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Lia Syuki

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  1. (A collaborative post between LiaSyuki and Terminal) Steel Canyon, a Hellion Lair During the Events of 'The Hellions Raise Hell' The Dealings of Valkyr Kara and a Demon Behemoth "Demon!" a voice called from down the hall. "You offered me information in exchange for a sacrifice! ...You may have this one." To punctuate her words, Kara tossed forward the orange-clad convict, clearly still injured from their earlier fight on the streets. "...He has no place in this world, and so is not needed. He should suffice for whatever amusement you wish to use him for." "...I Accept Your Offering!" The towering behemoth of flame exulted. Its voice was the sound of glaciers crumbling as it reached out to engulf the terrified escapee from the Zig in one of its oversized, taloned hands. "Wh- No! NO! You can't do thi-" The convinct began to shriek, but abruptly went limp, their eyes glazing over lifelessly as the demon's fiery grip encirled him. The decrepit room filled with hellish, inhuman laughter. A haze of yellow and green mist filled the room, and for but the briefest of moments, Kara thought she heard, in the distance, the sounds of anguished screams. The demon raised its victim into the air, and then in a burst of seething corrupted flame, the convict's body and clothes disintegrated and bled out from the world like water vanishing into sand. Kara tensed as she watched the fiery behemoth drain the life from the broken man she had granted him, her helmet masking most of her reaction but unable to hide the golden glow that shone from her eyes. Still, she made no move to defend the man. She had made her judgement and deemed his life worth less than whatever information the demon could grant her. To falter now would be foolish. The infernal mists abated. The sounds of distant torment receded. The towering creature of the Abyss seemed to inhale deeply, as though taking in a rich boutique's aroma. And then, it turned its eyes of flame to Kara. "As I promised - all I would have shared with the fools who summoned me, I shall know impart upon you...mortal. Come, follow. A demonstration is in order." Turning, the collosal fiend began to head down the corridor leading further into the Hellion's den. The gilded archer glided along behind the demon, watching carefully for any signs that this might be a trap. She had kept to her word, but knew infernals were notorious for twisting their deals. In her hand she gripped her bow as if ready for battle at any moment. A stray Hellion wandered out before the two as they came to the other end of the passage. His eyes alit with open awe upon seeing the approaching fiend. "Oh man, this is awesome!" He gabbled. "I've never seen one of you guys before! Uh, I mean, revered master, most unholy of-" Without even looking at him, the Behemoth scythed through the gang member's body with one taloned hand, raking it through with flame and causing the man to fall to the floor in flaming pieces. Kara tensed again and her grip on her bow tightened further as the Behemoth trod over them with its cloven hooves, grinding the steaming viscera into the old, carpeted floor as it went by. It seemed the creature bore no loyalty whatsoever to its own erstwhile allies or summoners. It led Kara to one of the crates she had found earlier - stolen goods taken by the Hellions during their mayhem from earlier, which she had already pried open. It was filled with miscellaneous value - empty ketchup bottles, rolls of duct tape, a camping lantern, a box of staples - as if the Hellions had just raided an office supply store right after a grocers. Peering down into the container, the Demon seemed to evaluate the contents for a moment before reaching in and retrieve... A set of mismatched, novelty dice with numerous different sides and facings. They seemed to have a vague and superficial mystic theme to the patterns and designs they were engraved and colored with, but were clearly utterly mundane - still packaged as they were in a hobby shop plastic bag. With a snort, the behemoth burned the plastic covering away, causing noxious fumes to waft into the air as it passed the objects to Kara, offering its clenched fist over hers to drop them into her grasp. Nose wrinkled under her helm, the young Valkyr accepted the items as they were placed into her gauntleted hand. "Come, mortal. Tell me what you see." The Demon beckoned, an amused intonation in its voice - insomuch as a distant avalanche could have intonation to it. Turning and shifting the dice in her hands, Kara looked at them a moment before turning her gaze back to the demon. "At a glance, they would seem to be mere dice, though strange ones. But there is clearly more than what we see, isn't there?" "That depends on what you look for, mortal." The behemoth replied. "Have you ever studied an artifact of the Well of Furies before?" Again, the Valkyr frowned under her helm. "...My sisters believe me too young to handle items imbued with fragments of the source." "Your sisters are fools." The demon rasped. "Threads and shards of the source are imbued in all aspects of creation that surround us. Imperceptible to all but those the Well has deemed worthy of its notice...or to those who dedicate themselves to the study of such cosmic power. These objects are no mere vessels for the power of the Well however. They hold within them something new." The demon was suddenly leering at Kara appraisingly...as if it were eying up a horse and about to pry open her mouth to examine her teeth. "Aspects of the Source that have been seeded within the world by a novel Cultivator." By now Kara had landed and her stance seemed less wary and more... Insecure? It seemed that something the demon said had bothered her and she was unable to hide it even though covered head to toe in armor. "And these groups... Hellions, Warriors, possibly some of these others that have caused chaos lately... They have found some of these fragments that have been placed for others to find. They wield them and seek others to empower what they have..." "Yes." The Demon seethed in affirmation, the hissing of its voice being the sound of snapping icicles. "You have already grasped the crux of the new order. Like the Well, these new aspects of power require a Master Artifact to be harnessed. Many individuals of late have found...or been guided...to these Artifacts, and bearing them, they now can perceive and seek out aspects of the source to empower themselves. What you hold there..." The Demon pointed with a single extended claw. "Is one such Master Artifact. The pieces altogether. If the Cultivator finds you worthy, then you, too, will see. It shall be interesting to observe what form your powers take, mortal. The shape of these energies is exotic and foreign to your universe...they are like to manifest in a most..." The demon huffed out a short plume of hellfire. "...amusing fashion." "I see... Then if these fools insist on blundering about with these artifacts, then they shall learn what it truly means to hold a fragment of the source..." Kara muttered as her fist tightened around the dice. "Yes, this should be quite interesting indeed." "Normally, it might be questionable whether this Cultivator would find you worthy of its power...but I believe it shall, in time. As you demonstrated with your offering, mortal, there is truly nothing you are not capable of." The demon then burst into a bout of hideous laughter, the sound booming throughout the room like the rumble of a crevice opening up in the middle of a plain of ice. Kara let the demon have his laugh as her wings flapped, raising her off the ground. "Though I have a bit of a late start, it seems I shall have to join in this race of empowerment. If that is the whole of what information you have to offer, then I believe our business has finished." "Tidings then, little mortal. Let us see what Great and Terrible wonders you shall evoke in time." The Behemoth suddenly gestured at her with a single outreached talon. "We shall all be watching you closely, morsel. Do not betray our expectations." With another hideous laugh, the towering creature emitted a billowing cloud of sulfurous fumes from about its hooves, enshrouding it and vanishing within them. For another brief moment, Kara thought she heard the distant, anguished cries of innumerable voices - and then the room was silent once more, the thick haze of brimstone abated, leaving nothing to mark the devil's presence save for the blackened, scorched imprints of its hooves in the old and tattered carpeting of the den's floor. With nothing left for her here, Kara flew back out the way she had come, a few of the feathers of her wings knocked loose and fluttering to the ground. Although, did they seem slightly darker than before, or was that merely a trick of the light?
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