Open Battle; vs Shenorai Eterna

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By now, Shenorai's body had caught her breath, though the pain of her wounds lingered. Seeing how Julius did not move after her remark, the possessed bounty hunter pushed herself forward towards her opponent. The translucent wings folded against her back, as though the spirit instinctively folded her own wings in hopes of making this charge faster.

She witnessed the flames that burst around Julius' sword. His voice was inviting, considering he wanted her to continue the battle, yet there was something strange about the invitation. In any case, the distance between herself and Julius was quickly decreasing. Shenorai's heart pounded with anxious adrenaline.

As she closed in on her opponent, Shen's arms crossed in front of her. Once he was in range, her arms unfolded and the glowing swords gave a low swipe at Julius' stomach. With the skill of her opponent, she knew that the strike would not be true, but she attacked anyway.
 
Shenorai's swords seemed like a giant scissor threatening to split Julius in halves. Julius brought his sword from below and used his blade like thin shield, placing it where Shenorai's blades joined together to slash him fiercely. Unbelievably, Julius blocked two blades with one move, but the amount of force that Shenorai used created enough momentum to push him back against the altar. He was struggling to keep his balance while he sensed that he was now fighting against two different minds that joined as one to strike him down.

His the metal plates under his feet caused sparks to appear under them due to the friction between the metal and the floor. Julius' facial expression showed how surprised he was, though a faint involuntary smiled escaped him. His eyes were fixed on Shenorai's eyes, like a raging storm of two indomitable iron wills clashing against each other inside their minds.

Julius knew that he needed to push her back to scape this seemingly death trap so, by using his left hand and placing him on the altar behind him, he pushed himself forward using enough momentum to scape from Shenorai's trap.

He was breathing heavily, starting at her and enjoying this battle to its fullest. His breath could be heard echoing through the air as he swung his blade from left to right as a sign trying to show Shenorai that this was not the end of this battle.

"You....are no longer human are you? What manner of sorcery is this?"
 
Shenorai turned to Julius, wiping the sweat from her brow and panting. She could feel fatigue begin to catch up with the body, but Leondra did not want to stop just yet. Her muscles ached and her breath was heavy, yet she did not want to yield.

"Sorcery? Nonsense. Paranormal is the correct term," she replied, Leondra's voice still flowing through. "Shenorai is still human, I promise you that. Although, I admit that I thought the same thing when I was allowed into her twelve years ago."

Twelve years...Shenorai was eight at that time. Leondra remembers it with more clarity than Shen did. Who would have thought that a ritual dance and incantation done by a child would result in a mere ghost to be so close to the living?

Leondra, the host noted mentally, don't forget, we have Julius here.
"Right right..."

Shen's gaze fell upon Julius once again. She flipped her hair out of her face and bent her knees a little. Her swords were clutched tight as one hand was held in front of her and the other held behind her. The front sword was held a little awkwardly, as though she was prepared to slash upwards with both swords once he came close enough.

"But let's continue, shall we?"
 
Julius wiped some of the sweat on his forehead and grinned, he was breathing heavily and exhaustion was starting to affect him. He knew however, though Shenorai would never try to kill him, a fatal mistake would lead him to his death.

His eyes were slightly opened, he was fighting against his own human heart which was the only thing that suppressed his abilities. The wet, soaked by his own sweat, hair fell over his forehead and covered partially the left side of his face, though Julius used his left hand to flip his hair away from his face.

"You, Leondra....who are you?"

Julius didn't knew what was happening, though his body was physically alright his heart was starting to ache, as if he could sense as dark being approaching. Strange though, this dark entity was familiar, perhaps too familiar for it had a soul similar to his own. Someway and somehow it seemed that part of his twin brother's spirit escaped from his prison and found his way to the cathedral.

Suddenly, a dark blade burst out from Julius shoulder and he was left motionless. Behind Julius, a thick mist began to gather and a metal hand materialized holding the handle of the sword that was piercing Julius.

Julius, not being able to move, turned to see the face of his adversary and recognized him. It was him, his twin brother, his nemesis, or at least, a mere fraction of him. Though Julius would easily dispatch a mere copy of his brother, he was tired due to his recent battle with Shenorai which left him vulnerable.

The knight laughed and then pulled out his sword out of Julius right shoulder. He then grabbed Julius body and tossed him away sending it towards the altar behind him. Now the only ones standing there were Shenorai and her new opponent. With a metallic and grave voice, the man spoke as he slowly walked towards Shenorai.

