Moonlight Ruins (Shade, whenever you can)

Valdaria traversed through the dense undergrowth. She licked her reddened lips, enjoying her meal to the last drop. The girl had been in her prime, young and healthy, filled with life... her blood had been perfect. She grinned with content, as she remembered her screams, her vain attempts to escape. That made the meal all the more pleasurable. And she didn't even have to use her sword, just her acclaimed "social skills" and her twin canines... weapons were too... impersonal.

She had chosen a direction at random, it did not matter to her. Humans were everywhere, she would have no difficulty finding a meal. She was now in a dark forest, the dense canopy blocking the faint starlight. There were no sounds, the animals avoided her like the plague, but her nose and ears were well aware of their cowardly scurrying. She enjoyed knowing there was nothing that could challenge her, the feeling of total control over every living thing was so intoxicating. She adored the screams of her victims, when they discovered for themselves this cold, logical, inescapable truth.

Suddenly, she grinded to a halt. A scent wafted through the air. A strange scent. One she had not sensed for a long time. She slowly progressed, her will concentrated on the subtle scent. Then she knew.

"A vampire," she thought. "A pure blood! What could he be doing here? They live in their wretched castles, blending in with those infidel humans. And they call us unworthy!"

She had not seen another of her race ever since she had left the Cavern. Her eyes burned fire at the memory of that traitor, Lucien.

"Pure bloods are arrogant idiots, they think they can make more vampires and keep them at their whims, they think they can have as many wives as they want! But I showed him. Ha! The humiliation, a pure blood killed by their own creation. This one's also a male. I haven't fought seriously in a while, I could use a little training."

Valdaria moved on decisevely, her path always true to the source of the ever-clearer scent. She knew that her target had sensed her as well, but he remained motionless. Brushing through trees and foliage, she reached a grassy clearing, the blades of grass glinting in the pale moonlight. In the center stood an ancient structure, a collapsed guard tower. In the midst of the rubble stood a black-robed figure. As Valdaria walked out of the woods, he turned and looked at her. She walked towards him, a foreboding grin stretched across her face, accentuating her glinting canines...

OOC: I suppose you would like to backtrack and explain how Max got there.

Max was standing inside of a small hut, unbelieving of what his dragon friend was making him do. A small woman took his hand, and began studying his palm. She ran her finger through the lines on it, supposedly seeing the future. She slowly moved her head around as she thought, clicking her teeth with her tongue. Five minutes later, Max walked out to his dragon, looking irate.

"..Go North? What the...this fortune-telling business is nothing but a scam, and always has been!"

"Max, listen, just do what the old lady says, and believe me, something will happen."

"Yeah, I know. That's how this place gets you. With the sheer vagueness of it."

"Just do it." Astralis muttered as he sighed. He was trying to help his friend find direction in his life, and get things off of his mind, like revenge and death. He nudged Max with his head before he climbed on, and then he soared off into the sky, north.

"If this is my fortune, I'll go the rest of the way on my own."

"It's your choice." The dragon said as Max jumped off of it's back, falling 40 feet and landing on his feet. He then began his journey into the forest. He was ambushed by a wannabe gang of thieves halfway through, defeating them all by slashes of his long fingernails.

"Here's a riddle: What kind of thieves can't fight worth a damn?" He asked as he picked up their leader by the throat, slamming him into a tree. Continuing his journey, he finally reached an odd, abandoned structure upon nightfall. He walked into the center, raising the hood of his robes.

He simply stayed there for a couple of hours, observing the strange architecture of the ruin. He began to smell a vampire, and what seemed to be the remains of her human meal at one point. He wasn't sure, but something in his mind told him this was his wife, Cassandra. he knew it was impossible, but still. He stood there, waiting until he finally saw a female vampire walk towards the structure.

It wasn't his beloved, but this woman was gorgeous nontheless. He watched her enter, and looked her dead in the eyes.

"What brings you here, young beauty?" He asked through a mouthful of sharp fangs. Unlike other vampire's instead of his canines just growing, all of his teeth undergo a weaker type of growth. His blood-red eyes looked very entertained, and he stood there, simply waiting for an answer.

Valdaria looked at him for a few seconds without speaking, while maintaing her grin. "He looks potent," she quietly thought. "There is a certain air around him, he is too sure of himself. I will enjoy breaking his will."

"I don't need your compliments," she replied coolly.

"Ooh, touchy," Max smirked.

"Don't mock me, pure blood."

"Heh," he replied with a smile. "The name's Max. Max Cronqvist."

His words served the purpose he intended, and for a brief moment, Valdaria faltered. She knew the name well. It was one of the most powerful vampire houses in existance. Annoyed, she pushed her shock aside and regained her composure.

"So, you're not just any vampire then, are you?" she scorned.

Max chuckled. "And what might your name be, sweet-heart?

"Valdaria," she replied, "and don't try to seduce me, it won't work."

"A beautiful name, for a beautiful woman," he fired back.

Valdaria displayed her canines in contempt. Max replied by mocking the same gesture.

"As I asked before, what brings you here?" he insisted.

"I should ask you that question, castle-dweller," she snapped back. "I caught your scent and thought I could use a target practice."

"Good idea, I like it when they struggle," he sneered.

"Male swine!" she shouted in anger. Before Max could reply, Valdaria's whip lashed at him, hitting his shades. They stayed in place for a moment, then split in half and fell to the ground.

"Well that wasn't very lady-like," he replied coolly.

Valdaria unsheathed her sword, its silver edge gleaming. "Draw your weapon," she commanded, her rage dying out.


OOC: Sorry this isn't that long.

Max looked down at his broken glasses, a small scowl on his face.

"Those were really good shades..." he then admired the female's whip, smiling as he did so. This woman wished to challenge him? Perhaps that old hag was right about heading north; this direction had shown him this woman, but how could this change his fate?

"You have a whip, just like my wife. Of course, she had better manners than you."

"Shut up."

"See? What did I tell you?" Max said as he watched her. His left hand began glowing, and a stream of ectoplasm came out of his palm, taking the form of an odd sword with a purple blade. As soon as it appeared, the weapon's sharp steel began to emit smoke that matched its color. He took a fighting stance, and his other hand began to glow with white energy...light.

