill. Merciless fighting shall take place soon.

Elsewhere, Anima creates her guardians, preparing to defend her creations still, even through the pain of death, she refuses to give in. Chaos's hordes are running rampant through the worlds though, creating pure discord in their wake, challenged only by Anima's warriors, they will, however, win if left unchecked.

Still, the gods are summoning their warriors, as more and more appear in the Sanctuary, a world otherwise known as the home of the gods, they appear in the respective thrones to each god, with the scenery equally matching their power. It is here where our story shall begin, and here it shall start to end, for out of nothing, out of Ex Nihilo, a story will start to weave itself together.

[Angusm3]

Skaer emerged from the air with another. "My title is Chronos, i have seen your reactions, I timed my steal of your friend so that nobody would get hurt." said Chronos "Now, I must save the townsfolk and remaining guard." Within an instant everyone from the town was standing before them. "But how did you manage-" said Hayle "I am chronos, I have spent all my time studying the art of time manipulation. They took time to get here, I just made sure it was no real time at all."

1 Raatsh remained fighting against the enemies that charged him, he simply walked through them, impaling enemies on his feet as he went. Collossi tried stomping him into the dirt, but he was too fast for that. He continued slaughtering countless numbers of anima's creations. Orcs poured past him, hacking away at the enemy with their crude weapons.

[Quantum Rain]

Rain smirked at Auger's comment, and replied, "They also taught me to retreat when it was almost certain you would die, and yet I'm still here." He sent a surge of energy out from his arm at a charging Knight, and then decapitated it, as he slid to the side, and slashed an Elf that followed the knight and swung at Rain. "I'm starting to think they were right though."

---

Aeon came flying after the Raatsh, sword in hand, as he swung, and from the sword came a wave of energy, curving outward at the Raatsh, slicing into it, as he followed with a second, horizontal swing, which did the same as the last. He flew underneath it and then did an uppercut, energy stemming out of his sword to increase its length in order to thoroughly destroy the machine. Aeon then spun around and swung again, horizontally, the wave of energy aimed at the colossi nearby, slicing its head in half.

Exitius was walking casually through the battlefield, as any soldier that wasn't his own approached him was thrown back by his power and disintegrated, turning into dust it seemed. He tore through the battlefield, still walking casually as ever, headed for the other three gods. His army clearing the way, as a majority of what it was made up of are walking tanks anyway.

Chaos and Anima threw all their strength into their respective attacks, trying to gain the upper hand, but it seemed to be a stalemate. Both saw this, and tried a different strategy, wear the enemy down so that the killing blow can be delivered. The battle around them raged on, despite the heavy losses. Anima saw that the battle couldn't be won, though, and spoke to Shale telepathically. "We've done our best here, now is the time to retreat though. I'll keep the enemy at bay so that the path remains clear for you." she says to her commander, following through with her promise.

[agentaaa]

"You should get out of here, you know" Remarked Auger, uncharacteristically calm and cool asa he Cut through a pair of disorders "Those over there, those really strong ones... We don't stand a chance before them, and soon all here will fall before them, like ants before a giant" Auger looked disturbed " I was unaware beings of that level of power existed" Auger remarked, blocking a dwarf's hammer before slipping under his guard and impaling him.
"So, shall we go...?" Auger realized he knew not the name of the person before him "...friend?" Auger filled in the blank, the word seeming to fit to him.



"Seems like they are gettin' a bit too serious" Shale commented "A'right troops, it seems we are about a step away from Annihilation. We need to conduct a strategic retreat, and doubletime! Any who lag behind will likely be annihilated, if past experiences are correct."
this seems to be another stalemate battle" Shale thought to himself. With growing discomfort, he moved his squad out of the battle, and slowly, the rest of the army followed suit, as the signals passed through the ranks.

"...Anima should be able to handle herself here" Shale commented, somewhat worried about whether or not this battle would prove to be the final one, and whether the victory would be Anima's or not. "i should be focusin' on my own damn job, I think" Shale said, snapping himself out of it "And gettin' these kids home".

