The Reunion

The sidewalks in this district, per usual, were thick with foot traffic and commotion. Like veins threatening to clog under duress of too much fats or sugars, so too were these pavements in danger of seemingly idle threats. So much passive conflict as shoulders brushed passed one another, tensions occasionally flaring in their rise only to fall when nothing was to be done about it. Such was the common curse of the common man. Celeste observed in silence from another rooftop, taking note of how they scurried about their day like ants in a farm. Little care existed beyond what compelled them toward their current goals, and there was doubtless a sea of evidence to support this were she to reach into any of their minds. The witch wasn’t looking at their paltry disguises of flesh, but the truth in them which existed at their very cores.

A sea of variant color expanded out below the blond, souls traveling to and fro in their respective vessels, each unique in their own shades and hues. Though it was unmistakable, the lack of vibrancy among them all, for there wasn’t hardly a significant drop of power to be found anywhere in this district. That was – until – a rather familiar presence swept its way across her visual senses. Celeste felt her intrigue pique at the emerald light which shone with a rather brilliant malice far beyond the sea of mundane. She focused harder on the source, finding it wasn’t alone, but then again so were the other millions that threatened to dilute her Soulsight midst this search. Irritation welled inside her, as Celeste would come to the conclusion that a closer inspection was mandatory to determine if this truly was Ghoun or not. The very notion of putting herself in the thick of that curmudgeon crowd brought a sickening nausea to the witch, but alas she wasn’t giving herself many liberties today. Certainly not where this particular problem was concerned.

And so, she found herself strolling through the bustling community that had yet to be tinged with despair on this rather fine afternoon. The sun glared bright today. She felt its sting at the edge of her fingertips, and she longed for the night, but Kamae was unlikely to peruse these streets under the passive eye of the moon. Besides, these streets unlike the people, excited her in a way that their nocturnal counterparts simply couldn’t.

”Oh? And what is this?” Celeste stopped at a nearby vendor, head tilted as she leaned in to examine the glinting set of jewels before her. They were strung together in flashing greens and golds. Their design was timeless, and drew her eye in a wave of nostalgia. Celeste hadn’t been one for such gaudy trinkets at the time, and she doubted even the coffers back home could have acquired the thing without much grumbling and complaint. Her mother had always been a rather frugal one after all. Among these ornate gifts, sat a necklace not unlike one bequeathed to her by a former lover many years ago.

”How fascinating.” Celeste reached out to run a finger over the edge of a rather brilliant gem, only for the merchant to swat her hand away, asking for the price. A mere three thousand zeni. ”Oh my.” Celeste glanced at the thing and imagined Cassius placing it gently around her neck; the longing in his eyes, the way his hand had caressed her cheek that day before their lips met. Celeste felt her fist clench, white-knuckled tight. She had half a fleeting thought to simply incinerate the damned booth and its keeper then and there. However, restraint would win over passion, and she soon felt her fingers uncoil out of her palm.

”Keep your trifles.”

PL: 32,000 | Antisense: Active
WC: 626
TWC: 1,404

A mask of fear crossed the merchant’s eyes but Celeste didn’t bother with him. She almost turned away, and sought to continue her stalk down the streets of blazing sunlight. It possibly wasn’t even seconds after dismissing the fleeting fancy of browsing this vendor’s stall, did a rather distinct tone of voice snatch her attention. She slowed to a stop. There, at the edge of her eye. Yellow and black. He was nothing more than a watchful presence -- a flicker that would fade. A cruel trick of the heat possibly, and yet...she felt that familiar darkness beginning to surge through her all the same.

Busy though it was in this borough, the chatter wasn’t enough to dilute the very distinct call of the witch’s own name. She drew her attention to the source rather quickly, yet the crowd passed the illusion that her tuck of locks behind an ear almost seemed to slow time, as her scarlet irises made to lock with that of her enigmatic pursuer.

The voice itself, very familiar as though pulled straight from a vivid memory, held an air of apprehension. What was she doing here? There it was again, the same curiosity – unsettled. As her focus rested upon the once-God, there would pass a fleeting glimmer belying the duplicity in her eyes, possessed with the glorious aurora of a setting sun. The figure was almost as she had last seen him, as impervious to time as ever.