~+~Now as Phantom Lucius~+~

"Ahh... I see you had the honor of meeting my brother. I am Lucius. Too bad he is no longer capable of greeting me, it is a pity. Now let us end this fight for good, be careful for I am less merciful than Julius, and I will not hesitate if I see the opportunity to end your life with my blade. Also tell that ghost that she mustn't worry, I have two first class tickets straight to the next life; one is for you Shenorai and the other is for someone who should be there already, right Leondra?"

The man proceeded to remove his helm and toss it to the left. His resemblance with Julius was astonishing, though his eyes were evil, one red one pearled black and his hair was white and long, tied which fell over his back. His armor was black, a breastplate covered his torso and several steel plates covered his body, and the remaining areas left uncovered were protected by a thick black chain mail he wore underneath his armor. His cape was long and red, covering the upper part of his shoulders and attached to his shoulder pads by a shield shaped emblem and chains.

"Now you will face me....how ironic that you will face two different men with the same appearance with completely opposite hearts. My brother is weak, and he keeps thinking about that fool of a girl, Dareysha. He is such an idiot, falling in love. Though I must admit, this whole illusion about love made me the man I am now. I sworn once that I would never fall in love again, I would never allow myself to commit such an horrible mistake. Though I accept, your beauty is amazing. It is a pity, I would have become a better man if I met you instead of her, she created the monster I am now."

The man closed his eyes, raised his left hand holding a black rose and soon he dropped it, while slowly opening his eyes smiling gently. For Lucius, this was just another one if his possible massacres to fill the everlasting emptiness deep within his heart. His face seemed emotionless and cold as the fiercest of winters.

"Now I'll show you...Love is for fools. Witness the true power of hatred and rage, one created by love itself. This is the true path we were meant to follow. Humanity is doomed as long as they believe in those detestable things such as love. I will release humanity from the chains that bind them. Love?! LOVE IS FOR FOOLS!!!"

Lucius closed his fists tightly as the dark aura emanating from his body began to intensify. His hatred was once again triggered by the memories of his tragic past.
 
"Julius!"

It seemed that both the voices of Shenorai and Leondra cried out for their friend, entwined together in their shared feeling of panic and fear for his life. As he was thrown aside, her stance relaxed to come to Julius' aid. However, she was forced away from him as she tried to keep her distance from this monstrosity of a twin.

If looks could kill, Lucius would have burst into flame and melted between the floorboards of the cathedral. Shenorai's body ached with fatigue and she could feel her wounds just starting to become tacky. Leondra knew that she could not keep up this possession for too much longer if Shen's body became too weary. How would she be able to keep up a decent fight? She took his monologue as an opportunity for a few moments of rest.

"Love is for fools, you say?" repeated Leondra. "Shen is likely to agree with you until she learns to open up to others. However, it seems that you know nothing of real love, you detestable creature. At this point, I doubt you'll ever receive any." The spirit just left it at that, for her own love story was only to be shared between herself and Shenorai.

Shen's grip on the short sword pair remained strong. It seemed that Lucius was gathering energy for an attack. Leondra figured that she should strike now before his spell of sorts reaches its full power. She charged with whatever speed the body could give and brought both of her swords together, clasping her hands around the handles. Once she was close enough, she leaped at him with her swords over her head. With as much strength as she could muster, Shen brought down her swords upon what seemed like the only unprotected area of Lucius' body: his head.
 
OOC: You'll really hate Lucius after this. His confidence can be quite annoying and sure someone needs to shut him up XD. He is not that bad...just a little "misguided" and never had the chance for someone to teach him that he was wrong. He was possessed by a dark entity at the tender age of 14, soon after he suffered of a broken heart. Lucius in fact saved Julius from this terrible fate, and ended up becoming the tyrannous Dark King of Castle Destruction.

IOC:

Lucius was really annoyed and felt an overwhelming disgust towards Leondra's comments. Sure, he already knew that he was a monster, but it has been a long time since anyone, besides Julius, had the courage to call him a detestable creature, in other words, a monster. Lucius' fake gentle expression suddenly changed as he raised his sword and placed it before himself, blocking Shenorai's attack. The impact forced him to bent his knees but he was strong enough to avoid getting pushed backwards and smashed against the floor.

With his eyes closed, he raised his face to look directly to Shenorai's eyes. Soon he opened his eyes slowly while smiling, a smile that nearly reached his ears and tried to show a fake "angelical" attitude.

