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True Geist - Heaven and Hell
This is the written backstory for the RP thread. It is compossed of the hard work and unhindered creativity of the players involved and shows the fruits of Assumed Interaction.

Posts will be color coded to credit the posts author.
Red: arrgon90_06
Orange: panterajunkie1692
Green: fira_gal
Indigo: lottie_tottie1240
Blue: Sweet Alivia


Arrgon lay in his bed, having been woken by the morning sun, he couldn't fall back to sleep. All he could think about was the dream he had that night. There was so much chaos and distruction, he couldn't figure out what it meant. All he knew was that it made him uneasy, and he had never had a dream that felt so real. He sat up in his beed and looked out the window. A few birds were sitting on the powerlines outside his rural cabin, chirping and fluttering, he felt as if they were watching him.

He got up and put his hunting armor on, taking the giant dual-bladed sword from the wall. He left his cabin and proceeded into the woods to find his food for the day. The day seemed like any other, sunny, a few clouds in the sky and mildly warm.

He was following some giant boar tracks into a grove, hoping the beast was still near. Arrgon so loved the taste to good pork. He crept to the edge of the grove and froze when he heard the sound of shuffling feet in the leaves.

He pulled the sword from his back, feeling the balance of the two blades. He crept to a bush and began to look around it when, suddenly, a eight foot tall boar crashed violently through the bush send Arrgon flying.

Arrgon managed to keep hold of his blade as he rolled and slid to a halt, severly battered. He stood to face off against the largest boar he had ever seen. The boar charged him with amazing speed and almost ran him over, but Arrgon jumped to the side thrusting his sword into the thick hide. He held on tight as the boar dragged him through the thick undergrowth.

Arrgon was preparing his killing blow when, unexpectedly, the boar jerked around slinging arrgon into a tree, breaking his legs and dislodging his sword from the boar. Helpless, he laid against the base of the tree and watched the boar turn on him and line up his charge. The boar charged in, whiping his huge tusks side to side, he came in and swung his massive head, impaling Arrgon through the rib cage. The force of the beast lifted him from the ground still scewered on the tusk. The boar slammed Arrgon to the ground litterally crushing the life from him.

Laying there, as the life left him, he watched the boar walk away, being joined by two young piglets. The sight made Arrgon smile as everything faded to black.
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When Arrgon awoke, He jumped up with a jolt. His leg was no longer in pain and the hole where his heart should be was no longer a hole at all. He observed his surroundings, everything was the same, but everything was slightly distorted.and hazy. No sooner did he notice this, a shadow passed over his head and disappeared into the bush. Moments later a flood of these shadows, that Arrgon could only describe as some sort of hounds, passed all around him until he was alone again. After a pause, A young boy comes running by with a huge wave of flames radiating from his left arm. Upon his passing he noticed Arrgons look of shock. He was confused that he was noticed, but that would have to wait. The scourge he was pursuing was more important at the time. With that he disappeared into the forest.

Rivell caught up with his prey, who had by now grown tired of fleeing. They sqaured off and attempted to surround Rivell to no avail. Rivell attacked the first beast to get around him with a blast of flame from the etheral sword he was wielding. The blast was strong enough to disipate the shadow, causing it to evaporate in black vapors. The others viewed this as a cue to attack but Rivell made short work of them with his flame, each evaporating as the first.

Rivell then squared off, let out a sigh of relief, and dispelled his sword.
"Whew, I'm beat. Why did I have to get this assignment? Each of those things is weak but their packs number in the hundreds. . . " Rivell decided to take a break on a small rock. ". . . and of course they only asign one Astros to these cleanup jobs." He wiped sweat from his brow and quickly remembered the hunter with the awstruck look on his face.

"Ah, damnit. I should probably go see what that guy was all about.", He then began to back-track the path that the hellhounds had led him.
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Arrgon rose from the ground, still dazed and confused. He looked around and tried to comprehend his enviroment. He was still in the grove where the boar had ripped into him, extinguishing his life, but it was different, distorted.

As he pondered this, the young boy from before returned to the grove. The boy strode over to Arrgon with an air of confidence about him.

"What is going on? Who are you and why does everything look so strange?" Arrgon asked the boy.

"Calm down," the boy repied. "You have entered the spirit realm. You were separated from your mortal body when you died. How did you die by the way?"

Arrgon told the boy about the boar and how it had killed him right where he stood. He told him about the piglets and how he felt he wasn't meant to have killed that boar. "My name is Arrgon Forensane. So how did you get here and why are you here now?"
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As Arrgon's eyes adjusted to the extreme light, he found himself at the base of a white and gold fortress. It was the most grandly decorated building he had ever seen.

"What is this place?" Arrgon asked, taking in the grandeour of the place.

"This is Headquarters. Come with me, I have to report in and debrief," Rivell explained.

"Okay, what do I need to do?" Arrgon asked.

"Just follow me. We'll get you sorted out in time." With that the gates opened and they continued through, making their way to debriefing.
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The building was a giant rotunda with five hallways spaced evenly around the room. The place was packed with people going here and there. All different races and ethnicities. Arrgon almost lost Rivell in the crowds when he started towards the second hallway on the right but quickly caught back up. Once they were in the hallway, the crowds started to thin abit. Clearly the action was in the central rotunda. Rivell led them down the long hallway with seemingly endless doors. Eventually Rivell stopped at a door on the left.
"Here's our stop." Rivell opened the door and motioned for Arrgon to go through.

When the entered the office Rivell immediatly went and plopped himself down on a arm chair infront of the desk sitting in the center of the room. The desk was on a raised circlar platform with blue tapestries draped over the desk. A dark shade of aqua colored runners cross-sected the platform. Arrgon immediatly noticed the offices decoration theme. Everywhere were bowls of water and aquariums void of any glass. He even built up his couriousity up enough to test this theory, sticking his hand in one of the aquariums.
"I don't believe this." Arrgon exclaimed.
"Believe it. Were still in Purgatory; this is the place the average departed soul comes to get sorted out. There's room up there, but there's only one elevator, you know?" Rivell laughed. "Now take a load off." Rivell then lifted his feet and let them rest on the desk. No sooner did Rivell let out a relaxing sigh, when Rivells chair was thrust up and back off the platform by a sudden wave of water. Then all the water in the room, excluding the aquariums housing fish, came together and materialized into an aged man. He was large but fit. He had dark tan skin and dark brown, perhaps black, hair. He wore a floral print button up tee that Rivell had always enjoyed referring to as "Tom Seleck's tee-shirt."
With a stern look at Rivell, who was still getting to his feet from the suprise attack, he spoke. "How many times are you going to waltz into my office like you own the place. It's like high tide with you all the time."
Rivell had managed to get up, return his chair to the front of the desk and take a seat. The man continued, "Now what took you so long? That was an E class assignment. You should've been back hours ago."
Rivell was quick in his defence, "Not my fault, Zulu. There were a bunch of 'em. If R&D would've scouted better, I would've had a partner assigned. It just took me longer is all." He then motioned for Arrgon to join them at the desk. "Besides, I found this guy. He died literally in the middle of my combat zone."
Zulu looked at the stranger, "Hmm, perhaps there was a reason you weren't assigned a partner afterall, have a seat stanger."
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Arrgon took a seat in the chair next to Rivell's. "I'm still not sure what is going on. Why am I not with the other souls in the main room?" Arrgon asked, confused.

"This is most likely because you lived your life either, in a very violent and chaotic way, or you were pure and kind," Zulu explained. "How was it that you were killed by the way?"

Arrgon gave him all the details of the fight with the boar. He explained that he lived his life alone, deep in the woods and that he made his life with what nature had to give him. He only killed what he needed to eat.
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Zulu listened in horror as Arrgon discribed his death, he couldn't think of a more painful way to go out. But to remain serene as the blackness of death surrounded him was a feat in it's own.

"Obviously, there is more purpose for you than you realize. I think you would do well here, working for the Astros." Zulu finally concluded.

"But I don't have my weapon, it did not come with me to this world and I don't think that you would have one like it," Arrgon explained, a little stung by the loss of his prized Dual-bladed sword.

"That is where you are wrong. You see, we have the ability to craft any weapon or armor that one would desire. Come over here," Zulu said, motioning Arrgon to follow.

"You're gonna love this," Rivell said, excitment on his face.

"Simply, place a hand on this orb," Zulu said, indicating a globe sized, silver ball, seemingly floating in mid air.