[Quantum Rain]

Aeon spun around a third time, still in the air, as he swung, channeling more power into his sword. That same energy flew out of his sword and impacted into the ground, creating an uprising which flung the enemy high into the air. Those caught in the wave of energy directly were sliced in half. Aeon flew to the destroyed ground and landed softly. He saw the duel between Chaos and Anima and walked over to it, enemies not bothering to engage the god before them, and instead focused on the mortals attacking them.

Exitius pulled out his sword, which glowed with energy channeling into it, and continued marching toward the other three gods, enemies being flung about. Anima's warriors were all almost out of the battle, as Anima herself held back the enemy for them to retreat. She was greatly exhausted by now, though, and as such had to retreat herself, but being locked in a duel against Chaos, she couldn't exactly just disappear.

---

Rain smirked as he heard the surface thoughts in Auger's mind. "Let's leave the introductions for later then." He says, as he unfolds his wings, unleashing a barrier-like energy wave outward, it passing through Auger and not affecting him, but threw the enemies in every which direction. Rain offered his hand to Auger, obviously showing that he suggested they fly out of here rather than walk out of here.

[agentaaa]

Onyx looked at the mighty power exploding all around him, frustrated at the powerlessness he had. His brethren fell all around him, cut apart by forces from all sides. Only a few orcs left, he roared in anger and hopelessness, despair and rage both present in his mighty roar. " You have suffered so much, and I see it is through my actions it has happened" A soft feminine voice, talking in his ear "I pity you. it is through my actions you were driven down this road, so through my actions you will get a chance to gain it back". "Wh-who are you?" Onyx gasped, stunned. "After you get away from this battle, seek out my people. my name is Anima... Onyx began to protest, until he saw the last of the orcs cut down by a blademaster. Seeing that the blademaster believed he had killed everyone, Onyx threw his ax and caused a grievous wound before running away, sobbing, hoping to find a way to this "Anima" person, and hoping to avenge his people. "I promise, I will not let the old ways die here. I will do all I can to help my people!"




Auger looked over at the "friend" he had made. Grabbing his outstretched arm, he looked over at the gods that were fighting "Next time, I won't be running." Stopping a last attack from a chaotic knight, the pair flew away, moving past the battle occurring all around them.




Shale looked back, as Anima did all she could to fight Chaos off. "Tch." Shale said to himself as he ran back towards the conflict "Anima's going to kill me for this one, I can already imagine the yelling that will go on." Shale continued towards the battlefield, wind building up in his scimitar. The spirits of the wind could be visibly seen for a few seconds as they added their power to his, creating strength in his blade.

He approached the battlefield, behind a tree, and suddenly moved past it and slashed, the force of the blow ripping up the ground as it approached an Unawares Chaos. " I created an opening for you, and it will take her a few seconds to finish me off. Run, Anima, you have the perfect opportunity. Abruptly ending and closing the link, so as not to hear argument, Shale built up all the force he could into his blade, ready to block Chaos' attack.
As Chaos turned her notice to Shale, Shale adopted a defensive stance, and prepared for oblivion, fully willing to give up his life for the sake of preserving hope for those who still had it.

[Quantum Rain]

Rain, carrying Auger, flies into the air, a sort of a weightless aura permeating them as they flew into the clouds, piercing through the storm. Rain's wings carried them both with ease, it seemed, though Rain himself didn't look too good. It seemed his wounds were starting to get the better of him, as the nanites in his blood stream started trying to get him to sleep so that they can start the real repair work. Rain fought back the disiness though, as they went through the cloud 'wall' again and saw the ground below.

Rain and Auger were headed for the cliff side from before, it seemed, as while he let go of Auger about a foot away from the ground near the edge of the cliff, Rain himself ended up swinging around and crashing right into a tree, rather roughly too, as his wings fell limp as did his arms and legs. The tree itself was cracked, slightly, and bent a bit, but stood firmly still. Rain laughed at their crash landing for some reason. "If my slave masters were here, they'd have a fit..." He says, before falling into a deep sleep as he lay against the tree, smiling weakly still.

