Clash of the Titans

[Alreven Laenisatar]

Closed to Eyes of...

Riala sat perched on the windowsill as Alreven grabbed his navy blue suit jacket off the back off a chair. "I want to come," she whined, eyes staring at the wooden floorboards. "Even if all I do is watch, I want to be there."

He casually glanced at the neko. Even in the blinding brightness of the midday sun, her features were rather pale. A slight breeze that came in from the open window was swaying her light purple hair. Her eyes were pleading with him as well; Riala wanted to do something with the rest of her day instead of spending it cooped up in the lonely inn room. She had an uncanny ability to lay an incredible amount of guilt on the incubus, but after a while he caught on that nine times out of ten the tears that welled up in her eyes were merely an act.

Alreven sighed as he made his way over to her, the soles of his shoes clicking lightly with each step. He reached out with a gloved hand, scratching the top of Riala's head between her cat ears. She giggled and playfully batted at his arm. The neko girl looked up, lacking any trace of her false sadness. Riala's smile was always something that warmed the incubus' heart--despite that he felt he never deserved to see it.

Alreven knelt down in front of her. "The answer is still no, Riala. Besides, I highly doubt that they'd let you watch, anyways. Those monks would force you to stay out of the arena, and they'd probably stare at you and make you uncomfortable until I won." She solemnly nodded. Riala understood, but she coudn't hide her disappointment in his decision.

"Don't worry, I'll be back before supper. Okay?"

The neko's voice was bright once again. "Okay!" But before Alreven could stand, she rushed forward in a flash and hugged him. Her momentum carried them to the floor--a loud crack echoed through the room as the incubus' skull collided with the thick wooden floor. Riala quickly got to her feet, her light purple eyes widened in surprise. "Oh my goodness! Are you alright? I'm so sorry!" She grabbed Alreven by the arm and nearly yanked it out of its socket trying to help him to his feet.

He winced, rubbing the back of his head to try and ease the wave of pain. "Yeah, I'll be fine. I'll catch you later." As he made his way out of the room, Riala blushed. I'm so clumsy... She slowly made her way back to her perch, keeping a sharp eye on the incubus' blond ponytail as he became one with the throngs of people crowding the streets of Radasanth.


***

The streets may have been packed, but it didn't bother Alreven. He had a certain, dignified way in his stride as he approached his destination. All manner of people passed him. Every now and again, an attractive girl caught his eye. Maybe a quickie wouldn't hurt... It's not like the Citadel is going to go out of business anytime soon, right? Even as his carnal desires and cravings to absorb the energy of yet another woman clouded his mind, the incubus arrived at the massive stone structure.

Alreven gazed upwards, shielding his eyes from the burning rays of the sun. The peaks of the steeples seemingly pierced the heavens themselves as they towered above the city. Massive oak doors sat at the top of a set of marble stairs. He slowly made his way up, exerting quite a bit of strength to open the doors. The inside very spacious and sparse--doors lined the walls as sunlight poured through the stained glass, leaving intricate, multicolored patterns on the polished marble floor.

His feet slowly carried him inside as he tried to absorb the magnificence of the Citadel. After what seemed like forever, he could feel a small tap on his shoulder. Alreven quickly spun around, his glasses almost sliding off his face. His eyes fell on a monk--a few inches taller than he was, his massive physique hidden behind a plain brown robe. His face was kind enough, but had telltale features that implied that he was the kind of guy that you'd not want to catch you cheating at a poker game.

"Can I help you?" The monk's deep voice was amplified by the echoing nature of the Citadel's main chamber.

Alreven, despite the fact that he was quite the powerful demon back in his day, couldn't help but to feel intimidated by the man. "Um, yes. It's been quite a while since I was able to test my strength, you see..." The monk shook his head and raised a beefy hand, stopping the incubus in mid-sentence.

The monk quickly pointed at one of the numerous identical doors. "Come this way." The monk walked over and wrapped one of his hands completely around the doorknob, giving it a quick turn and a yank. Alreven gazed into the darkness that the opened portal revealed, mentally preparing himself for the battle to come as he stepped into the black.

It's been years since I began to break the seal submerging my powers... Let's see how far I've come.

Slowly, the darkness brightened somewhat. When his vision returned, the incubus was looking skyward--he was under a blanket of stars, but out of the corner of his eyes, he could see something that resembled miniature buildings. Not small huts, but really tall buildings--like the Citadel itself. However, these tallest of these structures were as big as he was, and there were small rectangular holes evenly spaced throughout the buildings, most of them emitting light.

That doesn't look like lamp light to me... He began to look at his supposed "arena" some more. He was surrounded by these buildings. Some of them had brightly colored signs that flashed various, odd-looking symbols. "Drink Coca-Cola? What in my father's name is that?" Suddenly, he heard a scream from below. Alreven tore his gaze from the neon billboards and looked down--he was standing in the middle of a very small street, and in with the light that the signs provided, he could see very tiny people pointing at him, screaming and running every which way.

A cold sweat formed on his forehead--Alreven realized that he was transported to a very foreign and futuristic land, and that he had become a giant! A look of bewilderment much like those of the people below had crossed his face--where the hell am I? What is this place?

The incubus began to wander around the sprawling metropolis, trying to ignore the sickening crunches of vehicles and people that were underfoot as he made his way through the city.

[Eyes of...]

