[BoK2] Soul of the World

[Shadow]

Blood was trickling down his face. It might be his, it might be someone elses blood. Shadow didn't know, nor did he care. The world was dying. The earth was shaking like a huge earthquake, and the sound was a ear deafening rumbling as parts of land cracked open. The clouds had darkened and thunder was clashing, rain pouring down as if the skies were angry and crying that something like this could've happen.The end of the world.

Although right now, Shadow was occupied. Even at these last moments, life continued to fight, and quite litterly. There were bodies laying around. From the corner of his eyes he saw Dolentrean down, not moving. Six scorched remains around him indicated he took down six of their Demonic attackers, which was incredible.

Nevermore was bleeding heavily as he withstood the might of the massive dark creatures that were attacking the Dreamers. Shadow finally felt one with them again, even though it was not until in these last moments. Drops fell down his cheek as he made a swift move, and let Exzym shine once more, it's runes glowing brightly as it cut through one of the foul demonic creatures, and it went down with a horrid scream, vanishing into thin air. Rain washed away the blood and dirt, and the ground was still cracking up and shaking terrible as the incredibly loud rumbling continued. He was at his last end, many bones broken and internal injures, but he wouldn't give up.

He jumped up as a shaft of rock was shot up, and he used the height to land down agile, and slicing down another demonic dark creature. Zyta was fighting hard, but obviously incredibly tired out. He ran past Alastrina, who was on the ground, a dark red blood puddle soaking the already wet ground. He kept on running to his goal, up a rather large hill is where she stood. Where she fought. The Paladin Girl. Dain. She was fighting the armored huge man, which was covered in shadows, unable to see who he was. Shadow had to get closer and help her, she couldn't last much...

A long Staff-like weapon the mysterious foe had been fighting with, suddenly thrusted forward, piercing Dain's chest and armor completely. Blood shot out of her back, her eyes widened of surprise. Shadow gasped and stopped in horror in the mud as the heavy rumbling and thundering, rain and disaster continued around them as he saw her fall. Her dirty, blooded face, but still so beautiful, fell down into the dirty ground, lifeless. Then the man looked up at Shadow, his eyes bright fiery red, like the eyes of the devil himself, and his grin was filled with razorsharp teeth. He would be next, is what they told.

With a groan he looked up again, blinking his eyes. He was back to present day. His head was throbbing hard and felt painful, as if someone stabbed him with a knife in it. People were watching him. Shadow glanced at Dolentrean, Nevermore, Zyta, Doc (who was in bandages, but already healing), Alastrina, and more people from Dreamer's Haven. But she wasn't here. He pased a little as he thought about what he just saw. He was getting such...(visions?) more and more lately. This was the first big one that was so lively. So real. And for some reason, he completely believed it to be true. Had he really seen the future?

If only the Paladin Girl could be here right now, so he could tell her about this. Warn her. Although right now, this very moment, wasn't the time for it. "Shadow, you were going to tell us about Netherod being back or something?" Dolentrean spoke, interrupting his train of thought. The vision only had lasted for mere seconds, apparantly.

It was true he was going to tell about Netherod. But he could also see the hate, anger in his fellow Dreamer's eyes. He was once a trusty Moderator of peaceful Dreamer's Haven, and his sudden violation in the maze and the chase to the Castle of Memories brought everyone great strain and effort. And questions. Which would be most likely answered very soon. Answers, everyone wanted to know, since a very long time now. And Shadow knew them. And they wouldn't like it. He looked up again, his dark red pupilled eyes looking at one at a time, trying to read what they were thinking.

"Yes. I am. I have only found out recently, and it might explain a lot. I will not expect you to hate me any less, but perhaps we can set our differences aside, after you heard my story." he stood still for a moment. Shadow had changed a lot, as he was wearing a full body black and red armor. It seemed to consist out of one piece. His hair was still perfect long and black. Further more, the Gauntlet he had been wearing, was now gone. He was still holding the famous Staff of Gillilea in his left hand, leaning on it slightly. The Gauntlet and Staff that were the cause of so much trouble. Shadow cleared his throath and started his story.

[Shadow]

"As you all know, Netherod was an evil Magi back in the days, who broke many magical and human laws by obtaining a certain Staff. A very deadly Staff. It made him create an horrific army and eventually march to the City of Light, where the Final Battle took place. Most of us have been there."

He said, eyeing Dolentrean, Nevermore and Doc. He figured the others would be surprised and confused if they did not know yet, but it couldn't be helped. He continued.

"We have all seen how Merrodan and Netherod clashed forces together, and both died in that battle. We returned back to our time, and did not know what happened afterwards. Recently i've gotten my hands on something very valuable that has given me many insights."