"What will happen?" Arrgon asked, a little skeptical.

"Trust me, no harm will come to you," Zulu assured him.

Arrgon reached out and touched the orb. Instantly the substance burst into motion, swirling and twisting. The strange substance formed into an exact copy of Arrgon's dual-bladed sword. He was taken aback by the sight before him. He felt the wieght of the weapon, it's balance, and the edge was amazing. It was sharper than anything he had ever seen on earth. "How is this possible?"

"The orb is sensitive to ones memories in life. The soul is like a book for a persons life and experiences. It is how we are sorted to go here to Astros or sent to Chaos. And it is how the orb knew the weapon you used in your lifetime."Zulu explained
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Rivell began to laugh, "My weapon ended up being a japanese katana, but I don't know anything about weilding a sword. I think its because of all the kung-fu movies I used to watch. I never even carry it with me."

Zulu glared at Rivell. "Shouldn't you be going to accept another assignment." Rivell's expression changed.
"Fine, " Rivell stood up and started towards the door. "I never get to watch this part."
Rivell exited and headed back to the central rotunda. He decided that accepting his next assignment could wait so he selected one of the many lounge areas spaced out the rotunda. He plopped down in a comfortable easy chair and put his hands behind his head.
He closed his eyes and thought aloud, "I wonder whats powers that guy has?"

Meanwhile, in Zulu's office, Arrgon was a standing in the center of a cleared area of the room.
"Alright, I want you to close your eyes and think back. Imagine your live and what you loved about it. Let your memories fill you up."
Arrgon did as instructed, imagining his life, happiness. Before long Arrgons hair began to float around and became like air, followed shortly by the rest of him. He continued to float there as a steam-like cloud and then rematerialized.
Arrgon was shocked at what he'd just experienced,"What was that!?"
"Well, it looks like you have an air affinity. You've been given control of the air and may you use it for our cause." He motioned for Arrgon to follow him to the door. "Now, you need to accept your first assignment. In the center rotunda you will find a station designated for the Astros to accept missions. They will help you get started."
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Ahna stared at the shapes strewn around her. Blood, everything was covered in a radiant scarlet. In the darkness were a few struggling forms, trying to escape into the sea. "finish it" the voice said to her, it was a sickly sweet sound. Ahna leaped down the cliffs jumping from one ledge to the next, light and quick she landed without a sound on the moonlit sand. She walked towards the now illuminated forms. It was a small family easily related by their blonde hair, blue eyes, and sharp defined feaures. There was a mother, a father, a teenage boy, and a little girl. "Why are you doing this?" the woman cried out her hands clutching the girls shoulders protectivley. Ahna just stared no emotion crossed her face, no hesitation as she raised the bloody farm scythe and cleaved the womans head right off. The little girl didn't move her eyes just grew large and glassy. "Alysea, you'll pay you vil-" Ahna than sliced the father in half, right at his stomach, spilling blood and acid over the already blood stained sand. The boy grabbed his sister protectivley. His eyes blazed at Ahna fierce and dangerous. "your a monster, an f-ing monster, ya know that," he squeezed his sister closer to him and barried his head in her shoulder. The girl simpley whispered "moma...popa..."

Finally Ahna spoke, "He wants you gone, you are no longer of any use to Him." Her voice was ice cold and lacked any inflections or emotion to hear, it was as if she wasn't even human at all. She raised her scythe once again, but before it could be brought down three bangs rang out into the warm summer air. Before Ahna could notice the three holes in her chest the boy and girl had been sliced right down the middle, from scalp to heel. Ahna felt the pain but no recognition of it came across her serene face. Her eyes went blank and she felt her life trickling away. Slowly, ever so slowly, a dark shadow appeared before her. It had glowing red eyes and was blacker than even the night around it.

"It is I young one, your savior and guardian." Ahna stepped from her hollow body and placed a hand on the form. A million emotions ran through her body; her pain, regret, fear, disgust, and most prominent, anger, hate, and rage. Ahna felt all of these emotions yet not one notice of them came across her slim body or stony face. "It is you, but what could He want from me?" The form spread black wings, grabbed her by the waist and took off. The creature circled and finally dived into the earth, past the flames into the gates of hell.

Ahna only stared at the building in front of her. It was a polished black stone, with no signs of blocks or lines as if it was chisled out of a single block of pitch black marble. It had ornate spicks rising to the sky, and fearsome gargoyles that on occasion spat flames below. "Gorignak, where are we?" Ahna asked the demon. He had now taken solid form, an oily black with burning eyes. "welcome to headquarters little one, you are one of us now, Chaos to the worlds above," he laughed sending waves of fear into Ahna. This demon had stolen her heart, he was the only one who could make her feel any emotion, the only one who made her feel human still. As Ahna's spirit flew below the earth, her body still stood with empty eyes, a bloody scythe, and 50 bodies littering her small hometown of Kingsley, Alabama.
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Rivell awakens hours later. "Oh darn it, I didn't mean to fall asleep." He lets out a long sigh. He then gets up and walks to the Astros recruitment center in the rotunda. "Zulus gonna throttle me when he finds out about this."
Servicing the desk was a young woman in her earlier twenties. Her nationality wasn't apparent but it was clear she had been serving in The Garden for centuries at least.
"How you doing, Lily?", Rivell spoke with a cheeky smile.
Without looking up from her console she returned, "I don't care how many times you come up here with this nice guy thing, I'm not going to any meals with you."
Rivell laughed, "This is The Garden, were all 'nice guys' but that's not why I'm here. I want another assignment. Please something challenging. . ." he pauses, "Then we can talk about that date."
Without even a smile she handed Rivell a page with his assignment. "You asked for it. C rank, A mass-murder in Alabama. You are to investigate the murder scene and determine if any souls need help reaching The Garden. You are also to exterminate any Chaotic beasts drawn to the murder scene."
Rivell almost let his astonishment show. He hadn't recieved a C rank assignment since he botched a soul extraction and lost several innocents to a pair of chimera sent from the Pitt to clear the area. Still he was glad at the chance of redemption.
"Alright, works for me." He folded the page and put it in his pocket. "I'll just be on my way, see ya soon." He said with a smile, this time recieving a slight grin back from Lily.

Rivell walked out side and pulled out his assignment page.
"Kingsley, Alabama it is then." He then twisted the device on his gauntlet that allowed him access to The Garden and evaporated in the same way he'd arrived.

When he arrived he could feel that something horrible had happened. In the distance was a small farmhouse with a thatch barn behind it. He could feel cool breeze from the east. He was near the ocean and could feel an pull to the east.
"That must the place." he assumed and began to walk through the wheat fields seperating him from his destination.
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Arrgon left Zulu's office and approached the desk where he would get his first assignment. The was a very beautfil girl behind the desk who looked up as Arrgon approached.
"Zulu said I needed to come here for my assignment?" Arrgon addressed the woman.
"Ah, excellent. A new arrival. My name is Lily, and I will be the one you report to for missions and where you will report when you complete one. First things first, we need to get you an Entrance Gauntlet, please wait here." With that said she turned and walked through a door behind the desk and returned later with a golded ring. "Please hold out your hand," she told Arrgon.
"I thought you were getting a gauntlet not a braclet?" Arrgon asked skeptically, but still he held his hand out. Lily then placed the ring around Arrgon's wrist. Ring then came to life forming into a Gauntlet that was a perfect fit for Arrgons hand and arm. "I'm sorry for doubting," Arrgon appologized.
"Not a problem," Lily said with a smile. "Now for your first mission." She looked through some files and produced a sheet of paper. "This is an E rank mission, the lowest that comes. The more missions you complete, the higher your rank will become, then you'll get higher ranked missions. Understood?"
"Yes," Arrgon answered.
"The target, a small group of Hell hounds is ravaging a village of their souls. You are to go there and erradicate the hell hounds," she explained. "Report back to me when you are finished."
"Ok... How do I get there?" Arrgon asked.
"Oh yes, of course. Gauntlet please," she asked. Arrgon extended his hand to her and she twisted some of the rings on it. "Return it to the original postion to return."
A light be gan to shine and feather began to fall around him, one finally coming to rest on his head. He then vanished in a shining light.
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As he closed in on the farmhouse the question as to whether the Chaos had been to the scene was answered. Already he could see a usual sized pack of the shadow colored hell hounds circling the building. The beings appeared to be calm so it was clear that there was either no souls needing assistance or he was too late. Whatever the case, one of his objectives was to eradicate the Chaos presence in the area; he'd only have a chance to extract the stragglers when the threat was gone.

