Misery

[Silence Sei]

The stench of rotten eggs was absolutely everywhere. Throughout the entire swamp land, the foul smell of the marsh warded off any would-be intruders. Yet, those who bare the nefarious odor would be rewarded with the prospect of a horde of treasure. At least, that was what the legends about the Haide Swamp were about.

It wasn't the treasure or the putrid gas that brought Sei and his 'hand picked team' here today. It actually revolved more around the creature said to guard the treasure. Normally, treasure hunting was not something that was in the Ixian Knights' neck of the woods. Yet, once the rumors of the 'disappearing monster' and the body count that was quickly rising in the demon country arrived at his doorstep, Sei could turn a blind eye no longer.

He looked back while wading through the shin deep waters. Behind him was his niece, Kyla Orlouge. The mute Mystic had decided to ask the girl to accompany him here, without Anita no less, in order to improve her investigation skills. The telepath was hoping the Daughter of the Dragon would be the first to find clues, bodies, and possibly the monster that frightened demons themselves.

Sei's second pick was William Arcus. Though the whole team of monster hunters that William lead would have been preferable, Sei knew of the collateral damage the group typically caused. They were effective, but they typically left the surrounding area worse for wear. Sei did not want such a unique ecosystem destroyed just because his soldiers had been careless in preserving it. No, William combined with Sei and Kyla's skills would be more than enough to eliminate the beast should diplomacy turn sour.

Sei shifted his eyes back to the front, freezing in his tracks almost immediately as he did so. Kyla ran into the back of her father, and William into her. Yet Sei did not budge. The Mystic took a heavy group as William ducked his head out from behind the newly formed single-file line. "What's the hold up?" the Revenant scowled.

Kyla followed William's curious instincts and then sighed. Taking a step from behind her father, the girl conjured up a shadow sword with her hand and took town the large spider web in front of Sei's face.

"Sei is afraid of spider webs," the girl explained, a slight grin forming on her face...

[Revenant]

“Spider webs, stairs, and, if Jensen’s stories are true which they’re likely not, spit,” William grunted, slogging forward through the shin deep swamp muck past Kyla and Sei. “I’m beginning to think that Sei Orlouge, unflappable Hero of Radasanth, is afraid of the letter ‘S’.” William chuckled quietly, always pleased to make it known to Sei that not everyone in his organization worshipped him.

Moving up, William examined the thick draping of webs that filled the area in front of them. It was truly an impressive sight, he had to admit, a series of webs so thick and complex that it was months in the making or had been woven by a veritable flood of spiders. Still, all it took was a momentary glance from William’s Thayne blessed eyes to see how the incredibly complex and beautiful mass of webs would rot, fade, and burn away to nothingness with only the slightest touch.

A snarling smile curled William’s lips as a plan formed in his mind. As beautiful as the curtain of webs were, they were in the way and thus they had to go. Sei had insisted that William leave his team behind because they caused too much collateral damage, but what the Mystic failed to realize was that it was often Jerrick and his crew who kept William in check. Loudmouth idiots like Andrew Octane might spout their mouths off thinking that William was bothered by the mistake that he had made in killing the Buffalax but the truth was that William was pleased to have slaughtered the innocent creature right in front of the villagers who needed it for protection. He was, after all, a living weapon and he had killed what he had been told to kill. Sei might think that he had a leash on the demonic warrior, but he was sorely mistaken if he thought he could rein William in like a docile hound.

Faster than Sei or Kyla could react, William tore his iron hunting knife from its sheath and down the length of his forearm, drawing a line of molten blood out from under his skin. All it took was a single flick of the wrist to send William’s burning blood hurtling through the air and into the delicate menagerie ahead of him. A wall of flame instantly roared to life in the heart of the swamp, the spider’s beautiful conglomeration of webs going up like kindling tossed on an inferno. The sudden cacophony that erupted around the three Ixian Knights was as if the swamp itself had come to life. A multitude of snakes, spiders, and other unsavory creatures poured from the surrounding vegetation until the water thrashed and churned.

