Post by Kiryu on Jul 15, 2020 12:33:45 GMT -8
He had known it would happen.
Kiryu sat in the chambers he had taken in Aegis. The initially spartan room had been filled with Kiryu's personal effects, and at no small expense he had managed to, through a combination of IT skills and magical improvisation, get them a decent wifi connection. So it was that Kiryu's ZLED screen filled the room with the dialogue from... something. Honestly, the young man wasn't even listening. He was too preoccupied with his own failings.
Kiryu thought back to the events of the Shadow Anomaly. Of how very near to defeat he had come at the hands of his double, the High Inquisitor. Of how woefully, hilariously unprepared he had been. Kiryu had thought that, in some small way, he had been coming to understand the shape of the world, to know some of the hidden currents that moved this universe. He had never guessed that "this universe" was, apparently, only one of many. He had never guessed that despite his hard won power and skill that there were others that would equal or even exceed his own power and counter his abilities in ways that taxed his limits so thoroughly.
As a character paused for what assuredly was supposed to be a laugh, Kiryu's room went silent, and he remembered the dark voice that had spoken to him,
"You must free me. You must reach for my power or all will be lost. Strength will not save you. Courage will not save you. Only I can save you."
It was a voice that he had been hearing more and more, ever since he had taken up residence in Aegis with his disciples and friends. There was an unquiet presence here... something at the heart of the island that wanted to get out. Kiryu felt, deep within his being, that letting this thing out would harm more than it helped.
But it was right about one thing; Kiryu was not strong enough. Not now. Not as he was.
It was time to do something about that.
Kiryu probably could have come up with a more grandiose, eldritch method of getting his allies to meet him in their training room, but honestly, their group text seemed to work just fine. Both Zaru and Cade were always eager for training, so Kiryu had little doubt they would be up for a session. As he entered their training chamber, he used the strange, semi-organic controls to alter the terrain to suit the coming battle. Kiryu was in a somber mood, and his choice of locale illustrated that; he built a chamber identical to the one where he had fought High Inquisitor Kiryu. It was massive but enclosed, with dark stone walls populated with intricate mirrors and artwork. Some of the reflections showed Kiryu with perfect clarity, but others showed strange, distorted versions of the battle mage, showing him as misshapen or clad in shadow. Kiryu allowed himself a bit of a smirk and an eye roll at his own sense of melodrama, some of which was being dispelled by the prospect of the imminent arrival of Zaru and Cade. While he waited, Kiryu stretched, rolling out his shoulders and popping his neck. He knew that they would have a bit to talk about before they started properly; he had not really spoken with Cade and Zaru about what had happened, but he knew they had gone to that place, same as he had, and likely had faced their own trials and tribulations in the bizarre locale. Kiryu did not know if they were suffering the same doubts that he was now, but he did believe that, at the least, they could become stronger if they worked together.
[WC=620]
Kiryu sat in the chambers he had taken in Aegis. The initially spartan room had been filled with Kiryu's personal effects, and at no small expense he had managed to, through a combination of IT skills and magical improvisation, get them a decent wifi connection. So it was that Kiryu's ZLED screen filled the room with the dialogue from... something. Honestly, the young man wasn't even listening. He was too preoccupied with his own failings.
Kiryu thought back to the events of the Shadow Anomaly. Of how very near to defeat he had come at the hands of his double, the High Inquisitor. Of how woefully, hilariously unprepared he had been. Kiryu had thought that, in some small way, he had been coming to understand the shape of the world, to know some of the hidden currents that moved this universe. He had never guessed that "this universe" was, apparently, only one of many. He had never guessed that despite his hard won power and skill that there were others that would equal or even exceed his own power and counter his abilities in ways that taxed his limits so thoroughly.
As a character paused for what assuredly was supposed to be a laugh, Kiryu's room went silent, and he remembered the dark voice that had spoken to him,
"You must free me. You must reach for my power or all will be lost. Strength will not save you. Courage will not save you. Only I can save you."
It was a voice that he had been hearing more and more, ever since he had taken up residence in Aegis with his disciples and friends. There was an unquiet presence here... something at the heart of the island that wanted to get out. Kiryu felt, deep within his being, that letting this thing out would harm more than it helped.
But it was right about one thing; Kiryu was not strong enough. Not now. Not as he was.
It was time to do something about that.
Kiryu probably could have come up with a more grandiose, eldritch method of getting his allies to meet him in their training room, but honestly, their group text seemed to work just fine. Both Zaru and Cade were always eager for training, so Kiryu had little doubt they would be up for a session. As he entered their training chamber, he used the strange, semi-organic controls to alter the terrain to suit the coming battle. Kiryu was in a somber mood, and his choice of locale illustrated that; he built a chamber identical to the one where he had fought High Inquisitor Kiryu. It was massive but enclosed, with dark stone walls populated with intricate mirrors and artwork. Some of the reflections showed Kiryu with perfect clarity, but others showed strange, distorted versions of the battle mage, showing him as misshapen or clad in shadow. Kiryu allowed himself a bit of a smirk and an eye roll at his own sense of melodrama, some of which was being dispelled by the prospect of the imminent arrival of Zaru and Cade. While he waited, Kiryu stretched, rolling out his shoulders and popping his neck. He knew that they would have a bit to talk about before they started properly; he had not really spoken with Cade and Zaru about what had happened, but he knew they had gone to that place, same as he had, and likely had faced their own trials and tribulations in the bizarre locale. Kiryu did not know if they were suffering the same doubts that he was now, but he did believe that, at the least, they could become stronger if they worked together.
[WC=620]