He'd fought Hell Hounds at least a hundred times since he died. They were fast and etxremely vicious, but stupid. Prone to attacking anything that moved versus fighting as a conventional pack would. Their numbers are almost infinite, in fact it is rumored that the hounds are mearly conjurations of Fallen Chaos, created and recreated endlessly to send to Purgatory and wreak havoc. Nevertheless, Rivell still needed a gameplan. Being the only target, he could easily be swarmed.

Rivell decided a ranged approach would be best. He walked up a slight hill that would give him a clear shot. He clinched his left hand and summoned his etheral blade, a long but weightless blade that extended from his left forearm at least three feet long. He looked down at his arm and grinned.
"This thing is awesome." With this he pointed the sword in front of him, aiming the tip at an area above the majority of hounds. He then released a wave of flame from the sword that mimiced the blade's shape. It lobbed high towards the farmhouse. From Rivells point of view it resembled a flare but when it reached the area Rivell targeted it burst in a flash of light and in its place a rain of thin bladed flame fell on the area.

Rivell was already sprinting towards the battle when his spell, which he called in secret, "Acid Rain" activated evaporating the largest collection of hounds. Rivell reached the house with about seventy-five hounds left to vanquish, a number he was fairly comfortable with. He decided there was no need to waste his energy so he engaged each enemy as they attacked him. Each leaping aimlessly only to be slashed down or evaporated with a heat wave. Rivell began to feel his confidence building when he heard a shudder from inside the thatched barn. Rivell flinched; he knew that shudder. The size of creature to make it.

The door on the barn burst into splinters, when Rivell's worst nightmare lumbered out of the barn carrying two children in two of its four mouths. Rivell grimiced. The area did have lost souls after all. It appeared that they were still alive, in spirit. The Chimera was clearly toying with them. Rivell dug deep. His chance at redemption had finally come in saving these kids from the torment of hell. A rematch with a fearsome Chimera.
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Ahna held in her hand a Scythe. It was almost twice her height and the blade, which was wicked sharp, was almost as tall as her as well. The blade itself seemed to be made of ice with strange symbols carved into it. The staff was made of a strong metal that also seemed to have similar symbols carved into it, twisting in spirals to the base.

Carrying this impressive weapon Gorignak had sent her to receive her first mission from the Pitt;while he started to repair his frozen office. If Ahna could have managed it, she would have smiled at this place. The large central room was filled with screaming souls taking numerous elevators down into the rings of hell. Each ring had a line of souls that were pushed into the elevators by massive Orcs and goblins. In the center was a large round building that had numerous different creatures handing out missions to other Chaos souls.

When Ahna stepped towards this structure many stared. they al had different looks on their faces, startled fear, a questioning frown, unbridled hatred, pure jealousy, looks of confidence, and even a few smiles. Ahna, of course, felt nothing. She stepped up to one of the windows which had a banshee woman as the operator. She gave a sickening smile to Ahna before asking, "New recruit I'm guessing," the banshee looked Ahna over, "one of Cain's no doubt, he always gets the pretty ones." She smiled which revealed sharp teeth, and started shifting through papers.

"Ah, heres your first mission, Rank E of corse, take care of some fire sprites that are helping to contain a forest fire in California." Suddenly the banshee changes shape, she turned into a rather lovely woman with golden hair and lovely brown eyes. "I'm Scelia by the way and you'll get your missons from me for now on." Ahna just stood there her vacant gaze only meaning one thing. "Oh sorry deary I forgot to tell you how to get there." She leaned over and pressed several symbols on Ahnas staff. "There now all you have to do is slice a portal and your there." She smiled and Ahna just stared at her again. "Oh, how to get back, well you just press the same symbol sequence to reset it for here." She smiled again and returned to her Banshee form which was much less inviting.

Ahna sliced the air in front of her which opened a black portal that seemed to go on forever. Ahna simply stepped through and disappered.
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Rivell didn't have time to think. He bolted for the chimera who had little choice but to drop one of the childern, a boy in his teens. It passed the little girl off to its serpant-headed tail and with two powerful beats of its black wings knocked Rivell off his feet and bounded into the air. Rivell absorbed the blast to back-somersault to his feet, immediatly running to stay mobile and track his target. If he was to have any chance of defeating the monster he'd need to get it to the ground.

The teenage boy retreated into the barn and ascended the loft. He took a vantage point in a window staying low and out of sight.

Rivell moved to the center between the house and barn and waited out his opponent who was just circling the battle area keeping its distance. This chimera was very much reserved in its offense. Either it was frightened, which was unlikely, or it was intelligent, planning its attack carefully. Whatever it's motives, it didn't want to wait anymore. It dive-bombed. Gaining incredible speed the chimera whipped right past Rivell. It's right-most head reached out and cut Rivell with a horn. The impact knocked Rivell over. He was much slower to rise to his feet this time. His right arm was in searing pain.
With one eye half opened, "Heh, this living twice thing couldv'e been less painful the second time. Ugh" He then sent a quick fire wave from his sword in pursuit of the beast, but it was easily dodged by the creature superior mobility.
"Arrrggh! I've got to get you on the ground! Fight me you coward!"
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Arrgon rematerialized in a small japanese village. The place was completely destroyed, not a single building was completely intact. The village was clearly a victim of some sort of military strike. There were bullet holes littering the buldings and shrapnel covered the ground. Arrgon could see the crowd of at least 100 Hell Hounds ravaging the souls of the dead. They were too preoccupied to notice Arrgon's arrival, which gave him a strong advantage.

Arrgon crept around the back of some ruined buliding closest to the crowd. He measured his attack and burst into a dead sprint, swinging his sword around his midsection continually building momentum with the huge weapon. He continued to sprint through the group, slashing through the hounds with ease. He continued to build momentum, his great skill with his weapon keeping the leaping hounds from getting through his attack. He used his power to twist the air, twirling it around him creating a vortex, sucking the hounds to blur of a blade. Feeling his power flare, Arrgon released his energy, spinning his body with the wind and his blade, picking up even more speed and momentum.

He felt his energy peak and let out the power within him, becoming a huge tornado. He sucked in the hounds, crushing them to the ground or throwing them, scewering them to trees and broken buildings. He finished off all but 25 hounds with his attack. The remaining gathering away from the killer tornado, began to growl unearthly and deep. Arrgon stopped his attack and squared off with the remaining hell hounds. The hounds began to lose form and distiction, forming into five very large Hell Wovles. The wolves surrounded Arrgon quickly, showing a much higher intellegence than the hounds.

Arrgon remained still, knowing from his days of fighting off wolves in life, that sudden movement will bring the whole pack at once. He slowly extended his hand to one of the wolves, he could feel the differential in the air where the wolves were and how they changed the air with their movements. Focusing on the wolf in front of him, he concentrated on the air around it and pulled with remarkable speed, creating a huge gust behind the wolf, launching into the air toward Arrgon. He sized up the flying, flailing wolf, and threw his sword like a javelin, scewering the wolf through the neck, sticking out the back. As the wolf crashed and slid past Arrgon he grabbed his sword and ripped it all the way through the wolfs throat and settled back into his stance.

As soon as Arrgon settled a second wolf charged in, followed closely by a third. Arrgon was able to dodge the first, but wasn't fast enough to dodge the second. He was rammed hard by the wolf, sending him flying toward another with it's mouth open and ready to catch him. Arrgon used his power to push the wolf just as he reached it, sending it rolling back and giving him his stable stance back. As he landed from the air push the last wolf charged in with blazing speed, almost faster than Arrgon could react. Arrgon was able to side step the wolf, then he forced the wolf into the air with a large gust of wind. He jumped after the wolf, flipping as he reached it in midair. He smashed the wolf with a flipping heel drop, send it crashing to the ground. Arrgon repositioned himself in the air and pushed toward the grounded wolf, flying with great speed. He plunged his sword into the wolf and it soon dissapated into nothingness.

The remaining three surround Arrgon and charged all at once. Arrgon jumped and used his power to reach a great hieght. He bagan to twist his sword around, side to side, building momentum. The wolves all gathered into a group below him waiting for him to fall back down. Arrgon began to pick up so much speed his blade was no longer visilbe as a single dual bladed weapon but as two whirring cirlcles at his sides. He released the rest of his energy and sent razor sharp air blades raining down onto the wolves, slicing and dicing the wolves till they no longer looked like anything in particular, then dissapating completely.

