RPG Devil's Sympathy [PG-13]

[Guest Midnight Rush]

[i]

Looking at the situation, Joelle decided that it wasn't a good idea to just recklessly take on two adversaries and one undecided. Especially when her two adversaries where greater agnels hell bent on killing her. "Well Greeneyes... You've always been a supporter of honor... I heard that little speech you gave my beloved Morning Star... You were appaled that he killed a defenseless woman... Why don't you practice what you preach? You and your new friend here are twice the number I am... I think I will call a few of my favorite friends, Aranaeous-ilui."

A crimson fire gathered around the vampiryss, and what looked like a dark hole began to form in the space in front of her. As this hellgate began to open, thousands and thousands of little black eggs spewed forth, until they were literally covering the ground. After what could be millions of the eggs came forth, Joelle closed the hole and began to speak: "Jumping spiders.... and interesting creature. I really admired them, so I took a specimen from the jungles of the south to my tower. There I "altered" them a little bit. You have fifteen minutes before these eggs hatch, an hour before the spiders are mature. I do realize you are immortal... however the poison of these spiders is so strong, it will kill your light forever."

"This is nuts...." Xairiel said. What should I do? Whose side to join? The Demon woman sure seems to have the advantage here.... But that Greeneyes is some sort of legendary fighter... Someone said he fought Lucifer himself.. And that Sariyel is nothing to sneeze at either.. Wouldn't want the short end of the straw with anyone here... I'll hang back for now, during the fight I'll deicde which way I'm gonna push... He thought.

Greeneyes looked at Sariyel... "Destroy these eggs before they hatch.... I'm going to tango with our bloodsucking friend."

Sariyel nodded, and Dykei's light turned into a roaring white flame. She attacked the mountains of eggs the ferocity and speed, the fire destroying all it touched. Mountains of the eggs she torched, but for every pile destroyed it seemed like there were three more.

"Thats right my dear," The poison sweet voice called out. "Give in, and lose your mental clarity! They are too many...."

"I thought I'd drop in!" the Greeneyes shouted as he dove frove the heavens, the Ferus Ventus shining like a column of ice lit by light unquechable. When the blade struck it went right thorugh Joelle, and she stood there laughing.

He looked about, and to his chagrin found there were at least two hundred copies of Joelle floating in the air.

"Sariyel... we have been wasting time. You've been destroying illusion eggs... I don't know why we missed it, but it has been over 50 minutes and the eggs haven't hatched...."

"DAMNIT!" Sariyel shouted, and flew off in another direction, and when she crested a nearby building, what she saw nearly made her vomit:

A mountain of young adult spiders, black and sinowy, crawling and jumping, bting, eating oneanother, and consuming. Sariyel's eyes zoomed in on one and found that the ground hit by the poison dripping from its fangs turned black and melted.

"There must be fifty thousand of these things!" She said in exasperation.

The voice of Joelle mixed with that of her myriad of copies saying, "In three minutes they will begin actively hunting both humans and angels... There are actually one hundred thousand of my precious Jumping Spiders... Don't you hurt them! Their poison is only at fifty percent strength at this point."

"Sariyel.. .What are we going to do? Her illusions are so well crafted not even my eyes can pick out where she is... And we cannot let an army of hell mutated spiders attack the humans.... Nor can we ourselves be bitten, for our power lies in our light..."

[/i]

[Dead Alice]

"I'm getting the [I]hell[/I] out of here," Lena said to herself. She walked swiftly over to the door, pulling and pushing at it fiercely, to no avail. [I]Dammit... I have to find a way out. I don't like this place at all...[/I]

Her blue eyes scanned the cavernous sanctuary, seeking an escape. There were no other doors. She decided that her only choice would be the window.

Drawing ebony handguns from either side of her hips, Lena set her target. She aimed for the stained glass above her. Two tight squeezes of her index fingers, and the mural of saints was shattered. Lena dodged the broken glass and replaced her weapons.

"Now how to get up there..."

Thinking quickly, Lena decided to climb the lofty statue of Mary that was convieniently placed there. This was fairly easy for her, considering she was used to escaping quite frequently.

After gaining her balance, Lena was crouched in the space above the door where the window had been. She immediately got the feeling that something bad was about to happen.

[Cyriel]

OOC: Just one thing - I don't think Sariyel is quite the cursing type...after all, she wants to bring back grace to Heaven and all. :)

IC:

[I]Yes...our power lies in our light... It is the bright radiance of truth, and it will not fail us now.[/I] Her dark eyes narrowed, and Sariyel brought a graceful hand to lightly touch the clear jewel on her brow. A light seemed to glimmer there for a few brief seconds, a holy warmth, and then was extinguished as she drew her hand away. A smile played at her lips, and her confidence exuded from her being. The other angels with her sensed the change, and immediately they found themselves more determined to bring down the masses of seething arachnoids. Sariyel held out a graceful arm, holding out [I]Dykei[/I] in challenge.