To accompany those words, Shadow moved his hand to a belt where a leather bag was tied to, behind his back. From it, he got a small but thick red leather book. It looked old and scruffy.

"This is the Journal of Key. The same guy from the Maze, yes."

He waited a moment for his words to sink in with them, and sighed softly.

"To explain how I got this, I will jump in time a little to the point of Key and his friends, The White Paladin, Katika and Mygas. They had been travelling together for a long time, gathering information and growing as people. On their travels, Key came across a trap set dungeon. It had been hidden away very well and it was obvious many dangers lurked within. It seemed impossible to venture through, and Key was a very curious man, always wanting to know. He convinced his friends to join him to see what this was all about, and together they ventured into the darkest depths of the dungeon and faced it's dangers. To keep it short, they found the Staff. This Staff.

He held up the Staff he was holding and nodded, looking deeply in thought.

"Needless to say, they were amazed by it's power, and against better judgement from the White Paladin, Key decided to take it. He got curious to why and how, and through a few words and sentences that were carved next to the Staff, he went on a search for someone named Bishamon. Long he did not have to look, because the Legends are documented everywhere, as they are the chronicles of our world. It told about the epic battle from centuries ago, and that Bishamon hid the Staff, Gryner the Eternal hid the Gauntlet, and Dai'ar hid the Orb. This because those items were linked and could not be destroyed, and they had tried everything. It was for the best to let the remaining hero's hide the magicl items forever, away from mankind and it's easily corruptable clutches.

Shadow stopped for a moment, narrowing his eyes. Everyone was listening, but he couldn't really read what they were thinking. They seemed amazed, intreged, curious. He saw Nevermore deep in thought, muttering Gryner's name softly. Then he looked up at Shadow and waited for him to continue.

"The Legend became Key's obsession. Helpless, his friends saw him sunk deeper into his quest. His quest to find the other items. Which he eventually did. He found the Gauntlet, and the Orb, after much hardships. But with the Staff, his power had increased, so it was easier for him then for any other creature on the planet to locate all the items, no matter how well hidden. At that moment, with his friends there to stop his insane quest, hell broke loose. Key unleashed the power of the items, finally re-united again. He destroyed an entire village, killing the many helpless, innocent villagers inside of it."

Shadow paused for a moment, deep in thought again. "Key wouldn't do that. Key wasn't the bad guy. I should know, I met him, back in the Maze."

Dolentrean spoke, defending Key, or what he believed to been Key. Shadow just faintly smiled at him.

"And was it not Key who directed you to the deadly Staff eventually? But your right, Key wouldn't do that. But Netherod would. Yes, Netherod. Now we get back at where I left off again. When Merrodan and Netherod did battle, the enormous force of the two outer-earthly items clashed and ripped the very spirit out of their bodies, killing them in the process. So what Key quickly find out was, that Netherod's spirit had been left behind in the core of the clash between the Gauntlet of Merrodan and the Staff of Netherod, seperating his spiritt into two pieces. One part in the Gauntlet, the other in the Staff. You can't call him anything at this point, but just a vague torn up memory of the person he once was, but still very well inside the Gauntlet and Staff. Now we know why the Gauntlet and Staff had such darker exterior when they survived the blast. Netherod's dark spirit is inhabiting these two items, making them change shape. And through the items which Key eventually found, and through Key, Netherod came back alive again. Yes, Netherod walked our earth once again."

Shadow sat down in a chair, letting this piece of information get through to them. It was vital they would understand, as it was the core of what has been going on. His dark red eyes moved from one person to another, hoping for a response.

((To be continued very soon - please go here for further questions/idea's/comments/pointing out errors: OOC BoK2 Thread))

[Shadow]

Shadow sighed softly, his back towards the Dreamer's, as he could feel their piercing gaze into his back. Anger, hate, surprise. But most of all curiousity. Something that he had learned in his studies as he was raised, curiousity could down the biggest foe, if only played right. Not that this was a play. They needed to know this. They needed to know, simply because he knew. He could ask not to be forgiven by them, he did not expect anything like it, but it needed to be stopped. Turning around, his dark red pupils eyed the Dreamers one by one and continued as he looked away.

"It's best if I would just show you what happened next." he said, raising the Staff and it's tip glowed brightly. Their surroundings, the large room they were in, quickly was smudged away as it was replaced by a new stage.