Mission accomplished, William stood completely still while the flames of his creation swirled around him, silhouetting the Revenant against the destructive conflagration which spread throughout the Haide Swamp, consuming everything it touched.

“There you go Sei, nothing left to fear,” William muttered into the raging firestorm, savage pleasure evident in his voice. “Plus the path’s clear.”

[Amber Eyes]

"Overdoing it a bit there huh Mr. Arcus? I think you could have cleared it without the temper tantrum." Kyla raised her eyebrows at the man she secretly adored in a childish way. William had been the first of the other Generals to give the girl a bit of credit and while Kyla outwardly smarted off to the man, deep within she felt a bond of friendship she felt with very few outside of her family.

"Well, at least the webs are gone." At this a smile grew on her face before she quickly lowered her gaze from his. "This way, right Sei?" Kyla took the lead, eager to get rid of some of her excess energy. She was beginning to miss training with the soldiers each day, and walking through swamps was, well boring. The smell was horrible and while her stomach was settled at this point there had been a couple times Sei and William had been forced to wait while she emptied her stomach contents.

Now the mystic simply wanted to find this creature, let William have his fun and get the heck out of this horrible place. Everywhere the girl looked water stood to about her ankles with stench filled fog drifting inches above it. The entire sky seemed gray as though the Gods themselves were bored with this journey and had no interest in decorating the skys for the occasion.

Something shiney caught her eye, a tiny bit of brightness in the otherwise dim surroundings. Kyla stopped abruptly and this time the two men bumped into her. "Another spider web?" Kyla heard the revnant's irritation as she lost her balance and fell into the putrid water.

[Silence Sei]

William's methods were a bit overboard for Sei's taste. Regardless, the Revenant had removed the spider web from the Mystic's path. Sei glared at his general for a moment as Kyla took the lead. Recently, William had been becoming more and more volatile in his endeavors through Ixian Castle. Sei would have to have a talk with him, one that would probably involve multiple Mystic Protections and subduing of William's more demonic nature. He did not look forward to that conversation.

In his thoughts, the mute had bumped into the demonic man, his burning skin causing the mute to jump back, as if he had just touched a fire on accident. By bumping into the flame entity, Sei had inadvertently knocked Kyla into the water that made her so sick. William let out a small chuckle as the telepath stepped in front of him, reaching down and pulling his daughter out from the foul smelling water below.

drizzles of brown liquid dribbled down Kyla's chin. It had seemed that the girl had accidentally swallowed some of the swamp water. Yet, despite the wet, mossy hair now sticking to her neck, and the odor that would take days to shower out, she was grinning. Sei lifted an eyebrow at the girl, who responded by lifting her hand up. In her quick journey under the sea, Kyla had retrieved what appeared to be a single gold coin. One side pictured the head of the bull Thayne, Hromagh, in his bestial form, and the other side depicted what appeared to be an ancient drawing of Salvar.

"That must be part of the treasure that's rumored to be guarded," Sei thought aloud. He looked up towards William. "We're on the right track."

"Why? What is that?" William asked, only to find his reply in the wide eyes of Sei. Kyla shifted around to show her friend, but her look soon matched that of her relatives. The girl could only point behind William, to the figure that now easily overshadowed him.

The thing was eight feet tall, at least, with moss covering its entire frame. Two blue beads for eyes poked out through a plethora of what appeared to be cactus needles. The 'hair', if one could call it that, for the creature was made up of nothing more than pine needles. Traces of a trees bark slipped out through the moss around its torso area. One of the strangest things about this creature was its mouth; a horizontal, seemingly sewn up venus fly trap. The thing reached out towards William, its hands and arms seemingly composed of nothing more than seaweed. As it did so, Sei noticed that it was not combusting into flames due to William Arcus's naturally heated aura.

If this thing, whatever it was, had a protection from the Revenant's fire, then this trio was going to be in for quite the fight...