Valdaria recoiled upon seeing this. Light? How did an unholy being like a vampire become strong enough to wield the very power that most vampires hate? Sure enough, that was pure light emanating from this enigmatic nightwalker's hand.

"Oh, I'm sorry. You look a little down is all. I suggest you...lighten up!" The young man of the house of Cronqvist sent a blast of light into her eyes, temporarily blinding her. She put up her guard, and heard him flip over her. She swung Serpentine in that direction, expecting to make contact. He had fallen to the floor, pulling off a floor-sweeping kick he learned from the monks, knocking her to the floor. He then swung his blade, and she was able to dodge it. She rolled to her feet, lashing with her whip, and yanking Max's blade from his grip, pulling it back into her hand. She looked at him, smiling as she held the blade. Max flipped up, opened his empty hand, and the sword in Valdaria's hand dissolved into ectoplasm and reformed in Max's hand. He then laughed as he watched her.

"You know, you're cute when you're fighting."

OOC: I like the way the battle is developing.

Valdaria gave him a cold stare as she resumed her fighting stance.

"Nifty trick you've got there," she scoffed.

"You haven't seen anything yet," he replied.

Valdaria feigned an attack with the whip, and as Max prepared to block the attack, she lunged at him with her sword. However, her oponenent was quick to react, and repelled her with Jenorath, purple haze filling the air as the two blades collided. They remained locked together for a moment, and then Max shot a beam of energy at her. Valdaria was able to escape the full force of the attack, but it still managed to toss her backwards. While in the air, she spun around and landed on her feet, with the agility of a feline. With unscathed resolve, she prepared to re-attack.

"I should warn you, I have killed pure bloods before," Valdaria taunted.

"Really?" Max mocked.

"You will be next."

Without warning, Valdaria's whip lashed at her opponent, wrapping around his leg. The thick fabric protected his skin from the vicious barbs, but the whip was firmly latched in place. She grasped her whip tightly, and stretched it, in an attempt to topple him. Max saw it coming though, and just as she went to pull, his free hand grasped the rough leather forcefully, barely avoiding the barbs. He matched the female's strenght, and as his sword returned to his arm, he began pulling the whip towards him with both hands, ignoring the fact that his hands began to bleed.

"They will heal soon enough," he thought calmly.

Valdaria found herself in a predicament, and in an attempt to retain her whip, she was forced to yield her ground. Max's two hands working together had overpowered her, and she steadily closed in on him.

"Let him draw me near, I will attack him at close quarters," she schemed.

When she was close enough, she released the whip. Max lost his balance for a moment, but quickly recovered, and in a split second untangled the whip from his leg and tossed it on the ground. At the same instant, Valdaria swung her sword in a spin of her body, the tip coming straight at Max as she turned towards him. He barely had time to jump backwards, Serpentine slashing at his robes, a large strip of cloth torn away. A red line spread across his chest where the robe was torn, but it was only a flesh wound. By the time Valdaria picked up her whip, the wound was already half healed.

"First blood," she smirked with a smile.

"I see. You are the first to draw blood, but I shall be the last. Behold!"

The red-eyed warrior clasped his hands together, as if praying. The ring on his right hand was glowing red, and he opened his mouth, a cold, powerful gust straight from the spirit of autumn pushing her backwards, and she struggled against it. Her long black hair wildly blowing behind her, as she attempted to swing her blade at him, but he was out of reach.

He placed a hand on his chest, smearing the blood on his fingertips. He then placed the blood to his lips, feeling that familiar, luscious warmth, a little dripping from his mouth. As he did this, Valdaria was approaching him, as the wind from his mouth had lessened as he drank the blood. She got closer, and he gathered all of his breath.

"So, you weren't bluffing about having more tricks, pure blood."

"Listen, I don't really find myself superior to other vampires anymore, so why do you persist with name-calling?"

"Shut up, I can tell by looking at you that you are just as conceited as other pure bloods."

"Oh, really? I'm not that bad of a guy, you know."

He quickly took a final deep breath and sent another powerful wind at her, sending her flying backwards again, slamming her into a stone wall. She stabbed her blade into the wall, and lashed at him again with the whip. He then grabbed a spare, thin piece of the stone floor, and the whip struck it, causing it to shatter into a powdery dust. Maximilian smiled.

"It seems we are evenly matched, Valdaria."

"Perhaps," she replied. "But the battle must end, and only one will walk away alive."

"Are you sure?" he questioned. "It doesn't need to end that way. We could reach... an understanding."

"Really?" she joked, pushing her hair behind her ears. "And what kind of an understanding would that be?"

Max just smiled. "She is strong, I'll grant her that. Very strong considering she was once a human. And her skills greately remind me of Cassandra... I would like to know her story, but she seems reluctant to talk. Let's try and distract her..."

He suddenly soared into the air, and landed on a narrow wall of the crumbled structure. It barely had room for his feet, but he had good balance. He motioned at Valdaria to join him. Her suspicious stare was replaced by a wry smile. Seemingly weightless, she jumped in the air and landed on the ledge with a soft thud, a few meters away from Max. A light breeze picked up, blowing the two warriors' garments in the wind.

"How about we raise the stakes?" Max asked.

"Fine by me."

Max decided to take the lead and attack first this time. Jenorath solidified in his hand as he closed in to Valdaria, his feet completely co-ordinated. Valdaria held her sword firmly, ready for his attack. She would let him close in, and attack him with both whip and blade simultaneously. Just as the critical moment neared, Max shot off another burst of light. Once again, it caught her completely unprepared. Blinded and disoriented she tensed her ears. A hiss of wind betrayed the movements of her foe's blade, and she deflected the powerful strike. But Max was relentless. He stabbed at her, and as her view cleared up, she barely managed to lean back, the blade inches away from her waist. She swung horizontally, pushing Max's sword away.

The short gap between the furious competitors was clouded with purple smoke by now. Max swung again and again, his opponent struggling to defend herself. Max had gained the upper hand with his quick attacks. Valdaria knew she had to pull away and bring up her guard. Before she had a chance though, Max swung low, carving a cut across her right thigh. Dark blood began to flow, darkening her already black leggings. Her eyes widened, but not from pain.

"How could he have hit me?!" she thought in anger.