Dolentrean, Nevermore, Doc, Alastrina, Renn, Zyta, Aduro and the other Dreamers, and ofcourse Shadow, were now standing on a ruined field. You could see that it once was a grassy field, but that beauty had now gone lost. The wind was heavy and the clouds dark and thunder flashed the skies. A huge crater could be seen not far away from then, running many feet down. It seemed like some explosion had been here. "It's taking over! You have to resist!" A young girl with long brown hair, pretty face and strong determination looked at another person, who was wielding the Gauntlet and the Staff, and they exactly looked like how Shadow was wielding them now. "You don't understand! This is the best for the world! I...ARGH!" the young man fell to the ground suddenly as blood ran down his chin from his nose. He was obviously squirming in pain.

Next to the young girl, stood a proud and glowing Paladin. His armor was white and his face strict and full concentration, and a hint of worry if you knew him personally. The White Paladin stepped closer, and the young girl who was Katika, stood behind them, close to crying.

"Key...you have to stop this. Fight it. I know you can do it!" Spoke the White Paladin, holding his armored hand on the hilt of his sword, as if deciding to attack or not. "AAAARRGHH!" Key screamed and sat on his knees, his eyes glowing bright red, sweating imensely. "No...No. He took what he wanted. The village...he said he needed to sacrfice for his return...all my fault...Mygas..." Key muttered, looking at a lifeless body not far from Katika, who followed his gaze. "It's okay Key...you didn't kill him...it's not to late...fight it...please!" she said, tears now running down her cheek as the storm around them continued, thunder flashing brighter and more heavy. The wind was almost like a full blown tornado but somehow they all managed to stand still.

Shadow turned to the Dreamers, who were all looking amazed at what was going on. They didn't feel the storm or wind, but the tension of the situation was highly present. It was already obvious this was a memory, and that they could not be noticed by any of the real people there. "This is the moment right after Key blew up an entire city with the might of the Gauntlet and Staff combined. It had over one hundred thousand people in it. That's the aftermath you see." said Shadow with an empty voice, pointing with the Staff at the deep and wide crater. Some Dreamers gasped. The amount of people killed was beyond comprehension, and strenghtend the point of how serious this moment was.

"K-Katika...Ray...please..." Key was crying now as well, although in his case his tears were blood, and his eyes were fully glowing bright red. Veins were showing on his neck as it gave him more of an insane look. "P-Please...Kill me..." he uttered in a gasp now as the storm noise got louder and louder, till the point it was deafening. The White Paladin for the first time seemed not able to make a desision as he looked at his friend as something was eating him up, destroying him. He unsheated his sword and came closer to Key, who was still on the ground on his knees, looking up at the White Paladin, pleading. "P-please..." The White Paladin bit his lip as he raised the sword. "I'm sorry, my friend..." The blade swung down.

BAM.

A huge flash blinded the Dreamers and for a moment they could see nothing but pure white as their eyes adjusted to the dimming light again. A strange gurgling sound was made as Key was now surrounded by a bright white light, almost to painful to look at. The White Paladin was laying several feet away, his sword lost even further. Blood was streaming down his eyes, ears and nose, and the same went for Katika, who was kneeling next to him as they stared to what was happening.

From the light emerged a shape and it seemed to disconnect from Key, who had the softly green glowing Staff sticking out of his back, as appearantly he had trusted it right through him. Blood was gushing down. The Dreamers could not feel any of the wind or power emitting from the light, but looking at the White Paladin (who as they all knew, never really had shown a weak moment, and was always strong) who was shaking from the power emitting from it, it was incredible. Moments later the light form shaped to be human and stepped out of Key entirely.

Key stopped glowing and fell down, the Staff falling to the side, being pushed out of his body as he fell face down. He was still wearing the Gauntlet. But now finally, the light form shaped as a human, came into fully into sight, taking a firm shape.

It was a completely naked man, with long black hair, much like Shadow's. His face looked old and his darkred pupils seemed more dark and deadly then Shadows could ever been. The body of the naked man was old as well, and didn't show as if he had much muscle. Still the mere power of the man made him look twenty years old, and in the prime of his life, despite his appearance. His facial expression was not existant as he turned around, and looked at the Gauntlet and Staff. For the first time, the naked man laughed and his eyes shined as he bended over to grab the items. Netherod was inches away from obtaining the Staff and Gauntlet once again.

The storm was raging on, clouds swirling above the enormous crater. The people standing next to it seemed tiny compared to it. Shadow watched without emotion how the past, old Netherod was only inches away from picking up the Staff. All this time he had been nothing but a vague memory in the Staff and Gauntlet, and Key had been unknowingly feeding him. And Netherod had been feeding him in return. The grasp on the Staff tightend as a pain shot through Shadow's brain and heart, but despite grimacing for a second, noone could tell anything.

