Under the Hill - Second Circle: Lust

[Rosesong]

Rose watched Ethic in confusion and pain as he began ducking and weaving. "What is he doing?" she thought to herself blearily. She then noticed as he began talking to someone he called Lucian, brandishing his knife and waving it in the air.

Shaking her head and causing a huge jolt of pain in the process, she allowed herself to think about everything she knew about him so far. He had a deck of Tarot cards that he held dear, but they had been destroyed by Ixidor. He had left them briefly in this circle to do... Something, and then promptly came back. And Minos had deemed him to be a wrathful person. Her instincts told her that he was undergoing some sort of personal struggle, and that all of this was connected, but she didn't know how.

Resolving to keep a close eye on the young man, Rose shakily stood up, gasping as the pain in her ankle took hold again. She wiped away the blood from her nose and closed her eyes, willing the headache to go quickly.

[anethia]

All Annie could do was watch and duck as dark spheres soared past them, smashing into trees and she herself barely dodging them. She jumped to another branch to dodge the next, and watched in horror as Ethic began to speak. Soon afterwards, she watched some kind of goth appear and begin to circle Ethic and Lucian. It didn't take long before they began to fight.

"Ethic!" She screamed, before regaining her composure and speaking in a low voice, low enough that the goth wouldn't hear, she hoped. "Try to use his strength against him. Be on the defensive, parry his attacks and try to knock him off balance. If he charges at you, take a shot at his leg if you can. It might trip him over and then you can get him. Just one thing to remember in a fight. Always. Keep. Your. Cool."

She knew in the back of her mind she couldn't help; this was Ethic's battle. But she had to offer something, she wouldn't sit and twiddle her thumbs. So, she began to stare at Scott, scanning him for some kind of weakness or opening.

[Sutoratosu]

Ethic listened as Annie called out advice about how to take Scott down using his own power as a weapon against him, and narrowly missed getting his neck slashed by Scott's next attack, thankfully Lucian was able to knock the blade off it's course and save Ethic.

The mage looked to him, Eye's focused and intense

"Focus, Ethic!" He demanded as he blocked another blow from Scott, a crack sounded as his staff was split in half by the blow.

"Damn it..." He said as he tossed the two halves to the ground, pulling the slim rapier sword that hung at his side.

"You know how to use that thing?" Ethic asked, noting how he had never seen Lucian use it in battle before.

"Of course... Any idiot can wield a sword..."

Scott interrupted

"Yes, but it takes a smart idiot to wield it well."

he went in for another strike, but Ethic was ready for it and spun to the side quickly, bringing up his knife in a brutal slashing motion and watching as Man Without Honor's blade glowed with a harsh Scarlet light as it tore away at the flesh along Scott's rips, the Goth's momentum causing the wound to become even worse as he tripped and fell the ground after his strike missed Ethic entirely.

Ethic sprang upward, pivoting to face Scott as he got up from the ground, a large wound in the goth's side bleeding heavily. Ethic spun his knife in his hand, holding it backwards as he rushed towards Scott silently the only sound his Sneakers against the earth. he brought his arm around, intending to slash open the other man's Windpipe, only to stumble to a stop as Scott disappeared. he regained his balance and looked around, trying to find the individual who had just gone from being his hunter to being his prey... His anger began to take over now, warping the person who he truly was... how he really felt...

"Come on out, Scott..." He said playfully

"Or are you scared that I can hurt you just as badly as you can hurt me now?"

Scott's enraged Voice echoed through the air, loud enough for everyone in the area to hear it.

"Fuck this." He said he continued talking as his voice grew louder and louder, reaching a crescendo

"I was just toying with you... like a cat to a mouse... but it's obvious you aren't playing around... This gash you gave me burns more than pure hellfire..."

Ethic looked around, trying to locate where he was... when he heard Lucian cry out

"ETHIC, BEHIND YOU!"

He looked behind him to see Scott appearing in a burst of dark flames, his sword was replaced in his hand now by a sphere of darkness much like the ones Ethic and Lucian had dodged earlier. he rushed towards Ethic with incredible speed, his eye's a sulfurous yellow as he screamed out in fury and Hate

"BUT IF YOU'RE NOT PLAYING, THAN WHY SHOULD I!?"

