OoC: I'm so sorry, Honour. I know I said I would have it up tomorrow two days ago. I apologize for taking longer than I promised. I hope you like it regardless.

BiC: On one wall, the inscription reads: I am the Moon. I preside over the night. I preside over the North and the East. I preside over the water and the wind. I preside over all things motionless, yet still march forward through time. I hang in the sky as a judge at the end of life. My shining light is significant of my influence.

On another, the inscription reads: I am the Sun. I preside over the day. I preside over the South and the West. I preside over the fire and the earth. I preside over all things active, yet still leave a memory in nature’s heart. I hang in the sky as a selector at the start of life. My bright light is significant of my influence.

Separating the two walls, there rests a great stone pathway. Not a ray of light or a shade of darkness hits its surface; it is gray. It bears an inscription as well. We are the Stars. We preside over and under the Sun and Moon. We preside over every direction and no direction. We preside over everything and nothing. We preside over the one thing the Sun and Moon have no control over. We hang in the sky as a guide through life. Our twinkling lights are significant of our influence.

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“Again with the stories?” Fuzen asked sarcastically as he intently listened to his current victim’s inane jabber. “Well, the ruins are right over there,” she responded timidly, pointing to a stone structure that rose from the nearby grove of green palms, “Whenever I see it, I can’t help but think of that fairy tale.”

“I see. It looks like there are a lot of legends around here.”

At a steady pace, he and she walked along a sandy beach. The ocean winds blew in gently, spreading the foreign scent of the sea, inland. A bright gibbous moon shined down from the heavens, sending bands of crystal silver to reflect off the distant rolling waves. Water crashed in and out against the shore, playing the coral tune only the salty swells could play. The evening cool had set within the sands, padding the feet of the couple that walked over it. At the edge of the endless beach, a grove of palms sprouted up from the pale brown sediment. They covered the landscape beyond the sandy barrier, forming a tropical forest that gave life to a pride of leafy plants. The sea air whistled between them, shaking the palm leaves with a gentle swish. Together, the trees and ocean played the duet of earth and water that could only be heard through the medium of the beach.

It was the perfect tune for Fuzen to dance to. Like a gentleman stepping to the waltz, he performed every beautiful step in the dance of perfect seduction. A flip of his hair, an aloof remark, a comment on her familiarity, a short quip about destiny, and she melted for him. The dance enchanted each victim, drawing them in with the three perfect parts. He knew the melody, she supplied the rhythm, and the beach threw in the harmony. To that tune, that dance, no woman alive could resist him. She, Tomoyo, the untouched maiden he walked alongside, was not strong enough to find herself an exception. Like countless before her, she became hypnotized by his dance.

Hours passed, they became close, but the time was coming for all to end. The time for her end, at least. She rambled on about fairytales, regaling the half demon with the rich history surrounding the seaside region. Speckled amongst her local tales of whimsy, she revealed a foreign myth or two. That lone coincidence kept her from passing through the threshold of the house of death. He wondered, ever so slightly, if she would mention his legend. Indeed, it brought elation to his soul to hear others talking about what he once was, a god. However, even after a long wait, she still didn’t even so much as allude to the fallen god of destruction. Keeping the face of the dancer, he readied himself to end her life.

Fuzen…

Suddenly, a voice popped into his mind. Ijinken? he thought, shifting his eyes down to his bejeweled sword. The partner deity firmly answered with a no. Not satisfied, he returned his eyes to his petite prey. Could she have said it? No, she was still going on about cherry blossoms, magic cards, and key wands.

Fuzen…

This time, the voice was clearer, more feminine sounding. “I’m sorry to interrupt,” he said to Tomoyo, cutting her off just as she mentioned something about an angel and a tiger, “But did you hear someone call my name just now?”

“No, I don’t think so,” she replied, sounding more confused than timid.

Fuzen…

That was the last straw. Putting his hand on his sword, he summoned the sand to his side. Almost instantly, two sheets of sand rose up and wrapped around his victim, covering all but her head. She let out a shocked scream, but it did nothing to stop the sand from constricting her body tighter. All the while, she looked to Fuzen, thinking he would come to her aid. Although he had no intention of leaving her there, he ignored her and stared off at the stone structure that rose from the palm grove, which was where he heard the voice echo from. He knew it; something in that dilapidated building was beckoning him. Suspicious, he turned back toward his tied down toy.

“You know, you have a cute mouth,” he said, gripping her by the chin, “I think I’ll use it before you die.” Despite her wriggles of protest, he pressed his mouth against hers. She tried to scream for help, but she couldn’t pull away. Forcefully, he slid his tongue past her lips. However, he was met with a pair of sharp teeth, which came down upon his adventurous flesh, drawing a drop of blood. Quickly, he pulled away, gritting his teeth in anger over her insubordination. In a fit, he turned demon and ran the tips of his right claw over her face. She cried out in pain, only to be silenced by the tightening of the sand on her chest. “It‘s sad,” he said, turning away from her, “Your death could have been special to me. If only this thing didn’t come up so soon.”

“You dast…”

A bloody fountain erupted from the Desolation, staining the sands red.

Licking his fingers, Fuzen made his way towards the stone structure that was visible from the beach. After a short walk through the forest, he arrived at its entrance. The building itself was rather nondescript. It was little more than a rectangle with a doorway in it. With a shrug, he entered. Though it didn’t seem dangerous, he drew his sword. Suspicious was often times worse than dangerous. Besides being a little dark for comfort, he found little to worry about. He walked through a corridor, a plain and simple corridor. Although it sloped downwards slightly, it went straight ahead without so much as curving. Suddenly, he regretted having killed Tomoyo so quickly. Destroying her body one piece at a time would have been less boring.

Eventually though, he reached the end. To his mild disinterest, he came into another corridor, this one going from left to right. With a grumble, he walked down the right path. After a much shorter walk, he came to a dead end. Strangely, there was a black slate pressed against the wall there. Curious, Fuzen rubbed his hand along its surface. Right in its center, it had an inscription. Though he couldn’t see, he could feel what characters he was reading. “I am the Moon,” he read aloud, “I preside over the night. I preside over the North and the East. I preside over the water and the wind. I preside over all things motionless, yet still march forward through time. I hang in the sky as a judge at the end of life. My shining light is significant of my influence.”

In a flash, the room was full of light. The floor glowed with a brilliant silver radiance that extended beyond the walls. Or, rather, where the walls would have been. Now, there was nothing around him at all, save the massive shining globe that he stood upon. The shock had hardly any time to wear off before he realized what had taken the place of his surroundings. In the great space above him, chunks of earth floated in the air, suspended without motion. There was a wall in every direction, forming a black, spherical cage that held everything he could see. Finally, directly above him, there hung a yellow globe, glowing with an equally bright, but different, light. As he saw it, he stood on the moon, inside a black dome, facing the sun and the earth bridges that connected the two.

OoC: Let's have a good, clean match.

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Char Fic: The Song of Healing and Mask of the Black Truth and Gaiden.
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