Arrgon landed and let out a large breath," Wow! That was one hell of a fight. I'm surprised I didn't get hurt worse," he said rubbing his sore ribs. "I can't wait to see what Lily has to say about this." He twisted the Gauntlet back to its original position and the familiar light shown down, and the feather took him back to the Garden.
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Rivell had enough. He squared off and lauched wave after wave at the beast. It was soon forced to take another dive. Rivell was prepared this time and leaped to the side. In mid air he swung his sword creating a flamethrower type wave at the beast. It caught fire and fell to the ground with a thud. The feathers had been seared right off, leaving only seared lanky appendages in their place. It climbed back its feet and its lion head roared at Rivell. Its pride was clearly scarred by this recent turn of events. Rivell wasted no time. The battle was won. The beast would never be able to out move Rivell without the ablility to fly. Rivell ran and dived overthe beasts head narrowly escaping a bite from two heads. He thrust his blade directly at he base of the tail. sereving it and the little girls spirit from the rest of the beast. He quickly lifted her up and told her to run to the barn. With his left he grabbed serpent tail by the severed end and in seconds the still active blade burned the snake down to nothing but a skeleton encased in flame. Rivell then whipped the burning frame around and wrapped around the goat head. The beast lashed in pain but the jaged bones only tightened, cutting into the neck and eventually severing the head. The beast charged but Rivell recoiled the whip and let it snag on the lizards head. The force of the beast going by flipped Rivell onto the beasts back and severing its head as well. Rivell was being carried like a rodeo contestant and without hesitation Rivell dropped the bones and thrust the sword deep into the chimera's spine. The chimera tumbled to the ground tossing Rivell yards ahead flat on his back. Rivell looked up to see an upside down chimera whrith in pain and eventually evaporate. Rivell let out a sigh of relief and started to laugh.

"Oh, the kids!", he labored to stand back up and ran to the barn. Inside, the two kids were reunited. Hugging each other in tears.
Rivell appoached them quickly,"I know you've been through a lot, but I need you to tell me what happened here." he then smiled, "Then you can go home."

The teenager stepped forward, his courage surprised Rivell. He then recited the whole tale of his families vicious murder by the beach and about the evil girl who caried out the deed with lifeless eyes.
"Thats why I felt a pull by the beach, in fact I felt a tug towards the city for a moment." Rivell dismissed the town because he was well aware that a mass murder would need to be handled by multiple Astros, and this theory proved true when he sensed nothing more from that area. But the beach was another story. If that is where everything ended, there could definitly be something of significance there. It would have to wait. He needed to first extract the two children and report his findings to Lily.

He turned to the two kids. "What are your names?"
The boy was hesitant but before she could be restrained the girl jumped forward and spoke with a smile.
"I'm Rena!"
"Rena!" The boy grabbed her arm. "and I'm Ruko. Whats going to happen to us?"
Rivell grinned and twisted the dial on his gauntlet. "Were going somewhere great."
The trio then evaporated and were transported to The Garden.
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The dark portal was a strange evil place. The portal looked like a tunel with darkness swirling around trying to capture lost souls and trap them for eternity in its dark walls. the place was space and time that had been changed and bent so that it could be passed through because of this going through a dark portal is rather challenging for some. There are many twists and turns much like a maze through the distorted space. For Ahna it was rather easy she just kept moving forward where others traveled off to the side only to become lost within the endless darkness for years at a time.As She walked Ahna went through her old routine of asking herself three questions.Number one, who was she? this took little thought as she simply told herself she was Ahna Se'cal a heartless chaos spirit who's only reason to live was to kill. Number two, where was she going and why? This was also easy she was going to california to stop some pesky fire sprites from containing a rather dangerous fire. She was doing this as a mission, a reason to grow stronger she supposed, as well as cause chaos on earth.Number three, what had happened to her? This question always stumped her. She knew the basics but that wasn't enough, it was like reading the back of a book and claiming you read the whole thing. She needed to remember, each day her old self slipped away engulfed by the Chaos and emptiness. She didn't even remember what she had looked like, before she became a killer, anymore.

Before Ahna could think on this further she had excited the portal finding herself on a tall dusty hill that over looked a forest and then a large town. The thing was that the forest was on fire, and growing closer to the houses nearby. It was a bright chaotic being as if it breathed and had its own life. In truth the center of the blaze was kept alive by a groupof lesser fire imps. Ahna took in the scene assesing the situation and locating her targets. Sprites, she knew from reading the report, were elemental creatures tied to heaven and light and try very hard to help all living things. They appear to be small almost childlike creatures made purely of a bright flame. The imps on the other hand looked like small demonic creatures abominations who glowed darkly. Ahna quickly made her way through the blaze, the imps allowing her to pass in a bubble of protection. She approached the sprites watching them try to manipulate the fire to a safer direction away from the houses and people.

It was impossible to stay hidden in the bright flames and eventually the sprites sensed her. Almost immediatley they attacked. Sending small waves of flames down towards her from all directions. Ahna twirled whipping her scythe in a circle extinguishing the flames. Almost in the same instant she rushed toward one taking it by surprise. With one simple slice the creature froze, shook, and exploded into slivers of ice. They were hesitant to get close to her now and kept shooting at her long range. after many deflections Ahna tried a theory she had come up with. When a flame came towards her instead of extinguishing it she froze it and shot it back at the sprite. Upon impact it exploded causing the creature to colapse and explode like the first. Now they all rushed her hoping to end it quickly since the forest fire was starting to get out of control. Ahna stood perfectly still, again trying out an interesting theory.

When the sprites reached her Ahna seemed to explode. Almost every sprite was covered in ice and then exploded. The 20 or so remaining looked quizically at the place Ahna had stood. Little did they know she had been behind them the whole time and in one sweep every sprite lost its head and was destroyed. Ahna would have been happy that she had done so well a few minor burns nothing major had happened. Of course then she heard the roar from the flaming forest and remembered a warning in the report. A warning to watch out for crazed forest spirits to come looking for the cause of their pain, which in all purposes was Ahna.

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Arrgon arrived at The Garden and rushed to Lily to give her an update on the situation. She jerked her head up at the site of him running across the foyer.
"What in the world are you running for?" Lily exclaimed.
Arrgon reported everything to Lily, and about the Gauntlets not working around Violet.
"I need you to wait here for a moment Arrgon," Lily said, and she actually ran down a corridor, into Zulu's office. Shortly after, they both appeared and returned to Arrgon.
"Where is he at now, Lily?" Zulu asked as Lily typed extremely fast on her terminal.
"He is in a building near the center of the town. There is a massive amount of chaos energy in the back bedroom. I can get him outside but he'll have to hurry," Lily replied. She then hit a few more keys on her terminal and moments later a man of about 30 came to the desk.
"This is Zephir, he is also an Air Astros," Zulu explained, motioning for the two to meet. "I would like you to go with him Arrgon. I think he could help you really come into your position here."
"Yes sir," Arrgon said and he extended his hand to shake Zephir's.
"You'll have to earn it kid," Zephir said stoicly.
"Ok," Arrgon said retracting his hand.
"Zephir has been here for a while. He is a B rank officer," Zulu explained. "Now go, time is of great importance."

Arrgon and Zephir twisted their gaunlets and were transported outside the house where Violet and Rivel had gone into the rift. They entered the house and could instantly feel the power from the rift upstairs. They went to the room and saw the Chaos rift open in front of the bookshelf.
"Let's go," Zephir said, and jumped into the rift.
"Well ok, I guess we're winging it," Arrgon said and jumped after Zephir.
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Alivia wandered down a beach she had stumbled over on her recent walk. Alivia took walks often, it was mainly to clear her mind, think over recent events, think of future events or sometimes just to find somewhere to relax. As she was walking she decided to stop and enjoy the cool breeze and warm water. Alivia stopped and took off her boots and socks, she strolled to the waters edge after placing her belongings in a neat pile not to far away from the waterline. The warm waters washed over her feet and caused a calming sensation to wash through Alivia as well. They sea arm reminded her of home. Sure she lived in a busy city but she loved to escape to the ocean when she could. Just sights and sounds made her feel at ease, just as they were now. How she still wished she was alive. If only she hadn't resisted that robber she could still be going to the beach today and not have to worry about what was going to attack her next. She sat down in the sand and just layed back staring up at the sky while absent mindedly placing her hand on her stomach where she was stabbed. Alivia knew she should return to the garden soon and aquire a new mission but at the moment she just wanted to relax.