---

Anima sees Shale's attempt at a distraction and though dislikes what Shale is doing, she couldn't do much about it, with the last of her strength, she teleported away and aided in Shale's block, creating a barrier of sorts. Chaos channeled her energy and was about to attack Shale when Aeon stepped in, for reasons not quite clear. Aeon slashed at Chaos, distracting her as Shale was whisked away by Anima. Aeon smiled as she stepped forth and saw that Chaos was very much annoyed by his interference.

[agentaaa]

"Hmmmmm" Auger looked at Rain, who was currently knocked out "He doesn't appear to be dead. I think i should put him in a place where other stuff can't grab him or eat him or...Whatever the hell things do here to unconscious people...

" Auger grabbed Rain and started dragging him towards a nearby cave, after a few seconds he realized that dragging someone by their neck on the ground was probably not a good way to move someone, and shifted to carrying Rain on his back. "Jeez, this is heavy" Auger complained "I hope he wakes up soon. I have stuff to ask him."



Shale looked over at his own wounds " Am I going to be alright? Is Anima?" Shale thought. then he realized that Anima and he were away from the battlefield now "We are going to have a nice long talk about where the commander's place is on the battlefield, and where it ISN'T, but for now, rest" Anima said to Shale, in a tone that seemed to be partly angry, and partly concerned.
Shale suddenly felt very drowsy, and could not(And did not, for that matter) Fight the sudden sleep that overtook him.



Onyx grabbed a couple scraps of cloth and tied them around the cut in his leg. many more remained uncovered "I'm so...weak" Lamented Onyx. "Anima...I will find you...if it takes all I have to do so"

[Quantum Rain]

After about roughly an hour, Rain came to, he slowly opened his eyes and groaned softly. It took him a few minutes to look around at wherever he was, and a few moments later, his memory came flooding back as he remembered what happened recently. "Ugh....uh...where am I?" He asked Auger, still somewhat drowsy.

The battle at the fortress lasted for several more hours after the others left, most of the creatures remaining there killed in battle, as the three remaining gods fought to exhaustion. Unable to continue forward, the remainder of their armies retreated, save for Chaos's, which remains in what's left of the fortress after the battle, resting and regrouping. Roughly, 90% of the armies present, save for Anima's, were destroyed, while for Anima, it was roughly 75%. Needless to say, the losses were great this time.

[agentaaa]

"I don't even know what this world is called, let alone this place" Auger replied. "but I think we are in a cave, because there is no second entrance into here" "By the way, do you enjoy meat? Auger says, holding what looked like dog meat on a sharp spear. "Found a 3 headed dog thing. it seemed to have gotten lost in the battle, and came close to here. It's probably edible"




Shale Awoke, tired and bruised. looking over at the nurse "Anima said she will be coming in to talk to you soon. We are to keep you here until she can look you over. "More likely she just doesn't want me going anywhere till she's done getting angry at me" Shale thought to himself. ...Nurse. How much of us are left. "It was a victory for us, while the other forces are reduced to a tenth of their old power, a quarter of our forces remain standing. Quite impressive, don't you think" the nurse said, smiling.

"No, I don't" Said Shale, a frown forming on his face. For every 4 of my warriors I saw on the field, I know that 3 of them were lead to their deaths by me. How would you feel knowing that, doctor?" The nurse, knowing she had hit a nerve, gently apologized. "I'm sorry, commander... Would you like me to leave you alone?"

"...Yeah, it might be best. Besides, Anima is gonna be here soon. you don' wanna see her when she's mad... Though then again, you ARE kinda cute. wanna lay down next to me in the bed and-" Shale was hit in the face with a roll of gauze "Pervert!" The nurse said, Walking out in irritation. "Ah well" Shale said "There's always another cute nurse around"





"I finally found it" Onyx gasped for air. Onyx looked at the small fortress ahead of him, a white citadel, with trees all around it, Plantlife abundant, and thorny vines overgrowing the castle walls. the vines had roses all over them, giving the castle a beautiful appearance. The moat's water was very pure, and shined beautifully in the suns light. wildlife abounded in the forest, much of it predatory, and Onyx had a feeling that it could turn very hostile very fast. Onyx intuitively knew that this must be Anima's castle, and walked towards it,hoping to find a way to restore his shattered clan.