As Max went to retake his fighting stance, she lashed her unforgiving whip at him. It coiled around his exposed arm, the barbs cutting into his flesh. It did not make the damage of its full potential, as Valdaria immediately pulled it back, throwing Max sideways off the ledge. As he toppled, he sent another gust of autumn wind at her. It caught Valdaria straight on, tossing her down at an awkward angle.

Max straightened up as he fell, and landed with ease, his bending knees cushioning his fall. He looked to see where Valdaria had fallen. Apparently, her fall had left her no margin of recovery, as she lay sprawled over a pulverised pile of rubble. As Max drew close, she was struggling to rise up. He offered a helping hand. Her face filled with bewilderment, she took his hand and rose up. For a moment she gave him a puzzled look.

"Why is he helping me? Doesn't he see I want to kill him?"

She looked into his eyes and saw compassion. Without warning, her face began to radiate anger once more, she pushed Max away, and lifted her weapons up once more.

He flipped backwards as her whip reached out with it's serrated grasp, and Max sidestepped it, landing with his feet on the wall. He turned and looked over at her, giving her an expression that he meant no harm. Jenorath vanished out of his left hand as he watched her, crossing his arms. She looked at him, then shook her head, swinging at him with her snake-like blade. Just before the blade struck him directly in the head, he bent backwards, all four limbs touching the wall, causing Serpentine to slam into the white brick just below his crotch. His eyes grew wide for a moment, smiling nervously.

"He's acting like this to trick me...I think.

Valdaria was unsure of what to do, so she tried to yank her blade out of the wall, which took a a mere four seconds, but she had to use both hands, to remove it quickly. This was enough time for the pure vampire, who jumped over her head just as she tore the weapon out, attempting to slash him again. She missed, however, and she angrily snapped her whip on the ground, sending a small wisp of dust off of the ground. Max's blade materialized in his hand, the gleaming words "Beyond and To All Time I Stand" standing out until purple smoke veiled it as he took a battle stance.

The female vampire looked at him, weapons in hand, ready to strike. Max moved his hand in the air if he were drawing something in the air, and suddenly Valdaria felt as if she were rising. She looked down, and saw he was making the tiles beneath her feet lift her up. He moved his hand backward in a striking movement, and the tiles flew backward, crashing into the floor. Valdaria was able to leap off, and he deceptively rose another tile by moving his left hand behind his back, which flew at Valdaria's ankles, knocking her forward and causing her to drop her whip. Max caught her in his arms, stopping her descent.

"I don't want to kill you, Valdaria. You remind me of my wife, whom I know in my heart I shall never see again. Who brought you to hate royal vampires so much?"

The young blood drinker looked at him for a moment, unbelieving of what he just did. She could impale him with her sword right now, but he was completely trusting her. For a brief moment, she comtemplated stabbing the weapon into his heart. She looked into his eyes, as if searching for hidden intentions. All she saw was genuine concern.

OoC: Hey, this is turning into more of a romantic thing, isn't it?

She crept away once more. "Why don't you attack when you have the chance?! You think you are better than me?" she hissed.

Max stared at her, silent.

"If you must know, I learned the arrogance of royalty from the vampire who made me."

"And who might that be?"

"Lucien Twekara."

Max recognised the name. It belonged to another vampire family which almost rivalled his own. Over the centuries, it had made many enemies, who eventually conspired against the Twekara house. They were forced into exile, and rumored to have formed a vast underground citadel. This was the first time however that Max had heard word of them.

"After I left from the pitiful humans which had raised me, he found me and brought me to the Cavern."

"So the rumors were true..." Max thought.

Valdaria was now looking at him dead in the eyes. "With lies and scheming, he took me as his bride. I was a new-born, my powers unmastered, my skills unobtained. I needed him to survive."

At this point her eyes were aflame with anger. "It was not even a few years later, when I discovered he had taken another bride, another one he had created. Having gained my abilities by then, I was not the weak new-born anymore. The arrogant fool expected me to be a puppet to his will, since he had created me. He had underestimated my abilities. I easily overpowered both of them. First I gave the female an excruciating death while he watched, and then I killed him as well."

"She is good," Max thought, " to have killed Lucien Twekara. I can see the source of her hostility now. And me being a male doesn't seem to improve the situation."

The memory of her past seemed to ignite a renewed hate within her, as she had re-assured herself that Max had to be treated just as he deserved. Like dirt. And yet... She felt perplexed by his seemingly calm gaze. This made her feel weak, which fueled her anger even more. She was so used to her uncensored hatred, that feeling anything else was alien to her.

"Perhaps I was a royal vampire once, but I relinguished my past life. I am now a monk in training."

At that Valdaria burst into a fit of evil laughter. "You, taking instruction from those foolish humans? Pathetic!"

If Max was offended, he didn't show it. His expression remained unchanged.

"You said I remind you of your wife. Which one of your wives would that be?" she scorned.

Max could not hide his anger anymore. He had taken streams of insults from this woman, but this was too much. He loved Cassandra. The fact that he would probably never see her again was almost unbearable. To see his beloved being ridiculed now was something he would not allow.

"I was never like that to her," he said through clenched teeth, his eyes blazing. "Just because Lucien betrayed you doesn't mean you can offend my wife!"

Valdaria smiled at him. "Now he will fight me. No more games!" she said to herself. Yet somewhere within her a strange emotion awoke. Could that possibly be guilt for betraying his trust? One thing was certain. She had never felt guilty before.

Her angered opponent came against her irreverent expression. Uncontrollable anger was welling inside him. His calm personality was losing the reigns. His hair began to grow, his fingernails extended. He seemed to grow in size. In a last burst of emotion, two ferocious wings tore out the back of his robes.

Valdaria looked on the transformation of her opponent with a narrow smile. Now she would have her battle. Pushing her strange emotion away, she prepared for the upcoming attack.

OOC: How's that for a twist. This should postpone the end for a while. Anyway, don't get anyone killed yet. I somehow think that we'll eventually return to the romantic inclination again though.

The transforming vampire's mouth opened, and all of his teeth were lengthening and growing, until his entire mouth looked like it was filled with razor blades. It was harder for him to talk, but he struggled to, anyway.