Entry #003

“My study of the curious woman started only within the week. So far I have noted that she has quite the penchant for testing herself against others, interestingly enough against any and all opponents that will offer a challenge. She is oddly enough hardly concerned with how they appear, how they act, or what they look like. To this point, she has only fought one battle (see previous entry), and her actions were cautious and deliberate. The two men that she fought were difficult opponents, when you take into consideration their personal powers, weapon finesse, and strengths.

Noting that, she did not let them sway her style and forced on a few mistakes. As soon as the battle was over, she took to the monks and found herself a new opponent. The following is her encounter with him. My own notes will be added in, but for the most part I’m going to attempt to be unbiased, and restrain from my interpretations. This will be simple fact…”


I would be remiss if I did not give the dedication to both sides, and in doing so, this could take a bit to jot down. Every detail, every intricate action and reaction brings out the personality and prowess of both sides. I will start from the beginning, when the woman Chizu-Miki removed herself from the previous battle and looked forward to the next.

She was macabre beauty, decadence draping her visage. Her torso was barely concealed by a black, laced corset threaded up the side by simplistic black ribbon. Thin, tight black leather pants, loosened past the knees, gave a distinct seductive air. A pair of risqué boots, with accompanying two inch heel, held the bottom of the leather pants down. Her final and purely stylistic piece of clothing was the fishnet gloves that wrapped each arm from fingertip to elbow. All in all she was a unique slice of the morbid underground style that predominated amongst the younger denizens of Corone’s main towns.

Though their appearance would allude to a certain level of distancing from the socio-political and economic, it was hardly so. Though the clubs for the quiet, black-laced crowd were often set off in a solemn, silent place, the group was fighting to survive day to day like any other. They moved through the streets in their black cloaks and hooded coats, scowls painting their faces, but like Chizu, they were all intricate to the flow and change of the social aspects of society itself. The Akashima native was new to Corone, despite her chameleon like adherence to a new sect and style of fellow youth.

In her short time within the massive walled city, she had already discovered the majestic and hallowed halls of the Citadel. She had already fought a battle including multiple people, and relished more fighting and further tests of her skills. The answer came almost as soon as she exited and healed from her previous battle… battles within the grand marble halls of the Citadel were endless and time permitted no reprieve. When she exited she took notice of the passing of time, which had slowed considerably to allow for the change of the politics and war to barely change.

“Stupid fuckin’ kids,” she muttered as she followed another monk to a new arena and a new opponent. I followed on the coattails of the man, remaining aloof from the woman’s progress and making no contact as to not interfere. If she was the one we had chosen, the one that was supposed to take our group from its state of dishonor, she would have to proceed towards that goal alone. Till the time came, I would neither speak with her, or be spoken too. Unless of course, she noticed me and acted upon it, the event would create quite a troublesome failure, and possibly elude her to her destiny far too soon.

The monks of the Ai’bron were, obviously, swayed in whatever way the clan had thought of, to allow me to take a place within the battleground as an outside observer. From my position I was allowed to watch and note, but not interfere, not be noticed. It was perfect. I entered through the same door, on the same flash of brilliance that she did, yet appeared as little more than a ghost, and unseen apparition. It was more ingenious than the very illusions and expert healing spells they commanded. There was not telling how many others were within the room, who was watching, or whether anyone else was. My mission was critical, and there was quite a vivid possibility of others like me watching the same subject, or the subject she was to encounter. There was no telling.

Anyway, on to the setting and her actions – I will again attempt to remove myself from the battle and recount the exact details of what took place. The setting was far from common. It was a world of perfection, masking the chaos and disgusting undertones of the society that thrived within it. Buildings stood hundreds of feet high, dotted by small windows. Lights from within glowed softly, alluding at the presence of life within the arena. Large signs were stuck to the sides of buildings, blinking a slew of lively colors from red to blue, obviously indicating some form of marketing. However, everything was peculiarly small. The tallest of the possibly cloud touching buildings rose to the young mercenary’s upper thighs. Underfoot tiny humans ran, screaming, begging for mercy. It was some form of town, of this I am sure, but so different from anything I had ever seen.

By the look that crossed Chizu’s slate-white eyes, it was just as foreign to her as well. One of her eyes scrunched up at the sight of the world below. Her high cheekbones offered a regal appearance, as if looking down at a group of blubbering peasants. Though her eyes held no pupil, and from what I have seen never showed her true emotions, it was plainly palpable that she was lost in a sea of miniscule peoples misfortunes, and a necessity akin to duty pressing on her. She looked up, searching for her opponent.

With the setting the way it was, it was not difficult to find the man. He was a giant, just like her. His high height was difficult to determine within the miniscule town. The man was taller than her, by a few hands, and had a bit of extra weight added to his frame that, as a woman, she could not exactly claim. If he had not been an opponent, she might have favored him with a glance. Though, since his intentions were to battle, much like hers, she gave him a simple smirk and a nod of her head.

“An extremely odd place,” she commented as she shifted her feet, feeling a sickly crunch of small people and four wheeled things. “What imaginations these monks possess.” While her stance was being assumed, and her words were floating to the man, she let her eyes wander. It was her style, as I have come to find, that she always absorbs the settings. She can take into account advantages, disadvantages, and weigh them equally against her own style and graceful style of combat. In doing so, she is at times able to sway a regrettable loss in her own favor, turning it into a rather profitable victory…

[Taskmienster]

This thread has been waiting for over a year. If you would like to complete it, or work on it further, you can PM myself or another staff member and ask for it to be moved. However, till that time, it will be resting in the Citadel Archive forum.

Thanks,
~Task