He closed in on Ethic in an instant, thrusting his arm into the young man's chest, pushing the sphere of Darkness up against his sternum... Scott let out another cry, this one sounded like it was completely inhuman as he screeched out the words.

"NO MORE HOLDING BACK!"

with that, Ethic felt a pulsing sensation in his chest as Scott became cloaked in pure darkness, the next thing Ethic knew, a blast erupted around him...

He could feel his body flying through the air... he could feel burning... horrible, un-ending burning in his chest... he somehow managed to look at his body, seeing it engulfed in black fire... he could feel bones breaking as he landed on the ground.. he could hear Lucian screaming his name... followed another explosion... and he could feel the impact wave as Lucian flew through the air and landed a dozen feet away from him... then the only thing he could feel, the only thing that existed in the world for him, was the pain... the pain all over his body as the black fire spread to cover him completely... All he could was scream... scream as loud as he could for as long as he could... it was so loud, it could probably be heard all the way across to the other side of he gardens...

But after a few minutes, even the screaming was impossible as the fire destroyed his lungs and Trachea tissue... And so he just lay there, flailing in pain on the ground...

It took five minutes for the blast of Pure Hell fire Scott had shot him with to kill him... and in those five minutes, he experienced more physical pain than in all his nineteen years of life put together and multiplied by then... when it was done, the was nothing left but a charred husk slightly resembling a human being... Lucian's body was no where to be found.

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Ethic...awoke in a black space... it was familiar... his head was foggy for a minute... he couldn't remember what had happened...or how he had gotten here... all he knew was that a few moments ago... he was in more pain than he had ever been in his entire life... but he felt no pain now... and he felt no heart beat in his chest...

Ethic's memory came crashing back like a tidal wave when he attempted to stand up, causing him to tumble to his back again.

he lay there, stunned as he recalled Everything that had happened... how Lucian had made him duck, saving him twice... how Scott had appeared... how they had started fighting... how he slashed the Goth across the rib cage, severly injuring him... and how he turned around, seeing Scott's glowing eyes as he rushed in on him... and after that, he remembered the fire... the smell of sulphor and burnt flesh...

He shook his head, pushing the flood of memories away as he again stood up. he looked around the space...

and he saw nothing....he took a few steps forward, and heard nothing... he held out his hand in front of his face... and was able to see it glowing dimly against the black space. he put it back down to his side... He knew that he was dead... but right now, he didn't feel quite certain he'd be able to come back like Mr.Taylor had... He looked of in the distance, and saw a flickering orange flame... it looked so familiar to him...

with nothing else to do in this land of death and darkness, he began running over to the flame.

[anethia]

Annie's eyes became cloaked in tears. Her head raised up, she began to scream.

"I don't know what you are playing at! I don't know what you are, nor do I care!" Annie's eyes blazed in a fury that rivaled hell itself. "I will find you. And I will kill you. I will avenge Ethic. I will be your undoing! I will rip you apart!"

Annie leapt forward to where she had last seen Ethic, and kept staring around, looking for the disgusting goth.

"I. Will. End. You."

[Rosesong]

Rose's hand flew up to Enya's eyes, trying to protect the younger girl from seeing the event that had just transpired. Annie had offered advice to Ethic, as though he were facing an enemy. As he stabbed, weaved, and dodged, he seemed pretty determined. But then... His body just flew back, and became engulfed in fire. Rose had never seen black fire before, not had she thought it was possible for it to exist. But her friend was burning in it, screaming in such a terrifying way...

Shutting her green eyes in an effort to shut out the agonized wails, Rose kept her hand over Enya's eyes until the screaming was gone. She shakily made her way over to Ethic, almost tripping at one point and agitating her ankle more. When she got to his body, she could feel the heat coming off of it in waves, yet still began to check for signs of a pulse. Finding none, she searched harder, accidentally burning her fingers in the process.

Rose looked up to the others, eyes dull and sad. "Ethic's not with us anymore..." Stumbling away from him, she climbed back into a tree and sat beside Enya again. "Annie, what was going on? It seemed like you knew." It seemed as though Annie completely ignored her; her eyes became teary and she rushed at the empty air that Ethic had been around claiming that she would avenge Ethic and kill... something. "Annie," Rose yelled, "who are you going to kill?!"

Edited June 15, 2014 by Rosesong

[Sutoratosu]

Scott Looked as a young women leap down from the tree, calling out how she would kill him for what he had done.