[Angusm3]

Chaos just laughed as Hayle and Skaer ran toward Shale. Skaer began charging his energy blast as Hayle showered Shale with blocked attacks. Then Angus arrived with Oresia, "This is all gonna end sooner than la-" Angus was cut off mid sentence as behind him the castle erupted in a brilliant explosion. A good chunk was taken out of the earth as Oresia kissed the dead ground "The Glow! Is it not wonderful brethren?" Only Angus was able to notice as Skaer and Hayle were too caught up in trying to bring victory to their honoured god.

Chronos came to the fight in a blaze of time, simply appearing before their feeble eyes. He stopped and looked at what he had to work with. Dead bodies piled high, pestilence was growing and two more armies were raging into the battle. "This has to end soon" He said, the castle walls flying to pieces, bricks and dirt atomized as they burst away from the explosion in all directions. "Welcome to hell" he thought.

[Quantum Rain]

Rain kind of shies away from the offer, not really up to eating dog meat. "I'm okay, thanks anyway." He says, thinking of how Auger could eat that stuff. He turns his head to look at the exit when he notices that there were still some arrows stuck in him. "...huh, that's interesting." He comments, as he pulls the arrow out of his arm and stares at it. It didn't seem painful at all to him. Rain then took the other two arrows, one out of his leg and another in his back. The wounds from the arrows healed near instantly. ".....Depending on what the gods do, a portal should appear somewhere around here." Rain said, as he threw the arrows out of the cave entrance.

---

Though the battle was fierce and there was much bloodshed, neither the losses that were surmounting, nor the destruction were on Leo’s mind. He knew his goal was to find his son, and that was it. Through the battlefield did he search but to no avail. Constantly did enemies get in his way, and constantly did they die by his lightsaber, as he easily sliced their weapons in half and same for their bodies, always going for the merciful, quick kill. He didn’t think too much of their deaths, if he did it’d prove detrimental. It was hard not to think of it, but he managed, always concentrating on his goal.

Leo pushed through the enemy lines toward the fortress gate, which around this time the enemy started to fall back, the battle pretty much over with at this point. He looked around everywhere, using his force sense, but still nothing he recognized as possibly being his son. “Dammit!” He yelled out as he punched the wall, breaking it, and creating a dent. He hung his head, and then he saw it, a single white feather. He looked at it oddly, and picked it up, examining it he already knew it wasn’t Aeon’s angels that this came from. “Hmm…” It gleamed in the sunlight, like snow in the winter, and it was equal in color, not at all covered in mud. “That’s odd…” He comments, as he places the feather in his pocket, just because he can. He turns around and walks toward the forest nearby, or at least what’s left of it. “Another battle stalemated. He’ll never win like this.”

[agentaaa]

"Suit yourself" Auger said, wolfing down the meat. it was, in all reality, poor fare, but Auger had long since discarded any pickiness when it came to food. Auger began thinking about the questions he might ask Rain, until he finally settled on one. "Hey friend" Auger said casually "I haven't been able to find an answer so far, but what does the word betrayer mean?"




It took 30 minutes for Anima to finish scolding shale for his conduct for the battle, and since then, he had been lying on a nearby hill, watching the clouds." Somethin's gotta give soon" Shale shifted his position " Right now, I should be increasing my own abilities... But first, I think I'll take a nap."



Onyx ran through the gates, not caring about the shocked looks of the people around him, and screamed at the top of his lungs "WHERE IS ANIMA!!!"

[Quantum Rain]

"Betrayer? It's a name or title people give to others for leaving or sabotaging a cause or crusade, a group, etcetera and so forth. They're sometimes given falsely as well. Other words similar to it are traitor or backstabber, words like that." Rain replies to Auger, answering his question completely. "Why?" He asks in return, curious.