"Monster? A monster you say? I know love far too well and that's why I am the one who hates it the most. Love is an abomination created for fools and dreamers like my foolish brother."

Lucius then bent his knees even more and used his legs to push Shenorai's swords away. While being released from this death trap, Lucius jumped backwards and landed near the stone altar. From afar we could see how Lucius began to enjoy his new entertainment for humans were just that for him, "pawns" for him to manipulate as their "Dark King"

He then began to speak quite confidently, for he knew that Leondra's presence would weaken Shenorai if she were to possess her again, so tried to mock her.

"An old ghost and a foolish girl telling me that they know love better than I do? Preposterous!! Well I can't blame you though, you must be tired after fighting my less important brother. I shall go easy on you..."

His maniacal laughter filled the hall as he raised his sword and brought it down fiercely striking the altar and piercing the stone monument. He then released the grip of the handle, and left his sword there. Soon after that, Lucius turned around to face Shenorai, closing his fists covered with hard dragon scales tightly.

He then raised his hands as if he were stretching his bones, readying for a warm up. Lucius then lowered his arms and sighed, he was just doing this only to provoke Shenorai. As soon as he finished with his little game, he bowed and challenged Shenorai once again.

"Awww the little warrior feels sad because poor Julius is hurt. Such a pity, I aimed to pierce his heart and ended up striking his shoulder. Dear Shenorai, I see that you are not in your best condition to fight and it's not my intention to kill you so soon. Look..."

Lucius showed Shenorai that his hands were empty, his sword was standing still behind him, piercing the stone altar. He then proceeded to continue with his little speech: "If you prefer I'll use my bare hands...."
 
Though relieved to hear that his heart was not touched, Julius is likely to have an artery sliced from that attack. If that was the case, Shenorai needed to wrap this up quick and get him to the clinic. Her friend was not meant to die today. As long as Shen had the strength to stand and support Julius, she would see that he lived.

"Haven't you wasted your breath long enough?" Leondra taunted, though annoyance seeped into her voice. "Seems to me that you have no friends to care for. Or even to be cared by, for that matter. No wonder you're so heartless."

Her eyes were blazing in determination to bring Lucius to his knees, yet her body was beginning to slow from weariness. If Leondra was to stop using Shenorai's body and leave now, it would lock up in muscle cramps.

Nonetheless, Shenorai rushed forth towards the unarmed twin, a glowing sword in each hand. Once she was in range, her left hand pulled her sword in a high arc, aiming towards his head. This was more of a showy distraction than an actual attack. As for the real attack, Shen's right hand swung from below, driving her blade in a stabbing motion up towards the knight's chest.
 
Lucius turned his face down and stared to the ground for a few moments remaining silent. He knew that this was his destiny and that he had no other choice. He knew that as the essence of darkness, he had to be pure evil that there couldn't be an ultimate light without an ultimate darkness. It was an irony of life that his name meant "light" when he was the embodiment of destruction and ruin, for Lucius death was a game he enjoyed playing.

Though Lucius felt strange, it seems that Shenorai's words were having some effect on him, after all, no matter how hard the rock might be, water will always find a way to break it drop by drop. Phantom Lucius was distracted, and it seemed that this was Shenorai's opportunity. Deep inside his consciousness, he could remember the last words left to him by his ex-fiancée.

~I am sorry Lucius...but I can't be with someone who is afraid of enjoying life to its fullest. You are too cold and heartless that I doubt you could ever love someone....farewell...~

Lucius seemed to have forgotten about Shenorai, but it was evident that she was getting too close. Losing his desire to keep this game further on, Lucius extended his right arm to parry one of Shenorai's blades with his arm guard. Though his move was successful, Lucius' mind was too troubled by his memories that he didn't noticed the other sword coming straightly to his chest.

The sword pierced his armor and the tip of the blade came out from his back. Though he expressed neither pain nor emotion, he only turned his face to look upon the sword that was piercing his chest, actually he didn't care for this was only a phantom of himself. Though something was different, part of Lucius mind was here with Shenorai, and her words started to affect him. Suddenly the memories of her fiancée flashed through his mind and, as if he were reviving those moments, he went forward pushing himself against the blade even more and hugged Shenorai.

Slowly disappearing like the mist when it's pierced by sunlight, a single tear fell from Lucius' left eye.

"If I am a heartless fiend then explain this to me; why am I able to shed tears of sorrow and regret? Rose I beg your pardon, but this was the destiny I chose for myself. I hope you can find in your heart the necessary strength to forgive my sin...farewell my dear Rose..."