"I don't think you should talk about matters you don't UNDERSTAND!" He balled his hands into fists, the long nails cutting into his hands because of his pure fury. His face was so deeply contorted that he barely looked anything like a human at all, his wings flapping hard enough to send chunks of the nearby wall to break off. He growled, his muscles tightening with rage as he lunged at Valdaria, who jumped backwards just in time. He continued to soar at her, and they fought, claw to blade for a while, until they reached a flight of stairs. Valdaria saw her chance, and quickly sprinted up the spiraling steps.

The beautiful vampire turned as she reached the second floor, and waited for her enraged rival. He burst in through the window to the left of her, and she leapt away to the opposite side of the room, but not without being clawed in the back. She looked and saw Max was almost a separate person now, and his eyes weren't pale red, there was a hint of a toxic blue, someone else inside of him...

A small flash echoed, and the horrible, monster-like vampire had a quick flicker of something on his face. Valdaria realized that it was a mask, but at the same time, it vanished. The adversary laughed at her confusion.

"Orion will teach you your weakness, just like he did when He was free. He doesn't like being trapped in a box, no he doesn't. He had to break free...Max hates him, and just like when he took his poor, poor daughter...HE'LL TAKE OFF YOUR HEAD!"

Valdaria wasn't absolutely sure, but this vampire was either crazy, or cursed. She drew her whip, sending the weapon straight at her opponent's face. He caught the end of the whip, the barbs imbedding in his hand, but he didn't care. He yanked it with all his strength, pulling Valdaria to him and then kicking her through the other window, pulling his hand free using the sharpness of his other claw. Valdaria was actually starting to worry now, as she flew outside.

"How has he gotten so much extra power, and he speaks of this Orion as if it's himself..what's going on?!" She thought as she fell, trying to regain her breath from his powerful kick. She thought back, trying to think of an occurence similar to this.

"...He spoke of having once been free...he spoke of Max hating him...and he spoke of killing his daughter..." As she landed on the grass, she pondered this. From what she gathered, this man had killed his own daughter, or a demon was possessing him. She was intrigued to know, so she decided to ask a few questions of her own.

"Ma--Orion, how did you kill Max's daughter?!"

The winged figure laughed oddly as he flew out of the window, and took a seat on the grass.

"Oh, I thought you'd never ask. What's your name, woman?"

"Valdaria."

"Disgusting name for a disgusting creature..."

"Just tell me what I want to know, fiend."

"In the beginning, we were one, and we posed as our grandfather upon finding a village. We executed those that the wicked Alchemist ordered to be killed. Oh, those were the days. Then, Maxy-boy decided to expand his power by being experimented on by the red-headed one...I shan't dare to speak his name, or this body would most likely go out of control. Anyway, after he was turned into a hideous mutated beast. After that, Max was fired from his former job, because Max's DNA had been taken before he was mutated, and then he was cloned, so he wasn't needed anymore. Most of the people in the town we were in wanted us dead, and we didn't have the protection we used to have under our previous employer, so we weren't safe at night. After being fired, Max was explained by the others how his career had angered them so, and he decided to try to become a better person, and this was when I started to feel myself fade. A few days later, Max was getting annoyed with the fellow with red hair, and insulted him. The response to the insult was an injection that caused his morph arm to rot, and Max was slowly dying from it. In the end, the two made an arrangement that got him to change him back into his original state, with the exception of the one black bird wing he had received...soon after that, a mysterious blue-haired dog beast attacked the village, one with great power. It burst from the ground behind him, ripping off the wing. He was weakened for many days, as for some reason, the wound wouldn't heal. Blood dripped for days, until some supernatural prescence healed him, sealing the wound. He was infuriated, but the creature escaped, running faster than he could ever move at that point...I forgot about his wife, yes. Cassandra. he loved that woman so much, it sickened me. He met her one day in Nexus, showering her with affection over all that time where these horrible things happened to him...and eventually, a month after marrying, Cassandra became pregnant.

Max tried to befriend the man who had caused his arm to rot, in an attempt to make amends. The man had faked a trance, and told him that his children were destined to destroy the entire realm of Nexus, and he and his wife. He said the only way to stop their evil was to devour them. Max knew that the man was very accustomed to these kinds of trances, and told himself for the good of the people living on that planet, he would do it. When the day came, he loosened his jaw, and swallowed them whole as they came from the womb, crying. His wife also mourned, but did not stop him, as he had explained the circumstance to her.

After this, the mystic man who won't be named rushed out unexpectedly, returning with two crystals. He explained that he was able to retrieve their souls, and placed them inside two bodies that he created by magic. For a time, all was well, until a time when the fellow saw Max's kids again, and looked into their eyes with his own, as they glowed green. He told Max that he had been mistaken, that he had chosen the wrong souls, that of demons. Shortly after, two people appeared in Nexus, one by the name of Julius, the other by the name of Anna. They looked like exactly what Max perceived his grown children to look like, and strangely, had amnesia. Max tried to explain what happened before, knowing that they must be reincarnations, but Julius had images of darkness and pain in his heart every night he slept, and every time he felt his father's warm embrace.

He ran away upon Max's touch, into the forest. A hideous creature who all warriors feared at the back of the forest greeted Julius upon arriving in his cave, and the blue beast returned to the village, dropping a figure covered in a shroud before the man of red hair, who must have been acquainted with it. The man examined the body, and shook his head. he said he couldn't save someone who lacked a heart. Max, Cassandra, and Anna had a small funeral for Julius, and they cried for what seemed like hours. That's when I...left.

A force I can't explain gave me a body of my own, a phantom mirror image of pretty boy here, and a scythe. I then decide to test my power by giving Max a little more grief. A voice had commanded me to destroy Max's daughter, and just like the good old days, I took her out that night. For fun I flew over the trees, dropping her severed head into Max's lap, and left. Whew, that nearly exhausted me."

Valdaria was now in awe by this tragic story. She gripped her blade, and was unsure of what to do. Orion drew Jenorath, and the woman watched as it morphed into a phantom scythe. He then stood to his feet, and chuckled some more.

"Anyway, his wife Cassandra had to defeat me, since any move he used on me had no effect, because I was partly him...His wife defeated me with her awesome sword and long whip...a lot like yours, and nothing was left of me but a Hanya mask. They placed me in a lockbox, hoping to never see my prescence again. I was finally able to gain enough power to break free, and leave the mask as a spirit, and I've been following Max as he traverses worlds for awhile, tormenting him."