---

Leo kept walking, lightsaber in hand, when before too long, he was teleported away, off the planet, just as he predicted. Ten minutes, eleven seconds. He thought to himself, recording the time it took for Aeon to find and teleport him out of there. He looked up from the ground to see the fortress Aeon had constructed for his army. The walls were a golden color, the streets a pure white stone, and the buildings a multitude of colors. The sun was shining bright, if only there was a sun, the light in truth came from the castle, which shone so bright it was hard to look at it directly. "...." Leo walked toward the castle, as where he was supposed to go after all battles.

---

Jaxe walked casually through the battlefield, looking at all the dead bodies. While to most it would be horrifying, to Jaxe it was glorious. Soul after soul did he absorb, increasing his power evermore, and while many he couldn't claim, the ones he did were well worth the losses in his mind at least. He laughed, thinking of how wonderful it felt being stronger than the rest. "This universe is in complete shambles, there's no hope for it at all!"

[agentaaa]

"Traitor? Backstabber? Cause? Your words make no sense... wait, do you mean that he prefers not to attack from the front? Cause he did try to hit me in the sides and back a few times." Auger sat there, extremely confused.

Onyx Was soon dragged off to a nearby jail, but was stopped halfway there by none other than Anima herself "G-goddess" One of the elves started to say "We were just about to drag this ruffian to jai-" Anima looked at them and smiled "I hardly think that is how we should treat a guest of mine. Come, Onyx, and i will tell you of my deal... "

Shale noted the clamor in the castle, able to hear the orcs voice even from where he was "Oi, my sleep has been disturbed...Oh well. I shouldn't have napped as long as I did anyway. But I suppose I should start training already..."

[Quantum Rain]

"...oh...that's why..." Rain says, retracting his question. "No, it's more of a moral issue not physical." Rain answers Auger again, taking out the hilt of his energy sword to tinker with it, and pass the time. He starts by taking it apart with his mind. As it floated in front of him it broke into several dozen individual pieces, some so small it was barely noticeable. Piece by piece it was put back together again, slowly, and in a different order than it was disassembled with for some reason.

---

A voice called to Shale inside his head. It sounded familiar, but he couldn't be sure who it was specifically. "Why train in the art of killing, Shale?" The voice asked Shale, not bothering with introductions apparently.

---

Leo stood there, in the center of a stone ring, outside of it stood several spectators, angels of Aeon. Three entered the ring, a Seraphim Soldier and two Angelic Knights, just as Leo asked. The rules were already stated beforehand, so they immediately brought out their weapons and entered a combat stance. Leo took out the hilt of his saber and held it casually, ready to turn it on in a moment's notice however. He stood there, looking at the floor as to hide his face from his adversaries, and to reach out with the Force, and better predict their movements.

---

"Pathetic, absolutely pathetic..." He said aloud, repeating it to himself every few seconds, not at all impressed by the bloodshed of the battle. He walked through the battlefield still, awaiting further commands from his goddess. "...pathetic fools didn't put up enough of a challenge, worthless souls to absorb..."

[agentaaa]

"...Gah! I don't know what a moral is either! this question is too confusing, let me try another one... What are feelings?" Auger said, Somewhat confused, but anxious to learn.





" I've went through this argument before, and come to the same answer again and again. don't make me rehash it. who is this?" Shale asked, somewhat surprised that someone could have entered his mind without knowledge, but reasonably confident in his ability to repel it if needed.





Onyx was furiously training, doing whatever he could to fulfill Anima's deal. The premise was simple; If he fought for Anima, she would revive his clan, if Anima won the war. After hearing this, Onyx put himself in training with Anima's forces, furiously hoping to gain strength. An elvish avenger was put in charge of Training him to become stronger, by the name of Kael'Teron. A strong warrior, Kael was a hero of the battle of Hayldrig amongst the forces, and his power was said to be slightly above that of even a regular avenger. After a sparring practice, Onyx looked at the elvish avenger,

"Orcs can hear just as acutely as an elf. I know you requested to train me specifically, when you talked to Anima. Why?". Kael stopped in his tracks, looking at the orc. "I saw your battle against a friend of mine. A dwarf berserker by the name of Olf. He and I had trained together in times past, and until you stopped him, he had been holding up that division front by himself. As it was, I was helpless to stop you, fighting a fierce battle against an enforcer. By the time I turned back, you had given the death blow."