So, she had been correct in her assessment of the crowds after all. Here he was at last, after so many months, to finally put what might have become a tiresome pursuit to rest. Rather convenient that, if anything. Though she quickly came to understand that he wasn’t alone, finding her gaze fall as it was drawn to Ghoun’s unusual companion. Hm, now who was this? Creation? Adoption? Nevertheless, follower all the same. A brow arched curiously for but a moment, before the witch would saunter toward them both, heels clicking the pavement with each lazed, and aimless step forward. That ever-prominent attitude of Lady Lux Verum would prove itself strong in each advancement, that wicked gaze locked onto Kamae with an intensity as she seemed to peer into his very soul.

”Well well – what have we here?”

The witch let the words drip from her lips, each like a finalizing, single stone to break the calm surface of an undisturbed pond. She came to pause a fair amount of feet before the duo, letting a devilish smirk curl to life across her features. Celeste couldn’t help but tilt her head as she looked over Sobi once more, taking in as much of the girl’s physical traits to memory as possible within such a fleeting glance. The smug witch returned her attention to Kamae, shrugging in nonchalance as she resumed a lazed saunter aimlessly around their personal space.

”Surprised to see me?” She responded with pause, as she lifted her arms up, stretching, taking in the dry afternoon air with a sharp inhale. Fingers clasped together as she pressed outward, with some slight cracking which followed. "I've always been fond of my naps. I'm a natural night owl, you know." It was only the blindingly bright light that bothered Celeste, but she preferred the comforting solace of the night. ”Though something, I can’t say exactly what, simply compelled me to venture hither. And who should I find, but Kamae Ghoun out for an afternoon stroll with his newest little plaything!” She would abruptly turn on her heel to face them again, a tilt of her head given with a dark chuckle.

”Why, it’s so touching – it almost brings a tear to my eye.”

PL: 32,000 | Antisense: Active
WC: 616
TWC: 2,020

The words that spilled forth from his lips at various intervals, told her enough to suspect he was probably skirting the truth here. The casual banter in reference to their former allies did little to stir inklings of nostalgia within her heart. Surely, he possibly felt it best to start on common ground, some small talk to ease the already palpable tension between them. Though she wouldn’t relent in her persistence to further unease them both, pacing about them like a predatory cat, while retaining focus on what became a dispelling relief for the green-eyed fiend. So, there was a fondness in setting eyes upon her again. Sobi was less receptive to seeing the witch again, despite Celeste barely recalling having seen the girl before. Still, the fear in her eyes provided a satisfaction that complimented the witch, and that was all she could have asked.

”No, Kowlin’s dead.” She’d leave it at that, not bothering to expunge the intricacies of the rather glorious feat she had hand in. By now, her suspicions concluded the killing blow had certainly gone to one of the others left at the Castle. Though there was no denying the satisfaction the blond had felt upon seeing that wretched Kai lit up in chaos fire. if she were to keep anything to remember Kowlin by, it was a memory she would relish for years to come.

”Flamel? Katsu? I couldn’t say,” she offered with a shrug - yet given her tone, hardly a care to either. She clicked her tongue, pacing around the pair with her head tilted thoughtfully towards the sky. Truthfully were they worth any of the concern at this point? Celeste certainly didn’t think so, having abandoned any droplet of hope for the samurai after their separation beneath Mount Paozu. Though Kamae inevitably cut to the chase, the mystery behind her presence here was doubtlessly starting to scratch at the front of his curious mind. Celeste hummed. Now that was a fair question, wasn’t it? And one she mustn’t keep to herself. Still, if the demon thought to dance about the truth, then she had no qualms in doing the same. It was her specialty, after all.

”Yes, I suppose that is a matter of concern...”

They both leaned towards the dark, and perhaps simply watching them from afar, one could assume that they had possessed similar personalities, but that was it. Their motives, their desires, their true feelings. The flippancy only came about because it was a way to remember her dearest Lia. To keep her memory alive. But beneath it all, they were different. Fundamentally broken perhaps, but one chose to cast away their humanity, while the other kept it, agreeing to take on the burdens of life. Celeste recognized this upon the revelation that came with Ghoun’s confession for what he was, where he had come from. The very notion that he possessed a desire to keep that lab for himself, well it was all the proof she needed to support these claims.

”I’m afraid words would serve little to convey that alone. Therefore...”

The witch would abruptly spin on her heel once more, then quickly approached the pair, before firmly pressing a fingertip into the demon’s chest, or the illusion of it rather.

