A Cruel Performance [Raphael / Cain Awakening]

They say the city never sleeps. In a way, this was true - yet for no city was this closest to the truth than Endymion city. As the sun disappeared below the horizon and behind the clouds, the street lights flickered on, illuminating the streets like miniature stars. People shut up their shops, went into their homes, and battened down the hatches. The people of the city were withdrawing to their safety for the night, to come down from a day of work, and to sleep.

Then it rained, a downfall descending upon the pathways and running down the gutters. Perhaps this was a metaphorical way of saying that it never rains, but pours. For tonight would be a night that worlds were torn apart for two strangers...

"Quite a nice night, don't you agree....Cain?"

Raphael was walking ahead of Cain, doing a little bit of sightseeing of how Endymion was and what it had to offer. In a way, it did interest him, the history that this place had. Endymion was a survivor of the demon surge, it was basically a living breathing relic.


"This city, do you suppose you can tell me more about it? What you saw, or experienced? These demons I keep hearing about, I never ran into one."

The rain poured down hard on Xavier, the droplets sliding off his black raincoat. He turned to Raphael. He looked into the sky, and then back at his companion. "No. Not really. Its kinda awful tonight." He returned to his head facing more towards the ground, hands in his pocket, steadily walking into the night. He would rarely ever be out this late at night, normally keeping to his strict sleeping schedule. But he was doing a bit more to explore the world.

However he had forgotten to check the forecast, which was very much unlike him. He could have taken his truck, but it held up in the shop. It was a rather old piece of shit holding on to its last mechanical breathe. "Wish I had my truck. I only like the ran when I'm inside"

"Rain you mean....what kind of accent is that anyway? You have been on the farm for way too long my friend. However, I can attest to the sudden changes you'll be experiencing quite soon. For example, knowing how to smile, a good right hand could be able to experience displays of various emotions, even if you don't necessarily mean it."

Though, he was wondering what a genuine smile from Cain would look like.

"That truck of yours? You keep the pugs in the back or something? I don't know how you could stand the smell at times. "

Of course, fate wasn't patient. Fate leads the willing, and drags along the reluctant. The lights flickered, the rain growing heavier, and heavier. Pitter patter became an unending torrent that beat on the ground, hard. As the flickering continued, and the wide roads seemed to become a pitch black abyss, only the alley's seemed to pose any reprieve - lights still on from the nearby buildings and street lights. Neon signs, fluorescent bulbs. Everything that the rest of the world was now void of. All natural sound ceased. To the two lost souls, all that was left was the sound of their voices, and the rain.

The question remained... Would they descend into the blind darkness, further down the road? Would they go for the sanctity of the alleys nearby? Something... Something in their heads told them to choose. As though nature itself was warning that this was not a place to be.
> Proceed into the darkness
> Seek shelter in the alley
> Ignore the warnings

As they continued to walk, Raphael would notice  "something" change. It wasn't as if he would know exactly what, but the weird feeling of being in this current scenario was drowning out all other sounds. Even the tacking sounds of their footsteps that went against the puddles of the streets were dimmed.

Something was going on here, something was happening...or about to happen.....

"Cain...... something.............something changed..... almost instantaneously......"

Rachael said this as he stopped ahead, the swallowing darkness was in front of him as he looked behind to his partner.

"I've experienced many things as an archaeologist before, adventures while i'm young ..all the way into my current adult life.... but nothing could prepare me for such........ an ominous feeling I'm getting right now... with this darkness.... I feel like.... my life would change almost instantly if I took one more step........."

It reminded him of something, the day that he wanted to go to Endymion. It was a time when Raphael was much younger, a similar night to this. The wealthy were privileged to know of such a thing occurring, the exact time when the world was considered to have ended... to be over....to know that within the ground zero of such a time ...... this is where his flesh and blood was.....


his roots..... his family.......the family he felt abandoned by....

He was no longer that child, and yet.... that hesitation almost overtook him. It was a mimicking sensation that brought him to the past and back to reality at the same time.



"This feeling......is this how you felt......Gabriel?"

Raphael talked to himself softly as he hardened his expression and turned back to Cain once more.

"I remember the promise I made to you....... that I would show you.....a world you'll never experience anywhere else....this.... and now.... is not the same..... or maybe it can be.......even so... this request seems selfish.... forgive me..... but if you are brave enough to follow me into this darkness... if you are gutsy enough to think that you can conquer it....  I would like someone like you to follow me to see what's on the other side. I won't force you....i'll go it alone ....but if you come.... just know....the treasures of the dammed will bless only those who have the courage to take them. "

But he needed this,  Raphael felt like he needed to find this fear, this thing that was eating at him emotionally.

He had to find it, be engulfed in it, and overtake the effects it had on his mind.  His own rite of passage as a mirrored image was taking a different path, one unlike no other.

