Hearts of Ice (Round 1)

Celestial peaks of ice loomed over the glowing, arctic tundra, the powdery snow more like dust as it was blown about by powerful winds. The sky was hardly contrasted by the horizon line, ivory and forbidding. Snow swallowed up the sky, piled up by the Gods and solidified into tall, thin obelisks. It was as if the frozen towers were set there to signify your entrance into the gates of some glacial Hell, where you were to freeze to death, instead of burn.

Eyes like two puddles of freshly spilt blood drew lazily across the colorless plains of ice, finding nothing but a white horizon and those two large citadels, which had withstood the harsh conditions for centuries. Each step that the young heiress took drug through the deep, dusty ice; the snow reached just above her knees, causing her to become irritable quite fast. Stopping, her cloak whipped madly in the blistering wind, the silk scarf adorning her face following in suit.

Slowly, Knives drew up a hand. Her cloak was blown to the side, allowing the impetuous slivers of ice to immediately slice up her arm. Blood splattered from the wound and was whisked away by the now caustic wind. The unnatural elixir fell to the snow behind her, sizzling and scorching small holes through the packed layers of ice. Pausing for a moment, her dark eyes flashed, an invisible force blasting away the snow in two directions before her.

She was waiting for them to arrive.

It took her a matter of hours to travel there from realm to realm, and it was time for the events that would decide their fate to transpire. They had accepted her challenge, and they had yet to live it down. The peaks and treacherous climbs were enough to exhaust any mortal, regardless of how much endurance they thought they had, and the altitude was high enough to make even Knives’ breath shallower.

The vampiric woman could feel the raging spirits of the contenders as they made their way closer, the inspiration drawn out in every step she took.

Vivid images of how she would kill each and every one of them bled into her mind. Phantom sensations of being drenched in the sweet ruby liquid caressed her body, easing her slightly onto her toes at the tantalizing illusion. The scent of burning flesh, and the sound of resounding, bloody screams fell upon her ears. Her eyes lit up, a passionate, sinful glint now shining within them. The vicious images caused a pleasant smile to grace her pale, ice-chapped lips.

For a while she tred across the smoothed trail her energy had carved, then stopped and turned on her heel, spotting the grayed out silhouettes of humanoids in the distance.

Pure white ice glistened around Wave, and he could feel the cold trying to take over his very spirit. However, Wave would not let such weather to overcome him. He knew he complete control over the many forms of water, and, considering ice and snow was water... The fight hadn't started and already he had a full stratgey in mind.

In the distance, Wave could see a dark figure up ahead. It was clear that she had already noticed him, and had a sword at hand. So much for the element of surprise. Wave figured she would't try anything at this distance, so he cast his scan spell, searching for anything he could use against her.
As soon as the spell came back, he realized this person was a vampire. As for weaknesses, nothing Wave could use at the moment... but prehaps later, he could.

Drawing his sword, he began to charge his magic up... and why not? With the entire place full of watery elements, his attack power would become stronger. He made againt block of Ice appear behind the vampire, and made it slam behind her. While knocked off balance, Wave hurried into a Same' Cina', slicing her in three different directions.

The vampire hasn't made a move yet...and already Wave had done some serious attacks on her. Reappearing in the distance, he smiled

“Alright, whose idea was it to send me out here?” Shan asked the whipping wind. At least he wasn’t cold. Well, not terribly cold. The ability to change his body temperature was definitely helpful in this situation, though it didn’t completely cancel out the icy weather. He also had some heat emanating from his gauntlets to ward off the flying ice.

The radio in his ear hissed to life, “You better not mess this one up, Shan.” The threat was clearly audible.

“Aw, come on Greg. Since when have I ever messed up?” The Lilim couldn’t help but smile at his superior’s gruffness.

If his face could’ve been seen, Greg would’ve been scowling, “You screwed up that last job I gave you. I can’t believe you couldn’t catch some 15-year-old kid.”

“Hey, now,” the mercenary defended himself, “he was a pretty good fighter. You’d even have problems with someone who could teleport around like the Dalai Lama.”

There was a pause, “...Shan, what the hell are you talking about. Never mind, I don’t what to know what goes on in that little brain of yours. Either way, just keep this straight. Your job is just to met these people, not to beat the crap out of them. We don’t need you coming back with just one arm or something like that. Though, if you screw this one up, too, you’ll have only one arm when you come back.”

He laughed, “Greg, you couldn’t catch me if you tried. But don’t worry, I won’t fight... much.” The Lilim loved getting a rise out of the leader of Pandemonium. “Anyway, isn’t the Dalai Lama something that can teleport?”

“Shan, the Dalai Lama was a spiritual leader and a pacifist.” There was a sigh on that end of the conversation.

“Really?” Shantanu was now intrigued, “What am I thinking of, then?”