[Revenant]

Damn! The panic on Sei and Kyla's faces whipped William around in the thigh high muck, claws open and at the ready. The demonic warrior had faced many monstrous foes in his time as Captain of the Ixian Knights' monster hunters, but none of them had managed to get within a city block of him unseen, let alone a few feet. Molten power surged through William's veins, pushing the Revenant's demonic abilities to the limit as it readied him for instant battle. Whatever this creature was, it wouldn't find William Arcus to be easy prey.

Unless, of course, the two Mystics were playing a practical joke on William. Then he just might have to kill them.

The inhuman speed with which William moved actually caused the swamp water around him to part for a split second before rushing back in to form a slight whirlpool around the burning Captian. It would have been an impressive act if anyone had actually caught sight of it, but alas William's new found parlor trick was doomed to obscurity before it ever saw the light of day. While William was somewhat taken aback by the sight of the vegetative abomination, fighting was his specialty and, unlike his Mystic companions, no freak show reject was going to stop him in his tracks.

A firm believe in the mantra that the best defense was a good offense, William's razor-sharp claws darted forward to meet the swamp creature's seaweed-like appendage. William's bony carapace was as hard as steel and, driven by the Revenant's enhanced strength, had proven to be more than a match for even the toughest of hides on the creatures that he had slain. William moved forward as he lashed out, seeing no reason why this creature's seaweed should be any different. He would sever the plant beast's appendage first, and then he would dig his hands into the pine needle flesh and rend it asunder.

His plan simple enough, but it didn't take into account the fact that the appendage which appeared to be seaweed wasn't exactly that.

Sure enough, William's claws dug deeply into the creature's appendage, bringing a rush of syrupy green ichor oozing to the surface, but instead of parting through the seaweed, William's hand instead became entangled as the rest of the appendage wrapped around his forearm.

Already ahead of his own attack, William's momentum was violently jerked to a halt, and a loud cracking pop burst from where his own force tore his shoulder joint apart. William didn't even have time to scream, however, before the creature flicked its appendage forward, uprooting William and hurling him twenty yards back into the unburned vegetation behind the Ixian trio.

[Amber Eyes]

Shock. Kyla's eyes widened as she saw the large plantlike creature above the Revenant's head. Its features were something from a horror story and one look at Sei told her he had not seen this coming either.

Fear. When William turned Kyla's heart began to pound, all that stood between her and this creature was her uncle and William Arcus.

Confusion. The moment William made his attack the monster seemed to adapt and overpower the demon. His long apendages began to ooze what Kyla could only assume was his blood before he grabbed the Revenant and threw him a good sixty feet.

Pity. When Kyla looked back to the creature she saw the brown water dripping from its eyes as it stared down at the would William had created.

The young girl swallowed hard and took a step towards the creature. Its eyes met hers and her heart raced. "I'm not going to hurt you." Kyla whispered as she took another step. Please feel the same way. Her mind screamed as she took a third. When she was within distance to touch the creature she stopped and stared into its eyes for a moment. It raised what she thought were its eyebrows and tilted its head to the side as though trying to understand her.

"Kyla." Sei's voice distracted the girl for a moment and as she turned to see him she slipped and nearly again fell into the water. A bed of seaweed caught her and quickly wrapped around her and pulled her close. The creature smelled much better than the bog itself so the mystic breathed deeply for the first time in hours as she called out to William. "I think you hurt it you jerk!"

[Silence Sei]

William was thrown.

Kyla was caught.

The Swamp Creature was crying.

And Sei was very, very confused.

The Mystic looked at the apparently wounded monster, which had just rescued his daughter from another dip in the rank waters below. He hadn't noticed it at first, but this odd looking thing had with it the smell of fresh sunflowers, fresh cut roses, and other pleasant smelling botany. Sei blinked for a moment, standing from his previously squatted position, slowly reaching out to the beast.

The thing took a step back at first, taking Kyla with it. The girl seemed shocked from the look in her eyes, but made no indication of it with any other part of her body. Sei paused, allowing the thing to regain its bearings. Once it realized that the mute currently meant it no harm, Sei touched what he could only assume was the shoulder of the thing.