Alivia's relaxation was cut short as she heard footsteps approaching her. And rather fast. A sigh let her mouth as she quickly rolled backwards to her belongings and quickly picked up her gun and pointed it in the direction of the noise. Coming at her full force was a wild mustang. The beautiful creature simply ran by and kept going. Alivia let out a sigh of relief. She really wasn't in the mood to shoot anything. She dropped her gun and went back to listening to the ocean.
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A small moan lifted out of Alivia's mouth as the water washed up against her face. High tide had rose the water past her waist. Enough for heavy waves to splash against her face. Her eyes fluttered open and then she sat up quickly. "s**t" Alivia stood and trudged out of the water in her now soaked clothes. "I've slept for to long" She grabbed her belongings throughing her sword over her shoulder and clicking her holster back around her waist. Alivia made quick putting on her gauntlet and returning to The Garden. As she stepped through the rift she made she came out into a brightly lit lobby filled with people, some in line to get their judgement while others were quickly moving paperwork and other things around. Always so busy, she thought to herself as she took the east hallway and walked up to the large white marble desk it had gold fixtures as well. Alivia let her elbows fall on the counter.

"That sand better not get that dirty, I just cleaned it" Lily said as she came out of the back room. She gave Alivia a sarcastic smile befor setting down the stack of folders she was holding. "Haven't seen you around here in awhile." Lily's eyebrow raised slightly in a concerned way at Alivia.

Alivia wiped off the remaining sand on her arms before looking up at Lily. "I know, took a much needed nap that lasted a bit longer than I expected" She placed her elbows on the counter again. "Anything you need me for?" Alivia was hoping for an exciting assingment this time. Lately she's been getting frivolous assingments such as chasing a lesser chaos out of a city and destroying them. She was hoping for something intresting.

Lily looked thoughtfull for a moment and then her face lit up. "Actually you can choose, though I'm pretty sure I already know which one your going to take on" She smiled at Alivia and then pulled out one of the pieces of paper out of the stack that she had previously brought out. "Arrgon and Zephir just left seconds ago, you may be able to catch up if you move quickly, but they are on their way to the nin circles of hell. Rivell and a new recruit Violet some how managed to get sucked in some how" She passed the paper to Alivia and then picked up another. "And the other is a rather large forest fire that a few Chaos's have started in the east." She paced that paper to Alivia as well but Alivia was already handing the other assignment back.

"I'm going to hell" Alivia said with a smirk. She brought her gauntlet up and Lily placed the coordinates in and smiled at her turning back around to her paperwork.

"Have fun" Lily chuckled before starting ot sift through the paperwork she brought out.

Alivia quickly turned slicing the air. She stepped into the bright rift and stepped out into a cabin. She heard movement upstairs and made quick time getting up there. She came to an open Chaos Rift. She got there just in time to see the last bits of Arrgon disappearing into the rift. Alivia quickly made her way to the rift and jumped into it. She landed down next to Arrgon and Zephir. "Hello boys. Hope I'm not crashing the party." She smiled at them and stood up looking around.

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Rose glanced over at Ahna she seemed to have something on her mind...something bugging her maybe, she raised a brow as Ahna suddenly faced her "something on your mind?" she asked with curiousity, as well as interesting Ahna was very confusing to try and read so Rose gave up hoping Ahna would tell her herself, Rose felt a rush of cold against her skin and it felt rather uncomfortable. She looke out across the city again through the trees.

Rose nodded and faced Ahna again "yes...but it's hard for me to remian entertained..." she sighed slightly, though she was curious to why she asked such a question, then raising a brow as Ahna's smile turned quite evil and mischivious. Rose liked the sound of the rampage and it certainly sounded entertaining. "sure...why not, i have nothing else to do, it'll be a rush" she grinned.

Rose didn't mind getting involved with Ahna she seemed fun and open minded, maybe hanging around with her would be much more of a thrill and show Rose how to show more emotion and actually lighten up a bit, though she didn't want to get to close to others, around Ahna she felt it would be ok.

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Entrance into the Ninth Circle: Act I
Barren Wastes (First Circle)


When Rivell emerged from the rift, he was shocked at the sight before him. The land was barren and dark, in fact it appeared that the entire realm was a massive endless cavern. The only light was created by primitive torches on the walls and rivers and gysers of molten rock.
"Are we. . ." Rivell slowly walked to where Violet was standing, not taking his gaze form the surroundings. ". . . where I think we are?"
Violet was again her normal perky self, but an air of fear was around her. "I don't think we should be here." She said in confusion.
Rivell looked back and saw that there was no similar rift to take them home. Rivell replied to Violets statement, "I should say not." He then took her by the hand and began to lead her down to a more secluded path behind some jagged lava rock. "Come on we need to find a place to hide, set up a camp maybe. The chaotic creatures they send to Purgatory are fairly tough; I can't imagine they'll be easier down here."

Rivell eventually found a small recess in the rocks, the small enclave overlooked one of the many flows of lava in the area. The formation of the rock and the steam from the lava created an effective smokescreen around the enclave but it was also dark inside.
"Alright we'll set up here." Rivell said before guiding Violet inside and to a somewhat flat rock she could sit on. He then examined the surroundings. "This should be OK. Wait here, I need to find wood or. . ." He then snapped his finders and spun back around. He summoned his etheral blade. With a slight wave a small orb of flame floated gently over to Violet and hovered in front of her. "This should keep things bright for a little while. Wait here, I need to take a look around." Violet stood to show her protest but sat back down after Rivell disappeared in the fog.

Rivell appoached the small tents hiding in a outcropping not even a mile from where he'd decided to make camp. Rivell squatted behind a large boulder overlooking the pit. Rivell could hear the shrill crys and grunts on the diminuitive creatures living in the tents. They had pale green or light brown skin and wore tattered furs as loin clothes. Just about every creature carried some sort of weapon and many had crafted simplistic armors from bones and the like. , Rivell thought to himself, knowing that a Fallen Astros would make a succulent meal for a goblin fire-spit.

After a few minutes, a small group of creatures clearly not of the same species rode into the outcropping on hell wolves. The wolves snapped at each other but remained composed as the riders dismounted. The leader of both groups met in the center of the area, surrounded on either side by their repective leutinants.

The new arrivals were taller and much stouter than the goblins. They wore assorted armour, some light, others heavy. They each carried squared swords make out of cast iron, and a larger buckler on the opposite hand. Rivell had never seen these hideous creatures but he was almost certain they were orc.

Rivell could hear them speak, but it was language he wan't familiar. Nonetheless, Rivell concluded the conversation was a heated arguement. His theory was confirmed when the goblin leader buried his dagger in the orc leaders gut. The orc responded by punching the goblin in the jaw and ripping the dagger out of his gut. He let out a howl and the entire orc troop cut and beat the goblin leader to death. The gobln leutenants as well as a few other warriors in the remaining goblins joined in the fray, but were quickly cut down by the orc.

The remaining goblins, Rivell assumed to be the women and children, hid in their tents or behind rocks. It was to no avail as the orcs used their wolves to root out any in hiding. The orc tied up all the hostages together, hands and feet bound. Then a few tethered the groupings of hostages to their wolves harnesses. They then proceeded to mount their wolves and exit the outcropping, dragging their still living hostages behind them. Rivell had to turn away. He knew the goblins were abominations, demons but what he'd just witnessed left a rotting feeling in his gut. He perhaps felt guilty that he didn't save them. He knew their fate. Orcs were rumored to prefer living flesh for their meals, a sick joy of eating a creature alive. The few goblins that didn't die from the cruel manner of transport would have to watch in torture as they are eaten alive.
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At Rose's answer a warmth spread through Ahna. It wasn't an emotion exactly, or was it? She felt almost excited, almost happy. "Let's find an Astros to mess with, I've heard they are fun to battle." In truth Ahna wondered if maybe she could corrupt an Astros as she had the forest spirit. What would it take to make a pure spirit, turn to darkness? Although Ahna felt next to nothing this answer was simple, power. A person's heart could easily be taken by power, as hers was. Ahna shook her head a little, it was not time to dwell on the past only to look forward to the interesting Chaos she could cause with Rose as an Ally. "I believe that causing this fire may draw a few of them, how bout we go and scout for one to play with." She was sure that this much chaos and a corrupted spirit would definitely bring an Astros to this spot the only question was, when?
- - - - - - - - -
The guards at the gate, two hulking dragons the size of a large truck, weren't that terrifying. The reapers at the castle gates weren't very bone-chilling. Even the two members of Hell's guard, the most feared Chaos there are, didn't compare to the awesome might of the being that sat in front of Gorignak. Lucifer, the king of hell, the morning star, fallen from heaven and now reigns supreme in the land of the damned. His throne was of the bones' of the fiercest warlords on earth. He was surrounded by his harem of Chaos women. Each one was supremely skilled and lustful. They were both Lucifer's most trusted guard and his entertainment.