"so, you wanted this position to kill me, then" Onyx said, his hand reaching for his Axe despite knowing that he was still no match for this powerful opponent.

Kael shook his head "No. I also saw how you honored him, and his passing. You have honor and strength, and I can sense the purity within you. like many others in this war, you simply fought for your friends and family. I want to help you achieve the goal you are working for so hard." Kael looked past the castle balcony.

"Take care walking around though. Some here do not enjoy an orc in the midst, tainting what they blasphemously call the "pure" races. Unfortunately, even Anima has slime amongst her ranks."

"Very well, then" Onyx replied "though, if anyone IS foolish enough to attack me, I shall show them in full the strength of an orc!"

"Kael simply laughed "I find myself enjoying my talks with you, Onyx" Onyx soon found himself laughing as well, and they sat and watched the sunset, laughing together

[Quantum Rain]

"Feelings..." Rain says, eyes still fixated on his weapon as it is put together again. "Do you know of how pain feels, or this sort of invisible burden placed on your heart? How about losing control of your actions and your thoughts, or a strong desire to do something, whatever it may be? Those are feelings, either physical or mental. Sorrow, rage, perhaps protectiveness, but that's more of an impulse I suppose."

---

"Someone you shall come to know in the near future, I assure you. However, are you sure your reasons are correct?" The voice replies, asking the question again it seemed. "Is it not against your desire to find peace?"

---

Leo waited for his opponents to charge. Time passed slowly, however, as he waited, every second feeling like an hour in of itself. Several moments passed, and finally the warriors flew at Leo, their feet not even touching the ground. They both swung in unison at both of Leo's flanks. Leo's response was fast. In a flash, he jumped up and spun, blocking both attacks with ease and then kicked a warrior, sending him flying, as he landed, he ducked the second warrior's attack.

Leo then back flipped to avoid the Seraphim's spear, which threatened to impale him. As he landed, he spun around and jumped, landing on the first warrior that flew around to try and attack Leo from behind. Leo sent the warrior crashing into the ground as he jumped off again, coming down on top of the knight, saber poised to slice him in half. The knight blocked the saber with his spear, its enchantment blocking the damaging energy.

[agentaaa]

"Oh. I think I'm finally starting to understand" Auger sat there, quietly contemplating this "it's those funny illogical wants and feelings that have nothing to do with being hungry or wanting to fight, right?... Are you sure you don't want the last slice of meat?" Auger offered the stick to Rain, entirely unable to see any problem with it "I saved the juicy part".


Shale sighed "[i] Like I said, I went though this argument many times. Inaction will only slow the progress in this war. If one god gets the advantage, then at the very least peace-talks might occur. In any case, I certainly won't betray Anima, of all things, so if thats what you wanna talk about, you best scoot outta here."

Onyx continued training with Kael'theron, gaining much more mastery over his axe.

He had begun to learn a new thing, also, in a recent spar. Kael had been attacking his guard with rapid swipes, and Onyx had been desperately fighting to regain the advantage. while the fight went on, he could do nothing, and in another flash of intuition, hit his fist against the ground. a slight shaking of the earth occured under Kael's feet, throwing him off balance more out of surprise than anything else. Onyx quickly took the advantage, and whacked Kael soundly in the chest with his axe.

Thanks to the wards in the training arena, however, the only thing that happened was a small red smoke popped out of where Kael had been hit, and no real damage was done. Even so, it impressed Kael quite a bit. After the practice, the two walked back to the barracks together

"Why didn't you tell me you knew magic?" Kael asked, surprised
"I had no idea i had any"
"hmm, according to the sorcerors nearby, though, you have a great connection with the spirits of earth. if you trained this skill, you would be one of the strongest earth mages of your time."
"hmmmm..."