“Again, how the hell should I know? Just concentrate, would you?” The radio clicked in the mercenary’s ear, signaling the end of that conversation. The Lilim sighed with a smile; Greg never was a conversationalist when a job was involved. Shan just hoped whoever he was meeting with was. Let’s see, I believe the request was to gauge the performance of these people and report back with an detailed assessment. How does he expect me to get one of those without fighting. Besides, I could use the entertainment. Just not the cold. He observed the stark landscape. Nothing but snow covering the ground and, with the help of the wind, air. He couldn’t even see any lonely plants or animals striving to survive. It’s like a desert, only in reverse temperature. It has dust, no life, harsh conditions, no signs of civilization whatsoever except for those buildings... Oh, wait... He laughed to himself.

Two rounded building rose out of the snow like giants. Shan could only wonder who would want to live in a forsaken land like this. Maybe I ought to try it sometime. He trudged through the snow, the white dust to the top of his boots. In the midst of the blizzard, he could see the lovely form of a curved woman, standing like a statue resisting time and weather. I’m not going to have to test a woman, now am I? Ah well, let’s just hope she can’t teleport. Suddenly, something appeared out of nowhere, attacking the woman fiercely. Shan stopped in his tracks, his mouth hanging open in a rather humorous expression. Who in their right mind would attack a woman? That’s just not right. Extending the claws over his hands, he raced to the twin citadels, his blood coursing in anticipation. He loved a good battle. And, this time, he had a good reason for starting one. A better one, anyway.

Wave preparared for another attack, this time it was a beam of Ice attack, something that would be boosted by the terrain. The vampire had yet to strike him. Before unleashing the attack, another presence in the Ice caught his attention... A fighure running straight at them. Wave immedatly backed off his attack and began charging his sword right before sheathing it. In order to make a stronger summon, Wave couldn't use his blade. He'd have to rely on the fighting arts...and his magic, of course.

As always, he cast his scan spell... and boy did Wave hit jackpot. the opponet hates long distance fights...

Considering an angle to attack, he rose seven mirrors of Ice out of the ground..., and charged a pulse of water, witch happened to get bigger by the minute. As soon as both Knives and Shan entered range, he shot the beeam of water at one of the mirrors. It bounced off of a few more mirrors until it reached the center mirror. Wave had designed that mirror specificly to multiply an attack and shoot the into different directions. The mirro asorbed the hit attack, then fired a beam of water at his two oppents. It hit Knives directly in the stomach. Shan, however, dodged it and ran even faster towards Wave.

Noticing his attack failed to hit both targets, not to mention Shan was about to smack Wave in the face, he concentration his enegries to create another sword, refusing to use his main sword until it's enegry to fully charge. Shan threw a punch at Wave, but he backflipped at the last moment. That's when an Idea struck him. Ice was perfectly okay, but if the entire filled suddenly turned into Water... not to menton freezing water, it would be almost immpossible for either of his opponets to land a hit on him.

As he landed his backflip and hit the ground, a enormus amount f magicasl engery passed through Wave and into the ground. The snow below suddenly turned softer, then it liquified. the entire field was now an area of Ice cold water.

It's so cold... An obvious thought, but one that needed to be voiced, even if only through his unstable mind. A natural impulse of a normal mortal was to find a way to build a fire. The wind whipped against his woolen scarf, the worn tassels wildly flailing against his coat. His chapped, rough hands gripped the collar of the faded leather, hugging it closer to himself in an attempt to entice his body heat to remain. It couldn’t end like this. So simple, and yet, Mark had been the sort who always wished to burn to death instead of freezing. For him, it took too long.

Most people answered the question the opposite way, but it was different for others. Normal humans could feel pain, whereas Mark found a way to eliminate it. Mark adored the snow, or at least he used to, before he found himself in this mess. The beauty of such a clean, pure substance falling and the intricate creation of every individual snowflake intrigued him. He shuddered, a shivering sensation leaking to every individual nerve of his body, and beyond. Why did he come out here, again? Oh, yes. He searched for a special type of root that thrived in the subzero temperatures. Despite the constant shards of ice mingling in the frozen wasteland’s blistering gusts, he thought about how he would live. There must be a way for him to build a fire, shelter, or even add to his current warmth.

His mind raced silently, words forming upon his chapped and slightly bleeding lips. “Building… no… maybe calling…” After a few frantic moments of urging himself on, he found out the truth. He couldn't discover a means. Normally, it would be quite simple. Mark, being the genius he was, knew the trouble didn't originate with the storm, but with his weakened state of mind. After all, he was the one who decided to come all the way out here just for a root, one which he didn't know the results of using. He couldn’t concentrate now, not with the blizzard tearing up his body as it was. He couldn’t feel himself bleeding; only taste the unique flavor of it as it trickled through his teeth.