Lucifer himself would seem almost out pf place here in this grand hall of black marble and bones. He looked rather human today except for a few things. His skin was the color of blood today,his favorite, his eyes had a green lizard like quality, and his horns grew black and dark from his skull. "Gorignak my good friend," Lucifer spoke in an almost casual tone," I have a mission for you." Gorignak kneeled before the throne and spoke, "Anything you ask of me shall be done." Lucifer smiled and then took an eye from a bowl one of his girls was holding. "Since you are no longer preoccupied with that little Ahna of yours, wonderful girl really, I have decide to send you to the first circle to track a recent unauthorized rift opening." Lucifer ate the eyeball, the thing squishing horribly in his teeth. "Now go and maybe sometime I may meet your Ahna in person," Lucifer's eyes shifted into a lustful gaze,"if she is half the girl you tell me she is then maybe she would make a fine new addition to my guard." He shrugged and then waved Gorignak away, "and Cain my dear," Lucifer called out as Gorignak was leaving, "try not to kill to many of the natives would you, they are frightfully important if not frightfully idiotic." That was Lucifer, the Morning Star, the pain in the a** of Gorignak's life. Stealing his girls and calling him by his idiotic first name, no one calls him Cain, except Scelia of course.
____________________________-

Arrgon and Zephir spun quickly, with their weapons already in their hands. Zephir relaxed when he recognized Alivia from the Garden. He knew her to be an Earth Astros, but had never taken any missions with her. "Relax Arrgon, she's on our side," he said, putting his spear away.
"Hello, I'm Arrgon," he said, replacing his Dual-Sword on his back. "Sorry about that. I'm kinda new to the game. But anyways, what are you doing out here?"
"Lily sent me after you. She said it was going to get pretty hairy down here," Alivia explained.
"In that case, we should probably get moving to a more secluded area," Zephir stated, "I'm the senior officer, so I'm pulling rank for now. Let's move."
The three Astros then took to running across the rather flat, dessert like area of the first level. They were headed to what seemed like a forest in the distance. As they continued to near it, they realized that it wasn't a forest of trees, but of what seemed to be large jagged bones. This was definitely the Chaos realm. They reached the edge of the forest and took some cover behind some of the outer bone trees.
"What's the plan?" Arrgon asked Zephir. "We're supposed to be finding Rivell right?"
"That was the original plan, but now I think we should investigate the area. See what our situat... Get down!" Zephir said quietly, going prone.
There was some noise getting closer in the distance. Large crashes every few seconds, clearly approaching the general area. "What the ******** is that?" Arrgon whispered, becoming worried and excited.
"Calm down, and wait here," Zephir comanded, then evaporated using his Air power. Arrgon and Alivia waited in silence as the crashes continued to get closer.
Zephir returned within a few minutes with a worried look, "we've got two very large trolls coming right for us. Arrgon you come with me, become invisible with your Air Astros power. Let it fill you slowly and your body will begin to flow with it. We'll be flanking to the right. Alivia, you flank to the left and take that target. I know you can take it but if you get into trouble call out and one of us will break off to assist. Move out."
The group split to assignments, Alivia heading to the left flank, and Arrgon becoming invisible and continuing with Zephir to the right. Arrgon and Zephir reached their target first, being able to fly with the wind. As they floated over the trolls, Zephir motioned for Arrgon to take the first strike and that he would follow in behind. Arrgon took his weapon form his back and set up for his attack. He looked at the trolls searching for the best spot to plunge his blade in. The beasts were close to twenty feet tall and layered in thick, almost stone like hide. There weren't many places that his weapon could find it's way through.
______________________________

Alivia silently crept around the bone trees with guns still in their holsters and her swords in her hands. Alivia felt that wielding two swords was going to be more usefull at the moment than one. She ducked down as the troll passed by her, its pair only a few feet away on the other side of her. Alivia didn't have much longer to wait to know when to attack. To the right of her the troll screamed out in pain as she saw blood trickled down the back of its head and neck. Arrgon came into veiw only slightly as he attacked before fading back into nothingness. She turned toward her own target. Alivia spun her swords and then ran at the large creature. Alivia ran up to it and let her foot come down hard on the ground by its feet. A large jagged rock rose fromt eh ground shooting up at the troll. The creature was spooked and fell backward. The rock piercing the creatures forearm. It cried out in pain accomnmpanying the other trolls wails.

Alivia looked over to see the second troll making swipes into the air as more lacerations appeared on its body. She focused her attention back on her target. Alivia jumped on the jagged rock and ran up it at the creature. It swung its free arm down breaking the rock and causing Alivia to have to jump onto the creature while it was still laying down. Alivia sunk her blades into the trolls chest to get a grip and then pulled herself up onto one of the spikes on its armor. The troll brought its hands down on its own chest trying to knock her off. Alivia dodged the hand and sliced into the creatures neck. Its hide was thick and it too a few slashes to get even a small trickle of blood.

Alivia took this small hole as an opportunity and pulled her guns out. She aimed and let a clip loose on the beasts neck. The troll let out one last wail before falling backward into another tree. Alivia was jerked forward and she rolled off the trolls head onto the ground and turned back to see that Arrgon and Zephir were still working on the other troll. Alivia ran over to them. "Need any help?" She asked with a smirk on her face. She knew that some men had their whole pride thing so she didn't want to just jump in and help out.
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After leaving the lovely throne room of the great ruler of Hell, Gorignak went to Scelia to retrieve the details of his mission. The only reason Lucifer gives missions is so that he has something to do in this place other than sit there and look regal, regally idiotic that is. In reality it was to keep certain missions secret which meant that this unauthorized rift entry wasn't some Chaos half drunk, or someone trying to sneak in after running from a mission. The penalty was one of several tortures depending on rank and mission type. All of them were painful and each lasted 5-1000 years at the least. Some screw-ups, like Loki for example, are still being held in torment in the depths of Tartarus today. Gorignak blinked back to reality, taking in the smiling banshee that is Scelia.

"Hello there Cain! Here to pick up your top secret mission?" When Scelia said his first name, his left eye twitched. Every time without fail she would annoy him, and without fail, he could not punish her. Something about Scelia was different, like Ahna, but so much more than just a beautiful little girl. He put on his dazzling smile which caused several nearby Chaos girls to swoon, "Why yes I am I'm glad you stay well informed as ever." The annoyance in his voice was atrociously obvious, but Scelia only smiled. "Well you know I am going with you," Scelia spoke nonchalantly. "Too bad you'll have to-" Gorignak did a double take and stared open mouthed at the banshee Chaos. "scelia only teased him more,"Oh don't look so surprised, its been ages since my last decent mission, and they have a newbie here to run my booth until we're done." In a puff of blue smoke she appeared in her human form next to Gorignak. "Now let's go while the gettin's good, I don't want to be late for my first real assignment since the 70's."

Calmly she pulled out her weapon, it was a black violin that could change shape to become a gun or sword. She chose to use it in it's original shape. With a few notes echoing into the distance a portal opened to the exact coordinates of the unauthorized rift. With a perky smile and a fluff of her Texan blonde curls, Scelia waltzed into the darkness followed closley by a brooding Gorignak.
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Entrance into the Ninth Circle: Act I
Barren Wastes (First Circle)

Rivells eyes were still closed as he heard the wolves foot steps fade in the distance. He now knew what direction they were traveling. If nothing else they might lead him to a way out perhaps, and staying in an area for too long could prove a deadly mistake, as what he'd just witnessed proved. He would have to backtrack and get Violet before moving on. Much to his surprise he would not have to go far.