A huge blast hit Netherod right in the back and he fell over Key unelegantly, but stood up remarkable fast, on guard. His face was demonic and showed his true nature. Bones could be seen through his skin, and still despite being naked and seemingly vulnerable, he seemed the most powerful man on the planet. Besides the man who shot him in the back, ofcourse. The White Paladin stood there in full armor, holding his Halbred weapon, glowing brightly, as a beacon in the thundering storm.

"We know who you are, Netherod, and it stops here. You are stripped of your power, and you shall never get it back." He simply said, closing in on the insane demonic looking man, who now grinned. "Oh really? It seems I already got quite far..." he signalled to the crater, which showed no remains from a city at all. His smirk was frightening as he raised his arm and a darkpurple ball was forming in his palm. The White Paladin responded with no theaterical gestures or talks, and pointed his Halbred at Netherod, and a huge beam (it seemed like the energy came straight out of himself) shot at Netherod, who lowered his arm and tried to fire the dark purple ball. But it was no match against the attack of the Paladin. Not after this many years, weakened, without a Staff to help him. The eyes of Netherod widened and made a sickening sound as if they seemed to pop out, and his jaw stretched far open as he screeched a painfully high pitched sound, right before the blast hit him and silenced him. A trail of dirt was left behind in the ground where the beam had gone through, and the White Paladin breathed heavily, as if he had used his full power. A gentle hand startled him, but he relaxed as he saw it was Katika, who stroked his cheek gently, smiling sadly while still crying. "You did it...it is finally over..." she spoke, but the White Paladin stared into the distance. It was true the thundering had stopped and now rain was beginning to fall, but he did not seem comforted at all.

"No...it's not. He got away." he spoke with a heavy voice, and Katika's eyes widened. Before she got say anything, they heard a moan coming from Key. Quickly she hurried to him, the White Paladin following, kneeling down as she turned him over from the dirt. Key was bleeding from many wounds but opened his eyes as the rain was now pouring down faster from the skies, cleaning his dirty face. He finally looked young again, and cleansed. "Kat...Ray...i'm so...i'm so sorry..." he said, and started crying. Katika joined in and held his head against her chest, shielding it from the rain. She kept chanting "It's okay...it's okay...it's over now, Key...it's over now..." as Ray, the White Paladin, stood firm, ignoring the rain that was also washing away the blood and dirt from his face, staring into the distance where Netherod had been standing.

It was indeed over, for now.

Shadow watched with the rest at the weeping Katika and Key, as he pulled away from his inner thoughts, and looked at the rest, observing their faces. Everyone looked serious and lost in their own thoughts. "Come. We have seen enough." he simply said, raising the Staff.

Moments later, they were back in the warm Dreamer's Haven room, all at the same spot, as if nothing had happened. Shadow remained silent and eyed them again. Doc broke the pressing, serious silence. "So that is how he got away. And i'm figuring Key and the White Paladin, hid away the Staff and Gauntlet?" Shadow nodded, and started pasing back and forth again.

"Yes, and no. Key felt it was his responsibility to clean everything up again. Without Netherod possesing the Staff and Gauntlet, he wasn't influenced by bad behaviour again. The White Paladin stayed with Key until the end, making sure everything went according to plan. Because even though the evil seemed far away now, great power was in the Gauntlet and Staff, and it was still pulling on Key. Huge guilt built up inside him, and after hiding away the Gauntlet and Staff, he basically killed himself."

After letting the information, be processed again, Shadow opened his mouth to continue, but was interrupted by Dolentrean. "So we get what happened to the Gauntlet and Staff, and how they got this far, but what ever happened to the Orb? Why didn't Key had it with him?" Shadow nodded and continued.

"The Orb is a crucial part of the story, and is far bigger then any of us could ever had thought of."

He cleared his throath.

"But before we continue at that point, it might be interesting to know that from guilt, Key and the White Paladin created this."

He signalled around them with the Staff.

"Dreamer's Haven. Key was so torn up from guilt that he tried to use the might of the Staff and Gauntlet to atleast turn the crater to good use again, and turned it into a valley. The huge explosion caused by the magical powers of the Gauntlet and Staff created a incredibly vertile ground for magic itself to grow up. With help, the construction of Dreamer's Haven had begun. It was a gift from the White Paladin to Key, as Key wanted to create a place for everyone he killed in the city, who perhaps never had a chance to dream and become bigger. He wanted Dreamer's Haven to become a safe haven for these dreamers, and give hope to others atleast, as he had taken it away from thousands and thousands. And thus, the foundation of Dreamer's Haven was created by these items."

He held up the Staff with the Gauntlet hand.

"It was the single only good deed these items have done in their existence. The only deed that didn't involve destruction or purpose for to do battle. Creating Dreamer's Haven."