The vile spirit that was controlling Max made him glare at her, uttering a sinister laugh.

"I'll just pretend that you are his beloved, and i'll make that my revenge!" He leaped at her, his face locked in a haunting grin as he swung his scythe.

OoC: another twist for you, Mr. Andurhil?

OOC: Oh my God! 1521 words! (no I did not count them myself) Aaaaah, the confusion!

Valdaria leaped backwards avoiding the scythe slash. She had begun to think she had gotten more than she had bargained for. But she didn't care about Max, or his unbearable memories. Or did she?

The demon swung again, Valdaria side-stepping just in time. The new form of Max was rather bulky, so she decided to use her agility to her advantage. They were now some distance from the rubble, and Valdaria began to circle Orion warily, allways just out of his reach. He kept his eyes firmly on her, a malicious grin twisting his face in an inconcievable grimace.

Finding an opening, she dashed behind Orion, slashing at his back. The monster remained silent, turning around at lightning speed and hitting her on the back. Valdaria fell to the ground, the wind knocked out of her lungs. Her opponent stabbed at her with his long nails, but she rolled out of the way in the nick of time, his nails embedding in the yielding soil. As he struggled to dislodge his nails, Valdaria quickly stood up and lashed her whip at him, the vicious tip landing on his nose. Orion put his free hand to his face, howling in pain. His other hand got free, and as the whip flew back, he caught it and pulled it hard. Valdaria was unprepared, and lunged forward unsteadily as the whip pulled her along. The demon moved in, his hand slashing at Valdaria's outstretched hand. The nails tore off her left sleeve and cut in deep, grazing the bone, and broke off. (OOC: the nails broke off)

Valdaria dropped her whip and recoiled backwards. She was heaving from the pain, her eyes wide. Blood began to flow from the wound uncontrollably, whilst an unstoppable wave of pain flowed along her arm. Her whip arm was now useless. Valdaria had given many an excruciating death. She had never been on the other side.

"What's wrong? Cat got your tongue?" her opponent mocked.

Her eyes burst aflame. Her pain seemed to submit as she became overwhelmed by anger. An aura of power seemed to emanate from her. She tore off a strip from her other sleeve and tied up her injured limb. Pulling it tight, she gritted her teeth as a new wave of pain hit.

"You will die, demon," she taunted.

"You remind me of my wife, whom I know in my heart I shall never see again," ringed in her ears. "His heart?" she thought. "He met her one day in Nexus, showering her with affection," resounded the demon's voice, "His wife also mourned... He loved that woman so much, it sickened me." Love, affection, sadness, mourning... happiness... These were things Valdaria had never felt. "Vampires do not do that!" she scowled herself. Her mind spun. "Max and Cassandra are vampires..." A stark notion came to her. She realised how similar she was to this creature. Living off killing for fun, torturing... She was the arrogant one. She never felt any higher meaning, never had any porpose. "Max..." Now, she had found one. Now, she understood.

Her eyes narrowed in apprehension as she stared towards the grinning contortion of her rival. "You shall not have his body!" she yelled at him. "I will die before I let you leave. Cassandra may have banished you for a while, but I will not be so forgiving. Prepare to die!"

Orion broke into a laugh when she finished. "Foolish woman. I cannot be killed. I am a part of him. You'll have to kill him too."

"If you were created, then you can be destroyed. If Max comes to peace with his past, then you will have no power over him."

"And who will stop me? You?" he asked with a chuckle.

Valdaria said nothing as she moved towards him. When she was but a few meters away, she broke into a frantic assault. Orion sent a massive fist towards her, but she avoided him, and swinging her sword, she pushed it into the demon's thigh, impaling his leg. Shouting in anger, he sent the hand with the broken nails to her injured arm. She had barely managed to retrieve her sword when the punch connected, sending the gasping vampire in a roll over the grass. She ignored the lightning searing through her arm and jumped to her feet.

"Hope you enjoyed that," she smirked. "There's a lot more in store for you."

OOC: Ok, now there's something to keep this battle going. By the way, we're like allies now, right? This battle has gone weird.

OoC: well, weird is my specialty....ah hah hah...

BiC: Orion looked at the blood spurting from his leg, forming a crimson puddle on the floor, and somehow, a red reflection. He looked down, and saw not a contorted face, but simply one so overcome by hatred that it defied true expression. Max was looking back at him, and spoke through the body they shared, his voice riddled with so much contempt it richly echoed across the entire clearing.

"You...unspeakable monster...I will not let you escape again, merciless ghost of past failures! Anna was an innocent! She was the most perfect daughter I could have asked for, and you doubled my losses...and for what reason?! To feed your insatiable lust for death?! This time, i'll be the one to finish this!"

Before the demon could think, the ring on his hand glowed, and the trees all around the clearing were dying, and they were being pulled towards him. A rain of strange things began to fly at Orion with intense speed. Valdaria looked at them, thinking at first that they were bats. She noticed, however, that they didn't have wings. They were leaves, and they were moving fast. Orion jumped to dodge them, but the razor-sharp projectiles flew at him, pinning him by his sides to a slanted stone wall. He began to bleed intensely at this time, the wound on his leg sealing up as the two new ones began to leak.

The rest of the swarming leaves, for a brief second, took the form of a vague human-like figure, then stabbed into the base of a gravestone.

"Max must still be able to have some control over the ring and his powers...but what is he trying to tell me?"

More leaves flew from another direction, sticking to the center part of the gravestone, in the middle of the cross, taking the shape of a hand, and half of the leaves, the blackened, rotted ones, fell off on the ground, ripping to shreds as they did so. Valdaria thought she understood what he was trying to say, but this was very risky, and could kill Max altogether, but she supposed he would rather die than be a slave to his daughter's killer...but did she want him to die? No, she now supposed she didn't. She needed to get him to face his past from the inside, while she faced him from the outside, biding time until he did it.

Meanwhile, Max floated in a blackish oblivion, his thoughts obstructed by a toxic looking blue miasma. He struggled against it, slashing mentally with a mental copy of Jenorath in his hands. He had been able to make an opening big enough to send Valdaria a message, along with a distraction and a curse to Orion. He made another mental hole with a forceful slash, to look through eyes that rightfully belonged to him. Valdaria was shaking her head, and for a moment, he sensed that she didn't want to risk his life. He decided he must do it on his own. He prayed that Valdaria was to stay alive, while he confronted his past.