He scoffed arrogantly, Black Fire again erupting around his form as his eye's took on that eerie yellow glow once more. he turned to face her.

"Oh... Well aren't you a pretty one..." He said mockingly, his voice resonating with some strange power

the fire around him died down, and he held up his arms to his side, palms facing forward.

"Alright then, You wanna try and avenge Ethic? Fine then, take your best shot at me" He said, glancing over as Rose approached the dead body his Adversary.

"Oh, no need to check if he's gone," Scott cried out again, mockingly even more than before

"I made sure to fry that bastard extra crispy." He let out a chuckle before turning back to Annie

"So go on, try and 'End' Me. whatever method you want. But it won't bring him back... even as we speak, he's being wiped out of existence by my friend Rodric...But come on, and maybe I'll show you the power of hell-fire just like I did Ethic just now"

But even as he spoke, he heard the High Keeper's voice in his mind

"You shall not engage them with lethal force, do you understand? You're mission is to ensure that Ethic dies and is then wiped from existence. Ethic ytilarom is your only target here, once he is gone, you are to come back and report."

Scott scoffed... he kinda wanted to disobey his orders just now and kill them all... but he knew he'd never escape the punishment for not doing as he'd been told... so he dialed back the power he was using at the moment... to a below normal level... no need to be sorry rather than safe, Right?

He spoke once again, his eye's losing their Yellow glow as the pupils reverted back to their usual pitch black. he began pacing in front of Annie, and said the same thing he had said to Ethic when they first fought...

"Let's Dance, Shall we?"

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Ethic ran across the ground of the black space, getting closer to the flame... he pushed harder and harder, noticing how he didn't get tired... finally, he was just a good two dozen yards from the flame.

But as he accelerated even more, the formless landscape swirled around him, blinding his vision. after a few moments, his sight cleared, and he was back where he had started in this place... like he had just been standing here the whole time...

He looked around, calling out

"What the hell is this place?"

he was answered by a chuckle.

"Oh this..." It called out

"this is my realm, Ethic... the Realm of the Arcana of Death, the ever lasting..."

Ethic turned around, trying to spot who was speaking

"Who's there!?" he called

all he got in reply was another chuckle... then the voice spoke again.

"You are going to cease to exist soon anyway... it makes no matter that you know my name; I am Rodric Phalton, Keeper of the Arcana of Death and Disciple of the Reaper."

Ethic still could not spot who the voice belonged to... but in the corner of his eye, he noticed the darkness there beginning to swirl and take shape...

Edited June 15, 2014 by Stratos

[K_H]

Kenny cried out as he saw the Goth kill Ethic.

"ETHIC! NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!"

Kenny then began seething with anger, red-hot rage coursing through his Aura, making him flare up in a brilliant Indigo. He then opened a Portal to the place that was right behind the Goth, who then spoke.

"Let's Dance, Shall we?"

Kenny responded to the goth's Question as he fired off an Aura Sphere at the Goth.

"Buddy, YOU'RE ON!"

Edited December 21, 2014 by K_H

[Sutoratosu]

Scott felt as Kenny's portal opened behind him. he stood perfectly still as the young man fired of a sphere of some sort at him, he tore open a door to the path and exited through another one in quick succession, now standing by Ethic's body.

"Now, now..." He began

"You really should make a better effort than that if you want to avenge ol Ethic here..." He nudged the corpses head with his foot.

"Ethic didn't tell any of you, did he?" the Goth asked, intending to distract them so that he wouldn't have to fight... this wound Ethic had left him was quite irritating, and right now, he knew he wouldn't be able to follow the High Keeper's orders about not using lethal force... not in his current mind set...

He shook his head, making a 'Tsk, Tsk' sound and staring down at Ethic's charred remains

"You really shoudl've told them about all this, Ethic, so that they wouldn't be so upset right now..." His tone was laced in sarcasm as he looked at Kenny and Annie, hoping they'd get curious as to what he was talking about and begin asking questions instead of trying to fight him.

Edited June 15, 2014 by Stratos

[anethia]

Annie's eyes hardened. She bit down hard on her hand.

"Shut up. I don't care." Annie spat, "You will bear witness to my revengeance." Annie darted forward as fast as lightning, and fired a crystalline fist, aiming right into the goth's eyes, and at the same time, aimed to kick him in the shin with a hardened leg.