He opened his eyes to a sunny faced girl smiling at him, crouched a foot in front of his face. Before she could get the word "Hiya" out Rivell leapt back towards the edge he was spying from. He stopped just short but his hand pushed through the brittle rocks at the cliffs edge. The internia spun him over and caused him to slip over the edge. Rivell was almost in free-fall aside from his body slamming into the rock face. He took blow after blow until he recieved a blast to the head. In that moment, time seemed to slow. He could hear Violets scream from atop the cliff as all faded to black.

* * *

Slowly his senses came back to him. The first thing he noticed was how cold the ground was. It chilled Rivell to the bone, bringing him to the second thing he noticed: His still felt his limbs and even dragged his hand on the ground slightly to confirm. Rivell slowly opened his eyes. He was on his back and could only see roof of the cavern not covered by Violet's distressed face. She was shouting something but Rivells head was still ringing, his hearing slowly came in revealing she was shouting his name in effort to wake him.

He turned his head up to examine the cliff he had just fallen down. Rivell's eyes widened as to looked upon what had saved him. From about midway down the cliff-side, a sheet of ice sloped off the cliff by a several yards. It was smooth as glass, several inches thick. and shaped perfectly rectangular. At the bottom was a transition to a frozen buildup that had served to stop him at the end. The pain in his body told him that the slope only slowed him down enough to save him, he would have more than a few bruises to show for surviving the fourty foot drop.

Violet was elated that Rivell had finally come to. This time she helped him sit back up, Rivell grinned at the irony.
"Rivell are you ok? I'm so sorry I scared you like that. I'd never would have imagined I could scare someone to death."
"I'm a little curious that I survived accually." He returned still looking at the ice the was slowly melting around him. "What happened?"
Violet thought about it. "I don't really know. I said 'Hiya' and then you went over." She tapped her chin with her index finger. "I screamed and shut my eyes. I saw a light come up from where you fell. I looked over the cliff and you were at the bottom of this ice slide thing and here we are."

Rivell looked at her puzzled. No one else was around, he was sure. A Chaos would have attacked them already and the creatures in the area had just been slautered. He knew that he was alligned to fire so ice was out of the question. That left her. Violet had to have done it.

Whatever she was, she possessed elemental power and that puzzled him most of all. If she were a Chaos, an agent from the Pitt would have recruited her upon her death. If she were Astros she would have been granted passage to The Garden via the gauntlet Rivell wore. It was as if she were a Fallen that belonged to neither Heaven nor Hell. He painfully got to his feet.

"Come on." He motioned for Violet to follow. "We can't stay here. We'll head that way." He pointed in the direction he heard the wolves go.

They began tracking the wolves which wasn't difficult. They left putrid foot prints stained on the rocks. Ever on Rivell's mind was the happy go lucky girl traveling with him. She was truly odd. Incomplete in a way, nowhere to belong and no memory of the life she left. All Fallen held onto their life in death by memories. Memories are a critical part of the soul, yet she had been robbed of that. She started to hum. Of course, it was just random notes. She knew no songs but the fact that she was trying put a smile on Rivell's face. Perhaps she enjoyed music in her life although it was lost to her now.
______________________________--

Rose smiled, Ahna seemed to ligthen up quite a bit, she seemed less protective and emotionless then she was before and more comfortable, "an Astros huh?" she smiled, Rose had heard of the Astros, they were a nusience to her work and were rather annoying. She certainly liked the idea. Rose brushed back her long black hair and pulled out a katana. "seems interesting." she replied with a slight evil grin.

She noticed Ahna shake her head slightly as if she had something on her mind and raised a brow, Though she turned her attention to the blaze and nodded "i guess it would, but i'm not sure if one would be satisfying." she thought, one would be a challenge but two would be fun. Rose didn't like fighting for no reason or if it was meaningless, but when it came down the Astros she was up for a fight or two. Rose got up and put out a hand for Ahna "lets go"
_______________________________

Ahna felt excited again she supposed. It was a type of buzzing in the back of her head, one that had her feeling dizzy and full of energy at once. "Alright then." She took Roses hand and allowed herself to be pulled to her feet. Instead of jumping down and walking all the way to the city, or even rifting there, Ahna pulled out her scythe and jumped into the air. A trail of ice came behind her glistening in soft glow of the fire. "I wonder if what I've been told is true, can you really fly faster than plane?" With a challenging smirk Ahna set off into the air. She stayed aloft with a trick she had just thought of, using her ability to freeze and control ice Ahna froze the water molecules reminiscent in the air and created a trail of ice in the sky. She skated lazily on it feeling the wind rush past as she picked up speed. Rose seemed to have fallen for the taunt and was now speeding by propelled by gale force winds. Ahna kept going steadily taking her time.

A memory flashed before her, she was skating on an ice rink in her old home, laughing at someones face she could not see. The laughter faded reminding Ahna that she could not feel, she could not laugh, so what was the point of what she was doing? What was the purpose? She hummed a melody from her youngest memories, it was a sad tune simple yet sad. Ahna found she was terribly off key and stopped before she floated to the ground trying to smile happily at a now breathless Rose. "I suppose it is true thank you for being so kind as to show me." The sarcasm in her voice was stiff and out of practice, but it got the meaning across as Rose straightened up and regained her powerful composure. "Ha ha, very funny Ahna, I doubt you could use your little ice trick to go that fast." Ahna spoke in a matter-of-fact tone simply stating, "wasting energy like that is pointless, I just wanted to see if you would actually try to fly like a jet."

Rose smiled as well now seeming rather amused at the trick. Both of them walked down several streets of the city. waiting and talking, learning about each other. "...and then she decided that she wanted to name the thing Fluffy." Rose raised an eyebrow a smile on her lips, "seriously, she wanted to name her hairless rodent...Fluffy." With this last comment both girls snapped there eyes forward scanning the area for Astros. "you felt that as well I presume." Ahna looked questioningly at Rose. "Yep, think there's two of them," Rose smiled in anticipation, "one for each of us it looks like." Silently they both floated down from their building and walked calmly towards the source of the Astros power. Indeed there were two of them, one for Rose and one for Ahna, they both looked at each other with a smile, this was going to be fun.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
When Gorignak and Scelia exited the portal they stood in the center of a burnt village. Scelia took a deep breath, inhaling the still smoldering air, "Ah, the sweet smell of burning flesh, its my favorite you know." Gorignak ignored her and started searching for the signs of the rift and who walked out of it. He heard Scelia sigh behind him and mumble, "oh, why are you always so serious?" Again Gorignak ignored her and followed a trail of footprints left in the dry soil. He focused his senses listening intently for any sign of intruders. He probed the energy around them, feeling only the auras of himself and Scelia. Suddenly his body stiffened, what had that been? It felt like Astros, several Astros, not too far away. Quickly he pulled out his demon wings and took the the air, Scelia close behind being able to fly with only her power over the winds. As they neared the group Gorignak picked out three Astros, they looked rather weak, barley able to take on a few trolls on their own. Gorignak almost laughed at their foolishness, coming to the realm of Hell where they were out numbered, out matched, and at a severe disadvantage. Gorignak studied each of them carefully. The seemed rather strong but by comparison he would be no match for both he and Scelia. The boy seemed tough but definitely unskilled with his power. Gorignak's lustful gaze settled on the earth Astros, she was definitely a looker, if only he could just take out the other two, then he could have some fun with her.

Before he could think any more about the Astros girl Scelia tapped his shoulder in annoyance. "Ahem, I'm picking up another Astros not to far away,and hes with a Chaos as well." Gorignak scanned the area finally noticing the two other surges of power. His face turned into utter shock as he felt the Chaos's power flare as she was using her power. It was Ahna, his Ahna was gallivanting around with some Astros in Hell. Rage piled up inside him as he flew off in that direction, he would follow that traitor and her new friend and watch them burn before all of Purgatory. He yelled back to a smiling Scelia "Come on, its time for the real mission to begin."
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Entrance into the Ninth Circle: Act I
Barren Wastes (First Circle)

The wastes were truely endless and the more distance they covered the less fire and molten rock there was. Eventually All was dark except a few scattered torches. Rivell summoned his etheral blade for light and they continued to follow the wolves trail. It was no wonder the orc used them. This was a distance to be sure.
Violet was getting restless, "How much further. I'm getting tired."
Rivell agreed, they had been walking awhile. It frustrated him that they still had no sign of their pursuit other than more footprints. He stopped; Violet halted as well. He looked around, trying to scan the darkness. He couldnt see much further than about fifteen feet. In an act of impulse Rivell pointed his blade at the ceiling. with a flash a small orb shot up. Once it was near the ceiling it burst it a flare. Rivell could now see the entire cave. The landscape was different from the craggy flows they left. The lands were sloped hillsides of sand and stone. Petrified forests were the only scenery to break up the oceans of stone. The flare slowly subsided and all was dark again.
"I don't like this but we'll stop here for a while."