He turned, and saw a door that wasn't there before, floating behind him. He turned the knob, and appeared in a small inn. he remembered this place, yet he hoped he never would see it again. He heard the slashing of a blade, and someone's muffled scream. Laughter that seemed alien bacame hauntingly familiar as he watched himself slink out of the building. He followed himself silently, and after watching for a while, he gripped himself by the shoulders, turning him around. The past Max looked at him with eyes of uncaring disregard, and glinted in the dark. He saw Orion in there, waiting. At this point he realized that all of this was images created by his mind to place thoughts in a somewhat plausible form. Knowing this, he gripped the sides of the wicked memory's mouth, stretching it open like he would do one day to devour his own young. Max slid inside of the darkness, and found himself at the beginning of a cavern lined with ribcages, and filled with a bluish smoke. He took a deep breath, and stepped into the darkness.

OoC: I'll take care of Max's inner struggle, you should work on the outer, if that's cool with you.

Orion stood up from the rubble, toppling the smashed wall. He was still bleeding. Valdaria turned towards him, bringing up her guard.

"The fool thinks he can drive me out on his own," he laughed.

"He isn't on his own," she snapped.

She began to move towards the gravestone, her thoughts racing. "I could kill him with this. But I have to weaken him, so I can help Max." Leaning down, Valdaria broke off the cross and held it. It felt warm to her vampire hands. She knew it would be burning in a while. Having been human, it was not as drastic to her as to a pure blood. "This could kill him," she reminded herself.

Orion began to close in. "You think that piece of stone will stop me?!" He laughed. Valdaria held the cross with her damaged arm, pain shooting through it once more. But she needed her good arm to hold Serpentine. She jumped aside as another scythe swing came at her. She lifted her sword to counter Orion's vertical attack, the two falling in a deadlock. Valdaria thrust the cross at him. His other arm lunged at her, grabbing the cross. For a moment nobody moved as his has hand began to sizzle. The air began to smell of charred flesh, and suddenly Orion pulled away in pain. Valdaria used the opportunity to swing her sword, catching the inside of his arm and cutting from shoulder to wrist. Orion pulled away writhing in pain, his arm bleeding.

"No you fool, no you don't," he said to himself, referring to Max.

Pushing away his pain, he regained composure and suffocated Max's mind once more. He looked at Valdaria, his vicious fangs clenched in fury. He flapped his wings and flew at surprising speed at her. Valdaria was unable to react when the vicious form lunged at her. He grabbed the cross from her fingers, sending a fresh jolt down her arm, and as his fingers began to smolder he threw it away, out of the woman's reached. He then landed between her and the cross.

At that moment, apparently with no cause, Orion dropped the scythe and fell to his knees, holding his head in pain. Valdaria used the moment to dash towards the cross. Orion however, seemed to recover at that moment and thrust his nails at Valdaria, grazing her side and sending her to the ground. She arose with broken lips, blood spilling down her neck. Orion lunged at her with his scythe, swing left, right, Valdaria leaning back to avoid the attacks. He gave a kick to her stomach, sending her crashing onto a wall which subsequently collapsed on her.

Orion closed in, but Valdaria was veiled by the dust of the rubble. Suddenly, a brick flew at him, landing on his forehead. He stepped back, dazed. Valdaria jumped towards him and swung her blade. Orion sidestepped away. She stabbed at him once more, hoping to catch him off guard. His hand moved out and grabbed her wrist, slowly spinning it around. Valdaria was in agony, but she knew she had to break free. She spun her other arm at his face, knocking him sideways. Valdaria fell on her knees, hurting as much as her opponent did. Flexing her bruised wrist, she struggled to her feet once more.

The demon had beaten her to it, and thrust his scythe at her, the sharp tip impaling her left shoulder and pushing her to the ground, holding her on the grass. He raised his nail-weilding arm, and aimed at her throat. For the first time, she felt fear. Valdaria looked at him with painful eyes, and for a moment she thought she saw Max in Orion's expression. His arm seemed to stop in midair, and his expression was twisted between that of Max and that of Orion. He slowly pulled away, his body trembling with the two wills which now governed it.

Valdaria took this opportunity to kick him away, and she rolled off to safety. She slowly and painfully rose once more, nursing her bitter wound. Orion was back to himself again, Max having lost control once more, and he moved towards her once more.

OOC: Ok, I referred to your quest a few times, with Orion struggling with Max, so try and match it with your post.

Max began his descent through the darkened cavern, and for a brief moment, a faint flicker of blue revealed to him the figure of Orion’s cloaked back. The figure in the Hanya mask then turned, fading away as he chuckled.

“No, you fool, no you don’t.” was what echoed throughout the cave, causing small chunks of dust to descent from the ceiling, followed by a tumultous shaking. A noise that sounded to the vampire like the screams of a dying man began to get closer in the dark. Max recoiled, as the floor beneath him wrapped around him up to his neck, holding him in place. He struggled furiously, as the noise got closer, and closer. What torment could await him now, in his own sorrowful memories?

Something from his worst nightmares came forth, bleeding from the chest in a constant stream. It was his son, Julius…and at the same time it wasn’t. Maggots were squirming out of the wound on his chest, and out of his eyes. Max tried to close his eyes as the body approached, but they wouldn’t. He tried to focus on what Julius looked like when he was alive, while remembering it was an illusion. The apparition looked at him with eyes swimming in blood, speaking through a mouth that was coated dry with the same substance.

“Monster…you monster…killed us both…we were your kids…just babies…”

Max struggled to concentrate, and his eyes filled with tears as he heard the voice of his son, although not from the real one, but from a memory clouded by darkness, for the final time. He was ready to go forward. The zombie was now face-to-face with him, and looked him dead in the eyes.

“I know I was foolish for listening to him…he seemed sincere, and that was so long ago…I was a fool, and I accept my mistake, how ever massive it was. I’m sorry…”

He lowered his head as the creature grinned.

“Anything else you want to say before I eat you alive, dad?”