[K_H]

"And you should've thought what you were doing through before Killing Ethic!"

And with that, Kenny Boosted Annie's Power tenfold by funneling a large amount of Energy into her.

Edited December 21, 2014 by K_H

[Supernovae]

Mr. Taylor had taken in the scene from the tree tops, he wanted to cry out to Ethic, but he knew it would only make things worse, instead he sat back and tried to aim. However, before he had gotten the chance the girly looking boy had taken Ethic's life. He again held back calling out and rushing on to the field. It would have been foolish for an old man to try and engage that thing in combat, however fortunately for him Annie and Kenny had taken the fight. At the current moment he noticed Annie charging him and if he predicted correctly the man would have to dodge to his left. So that's where Mr. Taylor aimed, waiting patiently for the man to make his move, so that he could put a slug in between his eyes.

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

"Those are my PREY!!!! Find your own!!!!" said a familiar voice. Quincy came flying in towards the Goth, for some sort of strange rescue. He had his cane sword drawn, channeling crimson Lightning in the blade. It crackled with energy as he brought it to bare against the Goth.

Byron Loaded the Preacher, and he fired both shots towards the goth as well, then grabbing God's Hand, just in-case.

[K_H]

Upon seeing the Rat-like man fire at the Goth, Kenny spoke up, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Shotgun McGee! Glad you could join us!"

Edited December 21, 2014 by K_H

[Sutoratosu]

Scott knew that this was not going well, he leaned backwards, narrowly dodging the blows Annie sent his way... out of his peripheral vision, Scott could see two others coming in to attack him, one with a glowing cane sword and another firing off rounds at him...

God Lucifer...he thought to himself as he hastily tore open a rift and backed onto the path...

Ethic had a lot of friends for being such a pathetic little pansy...

he took a deep breath of relief as he appeared back on the illuminated pathway...

it's not like something like gunshots or something like that would hurt him, but he didn't like the way that Rat thing's sword had glowed... it looked like Ethic's knife had...

But damn, was that close... he thought to himself as he tore another rift open from the path, stepping through it and this time appearing upside down in the middle of the air, his hair dangling down into his face... he was confident they would have a much harder time attacking him up here... he was beginning to think he should maybe just retreat and come back later on when they left, in order to check to see if Ethic's remains had vanished...

He called down to them.

"It was nothing personal." He grinned

"That's a lie, it was personal and I took a lot of pleasure in killing him like that, but that's beside the point."

He began pacing upside down in the air, back and forth, like a professor giving a speech

"But even if I hadn't have done it, he still would've ended up dead as door-nail.... You see, Ethic is kinda a wanted man... I was just following my Orders. to kill him so that he could then be erased... Even if I hadn't have done it, another would've come and killed him instead of me killing him."

He stopped pacing, eying the charred corpse on the ground far below and thinking to himself

What the hell's taking Rodric so long... I already did the hardest (and funnest) part of the task... all he has to do is finish him...

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Ethic took a step back wards as the writhing mass took form before him...

The Cloacked man, Rodric, apparently... Spoke to Ethic as he held out his hand, an old farming scythe appearing there.

"You have been deemed unfit to continue on in this world, or the next... You may not enter Neither Heaven nor the Hell which you are travelling through..."

Rodric began spinning his weapon around, taking steps towards Ethic as he wielded it as if it were a bo staff.

"you shall be ended here and now. This is the final sentence of the story of your existence, Ethic." Rodric stopped spinning the Scythe and crouched low to the ground, as if preparing to pounce like a lion... Ethic turned tail and ran as fast as he could towards the orange flame, which he could still see in the distance...

Behind him, he could hear an inhuman scream and the sound of wind whistling, he looked behind him to see Rodric soaring through the air behind him, Scythe outstreched and waiting to come down in a deadly arc once the Keeper could finally catch up and surpass Ethic's speed. Ethic looked to the Flame, Tears welling up in his eyes

Why me? he asked himself mentally

Why the hell did all this shit have to happen to me? all I ever wanted was to save the family business so that my grandpa's legacy wouldn't die along with him... And I get this instead...

He pushed the thoughts aside as he got closer to the flame... he suddenly knew what it was...

The fire he would light on his staff...

Ethic called out desperately as Rodric steadily gained on him, screeching like a banshee

"LUCIAN!!!!"