When they touched, many images flashed before the telepath’s mind. The village demons of Haide hunting for this thing with torches ablaze, the weapons of fallen warriors the thing had collected en masse deep within the bog, and the bodies of the people that had gone missing in recent weeks. He had also seen that this thing, this alleged guardian of treasure, had not made corpses out of the would be treasure hunters. It was something else entirely, something with a true blood lust.

"Misery.... that's what you want to be called... because it's all you've ever known..." Sei's thoughts wandered into that of his companions. The beast was so similar to that of William Arcus, a monster on the outside, but all too human on the end. Was that why this thing did not truly attack the Ixian General? Did it sense a kinship with the Revenant?

Suddenly, the creature, turned its head, its eyes darting across the water as ripples began to rush past the Mystics and their new companion. The true killers were now here, and, sensing that William Arcus was now separated from the protector of their would-be meals, they were now out in full force, heading towards the demon....

[Revenant]

A geyser of water erupted from the spot where William had landed, and trailing it came the Revenant himself, looking like nothing less that wrath personified. Rage burned so brightly within the demonic warrior that the orange glow emanating from the rent cracks in his charred flesh actually blazed bright enough to light the area around him. The murky swamp water which didn't pout off of him was quickly burned away by the roaring furnace that William had become, filling the air around him with a hazy, humid mist. Loosing a howl that couldn't even remotely be construed as human, William wrenched his mangled shoulder back into place and whirled to face the plant beast once again.

While William's eyes normally burned like smoldering charcoal, the sight of Kyla being swallowed up by the creature's bulk had them raging like a wildfire. She had screamed something at him at she disappeared from sight, but William found that he was too far away to make the words out. William held no particular fondness for any of the Ixian Captains, yet of all his peers Kyla was the one that he wanted to kill the least. Others might find that notion to be somewhat meaningless, but to William Arcus it meant a lot.

Seeing that Sei was doing nothing to save his niece, William focused all of his rage into his hands, channeling the energy as he had been taught. William had unsurprisingly come through the Test of the Four Elements as the volcano, the spirit of fire, and that result was never more apparent than when the liquid fire began to form into concentrated balls of energy which filled the Revenant's clawed hands. The creature might have been resistant to the aura of heat that William's molten core exuded, and it may have possessed a deceptively tough hide, but William knew that the blast and the force generated by his magma shot would be more than enough to rend the plant monster asunder.

Besides, Sei wasn't doing anything to save Kyla so the responsibility expectantly fell on William's shoulders.

Before William could finish charging his explosive attack, however, Sei stepped up to the creature and placed his hands peacefully upon the area where its shoulder would be. Trust Sei to try to talk down a beast that has killed his kin, the words snarled derisively through William's mind. Not hesitating for a moment, despite Sei's proximity to the creature, William brought his hands together and combined the energies of the liquid fire in his hands. There was a spark of recognition in the plant beast's eyes as it caught sight of William's preparations and then it, and the two Mystics, were very suddenly not there.

"What the ...?" William spat, his eyes scanning the surrounding mire for any sign of the creature and his companions. It was then that William saw the approaching ripples and the danger they foretold, something much closer and more imminent that the disappearing plant freak. "Damn," he muttered, shifting his target so that the glowing orb of his magma shot pointed at the swiftly approaching ripples, and then released it.

William's magma shot was a physical manifestation of his immense rage, and the release of the demonic energy into the swamp was nothing short of explosive. A thunderous blast and a wave of pressure burst from the contact point, tearing apart what little foliage remained and sending a wall of water running out in all directions.

Everything became clear to William in the instant before the wall of water crashed back in and re-flooded the impact site. He saw firsthand the twisted, demonic serpent-like creatures that had been the cause of the ominous rippling motions in the water, something of a cross between a crocodile and a centipede, and the tattered debris that clung to them. It was obvious that these were the creatures that were the true reasons behind the rash of disappearances which had lured the Ixian comrades to the Haide Swamp.