Glancing quickly between her and Joelle, Green Eyes kept watch on both as he tried to distinguish Joelle's true form. And...he realized that some of the spiders were also illusion. He tried to shout warning, but it was too late - Sariyel swept her arm down, hurdling towards the black masses with the rest of her angels behind her. The jewel brightened, and the white fire flickered around the crystal blade. She was lost to his gaze as he met the wrath of the numerous Joelles, which were now laughing, and preparing to attack him in force.

Sariyel didn't notice as Green Eyes was quickly trapped in by the Joelle forms in the sky. Her view was centered on the spiders, which were hissing and screaming excitedly as she approached. She knew, in reality, that there were far too many to defeat, even with her angels. [I]It matters not... I shall perish if I must, if I perish in keeping faith. I will not live and let the dark consume this world...death is a far better realm, if that is where I end.[/I] They swept like a bright tidal wave upon the mountains of spiders, which seemed to roil around them on all sides. White fire flashed as the angels descended, spending their holy wrath upon the dark things that covered the ground with poison. Sariyel failed to notice that the majority of real spiders centered their attack upon her, while the illusionary distracted the others in her flock. Slowly...she started to become separated from the rest.

A golden head came up, his light shining brighter than the rest as he looked for the graceful lady he served. "Sariyel!" Karliel's voice rose above the screeching cacophany of combat. She locked her dark eyes with him, only then noticing that she was quite alone. Looking at him for a second longer, his eyes widened as she merely smiled and turned her back to him, her hair gliding in a dark river behind her. [I]Dykei's[/I] crystal blade flowed through the bodies of the spiders, coming out clean, but blood spattered the ground in hissing streams, and seemed to attack her cloak. The shadowy cloak however, repelled the blood, keeping the poison at bay. Suddenly, one of the other angels cried out in warning, and Karliel turned back to the battle -

Too late, a spider rose up before him, sinking shimmering fangs into his flesh. He cried out automatically, but stopped... [I]No pain...nothing...[/I] The spider fell away, still smiling evilly, and then... Karliel cried out again, "They're illusions! We're battling illusions!" And he looked to Sariyel once again in a panic, and realized...she was surrounded by real bodies. The majority of the real spiders were gathered around her bright light, hungering for a taste of purity. And slowly...they were gaining an advantage - she was being overpowered by brute force.

"No! Sariyel!" Karliel leapt up, the others following him, as he led the way to their graceful lady. Sariyel didn't raise her head, only gripping [I]Dykei[/I] tighter in her white hands, as the white light washed over her. [I]I...will not fail.[/I] Everywhere she turned, her blade met the fangs of the vicious creatures, and they gathered around her as she swung her clear blade. A tunnel seemed to grow from the ground, black masses of crawling bodies as they surrounded her.

And as Karliel and the others flew closer, he dropped his sword. His eyes were focused intently on the mass that hid Sariyel from view. But her light was still visible, still glimmering as pure and faithful through the darkness that surrounded and rioted about her. He closed his eyes... [I]Lady... Sariyel, we serve you...continue your cause, and hold to your faith. May courage and purity never forsake you.[/I] His eyes were golden as he opened them, and he raised a hand, throwing off his cloak of shadows. Light pierced the sky, and the other angels followed, light pouring through the gray sky as their glory was fully unveiled. Their wings erupted in showers of radiant white, and they hurdled towards the growing mountain of spiders.

The blinding light pierced through the black bodies, and Sariyel immediately looked up, her eyes wide and mirroring the light, "No!"

But too late - she felt the bodies of the spiders wiped away by the furious light of the angels, and the ones remaining moved as one to surround the bright beings hurdling towards them. They attacked with fury and brutality, but were no match against the pure light of the uncovered angels. As she ran, the jewel on her brow brightened, the light glowing as it matched the fading spirits of the angels. "No! No! Stop!" Her voice grew hoarse as she ran towards them, her blade uncovered as she attempted to reach them in time. Tears fell unbidden, but she was unaware of them. And...she knew she was too late, as the last of the spiders seemed to die and fade away, even as they hissed victoriously in their swift conquer.

She stopped immediately, stilling into perfect silence as she looked upon the remains. The light in the jewel faded slowly, leaving the gray to fold over everything once again. But even cloud cover could not hide the bodies of the angels, fair even when their light was extinguished. Her dark eyes widened, growing silver as she held [I]Dykei[/I] in stillness. Karliel's fair hair was still gold, and ruffled slightly in the light breeze. White feathers began to fall to the ground, brighter in purity than the stained snow. She felt the soft kiss of the feathers as they fell in number, the white flowing past her unseeing eyes. [I]No...they...can't...[/I] But the reality that they had fallen was confirmed - their radiant bodies faded away, taken in by the cold landscape.