Edited June 15, 2014 by Stratos

[Rosesong]

Rose finally saw a goth boy become visible, and surmised that he was responsible for Ethic's demise. Climbing down from her perch, she watched Mr. Taylor set himself up inconspicuously near the boy, while Byron fired off some shots.

Then, the odd thing happened. A voice called out, "Those are my prey! Find your own!" as the one whom Ethic called Shotgun McGee barreled into the clearing to take a crack at the boy. Rose looked around, sighing, "Did I accidentally take drugs?"

[Supernovae]

Mr. Taylor smirked a little as the man threw himself in the air. Admittedly he wasn't all too happy when the rat man showed up, causing his aim to be thrown off, but it was inconsequential now. He had him in his sights, and to make matters better he was facing away from him, there was no way he'd see this one coming. "This one's for Ethic," Mr. Taylor whispered to himself as he pulled the trigger, his gun aimed directly at the Goth's head.

[anethia]

"There is no escape." Annie's voice rang out, dripping with poison. Crouching down, she jumped off the branch at astonishing speeds, and was level with the goth for a period of time. Twisting in mid air, she shot a roundhouse kick towards the goth's face, the leg traveling through the air at tremendous speeds.

"Killing someone else in such a brutal way. Murdering someone is a crime." Annie raged. "And I will make sure you receive punishment, at any cost!"

[Sutoratosu]

Scott's little speech was interrupted as a gunshot rang out, he turned around, flinching as he saw a bullet tear through the air and phase right through his forehead...

The flinch was an old force of habit... that and the fact the Scott had actually had a bullet hurtling towards his face once before... long ago...

given what just happened...He decided it was best not to even let these crazies see him right now. His form shimmered for a few seconds... but before he vanish, the blonde women soared up to him, a feat he had thought impossible at this altitude... He stood there, expecting the kick to go right through him like a cloud of smoke...

But he reeled back in surprise as he felt the Kick collide with the side of his face, sending him flying through the air and into a nearby treetop... Scott looked up at Annie, blood pooling in his mouth and nostrils, though he didn't care about the pain from such an injury... it was still nothing compared to the slash in his ribs...

You little Bitch... He thought to himself as he opened another rift and stepped back to the path, tearing open another rift hovering a few feet above the ground in front of the group... he wiggled his tongue around in his, noticing hard objects there... he spat on the ground, wiping his mouth as Blood and Teeth and a little bit of gum tissue flew out onto the stones below... He raised himself back into the Air as he cast away the qualms he had about breaking his order not to use lethal force

"You know..." He said simply, his pupils again taking on a yellow glow

"I was trying not to kill you all... That's why I've been trying to not fight... It's against my orders..."

his body fell through the air and landed on the ground as his eye's shone even brighter and his black sword materialized in his hand. he was not going to tolerate this anymore... he held his sword in a ready stance, beginning to circle around the group, trying to find a good weak point to go in...

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Lucian Awoke to the sound of Ethic's voice... he looked around, seeing aught but darkness... then he spotted Ethic running towards him, The Keeper of the Death Arcana, Rodric, Flying after him menacingly... Lucian knew this wasn't good at all. he looked down in his hands, his staff was there, in one piece... he looked back up at Ethic, who was getting closer with every single step.

"Ethic," He called, "Duck!"

Ethic knew that when Lucian said to duck, it was a good idea to duck... he flung himself to the ground as Rodric's weapon was swung in an arc through the air, missing Ethic by an inch. the strike had left Rodric open, and Lucian took advantage of this, focusing his power and lobbing a sphere of Ethereal fire at the other Keeper, finding no difficulty now... Rodric simply blocked the sphere with his hand, however, the thing dying down to a mere ember there before going out completely...

"Oh, Lucian..." he said as the Magus and Fugitive stood side by side, facing him

"You think that's going to help?" He chuckled before looking off in the distance and calling out

"Now!" the moment he said that, the flame atop Lucian's staff died. Ethic looked at it, concerned...

"What happened... What he do?"

Lucian didn't respond, simply thrust out his hand towards Rodric, a spark appearing there, then dying out to nothing... he tried once more, and got no result this time...

"I don't... know..." Lucian said to Ethic... his robes dissapeared, leaving him standing in a pair of jeans and a red tye-died shirt... His staff faded away.