”It’s best I just show you.”

The witch’s eyes would suddenly flare with luminescence, as a stygian smoke would begin to rapidly bleed from the place Celeste retained a hold with her fingertip. It would expand in a violent and terrorizing manner, almost as though it were alive, until it would coalesce and consume the forms of all three individuals. It was as instantaneous as a breath of air. The three were pulled through the void itself, passing through a momentary lapse in which therein existed only a brutalizing cold, devoid of air, and the prominent chill of potential death up the spine. When it would inevitably become too much to bear, as though all happiness and life would begin to flee them; the return of warmth and the comfort of the living world would surge into them with a ruthlessness.

10:31 AM
Kamae’s Lab, South City

The trio now stood within the confines of a very familiar laboratory, lined with an abundance of stasis pods, tables decorated with glass and metal equipment, and a collection of terminals. There was the unmistakable sound of a beaker bubbling somewhere among the lab tech, as were the prominent hums of the electronics installed throughout the facility. Celeste would finally relinquish her ‘hold’ on Kamae, stepping forward to greet the laboratory with wide, outstretched arms as though she were seeing a forgotten friend from so many years ago.

”Ah, home sweet home. Wouldn’t you agree, Sobi?”

The witch’s tone would darken as her arms lowered, before turning to look upon them with a sickening sense of satisfaction. Oh, how good it felt to be back after all this time.

PL: 32,000 | Antisense: Active
- uses Voidwalker to warp herself, Kamae (and by extension Sobi) to South City
WC: 821
TWC: 2,841

The witch would take a moment to glean the reactions from her fellow travelers, finding the amusement quickly fade in lieu of how the spell seemed to affect Sobi in particular. Celeste watched on in silence as Kamae’s unusual partner would retreat to what the witch would recall to be the girl’s respective pod. Arms crossed, ears trained upon Kamae as he began again with his inquiry, a bit more insistent this time. It was true, there was a rather pressing matter which had prompted her to seek him out. He potentially desired more than anything now, a simple answer to what he probably believed to be a simple question. Oh, if only the trifles were even so remotely elementary, perhaps nothing over the last half a year might have happened. Though what in life ever went along according to anyone’s plans?

The witch’s eyes would snap from the pod to Kamae when he was nearly finished, narrowing but a fraction at the notion of the favor she had yet to ask, in addition to the offer for whatever help she might have required. ”Well, never you mind about that now,” she replied, a dismissive wave with a shake of the head. She would give the scientist and his work a brief glance, before taking several steps toward the life support pods, heels clicking prominently against the steel beneath them. She would pass by Sobi’s in particular, and begin to inspect the others in a slow stride down the expanse of the collection. When she had finished, and spun on her heel, she would proceed back toward the main lab in a similar pace – slow, calculated, and observant.

”In case you weren’t immediately aware of it - she’s grown considerably stronger in my absence. I will admit, it was rather careless of me to so hastily use that magic in Sobi’s presence. I would watch her closely the next few days. The spell, by all accounts, should have outright killed her,” confessed the witch, her tone uncharacteristically somber as she rested a hand upon one of the pods. Celeste shook her head in disappointment, more so over her own decision rather than the contents of this pod. A glimpse inside revealed nothing within. Perhaps it once belonged to one of the unsuccessful, or even failed to see use entirely. Whatever the case, Celeste recognized them for what they truly were, incubators for clones. Not designed nearly as similar as those used in the extraction process down the fog infested hall, they still served the purpose to ensure the success of the project.

Celeste would relinquish her touch upon the structure to turn to Kamae once more. Doubtless still he had questions, that his mind raced with a fervor. Perhaps now he could be let off this tight leash of anxious suspense, and be rewarded for his patience. It had been several months after all.

”Judging from your bewilderment to my appearance, I trust you never received Katsu’s missive about our venture to Paozu?” A lamenting sigh was offered when she shook her head, knowing that she shouldn’t have bothered with it. Celeste knew anything done in this world right would have to be by her own hand, lest someone else got it wrong. Clearly that had been the case, for how else would he have stumbled so cluelessly into the dark about all this?