Shadow had begun to feel lightheaded from all the talking. It was so much information to give out at once, but it was needed. They almost reached the end. And if he would be done talking, they would finally realize how important this was.

"Now as for the Orb...it is an item bigger then anything we believed, and the sole reason Netherod got his hands on the Staff, who is by far less important then the Orb. As the Orb..."

He narrowed his eyes.

...is the Soul of the World."

[Shadow]

Shadow simply nodded at the silent response he had gotten from the rest of the Dreamers. It was obvious most didn't know what to think, or what to say. Was he serious, or was it just a fancy name for some powerful item?

"The Soul of the World, the core of this planets existance. The story behind it, in short, is that the Seven Gods got fed up with mankind and their emotions and wars, whom they had been living amongst, and decided to leave the Earth. They gave the Soul of the World to mankind, completely pulling away from their creation. Mankind saw in it's mistake but alas, it was to late. They swore to protect the world and it's soul, and took for the first time responsiblity for their mistakes. So, for centuries it had been protected and passed on, until Netherod find out about it. It stood written in the ancient books Netherod and Revis had stolen from the Library of Gililea, and immediatly Netherod was captivated, as he had always been by power. It began haunting his dreams and finally he was determined to find this Orb, the Soul of the World."

Shadow looked outside the window he was standing in front of, and saw the sun setting. It was getting late, and he knew everyone was tired, but still here and allowing him to finish the story. Shadow was exhausted, as his body was in constant battle, something he still had to explain. He turned to the Dreamers, who indeed looked exhausted.

"He managed to track down a huge incredible power source, something which he believed to help him obtain the Orb, as he correctly assumed it would be not a easy task to obtain it. And eventually, to absorb the Soul of the World and become more then a God. It would destroy the world, but he hoped it would quench his eternal thirst for power, as some humans have, but not as bad as Netherod had it. He would live on and know everything, and perhaps extend his powers to the end of the universe. He found the Staff, and he found what he needed to begin his real quest."

He paused yet another time, as he had been delaying an important part of the story that had to be told. But he had to end this part of the story he was on, the part of the Soul of the World, before he could finish. His hand held the diary of Key as he looked at it, then looked up.

"So... after this, you all basically know the things that had happened. Key had figured all of this out, as I did. Simply because Netherod had figured it out, and Key only increased Netherod's knowledge by doing research. Even I, helped Netherod completing the story, and made him more determined then ever.

The Orb was hidden away by Dai'ar, and she called in the help of Bishamon the Dragon to hide it, as she had told him what the Orb really was. It's a sad fact that the Orb was only used to point out the next King of the lands back then. Despite it being worshipped as a powerful item, the story of the true nature of the Orb and it's protectors had been lost in time. Dai'ar had found out after doing her own research and visiting people, and together with Bishamon, they hid away the Orb far up in the skies. Now, why they did the next part, is unclear in the diary as Key did not know, and neither do I, but we can only guess.

Because to be sure of the safety of the Orb, they locked it away. They locked it away in a rare item, an item that was left by the Seven Gods and has it's own story. A box. A box containing all the sins of mankind, as the Gods had tried to stop the wars and take away all bad things and putting it in the relic, in the box. Sadly, mankind had been corrupted to much and sins were spreading like wildfire, and could no longer be contained. It was their last attempt to save mankind and left. As the Gods left, they left the Box behind, with still a strong concentration of evil in there, which they had tried to capture."

Shadow sighed, as this part puzzeled him most of all, and he could not even be sure of this story, as neither Key or Netherod seemed to have knowledge of it. All he had read was that Key found out the Soul was stored in the sky, in a box. Only later, in the visions he had been having, he found out what this mysterious Box of Key had mentioned, actually was. The visions had been so strong, and he had no reasons to doubt them, whence he didn't feel the need to explain this part of information. They either believed him or they wouldn't.

"So Dai'ar and Bishamon managed to store the Soul of the World in this Box of Sins, and gave their lives for it. My personal idea to as why is that they felt storing the Orb in the Box would guarentee the safety of the Orb, is that as anyone who would open the Box, would surely die, and the Orb would remain safe and left alone. I think by the way of giving their lives, they prevented from the concentrated Evil in the box from spreading, and at the same time securing the Orb inside, which would remain unaffected, as the Sins apply to creatures on the planet, not the planet itself.

It did sound like the perfect hiding place. Simply hiding it would give the chance, no matter how small, that it could be found someday, and that it could mean the end of the world. It says a lot on how intelligent Dai'ar and Bishamon were, to have forseen these things happening. He directed his dark red eyes to the Dreamers, grasping the Staff tightly.