[Quantum Rain]

"Yeah, something like that, and I'm good, thanks." Rain said again, as the last piece falls into place. As it does so, the blade activates, energy flying out in two bands, overlapping each other as they reached the tip, and then came back in. As it went back into the hilt, a grid formed within the overlapping bands, and a metal blade formed, with the bands still there. "Hmm, much better." Rain says, as the sword floats into his hands.

---

"No, that's not why I'm here at all. Why is it you refuse to answer the question directly?" The voice asks, continuing its interrogation of Shale. "Are you sure you're being honest to yourself, or to others?"

---

Leo used his powers to propel himself forward, flipping around the knight, and then kicking him in the back, sending the knight forward, as he spun around and struck the spear out of his hands. Leo lifted the knight up and threw him out of the ring, as he rolled forward to dodge the second warrior. He jumped up from the roll and kicked the first warrior right before he attacked Leo, sending him flying, outside of the ring.

As the first warrior crashed onto the ground, the second one teleported beside Leo and struck, then teleported again and repeated. He was quick, but Leo was holding his own, blocking each attack as he anticipated them.

[agentaaa]

"anyway, I forgot my weapons chain at the scene of the battle. I better go get it.You're welcome to come, if you don't mind the patrols of the three headed dog things and the gigantic fire breathing ones. then again, they will probably pass near the cave soon anyway, so a safer location should be found too, or we'll get eaten in our sleep. I wonder if we would wake up before we got digested, if one of the big ones swallowed us whole, or if we'd suffocate first...anyway, bye for now!" And with that, Auger was off, sprinting for the other part of his beloved weapon, and hoping to run into trouble.

"I don't lie, not to myself. However, me staying as I am, I won't be able to protect Anima, and I won't be able to change this world at all. Whether or not it helps bring peace directly, it will help me in my quest to gain it. To answer your question, I am as honest with myself as anybody can be with themselves. If you have a better idea, tell me."

[Quantum Rain]

"....I could have just flown us there under the cover of night...." Rain comments moments after Auger left, having no time to reply to Auger while he was here. "...what a loon..." Rain says, as he stands up, the blade of his sword receding into the hilt, becoming energy again as it deactivates. Rain casually walks out of the cave entrance and unfolds his wings, rocketing himself up into the sky, and disappearing into the clouds. Unlikely that anything would see him unless they were nearby Rain as he flew away.

---

"It is your choice, and the consequences shall be yours to receive." The voice replies to Shale as it fades away from his mind. It sounded so familiar, and yet, foreign. So plain, and yet, sorrowful, hateful in a way not directed at Shale.

[agentaaa]

Auger was having a good day. So far, he had increased his abilities further from his last battle, a pair of hellhounds had attacked him and given him a good workout, and he was close to getting his chain back. "Finally, I found you" Says Auger, searching through the wreckage, finally finding his chain, and merely a few feet away now

"Jeez, that was not what I wanted to wake up too. what a hassle. Still, it's something I need to keep in mind. Just who was that? Ahh, but talking to myself won't get me anywhere. i should get to what i was doing." Shale sped off towards the mountain, hoping to do what he could before nightfall.

[Angusm3]

A man with a cold white beard and a dark yet pale face appeared in front of the chain, lying broken on the ground. He held a projectile weapon in his hand. This one did not look like the ones that the others carried, it looked sleek and smooth where the others were large and cumbersome and the power was exponentially more than the others... "To retrieve your weapon you must answer me this" He said to Auger "How many must you kill before it satisfies your inner rage?"

[agentaaa]

"Rage? I don't know what that is, but why would I need to stop fighting? Without it, I become so terribly bored..." Auger remarked, with a grin

[Angusm3]

"A fine enough answer from a barbaric being..." he replied "I guess you may have the prize of your prided weapon even for such a pitiful answer" And with that he vanished from sight

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