Frustratingly, William also saw, his magma shot had done little the the lithe, serpentine demons. Most of the concussive force of the blast had been absorbed by the swamp itself, and the little fire that had reached them had washed harmlessly over their rough, scaly bodies.

William's claws twitched slightly as the three creature's reared up from the sloshing swamp water and hissed menacingly at him. This wasn't going to be good.

[Amber Eyes]

It only took Kyla a moment to recognize the feeling. That warmth that grew from within her. It was the feeling of love, of somebody wanting to protect her. She had felt this feeling several times before; her first meeting with Sei, being reunited with her father, and even the first family dinner at Orlouge Drantrak. Now, the feeling was bubbling back within the pit of her stomach, only, it was coming from this thing people had wrongly called a monster.

The girl reached up and stroked the things mouth, careful not to prick herself on any of its cacti pins. He was soft, like a teddy bear, which truly surprised her. Her eyes shifted back to her adoptive father, who was now oddly standing somewhere completely different than where he had been just moments ago. Looking around, Kyla had recognized that now Sei, Misery, and Kyla herself were all just three feet behind William, watching as the Revenant revealed the true culprits of the now revealed murders.

She could feel Misery put her down and set her up right. The creature only had to take a step or two to be by William's side. The demonic reptiles seemed a bit hesitant at first to strike now that the larger creature was in the woodsman’s area. Seemingly deciding that they held a numbers advantage, two of the creatures jumped from the murky waters, straight at Misery. The beast responded by grabbing the upper jaw of one of the lizards and pushing what could only be described as its 'palm' forward.

The two opposing momentums caused the upper half of the attacking monsters jaw to literally be ripped from its mouth. The rest of its body fell harmlessly to the ground, black ichor covering the surface of the water. The other monster was luckier, managing to clamp its jaws down on the plant creatures arm, the same one William had previously injured. A loud moan came from the more human-like thing, Misery throwing its head up in pain.

Seeing the beast selflessly put itself before others sent Kyla into action, the girl allowing the black swirls of her shadow sword to form over her right hand. The familiar sound of the blades coming from her Zodiac Weapon filled the forest, followed quickly by the sounds of footsteps splashing through the forest. Throwing both kinds of blades straight towards the multiple legs of the crocodile-centipede hybrids, Kyla turned her head back to her relative.

"Sei, are you just going to stand there, or are you going to help Fluffy?!"

[Silence Sei]

Fluffy?

Sei did not quite understand where Kyla had gotten the name from, especially when the mute had specifically learned of the monsters 'name'. None of that mattered at the moment, though. The task at hand was the creatures attacking his friends. As Kyla caused the reptiles to become paraplegics, William had begun his own combat with the third creature. This one was the largest of the group, and one that Sei was not quite sure William could handle alone.

The beast went underwater, ripples trailing through the surface at an amazing speed towards William. Without giving it much thought, Sei raised his hand towards the demon, hoping that he would make it in time. The sound of shattered glass proved that the gambit had been successful, as the very air began to crack around William. The man seemed confused that Sei had casted Mystic Protection on him, especially when these creatures seemed so easy.

Not one to risk endangering the others, Sei moved towards the group. The mute unclasped Jomil's Touch from his right shoulder, slinging the cloth around the crocopede that was latched for dear life on Misery's arm. Kyla looked to her father, and then to the Mystic Protected William with a nod. Screaming in rage and power, she dug both of her blades into the dangling creature. While the body went lip, the vines that were now encased all over the lizard’s nose prevented it from going anywhere. It only took a second for Sei to grab William by the shoulder, but that was all he needed.

He could feel his flesh melting onto his friends burning skin, but doing so protected the whole group from the mute's spell. As the glass dome shot out through the swamp, Sei peeled what was left of his hand from William. Strings of pink skin stretched and snapped, causing Sei to kneel down in pain and grip the scalded appendage.

Looking up towards William, Sei spoke with a bit more malice in his 'tone'.

"Do what you do best."