She didn't move. Didn't breathe. Didn't see. Didn't hear Joelle and Green Eyes clashing above her... Only saw the bright pinions of their wings still falling around her in a field of white sorrow...

[Onix]

[COLOR=DarkSlateBlue][SIZE=1]Xairiel snapped.

He was disgusted by the display. Joelle's foul trickery had pushed the Tainted Wing over the edge. True, he was bitter; true, he claimed to follow strength alone; true, he was Fallen. All true...but he was still an angel...still had honor.

Xairiel could not forgive what Joelle's spiders had done to Sariyel, the pure, and what she herself was doing to Green Eyes. It was all wrong...dishonorable...disgusting.

"JOELLE!" he roared. And with his fierce cry, his energy blade erupted from his arm. "You have used tactics far too dishonorable to ignore! By the blood of the Angels that run in my veins, I sware to vanquish you!"

He took off like a bullet, rocketing towards the cloud of Demons. The energy blade pistoned forward, jetting through the gut of one of the Joelles. The illusion vanished as his blade jutted through her stomach.

"One down," he hissed. "Hundreds to go."

Green Eyes whirled and faced the Tainted Wing. "Xairiel, what are you doing!?"

"Finding the real demon," Xairiel snarled.

Joelle took this as her chance.

All at once, the crowd of demons imploded upon the Green Eyes, fluttering around him so he could not see which hit him. He felt her nails gouge his flesh, blows raining down upon him.

"STOP!!!" bellowed Xairiel.

The Fallen Angel flew straight into the crowd, slashing left and right with his energy blade.

"Green Eyes, fight them off! With your strenght, the clones shall fall in seconds!"

"Shall they, now?" asked the chorus of sickeningly sweet voices. "We shall see, little angel, we shall see. And for the record...you picked the worst possible side!"

In a flash, Joelle had raked her talons across Xairiel's face, barely missing his eyes. Blood squirted from the wounds, streaking his countenance with red.

Equally quick, however, was Xairiel, as he managed to grip Joelle's hand just beofre she escaped back into the cloud.

"Now I've got you," he groaned, yanking the demon into the open.

The Demon Queen gripped the arm that held her, gouging the flesh with her razor-sharp nails. Xairiel ignored the pain.

"Green Eyes, I have her!"

The Green Eyes burst forth from the masses, looked upon Joelle, and grinned.[/SIZE][/COLOR]

Aren't you glad he's on your side?

[Guest Midnight Rush]

OOC: You solved my perplexity ULX... thanks.

IC:

[i]

Greeneyes looked at Joelle, who was struggling fiercly to break free from Xairiel's graps, and he said, "Time to give up the ghost..."

Viridans Oculus reared back, extending his huge white wings their full 70 feet, and began to glow with green fire. "DUES EX MACHINA!" He roared, the Ferus Ventus exploded with power, and the earth began to shake. The sky above turned into a cloud of bright green, and the energy smashed down into his sword, and he flew directly at Joelle.

"My beloved Morning Star! I have failed you... 'We' are no longer.." Joelle said, tears running freely down her demonically beautiful face. She melted away as the sword struck, leaving existance forever.

"The miasma is clearing!" Xairiel said. And he was right, the remains of the spider's disappeared and the foul stench of the Imlad Morgul left. The sun came out slightly, grey casting everything, but still Sariyel did not look up.

She didn't even realize taht the fight was over, all she knew was that her companions, those angels who had believed in her, her! were dead... And the she had failed them. "I have led these young, yet noble angels to their demise... What have I become?"

The Greeneyes flew down to her silently, and put his hand on her shoulder. "Sariyel, it is not your fault.. You couldn't have stopped them from releasing their light... They didn't die lightly, they died for you! For you! It is right for you to weep for them... But their deaths should not and cannot be in vain! You must fight to avenge them... YOu must fight because that is what they died for.."

She looked up, her mirrorlike eyes glinting of tears, "This is the first time I have ever wept... Wha-... I just cannot understand this, why would they die needlessly? Most of the real spiders were dead..."

"They made a choice and you cannot change it. The time for te-" Greeneyes began to say, but she exploded in a rage:

"HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO ME OF DECISIONS! THIS IS AN OUTRAGE!!!," she began to fly into the air as she spoke, "THEY DIED FOR NOTHING! NOTHING!! AND YET-ARRRRGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!"