Max opened his mouth, and screamed in a voice that was so loud within the cavern that it became a raw force, that hit the walking corpse with such impact that it dissolved into several pieces, which flew back into the darkness. Max then ripped free from the floor’s grip, and his body glowing with a red aura. He screamed again, this scream penetrated the floor with ease. An echo of Orion’s scream, and a quick view through his perspective showed him falling to his knees was enough for Max to figure out he had done some damage. He jumped down the new hole he opened, and fell out into a village square.

He saw the familiar scene where the man with red hair snuck up behind Max after their argument, and his viscous morph arm began to rot. He ran at the man with freckles and long red hair, looking angrier than he had ever been, turning him around and gripping his throat. He then was hit by another memory, one that this man had become a god. The confrontation was now at a temple that was decorated by stone lizard like creatures.

The red-haired god giggled.

“OH, HOW FUN IT IS! How are you, Max? Still eating babies?”

“Why don’t you…shut the **** up…you sick excuse for a deity.”
Around this time in the physical plane, a brick rose up and collided with Orion’s head. While Max was talking, there was a quick vision: of raised claws, about to finish off a wounded Valdaria. He looked back at Nefirian, the memory within him that generated so much hate, and grabbed him. He lifted the figure off of the ground, and before he could he transform into some kind of monstrous reptilian beast, he snapped his back over his lap, and hurled him to the ground. He knew that gods could recover from that, so he drew Jenorath, and plunged it into his shattered spine, then thousands of leaves flew out of his sleeves, cutting like machete blades as they tore the creature apart, and then the figure rose shortly after, completely healed.

“You…Nefirian Marius Phoenix…your memory shall no longer pain my soul…even a god can bleed.” The red-haired man then was ripped open through the middle, his body began to swallow itself, and the temple began to collapse inwardly. Max blew open a wall, and ran out. He watched as the temple crushed the memory of his most hated foe, next to the one who was controlling him.

He then found himself in control of his body, standing over Valdaria, pinning her to the ground with a scythe, ready for the finishing stroke. He felt the wicked push of Orion directing his claws, but he struggled to resist, blue smoke clouding his vision. He used every last bit of his will at that point, the raw force of wickedness trying to tempt him with the thought of fresh blood.

"No...I've learned...no matter the price, you never kill the ones you love."

He resisted, and was completely clouded by blue shadows as he reappeared in the depths of his memory, but he knew, somehow, that he had done what was necessary to keep Valdaria from meeting her demise by his hands. He felt brief relief as he fell back, into the darkness.

He was back in the village square, and he looked around to see where he needed to go next. One thing he noticed was that this place was different from what he used to remember…If you looked hard enough into the forest, you used to see Nef’s cabin, where he performed all of those weird experiments, but now it was gone. He looked off to the cemetary, and his son’s grave was gone. His memories were fading as he defeated them, and then he turned to see a black hole in the sky. He looked inside it, and saw Nef’s cabin, and his son’s casket, not the true one’s, but his memories of them, orbiting inside. He soared upwards, knowing that Orion was taking these memories for his mind games. As he reached the swirling darkness, he screamed sonically a second time, shattering the cabin, and sending the casket upwards a little, out of his way. He then soared into the blackness, soon to confront his foe.

OOC: Its a wee bit short.

Valdaria was panting, her breath laden with pain. Her opponent seemed unscathed except a slight limp and a bleeding arm. She spoiled a slashed arm and an impaled shoulder. She was in pain. She was losing.

"Max, hurry up," she thought in painful distress.

Orion began moving towards her, scythe firm in his grip. "Are we losing?" he smirked.

"Shut up!" she replied with the greatest contempt she could muster. Her opponent smiled.

Valdaria began a mad assault at Orion, catching him off-guard. She launched herself at him, toppling him to the ground, his large wings buckling under the weight. As he crashed intto the ground, a terrifiying snap resounded across the clearing, as his left wing splintered in two. She raised her sword in an attempt to stab him while holding his scythe, but his free hand shot up at her, holding her arm in midair. Her injured arm was burning with pain, but still she held. Suddenly, Orion did the only thing she didn't consider. Opening his wide fangs, he bit down on her throat.

She felt her blood being drained, and she knew that when he had his fill, he would rip off her throat. She pushed down harder. The blade lingered just over his chest. Her last ounce of strenght poured in her arm, and the edge penetrated. She twisted the blade, Orion hollering in pain, and managed to pull away. Her neck was covered in blood, the front of her shirt soaked in it. She stumbled a few paces back in, her head spinning, and collapsed on her knees, supported on the hilt of her sword, breathing heavily.

"Max..."

Maximilian rose into the blackness, which was now like liquid, a forceful stream sending him up, and rising through a small opening. He had flew out of a puddle, and was looking at the same scenery of every troubled moment of his life, swirling around him in a massive tornado of mental anguish. He felt a great weight upon him, one that threatened to crush his soul into nothingness. He resisted this, and the tornado began to grow faster. Max just realized how loud it was. The noise was deafening. it was composed of frantic deathcries and heartbreaking moans, all entricated mixed to make a noise like wailing wind. Max realized that all of his worst memories were converging here, and this was the calm center now. A spray of something warm caressed all of the vampire, no surprise at all that it was blood. He ripped off his shirt, which was all in all, another mental image in his mind. He looked around, and saw his shirt fly upwards, tearing up and reshaping into a ragged material, even blacker than it orignally was, and the blood that was soaking the ready fighter pulling off and forming the shape of Max's own face, a wicked mirror image. The blood slowly dissapated, revealing that underneath the blood there was a demonic white face with blue eyes and fangs that stretch out from both the top of his mouth. The mask then struck the cloth, and it became a cloak. A scythe then slid out of the forming being, and two gloves entered the darkness to serve as hands. Orion was ready. Max drew Jenorath, and his darkside spun it's scythe.

"I call mine...Jenowake, since it came from yours. It doesn't exist in reality anymore, but that will change once I eliminate you, and finally take what's mine, wretch."

"Your words don't faze me, demon."

"Say what you like, it won't save the fact that you are a foolish whelp, and that I will rid myself of you."