Lucius memories confused him, it seemed that he was talking to someone; but who? Who was this Rose? After a few moments, Lucius released Shenorai disappearing like a ghost. Julius, on the other hand, was lying unconscious next to the wall he crashed against a few moments ago.
 
The sword within this phantom clattered onto the ground as he disappeared. Shenorai was wide-eyed and panting. Her face felt warm and her hands hung loosely at her sides, dropping the second sword. What just happened here? One minute she was fighting, then suddenly an embrace...Shen hadn't had anyone (living) hug her at all since she was a little girl. But still...who was this Rose?

Shen shook her head, trying to shake herself out of her daze. She just realized that her swords were slowly disappearing like ash blown about in the wind. Not that she needed them, of course. Leondra had given control of the body back to Shenorai, since the battle was over. Her muscles ached and she just wanted to lie down. However, there was still Julius to attend to.

Shenorai walked over to Julius and crouched down beside him. How could someone like him bear such a brother? Not his fault, though, so she couldn't blame him. Shen pulled Julius to his back and glanced over his wounds. She wouldn't be able to treat him now, but she could stop the blood flow. Everything else would be taken care of once she takes him to the clinic. Pulling off her pack and taking out a roll of gauze, Shen began to tend to her wounds.
 
Julius suddenly recovered consciousness and found himself lying on the ground with Shenorai by his side. He tried to stand up but the wound on his right shoulder was deep and he had lost a considerable amount of blood. Julius sighed and moved sitting on the ground with his back resting on the wall.

"Shenorai, I guess it's all over..tell me...where is he? I can't sense his presence anymore...what happened?"

Julius' body ached as he tried to cover his wound with his left hand. He then closed his eyes and smiled, it seemed that he was happy to now that this battle was finally over.

"Shenorai, next time we fight...if I ever mention this cathedral again...do me a favor and slap me....hahahaha...ouch..."
 
As he arrived to where the battle was, Arthvader went to check up on the two warriors.

Arthvader "Hey there everyone, what's going on? I've heard that you were hosting a open challenge, Shen. I was wondering if we could have a match sometime? For now, you and Julius should rest after that amazing battle you two have."

After asking Shen for a match, Arthvader calls out his phoenix, using it's healing powers to restore the health of both Julius and Shen.
 
((Unless Lucius' aim was THAT horrible, your heart is on your left side ;)))

"I took care of him," Shenorai replied, answering his first question. She just left it at that since it would be awkward telling him what happened during that last blow. As she thought about it, Shen felt her face warm up again as a faint tint of red flushed over her pale face.

Hearing her name again interrupted her thoughts and brought her back to earth. The blush faded a little and was replaced by a smirk as Julius asked his favor. She cringed a little watching him wince during his laugh, though.

"I'll hold you to that, then," she smirked. Shen pulled one of his arms over her shoulder and helped him to his feet. "So what should we call this one? A draw?"


Suddenly, Arthvader barged in with his own request to duel her. What was with all these people wanting to fight her all of a sudden? Can't a bounty hunter get some rest? Phoenix or not, Shenorai shook her head.

"I can't fully recover by magic or medicine, Arth," she said. "I need some rest. Perhaps next time, though."

As for Leondra, the shadow of her in her reflections was fainter than earlier. Perhaps allowing the ghost to possess her exhausted the spirit as well? That's what it seemed like. Shen wanted to give her closest companion time to recover her strength as well.
 
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((I know Shen....but Lucius accuracy as a Phantom is...well....also Julius moved...)

"Call it a draw Shen.... let's get the hell out of here..."


Julius stood on his two feet and began to walk slowly towards the exit while placing his left hand on his wounded right shoulder. He sighed while walking, and suddenly stopped turning only his head and, by looking over his right shoulder, he stared to Arthvader with his eyes slightly opened.

"Thank you Arthvader...come on guys let's go back to the town. The other hunters must be worried about us...and I would kill for some food...and a bed...hahahaha....ouch..."

Julius was quite serious and was relieved to know that everything was over. His right shoulder hurt and he was really exhausted because of his battle against Shenorai. He walked towards the door and turned the right door knob, opening it wide. The rays of the morning sun came through the door and illuminated part of the cathedral. Julius covered his eyes with his right hand and smiled while he turned around to face both Shenorai and Arthvader.

"I can't believe that much time has passed...such a beautiful morning, isn't it?"
 
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