"As for the last part of my story, the reason of my coming... Netherod is inside of me, or atleast a part of him. He has been all along. When I was young, and my parents were killed, a man found me, and raised me and thought me everything he knew. That man, was Netherod. Having escaped the White Paladin from their previous encounter, it took decades to regain his powers, but he got most of his original powers back, and still wanted the Staff, and also the Gauntlet. He took me on that faithful day to confront the White Paladin again, but I never knew why. Until now.

((OOC: This actually links to WAAAAY back to the original Box of Key thread, where Shadow had a flashback about this event. Scroll down the page to find my (yet another, sorry for the long read, if you remember well enough, you can skip it) long ass post explaining this event that Netherod confronted the White Paladin again. click here for the post ))

Shadow explained what had happened that faithful day, and then continued.

"Basically, when I had emerged with the shadows around me, my former Master Netherod, was also lost in the shadows, grasped on with the tiniest string sense of exisiting he had, as I formed back to my solid human form from the shadows. He has been directing me from my inner concience to find the Gauntlet and Staff all along, which I assumed he found out it was at Dreamer's Haven, and that the White Paladin was hiding it.

Shortly after obtaining the Staff, he revealed himself to me, and was ready to come out using the Staff and Gauntlet which I had aquired now. Needless to say, I waged an incredible war with him, and managed to keep him locked inside, transforming the essence of the Gauntlet with the Staff into this body armor, basically making it a prison for him. He is fighting to get out as we speak, but I do not know how much longer I can hold on."

The core of the story was nearing to it's end, and even though most seemed shocked, he continued, finally getting it out.

"I am not entirely telling the truth, as I didn't lock him out entirely. He managed to come out and form a physical form, that of his body, since he took me completely by surprise. But before his mind and spirit could completely return, I pulled him back inside of me and locked him in this armor with the Staff, as the only hasty solution I could find at that moment. I passed out, and when I had awoken, his body was gone.

It is a mere shell of Netherod, without reasoning or communicative skills, but Netherod managed to give enough of him to make the outer shell of him find the Orb. I have reason to believe he does not know about the Box of Sins it is trapped in, but if his body opens it, the world will be flooded by a concentrated dose of Evil, and that could very well mean the end of the world as we know of it. And seeming that he does know about that the Orb is hidden in the sky from Key's diary, it is vital we find him before he finds the Box with the Orb inside."

Somewhat relieved Shadow sighed, as the story was out. It was hard to believe, as Netherod already appears to be very non-human, after all the things he did with his body and soul. It was up to the Dreamers to end this now.

[Doc]

MUSIC: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vovqm...eature=related

A thick whisp of smoke managed to slip from the corner of Doc's mouth and into the vacant air beside him as he lazily grabbed at his cigar, holding it loosely between his index finger and thumb whilst removing it from his mouth. His hat was set upon his lap, revealing his short yet messy brown locks of hair as well as several bumps and bruises along his helm. His right eye in particular was a nasty mix of black and blue in color.

His duster was draped over the back of his seat, and where he normally wore a shirt underneath he now wore only bandages. His abdomen was wrapped snugly with several loops crossing upwards to his right shoulder. His tan and toned flesh, baked by the sun, was riddled with cuts and wounds of varying sizes. Not a single muscle on him didn't ache.

"So lemme get this straight." he started, leaning forward on his chair and resting his elbows on his thighs. He managed to resist the urge to wince as he moved.

"The old windbag... is living in you?" he questioned, narrowing his eyes and biting the inside of his cheek as he sat in thought for a moment, "Shit, then I got a fix for your whole damn problem."

Reaching to his side where only a single revolver now rested on his belt, he slowly freed it from its sheath whilst simultaneously digging about in one of his pant pockets with his other hand after returning the cigar to his mouth. Exhaling another storm cloud, he loaded a single bullet into the gun and tossed it lightly across the circle of chairs to Shadow.

"I hear it works best if ya just stick the barrel right in your mouth rather than blastin' off half of your head from the side." the gunslinger spoke, returning his attention to his cigar, "Easier to clean up, too, I'd imagine. Nosies on not havin' that job."

[Dolentrean]

Dolentrean stood, a bitter look on his face. His eyes never leaving Shadow for a second, he could feel it, pulsing in his mind, a strange echoing calling to him… Netherod was still inside of him, he could tell, he knew this deeper and more true than any of the other dreamers possibly could. He was the only other person, possibly in the world, who knew what it was like to share a mind with Netherod. And Dolentrean managed to leave it, somewhat unscathed… or so he hoped.

His arm was tied in thick sling, his whole body wrapped up tightly in bandages, his face had bandages covering it in large portions, several of his fingers were tapped up, and he had a sutra across a gash on the side of his head. He stepped next to Doc reached out and lightly lowered his gun.