Max looked at him, aiming Jenorath in his direction. The swirling mass of horrible images gaining speed around them. Orion drew his scythe back in a stance, then used the wicked curved blade to sweep at Max's chest. Max leaned backward, the blade barely missing him. The battle seemed to take place in slow motion. Max ducked and stabbed with Jenorath, slashing a portion of the darkness in Orion's cloak, revealing a little light through the torn fabric. Orion screeched with anger and sent a fist at the vampire, punching him into the dirt in the back of the head. Max quickly backflipped after being hit, and sent a blast of light into Orion's demonic mask face. The demon recoiled, as it couldn't see for a moment. Max then raised a leg, giving him a swift kick to his scary visage. He growled in pain, and rose off of the ground. Max did the same, and they stared at each other in mad fury.

A purple aura and and a blue aura were now facing each other, the tornado of memories being pushed back by their torrential powers. In the mind, here, anything was possible. A battle between minds requires inner strength. The two forces clash, struggling for complete power. Max's blade against Orion's long scythe. The original persona's purple aura began to glow and expand in a strange way, while the blue began to do the same. In here, in the mind, the two were cosmic in power, and as they fought, great explosions took place for every blow, and the sky crackled with the image of lightning. A sonic blast of their collsion caused a cataclysm in the center of the battlefield, and tiny stars were falling from the sky like burning rain. After a long struggle of power, Orion stood over Max, ready to draw the final blow. The scythe was ready to take his head, just like his daughter before him. For a moment, he caught an image of himself sinking his fangs into Valdaria's neck. He then faded out, and saw Valdaria leaning on the hilt of Serpentine, unable to fight much longer. He knew he had to do it now.

Max looked up at Orion, and motioned for him to get closer, to hear what he had to say. Blood was pouring out of several deep wounds on his chest as he did this. Orion leaned down, obliging him his last words.

"You are......FORGOTTEN."

Max suddenly used a burst of all the energy he possessed, and gripped Orion's mask, his own eyes and mouth like a mask at the moment, with penetrating light beaming out of the three openings, burning into the wicked hanya mask. A mad scream of chaotic frustration, of all that had happened that he was unable to stop in his life. For a last moment, Orion felt the reality that he too, suffered from Max's losses. The duality was coming to an end as the demon screamed it's last.

"WHY?! WHY WAS I SO BLIND?! ANNA, JULIUS...WAIT FOR ME!" These words were uttered mentally and physically as the mask burst into blue smoke, flew to the apex of the tempest, and it all merged, leaving Max to fade....into reality.

As this battle had been taking place inside of the vampire, the outward appearance of the war within has quite present. Flames, purple and blue energy were surging across his body while Valdaria wearily watched with awe as he flew and jerked. At the end of it all, Orion screamed his last words, slamming his head into the stone cross with all the strength he could muster, and the blue aura dissapated out of Max's mouth, taking the form of a small black stone with a toxic blue rune marking. He then fell unconscious, but grasped his hand on the runestone. He murmured a final few words as he started to drift towards slumber.

"Past...wickedness...death...fear...hatred...shame ...hopelessness...I seal them here, never to torment me again. Let my life...start anew." The black-haired blood drinking creature known as Maximilian, successful at last, smiled then, near passing out, a small drop of blood sliding down the corner of his mouth.

OOC: Hey, hey, hey! Last post!

Valdaria looked at the fallen form, first in wariness, but as she stumbled towards it a growing feeling of concern began to waft inside her. Concern? She had never cared for anything besides herself. But she did now... Her stride broke into an upbrupt trot as she neared Max and knelt down beside him.

She held him in her arms, a weak smile across his face, blood still dripping. Valdaria cleaned it away with her thumb. His eyes were peaceful now, as if a great burden had been relinguished from his soul. She saw the stone in Max's hands, and gently picked it up. The runes pulsed with a blue glow, casting a murky gleam on the surroundings. In her hands, the pulsing slowed down and the light dimmed, until the light was no more. It then seemed to melt into black sand, which disintegrated as it flowed past her slender fingers.

Max slowly sat up, his wounds having started to heal. He looked at the vampire kneeling beside him. For an instant he thought he saw the face of Cassandra, which drifted off and was lost in the dying starlight of dawn. His eyes then locked with Valdaria's.

"My past... has been left behind. My overwhelming burden is now lost. The fortune-teller... She was right..."

Valdaria looked at him with confusion.

"Never mind, that is unimportant... What is important, is that you... Valdaria... saved me from my demons. For that I will always be in your debt. I..."

The sky was lined with strips of purple and orange, as the sun began to rise above the distant mountains. A light breeze picked up, tossing Valdaria's hair in an elegant dance. Max slowly pushed himself up, Valdaria supporting some of his weight, until he stood of his own accord, although somewhat limping, and turned towards her.

His deep gaze made her feel uneasy. Long-lost emotions seemed to overwhelm her. She thought back. Never had she felt this for Lucien, where could it be from? Suddenly she knew. Her mind locked on a forsaken memory... Johan... Her eyes seemed to well with emotion for a moment, then her mind seemed to lock on Max. Could she be feeling... love?

"Valdaria, when I first saw you, I thought you were my wife, who I know I will never see again..." he stammered. "My life has now started again... and... I feel you are to be an important part to it..."

"I..." Valdaria muttered in astonishment. She felt awkward, unnerved, as she had never felt before in her life. She wanted to let go and fall in love, yet a part of her former self cried out in grim protest.

In a sudden moment, the two vampires seemed to move together and their lips adjoined, and they kissed. Valdaria's eyes widened in shock for a moment, and then she surrendered to the emotion.

As the couple kissed in the first rays of the morning sun, a winged creature appeared in the skies. Soaring in a tight circle, it spun around and landed before Max. Valdaria stared in wonder as Max walked towards it and patted its head. Then he turned to Valdaria. "Valdaria, this is Astralis, my only companion these lonely years."

Astralis bowed in greeting as Valdaria stepped close and patted his scaly skin. "Plased to meet you ma'm," he said softly. Valdaria was taken aback.

"You can talk?" she gasped in wonder.

"Oh, Astralis has many talents yet."

"Umm... Max, your journey?" Astralis asked.

"It has been fulfilled," Max replied.

"What will you do now?"

Max turned to Valdaria. "We'll walk," he replied. "Follow close from above, find us a place to rest."

With a gust of wind, Astralis took to the skies once more. He watched the two vampires walk off together into the forest, and he allowed himself a satisfied smile. His friend's demons were no more.