They set up camp, if you could call it that. Violet had thought to gather a few things from the goblin camp: a skin throw, a few containers, and surprisingly a cask of water. Rivell had managed to produce another orb for light and heat. This desert wasn't kept warm from the lava flows, so the air here was stagnant and cold. Violet laid on the throw and had fallen asleep. It surprised him how soundly she slept, but if she had no memories, perhaps her dreams where are black and cold as the desert.

* * *

A few hours passed, Rivell decided to stay awake. Sitting on the edge of the throw, he cured his boredom by fiddling with his newly altered sword, releasing and retracting the chain. He liked how easily it reacted to him. It was if the sword knew what Rivell was thinking. He retracted it one last time at a snapping sound he heard in the distance. Rivell stood up, etheral blade blazing.
"Who's there?" He called out in the distance. At no reply, Rivell shot another flare into the sky. It exploded, revealing a mass of black broken by glowing red orbs. Rivell gut sank. How could he have been so foolish. The pair's camp had been surrounded by the largest Hell Hound pack he'd ever seen. Their numbers were in the thousands, perhaps tens of thousands.
"Violet, wake up!" She sprang up with a jolt, she noticed the beasts almost immediatly and joined Rivell at his side. "What ever happens, stay right behind me." With this he put his sword in his left hand. The etheral blade enfused the sword with flame and the sword released, just like the bone whip he used to kill the chimera.
"Bring it on!" He taunted knowing that their odds of escape were minimal. He would fight as many as he could but eventually to numbers would overcome them.

Rivell fought through the first waves with little trouble. Something was off about this pack. They seemed oddly patient, as if they only wanted to keep them there only sending a few dozen to attack at a time. At one point Rivell decided to use the whip as a shield. He laid it out behind Violet and allowed his magic to create a wall of flame along the length of the whip. This left Rivell with the etheral blade he was more than comfortable with.

Wave after wave fell until Rivell's stamina let out. He fell to one knee, Violet still safely between Rivell and the fire barrier. Rivell was sure their number had come up. To die as a Fallen was to enter into a relam of nothing. Endless darkness, no physical, no mental, no emotion, nothing. This venture into hell had quickly swallowed them up.
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Zephyr scoffed at Alivia comment before evaporating again. Only a few seconds pass before the troll was howling in pain. An indention could be seen on its stomach. The indention grew and pressed deeper and deeper until it finally ripped the skin open. The flesh on the Trolls back burst open as well as a bloody mist sprayed continuously on the flow of air pushing through the hole in the Troll's stomach. Blood trickled from the front but the beast kept moving. Before long the constant mist that was still spewing from the Troll's back caused its host great weakness and eventually death. The attack had literaly bled the Troll dry. Zephyr reappeared, the blood seperated enough to linger in the air in a red mist. Arrgon was taken back by the show of strength and ruthless skill. It was a little frightening. He glanced over at Alivia who seemed just as surprised as he. "Well, thats one way to do it I suppose." He said, to blood soaked, Zephyr.
"Don't under-estimate me child. I been doing this for centuries. Now lets find this fool and his pet." He looked over to Alivia, "I assume you have a method of quick travel. We must move quickly. The darkness swallows all who linger."

The trio then moved, Arrgon and Zephyr mearly riding the air as a gust, Alivia was standing on a slab of stone she ripped from the ground. It was being propelled by a rolling wave of stone pushing the slab forward. They moved quickly and it didn't take long for them to find the goblin camp. Zephyr signalled for the group to stop. They took survey of the area, noting dead bodies and lack of numbers. They also noticed a stream of water rolling along the rocks. The ground was fairly wet as well as some of the cliff side. "Heres our lead" Zephyr said as he noticed the Hellwolf footprints. He assumed the water was the result of a water chaos. There was no more evidence of elemental precence so like Rivell, Zephyr decide to track the wolves. It was a possiblity that Rivell had been captured using the camp. It would not take long to find out.
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Unfortunately for the enraged Gorignak, Scelia had plans of her own. She quickly raced in front of him stopping him in his tracks with a well executed whirlwind. The look on his face was of utter rage and hate, while hers was her usual faint smile. "Now, now, Cain I know you want to run to your little pet but this group is close and much more challenging," she slid her hand up his arm until it rested at the back of his neck. Gorignak calmed his rage dying to his lust, Ahna could wait, right now he could sample a bit of Astros. The pair flew high tracking the Astros to a nearby camp. They started to follow the hell wolf tracks, and by the looks of the water Ahna had been here as well.No matter These three needed to taken care of, they weren't supposed to be in Hell in the first place. With a cocky smile that was both charming and terrifying Gorignak swooped down on the small group of Astros. He watched them as they prepared to fight. For a moment he let his guard down checking on the hell hounds he had sent to keep the other two in check. In this one moment of blindness he was attacked. It was the younger air Astros, who had snuck in close and lunged, a fierce dual sword coming right for Gorignak's head.

He dodged the well aimed blow and called up his own weapon. It was a fiery spear the same oily black that he looked when he changed into a demon. the tip was blood red and looked like a red diamond and in fact, it may well be. With utter poise and control, Gorignak attacked. Thrust after parry, block after hit, the young Astros was an excellent fighter, who knows in time he could be very powerful, of course he would have to survive for that to happen.

Scelia was faring rather well using her abilities against the other Air Astros. This one was older, seasoned, a veteran, Scelia was as well. In fact she was the girl who had gotten Gorignak killed in the first place, she died shortly thereafter. A bit rusty but just as talented as ever using her gun which looked like a pistol from the old west. It shot out homing bullets and had different types of shells for different enemies. She shot a fast flyer, a heat seeker, then a bone cruncher. The Astros dodged each one trying again and again to get close to her but she would simply disappear. Using her specialty over sound, Scelia could travel at the speed of sound over short distances. She could even pass through solid objects by becoming sound molecules, bouncing off things and passing through them. This fight may last a while who knows it may actually be a challenge for the two powerful Chaos.
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Zephyr dodges Scelia's bullets out of pure challenge. In fact, He allowed the last to hit him. The bullet mearly passed through him. "Surely an air affinity would not be so foolish, a gun? I won't become anywhere near tangible enough to allow a bullet to end my life. Hmph, your just as inexperienced as these children. Why not show me your true form, Banshee." Scelia was taken back a little, he truely was seasoned to see through her guise so easily. Little was known about Zephyr, but it was as Rivell told Arrgon. Air Astros were extremely rare and extremely powerful. He was cataloged as a B Rank Astros but he knew himself that had changed and his death if it came at the hands of these wretches, would only be his beginning.

Arrgon on the other hand, was losing confidence along with his stamina. It took everything he had to dodge his attack, having to result to evaporation more than physical speed. Gorignak kepts a demented grin on his face, thoroughly enjoying the panic that was creeping on his face. He let out a sinister laugh as he continued to push Arrgon back. The pair had made a crucial mistake, hiding in the shadows like before, Alivia was preparing an attack of her own. While Gorignak was engaged with Arrgon, a large boudler rocketed from the ground directly at Gorignak. He dodged it easily, but remained fixed on his opponent. "I had forgot about her, where is . . ." Before he could finish his statment a blade reached around and rested dangerously on his throat. "Missed did I?" Apparently, Alivia had been hiding in the boulder and was now floating on a piece of it while smaller chunks of rock floated and rotated around them. "Oh a whim, I could trap up both in a stone prison." Her grip tightened. "Give me a reason."
This turn of events only increase his elation. He began to laugh again as his body began to glow. The heat became to much for her and Alivia let him go, but not without forcing all the broken pieces of rock remerge into the boulder they started out as. She and Arrgon looked on, hoping to have felled their foe. It was to no avail. The boulder began to glow red and then almost instantly melted away to reveal the amused Gorignak unscathed by the rock. "Please" He stated bluntly before knocking Alivia off her platform and continueing his assault on Arrgon.