Rodric spoke up

"You thought you could retain your power after abdicating, didn't you..." He chuckled menacingly

"well, you were right for a while... but then you made a bargain with Maxwell...Do you remember that you touched his hand?"

"What are you..." Then Lucian stoped mid sentence, thinking back to a few hours ago... he remembered what Maxwell had said to him when he offered his hand to Lucian...

"We're in hell. I'm far stronger here than any of you all who are gonna be running around trying to exterminate young Ethic here. if I really wanted to take your power, I could do it to you without physical contact...

Lucian cursed under his breath, realizing exactly what had happened...

"Bastard took my power just now, didn't he?"

Rodric Nodded as he walked closer to Ethic and Lucian

"That he did."

He raised his scythe, bringing it down in an arc towards Lucian, who managed to stumble out of the path of the attack and then ran off past Ethic, calling out

"Run!"

Ethic took his advice, heading off after him as another scream sounded from Rodric...unbeknownst to him however, the landscape of the inky black space began to change...

Ethic stopped running after a while, as did Lucian, both of them gazed around, looking for Rodric... but they couldn't spot him... until a laugh came from up above them, and they both looked in unison to seem him droping towards them, scythe going in for a deadly arc. they dove to the ground in opposite directions, Rodric landing in-between them. He chuckled as he spread his arms out

"Do you see this, Ethic? does this place look familiar to you?"

Ethic looked around as he sprang to his feet and backed away from the Keeper, he couldn't make out anything in the shifting scenery around him...but gradually, it took shape.

Edited June 15, 2014 by Stratos

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

"Not kill us? Now I have to kill you out of matter of respect, not just cause you attacked my prey. A killer not liking to kill is like a Rat not liking Cheese. NOW VANISH!!!!!" shouted the Ratman as he released the Bolt of Crimson from his sword, it sped towards the Goth quickly, energy thrumming through the air.

[Rosesong]

Rose focused on the image she had of the boy that killed Ethic fresh in her mind. She knew what he looked like well enough, and that was all that mattered when doing when doing what she was going to. Taking a moment, she called out to the goth nuisance, "Freeze!" before grabbing her spear. She had no doubt that this was too much excitement for one day.

It was time to put an end to this. "Plus," Rose thought to herself, aggravated, "once we deal with him there's Shotgun McGee. I don't appreciate being his prey..."

Edited June 15, 2014 by Rosesong

[Sutoratosu]

Scott reeled backwards as the crimson lightning struck his blade, sending a jolt up his arm and forcing him to drop the weapon to the ground. he felt his body seize up suddenly, unable to move any further... he looked over to see another young woman with a spear in her hand...

Damn it... He thought to himself, tearing open a rift behind him onto the path... but he hadn't taken into account the fact that he would have to be able to walk through it in order to get away... in frustration, he closed the Rift, eyeing the young woman...

"Well... "he said, black sparks starting to appear on his finger tips

"Looks like Ethic had stronger friends than I thought..."

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The High Keeper watched on as the situation of Scott's mission deteriorated. Longicus stood beside him, looking on as well.

"Should we get him?" the soldier asked simply

"No..." the Elder Keeper responded

"He disobeyed a direct order... for his punishment, I will leave him at their mercy."

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Ethic finally realized what this place was...

The Library section of the family Store... he took a few steps more away from Rodric. who now stood down one of the Aisles. Lucian came around the corner and tapped Ethic on the shoulder

"This is a memory, Ethic... It's his specialty..."

Lucian glared at Rodric, continuing to explain

"It's a horrible power... He can twist and corrupt them... like death does to a lot of things..."

Ethic looked at Rodric

"So you took me into my own memory... to erase me?"

the Keeper replied simply

"That's how it works when I'm the one carrying out the sentence. You are wiped from your own memories...then you are wiped from all other's memories... and then I tear you apart and cast what's left of you into the River Styx." the keeper disappeared, and a young child's scream could be heard close by...

Ethic and Lucian ran, in time to see Rodric Close his hand around the neck of a young boy... he looked like a younger version of Ethic...

Rodric twisted the boy's head with his other hand, dropping him to the floor where he went limb. Ethic didn't know what he felt right now... Anger, Sadness? It was hard to tell what you might feel if you saw the Child version of yourself brutally murdered... Ethic took a few tentative steps over to the boy's body... and he knew it was indeed him... he tried to bring back the memory of what he had been doing this day, all those years ago... but just as it came up in his mind, it faded into nothingness... Ethic could feel a hollow area in his mind... like something was missing... empty...