>> Proceed into the darkness.

As the duo descended into the darkness, new sounds would start to intrude upon their minds. The first of these sounds was akin to television static, white noise cracking and crackling beneath the surface. Compared to the rain, this was like a whisper of a sound. Yet its presence was still there, along with a mild stinging sensation. The other noise was one that the two would be more familiar with; that of a car, revving its engine. But unlike the static, this was not quiet, or subdued. Indeed, it was almost as though the engine was just around the corner from them. However, no amount of looking would reveal anything beyond the empty, darkened streets.


At least, at first. The thumming of the engine grew louder, as did the static, until it seemed as though there was no more rain - the sound of the downpour was all but gone in the wild cacophony. Then without a word of warning, the lights flickered back on, revealing the barren street to the wayward duo. The source of the noise would reveal itself, yet at the same time, would not. A large silhouette, almost as though it were naught but the remnants of the darkness left behind, slowly loomed towards the two. Even the sound of the engine was drowned out however, the static all that remained in the minds of the two. Whatever it was, it was approaching. Now was their time, one way or another.

Xavier looked at Raphael with an eyebrow raised. He couldn't exactly tell what he was talking about. He looked down the alley and back at Raphael. He shrugged. "Sure. I think you're making this out bigger than it actually is but fine. Not like I had anything else better to do." He had already gotten used to his eccentric mumblings, so he decided to just go with it.

As he walked he started to hear a strange sound. It wasn't unlike the sound of plastic cringing together or the sound of static TV. He continued to walk at a brisk pace. There was something fishy to him about it. He was on a much higher alert than normal. The lights flickered back on, and before him was a sillouhette of a creature. He stopped and his tracks and slowly stepped back. What the hell...?

And then there was a sudden and noticeable pulse in his head. He quickly grabbed at his skull with his right hand in response. And then another pulse. He winced in pain and looked up in the sky. "M...my head."

He dropped to his knees. He groaned in pain like a wounded animal, gritting his teeth, clutching his head. A voice would manifest itself in his head. It was a horsed and possibly the deepest voice he has ever heard in his life.

Life...is a disease. I...am the cure. Your fears...your suffering...your ambitions...are nothing

"Who...are you?"

I am stillness. I am emptiness. I am eternity. I am that which never dies. I am Orcus. I am thou...thou art I."

The pain reached its climax to suddenly 'pop.' He felt a surge of power, as a monster would manifest itself before Xavier. He turned to it. To behold the power, which was his to covet.



Thou is death.

"You're fucking ugly."

Stats:

With the sound of the engine growing progressively louder, it made Raphael wonder if there was some kind of machine that was coming about in this strange darkness. He had no clue how much bearing this choice had brought upon, but Raphael was soon about to find out. At this point, he heard a whisper, a voice in his mind. It sounded a bit unfamiliar, but at the same time, he knew what it was. Or better yet, it was as if he knew this person his entire life. The static in his mind was starting to become more and more clear.

"I am thou... Thou art I... From the sea of thy soul, I come..."

It was slow, but Raphael's terrorist garb started to appear slowly on his person as he started to awaken.

"I am the god of Crime, Pleasure, and Leadership! The fury of your sorrows, the reflection of your soul. Call upon me and embark on this path! Do it!"

It was almost as if the sound of the voice was demanding, beckoning Raphael to call out to him, to achieve such strength. He felt that this strength would be needed for the trials ahead.

"Come.... Adagium..."

stats

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As the duo awakened to their powers, the shadowy figure would finally be revealed to them, a whole new world becoming open for them to witness - the horrors, the beauty... And also, their first opponent in this new world, which rolled forwards, intent on ending their new lives as soon as they had started. It's engines roared as if a growl of a starved beast, signifying that it was not deterred by the new show of power from the newly awakened: indeed, it was time to fight!

"Chris" - Level 7:

"Let's go..."

stats

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Attack used[spoiler]

Skill 4: Maragion | Inflicts a moderate amount of Fire damage to all enemies. | 12 SP | Tier 2 for 71 agi aoe

Skill 3: ** Searing Burn | 10% (20% with single target skills) chance of inflicting a burn ailment with each agi skill used. Not effective against opponents that are strong/block/ etc fire. Takes 15% of total health off the opponent each turn, for three turns. Can be put out by a bufu skill used on self that matches tier.
[spoiler]

Miss Rate

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Status effect [if not a boss]

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strength

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strength[spoiler]

sp is 99 rn

Xavier watched the horrid monster that was before him, the horrid monster that was a manifestation of his power. It rushed towards the Vehicular enemy, and use its Wand of Orcus, hitting it with all of it's strength.

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Instant Kill:

"Tch...damn monster...."


Stats

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USed

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miss rate

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