She struck out with her sword at him, and he barely evaded. She then launched into a flurry of blows, the tears flowing freely now. The Green Eyes blocked and evaded, but her attacks became to fierce, and he struck out once, broadsiding the Dykei, and she was knocked back.

"What has gotten into you?"

Sariyel spoke softly, "I must go now... Green Eyes, we may meet again... until then, you must trust your God to help you..." She flew away swiftly, without looking back.

"Geez.. she's unpredictable." Xairiel said.

"Yea.. I noticed."

[/i]

[Cyriel]

Silence accompanied her swift flight - silence and guilt. Her cloak shadowed and pooled around her as she fled from the field of battle, from Green Eyes and Xairiel, from God, from her dead. [I]Her[/I] dead. [I]...oh, that I had never led them out of Heaven... That they were still there, even in sin...but at least they would be alive...[/I] Tears dropped, silver crystal against the perfect curve of her cheek. She flew on, and was relieved when nothing followed. [I]Dykei[/I] almost dropped from her dead grip, but she quickly sheathed its crystal blade, still pure and untainted by evil blood.

She felt exhaustion overtake her; rage and fury drained her of the the frenzied energy that had possessed her. She dropped to the sidewalk, in the midst of a blustering downtown. She passed through the crowds unnoticed, unseen, her cloak still shadowing her presence from mortal eyes. Gliding on tired, silent feet, she walked without purpose, and without direction. She didn't feel the snow beneath her feet - the cold didn't affect her, and her mind chose not to acknowledge anything that did. Children played at the park, and their innocent, bright laughter drew her, her dark eyes taking in the to-and-fro of the swings.

Sariyel sat, sinking into the snow, gathering the white powder in her hands. The coolness melted away the pent up rage, but there was still more. She crushed the snow in her pale hands, until it formed a hard crystal, and still she crushed it. She was tired... And grief attacked her while the laughter of children was alive in her other ear. She pushed the guilt away, but it was there, lurking in the corner of her mind, ready to ambush her as she weakened in mind. [I]God...you took them from me. They were mine!!! Why did you take them???[/I] Tears coursed her cheeks again, and she sat, head bowed, waiting the hours until her silver tears melted away with the snow still clutched in her hands.

She sat...watching the passing of the day with dark, unseeing eyes. The children eventually left with their doting parents, and their laughter was a faint memory, an echo that brought the faces of the fallen to her mind. Her head drooped, her hair pooling about her in the snow. Something brushed her cheek, and she looked up, startled. [I]Feathers? No...[/I] She realized that snow was falling again, large delicate flakes that fell from a darkening sky. The streets were almost empty, only a random car passing by now and then. Everywhere, colored lights flicked on, and voices penetrated the muffled snowfall.

"It's almost Christmas," she whispered, and then winced. The thought of holy beings cracked the tentative shield that she was trying to erect. And suddenly...she was exhausted, tired of being an angel. Hesitating, she waited only a moment before she changed her form beneath the cloak...and then let it, too, fold away.

No bright light pierced the dark; no holy radiance shone from her - she was...in all form, another human. An angel in disguise. Sariyel still sat in the snow, her bare feet curled under her as she wrapped her arms around her knees. She leaned against the brick wall of the park, closing her eyes. Her breath became slow, unhurried, calm. Cold numbed her to her feelings, and she welcomed it. She didn't notice the footsteps that stopped in front of her still form.

"What's wrong with you? It's the middle of winter!" A voice jerked her out of her peaceful reverie, and a hand yanked her up violently. She opened her eyes, surprised, and found herself staring into the face of a human. He was looking at her with a mixed expression of anger, worry, and puzzlement. His hand fully encircled her thin wrist, and he immediately let go, angry brown eyes brushing up and down her form. She realized that she was wearing only thin white shorts and t-shirt - no wonder this stranger had stopped.

He took off his heavy coat, draping it around her, "Are you an idiot? Jeez, you'll freeze like this! Why the h*** are you wearing that right now?" His words put her in a state of shock, and surprisingly she felt warmth exuding from his coat. It was then that Sariyel noticed she was shivering. [I]I'm...cold...? Is this...what it's like...[/I] She looked up again, realizing that in her disguise, she had diminished her stature, and that he was a good five inches taller than her. His expression was unreadable - too many mixes, too much emotion for her to be clear, especially with her light hidden. And she was tired.

Sariyel didn't realize how tired she really was, or how weak this human form could be. Dazed, she felt her balance slip, and fell without a sound. But she didn't hit the ground, even though the light snow would have cushioned her fall. The human caught her, arms circling around her thin form. As she faded, she heard him snort in false frustration, and he muttered to himself as he swung her over his shoulder. "...d*** bums... Why the h*** do I always get myself mixed up in this *******.... Stupid kid lying in the snow...I should leave her to die..."