“That wont work friend…” Dolentrean reached to his own sword, “If we kill the physical form, the spirit of Netherod will just use the staff to return to the physical shell of Netherod that is still wandering around out there somewhere… Trust me…” He let his eyes level on the gunslinger, “However…” He drew his sword and leveled it at Shadow, “If I cut him clean out of existence…” his eyes were bitter, cold, a startling glow to them that was unfamiliar and distant to any of the dreamers. A delicious coldness was shooting up him, one he hadn’t felt in a long time.

He watched Shadow carefully, yet knowingly, with a cold logic behind his normal fire. After a few moments he put his sword back in his sheath. “But with a Netherod shell running around, and his unnaturally strong connection to the staff, who knows what would happen if we cut Netherods spirit out of existence…”

He shook his head slowly, trying to wrap his head around everything that was going on, trying to keep his rage out of his calculations…

“Ok… well, we need you Shadow… for now. Grrr…” He let out a low snarl “I know full well how dangerous Netherod can be, I mean…" He hesitated, trying to isolate himself from everyone "We, we all do” He hesitated again, trying to figure out what he was trying to say.

“Ok, so evil is on the rise… But you can save your breath, this is far from over…” His narrowed, haunting eyes portrayed Dolentrean’s intent far better than any word could hope to match.

He shook his head slowly and spoke quietly, “I don’t suppose you know where the Paladin Girl is?” He looked around at everyone, “Her scent is remarkably faint… she hasn’t been back to the haven sense before the maze…”

[Doc]

"Last I saw her was after you took off with your pal, here." Doc mumbled, obviously not thrilled at Dolentrean's acceptance of Shadow into their merry little band. He gestured with a nod towards Nevermore, removing his cigar again and reclining in his chair, wincing as he did.

"Couldn't have been two days before that psycho and his tin cans showed up." the gunslinger added bitterly, referring to Revis. Bits and pieces of the fight flashed before his eyes, how easily he'd been tossed aside like a rag doll...

... and how easily Shadow had come and saved the day.

He couldn't help but feel pathetic. Like a worthless pawn just being dragged along for the ride. This wasn't even his fight, as far as he was concerned.

His eyes fell upon the staff that Shadow held within his grasp, a frown playing on his lips. If Dolentrean could have just cut the bastard down maybe Doc would have been able to summon enough speed to grab the damned thing. Then this whole blasted ordeal would be over.

"Seems like she's tough enough to rough it on her own. She'll catch up eventually, I reckon." he brought himself back to focus, tearing his eyes away from the staff and glancing upwards at Dolentrean whilst taking another drag from his smoke.

[Renn]

Renn shifted awkwardly. She was new to Dreamer’s Haven and still felt a little weird talking to the other Dreamers. Or rather, she was nervous at times. She didn’t know many of the members that well, but she found them to be good friends. They were people, with wants and desires. They all had a reason for going after the Box of Key. All had a reason for being here, but why was she here? She could have stayed behind and watched them but she didn't. She was here and that was that.

There she went again. Over-thinking things. It was one of her bad habits she had. People told her that all the time. Some even told her she needed to act more than think things through. This didn't make exact sense to her. Then again...many things didn't make sense to her.

Biting her lower lip, Renn was hesitate to ask about anything. She glanced around at everyone, noticing their injuries. Some where worse then others and Renn had been lucky that she hadn't been there for the battle fought. This made her feel extremely guilty. She didn’t have any injuries yet. This frighten her a little. She didn’t like to fight nor people fighting each other. She looked at Shadow, Doletrean, and Doc. With them talking, she wasn’t sure where to come in and ask her question. She took a piece of her hair and began twiddling it. Renn had recently cut her waist length hair and found it easier to handle, though she still had some of her blonde highlights left in her black hair. Still it was a little past her shoulders so it didn’t bother her like she thought it would. Her mind began to wonder, waiting for discussion to end.

Hearing the name of Paladin Girl, Renn’s focus switched back to the conversation. She hadn’t known PG for long but she worried for her safety. She just had to ask.

“So, what is exactly are we going to do from here. I haven’t been here as long as you guys have but I don’t plan to back out or anything. I just want to know what I can do to help.” Renn was the youngest of them all and sometimes she couldn’t keep up with what was going on, but there had to be a reason she was there with the other Dreamers. There had to be and even if it took time to find it, she would.