He looked at Rodric, realizing just now what this all meant... he was going to be killed by Rodric... in every single memory Ethic had in his mind... Then once there were no memories left in his mind, Ethic would become a husk of a person, not knowing who he was...and once that had happened, Rodric probably wouldn't have any problem tearing him apart like he said he was going to...

Ethic looked around as the scenery again changed... it was outdoors now... in a park... on the shore of a lake... Ethic could spot himself standng by a tree, in the shade... talking to a few friends...

Rodric walked over to the group, passing right through the others around Ethic, and brought up his Scythe, then tore a ragged arc through the air... cutting the Teens throat... this version of Ethic fell to the ground limb as well... Rodric turned to Ethic, smiling, his teeth pitch black...

"Two down," he said

"Many more to Go..."

the scenary began to again change, and Ethic burst out of the Shock from what was happening, realizing if he didn't try to put up resistance, to advocate for himself, then he would cease to be.

"Stop!" He demanded. Rodric looked at him puzzled as the scenery actually obeyed Ethic, stopping mid swirl... Lucian spoke beside him...

"Ethic..." He said

"If these are your memories we're cycling through... and the scenery is responding to you like this... that must mean that we're not in his domain anymore..."

Ethic looked at Lucian, puzzled

"And your point is?" he asked

"We must be inside your psyche... which means you ultimately hold dominion here. it's your mind... Rodric is only able to do this because You think that he's able to do this... you weren't raising any resistance to him... most people who've suffered from his power never do... and so he's been able to do as he pleases even though it's your head we're in."

a small smirk appeared on the former keeper's face as he finished

"but now that you've spoken up... and this has happened... his hold here is gone... You're in control again."

Ethic returned Lucian's smirk

"Well... if that's the case... How about we go back to a very recent memory of mine...?" He looked to Rodric, who began advancing towards Ethic

"Damn... you couldn't just sit back and shut up, Could you? just had to speak up and break my power...Fine, we'll do this the hard way."

The Keeper began running towards Ethic, as the Young man began to step into the driver's seat of his memory, and the Scenery of his mind began shifting to how he dictated it would.

[Rosesong]

"Well... Looks like Ethic had stronger friends than I thought..." Rose stepped to the aggravating young man, holding a hand up to her companions and placing the tip of her spear against his throat. "Damn straight. Unlike my friends," she said icily, "I'm not going to kill you unless I get answers I don't like. Who are you, and who do you work for? Are you a staff member here, or do you work for someone else?" Circling the boy warily, she continued, "Why were you after Ethic? What did he do to you to cause his death?"

Seeing black sparks come from the boy's fingertips, Rose snapped, "I wouldn't do that if I were you. There's quite a few people ready to pummel you to the ground, and I don't think burning someone else to a crisp is going to calm them much." With that, she knocked the captive on the head, hard. "Start talking," she ordered, "or else I'm going to let my spear talk for me."

[Notus]

Ixidor

"i'm not trying to be a creep here miss Mia, but such beauty it's hard to ignore, it's like seeing a face of an angel in the midst of this hellish place."

Mia instantly blushed after hearing Ixidor's compliment, lowering her eyes in a shy motion. "I.. thank you, you're very kind to say that." she answered.

"wait...what do you mean it has been much time since you saw someone alive here? is there something i should know about!?"

She noticed the change in his tone and hurried to answer. "No, it's just... I've been here for a long time and it's very rare for someone new to come in, apart from these doomed souls you saw. You said Minos sent you here, but... why, if you're still alive?"

Phantom

The girl looked directly at Phantom now. Her gaze told nothing about what she felt, it was like she just accepted his presence there. "My name is Meridian. Who are you?" she asked simply.

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

Quincy licked his lips, as he moved over near Rose. "If he doesn't, leave him to me. Then I will be out of your hair for a little while. No fun if you all are already tired from a battle. But don't think I am going soft, I will still be hunting you."

[Supernovae]

Mr. Taylor sat back and noticed Quincy moving in on Rose. "That monster ..." he whispered to himself, silently aiming at the back of his head. However, the rat had helped them in there fight against the Goth, so he decided he'd wait until he pulled the trigger, but any sudden movements would spell doom for the rat.