“I can’t go like this. I have to do something. Or I’ll never be able to survive this.” Bits of his shaggy pieces of blonde hair stuck out through the wrap. He threw a calloused hand in front of his eyes to shelter them long enough for a moment of clear viewing. Then, as if by a miracle, he felt something. He never thought it possible, but he noticed a sudden shock reach his brain. With a rather loud yelp, Mark jumped. Cold! It was shockingly cold! He glanced towards a sudden source of movement to spot a figure, presumably male by the look of it. This one was in front of two others (which sex, Mark couldn’t tell) and the snowy form in front of him carried a sword as a weapon.

Mark knew enough to realize that this figure, the one in front of him, was not a good person. Judging by the way Mark had observed his stance; he could tell the man was the “bad” seed of the bunch. Reacting to this in a normal way, Mark decided he was tired of being so numb from this weather. Besides, he just so happened upon a way to re-warm himself. He unhooked his coat enough to take out his studded Screamer, gripping it tightly in one hand. Although unleashing it might not have been the best idea (since Mark knew very little of this man’s capabilities), he was determined to try it out and view the results for himself. His differently-colored eyes sparkled as he eyed his target, letting the long whip fly towards the shadow in an effort to get his attention more than harm him. Snap! “Time to warm up.”

Blood, and Ice. The two smells created a strange aroma which wafted toward the young woman. It wasn't her own blood, of course, but the blood of a mortal. "No." She murmured softly, "He isn't one of them." Turning her head to the side, she skipped and kicked off of the large block of ice, skidding into the snow up to her shins. A small, mischevious smile crossed Knives' lips. "Cheapskate..." Her dark eyes cast their gaze upon her assailant, and the flare of his aura showed to be weak; nearly harmless. Closing her eyes, she growled softly, turning on her heel in the direction of another young man. There was a metallic, yet musty scent about him. Some of the fragrance came from the primal instinct which was beginning to take over.

"It seems as though the only challenge which was brought unto me was to kill the useless. Two mortals and a psychotic megalomaniac." She spoke without a word delivered to the others. Her words were carried away by the screaming wind, slivers of ice now pounding against her body. Knives continued to stand her ground, gazing forward through the impelling blizzard. The snow which had earlier fallen was whipped up, consuming the three like some enormous, white-toxic cloud. "Feh..." She huffed, drawing a wrist up to her mouth and tearing at the skin. The sickening rip of flesh was canceled out by the deafening howl of the icy tempest, and the blood was caught in a whirlwind, directed by the ice. With a pulse of energy, the young woman had the blood accumulate around them. The ice which rushed at them was constantly melted before it reached them, allowing each of them except for the one of the three, the inhumanely powerful one. She would save him for last.

Obsidian blood dripped from the young woman's left wrist, sizzling and hissing as it hit the ice. It would be a most unpleasant sight for anyone, but these oblivious mortals would be blessed with more than just unpleasantness. If these two had truly come for a challenge (which she assumed they hadn't), she would give them one, regardless. She would see how long they could last in this blizzard, slowly losing blood at the same time. It seemed to play out in her mind as she gazed fondly upon the two. Her eyes were smiling, hiding the vicious--no, psychotic grin beneath the silken, two-tailed scarf which adorned her face. Six quarts of blood would take a while to lose, but the process would be sickeningly slow and painful. After losing blood, frostbite would cut in and take the feeling away, and then the light would cease to exist for these poor souls.

A soft, soft chuckle escaped Knives' lips, her eyes closing, then slowly opening to gaze intensely at her first victim. As moments passed, some of the blood which had fallen to the ice had slipped through it, creeping and crawling below until it had accumulated greatly behind Shan. With a loud, screeching hiss, the thick, luminous substance shot up into the air, stretching in multiple places as if it was gaining tentacles by the foot. It popped and hissed as it grew; alive, but not posessing its own consciousness. The Armegedon (blood) then began to fall, screaming on its way down as it headed straight for Shan. She watched intently, curious as to what the two mortal's reactions would be to such an unreal attack.

Wave had backflipped into a section of snow, then created a sheild of ice around him. Knives was attacking Shan and Mark,apparently doing some sort of Vampire thing witch Wave really didn't really under stand. The magic in his sword was almost finished charging, and He would have no trouble causing his Levithan to arrive on the field, considering he wasn't even being attacked.

Aiming his makeshift sword, he threw it at Shan, who, to Wave, seemed to be the biggest threat. He sidesteeped it and tried to figure out where it was coming from, but the blizzard was getting stronger. It was getting harder to see.

He shot another beam of Ice, throwing the target at the wind. His opponets would mistake them for bits of snow, and continue fighting. They wouldn't think of dodging snow.

The beams successfully hit all of his targets, and they were knocked away from each other. Now having a new idea, he rose walls of ice inbewteen everyone, forming a gaint maze of Ice.