[Shadow]

His eyes ventured to Doc, looking at him without emotion as the gunslinger offered his gun to him. Before he could say anything, Dolentrean said what he wanted to say, but then got another threat thrown at his head. He expected this, and could still feel fear, wonder and hate towards him. It's not like he expected anything else, he fought them and betrayed them. People don't like to be betrayed, no matter who's inside of you. Slowly he shook his head. "Cutting me with your fancy sword would not help either. In the minimum of a second i'd vanish to the nothingness, Netherod's spirit will abruptly return to his body, and he'll only find the Orb faster. Netherod has gotten more powerful then ever, feeding on my energy by tiny bits so I never noticed, hiding away in my head." he said disgusted, looking away, a strand of black hair falling in front of his eye. He had always known things, seen connections, seen the nature of mankind and how to deal with them mentally, and physically. But he never knew about someone invading his head for decades, feeding on his energy, feeding on his information. It was disgusting, and also amazing to how powerful Netherod had gotten. It was unbelievable someone wanted even more power by getting the Orb. He turned his attention to the Dreamers again.

"All I can do is keep Netherod inside for now, and that's costing me most of my strenght, even with the Staff. You could probably kill me right now, I am at your mercy." he simply said, looking at Doc and Dolentrean, his face not revealing any emotions again. It was true that he was weak, although he knew they had to get to the box before Netherod's outer shell did, and that they need the Staff's powers to get there quickly.

“So, what is exactly are we going to do from here. I haven’t been here as long as you guys have but I don’t plan to back out or anything. I just want to know what I can do to help.” spoke a soft voice from Renn, and Shadow vaguely smiled for the first time since a long time. A typical dreamer, hoping, and fighting to help others. Then he thought of something. "Paladin Girl isn't here? If I figure out correctly..." he said, pasing about, thinking deeply to the nature of who she was, and what her motives could be. "...she will most likely go out on her own to find the Orb, as it was the only connection you guys had to me, knowing i'd be looking for the last item as well. That means she's in danger. If she opens that box by chance..." he said, thinking about a worst case scenario.

He hoped not. Not her.

[Zyta]

“So all in all, it’s just another ‘save the world’ cliché.”

Zyta was reclined back in his seat with his back to the far wall. His head was bowed over, touching his chin to his chest; his eyes were close and his breathing was such that with a passing glance it would look like the demigod was asleep. The only measure to be seen that he was awake was that his right foot was tapping, lightly, against the table’s leg, yet hard enough to send vibrations down the length of the table. With a lazy yawn, Zyta stretched and stood up, then pushed his chair back under the table. Zyta then walked across the room, ignoring those still around the table as he went to the door. His hand fell upon the doorknob, but it didn’t turn.

The demigod wore only his clothing, a red made from fine cloth, black pants. Other than his clothing his trademark bracers on both arms and legs, Zyta shown no appearance of just getting back to Dreamer’s Haven; his weapons were discarded upon entering Dreamer’s Haven hours previously in his quarters. The connection between himself and his naginata was nagging on the back of his mind like a parasitic worm. Zyta spoke to everyone that was in the room with his head still facing the door, “There’s much I’d like to talk about: Of the Seven Gods leaving, and of their return; how Shadow sounds incredibly gay walking around constantly with a guy on his body, or in or whatever, it’s sounds gay; of this stupid Pandora’s Box, and the Soul Orb thing; how gross it is for some supposed-to-be-dead-guy is walking around without a soul, commanded by said soul living around Shadow; but, I only want to say one thing: Just let the bastard, Nethrod, out of that armor and I can track the soul to where it returns to the body. That way we’ll know where the general area of the Box is, I just need a forewarning to prepare. Unless, that is, if you guys still want to run around in the dark with you heads chopped off like chickens; Nethrod will get to that Box and that Soul Orb thing before us if we don’t act soon. Or worst comes to worst, Paladin might get herself killed by the Box, or by Nethrod while we wait.

“Now I’m off to the Arena to get some training done. My body feels sluggish ever since I got out of that prison.” With that last parting note, Zyta thrust open the door, walked through, and then closed it as he passed through. It closed with a soft click.

Dreamer’s Haven never slept, even now as dark was rising and blotting out the sky across the horizon with jets of red and orange streaming across the last pieces of day shops lingered open as workers’ shifts changed and a new bustling crowd walked through the street malls. Zyta walked alone, his figure was cloaked from head to toe as a prevention from someone trying to stop their Administrator and to complain about their days to him. With his eyes downcast he failed to notice the magically lit street lamps turn on one after another with a striking glow of many colors and how the street lamps emitted a strange, yet powerfully welcome feeling, like the warmth of home. Of endless dreams being realized. All around Zyta, weaving between the conversations of patrons of Dreamer’s Haven was a melody played by piano projected throughout the area by invisible speakers hidden cleverly into the landscape or into the face of buildings.

OOC: I was going to write more, but a sudden headache makes that impossible.