”As expected. Why do I even bother?” The frustration evident even under her breath. She would raise a hand up to the air, and with a loud prominence, snapped her fingers. Mana would spring to life, creating a visual tapestry as Celeste’s recollection of events began to manifest in bright colors and vivid images. Kamae would immediately recognize the two figures as herself and their former samurai ally, traversing a mountain with a guide. Celeste too watched the images, albeit with an added disinterest.

”Many years ago I learned about a collection of forbidden tomes inside the rather cryptic texts of my grandfather’s journal. They were said to possess magic beyond the understanding of our clans, deemed far too dangerous by those who instructed the first of us in the secrets of mana.”

The scene would shift in coalescing colors, almost as though they were painted by a famous one-eared artist. Blues and greens would become vibrant oranges and yellows, until Kamae would recognize his meeting with Celeste the first time, as a familiar representing him playing his carnatic music would take form.

”Our brief study of the Furnace at Mount Five Element left me with more questions than answers that day. Ever did I wonder how the flow of the fire might be reversed, and the ultimate consequences of doing so. I theorized that only a magic like the Sakeme tomes, could provide a suitable power strong enough to potentially influence the eternal flame.” The scene would change once more, revealing Celeste, Kowlin and Katsu sitting in a tavern not far from a museum. ”We nearly found and recovered one. We were unfortunately intercepted by a member of The Covenant, a delightful organization filled in rank with the last of my people, turned Witch Hunters. Oh yes.” The scene changed yet again; now Celeste was alone and bleeding, running for her life through darkened forests, pursued relentlessly by faceless attackers. ”And who would you imagine these thirsty pack hunters chose as their pariah? Whose loved ones did they seek out, and burn at the stakes this last winter? Whose blood have they been after for almost seven years now?”

The images ceased abruptly with another great snap of her fingers; the magic vanishing as it was dismissed. The witch would cross her arms, as focus would doubtlessly be drawn to her again. Thus, she would continue her regaling of the last season. ”As the museum was not an immediate option, I instead chose to investigate rumors of a myth pertaining to a series of archives beneath Mount Paozu. I may have found what I was looking for, but there was a cost to pay in the end.”

PL: 32,000 | Antisense: active
- uses Magic Materialization to weave a visual tapestry for Kamae's convenience
WC: 1,012
TWC: 3,853

There was nothing that warmed her heart more than a passion for justice -- or at least so long as it aligned with her interests. It was a rather fleeting feeling in recent years though, Celeste rarely tasting it in lieu of her troubles. Perhaps Kowlin’s fate and continued existence of the planet itself was an inkling of a testament to what she should have felt, yet it wasn’t pure enough to sate the thirst. Scarlet fell to the floor in but a moment’s lapse, Celeste weighing in consideration the potential euphoria one might feel after cutting down a lifelong rival. Would it sting as badly as the night Lia was taken? Or would it present uncontainable joy of which the likes she has never known? It was a thought she could lose herself in, were it not for Kamae’s break of the silence that had followed her spiel.

”Oh?”

Celeste raised her sights slowly, eyes bright with interest. The demon before her carried a certain quiet air. She would touch dramatically at her collarbone, pacing forward but a few steps. She expected little reaction to the rather grim retelling of the holidays, after all Kamae hardly possessed a shred of empathy from what she could remember. Though, she couldn’t help but take note of his smile’s absence which had been so prevalent up to this point. Either replaced by a musing curiosity to her tale, or a brooding tempest which she could barely gauge on the surface.

”Yes, well – about that,” Celeste’s eyes traveled to the darker parts of the lab, and for the briefest moment she felt something waver in her gaze. ”A rather interesting quid pro quo, I must confess. To acquire this new discipline, I was required to tribute the memories to those I already knew. The transference however...” She raised a hand to lazily examine her nails. ”Left some curious side effects.” How funny it all seemed now. As it stood, the words made her mouth sour.

”The price to be paid...” Celeste’s words were nothing but an echo as she watched the scientist dilly dally in his bumbling assistance to Kamae’s work. ”Was in my discovery that these tomes, have stolen a year of my life.” She turned abruptly to Ghoun, all charm and splendor now devoid and replaced by genuine concern, or at least that’s how she would mask it so well.

”Do I look any different than before? Older perhaps?” Rhetoric to carry and fill the air. ”If so, it’s because now I’ll turn twenty-six before the year is out. The tomes...they’re difficult to translate, and I failed to heed a warning of some kind. The spells take from you what you already know, what you’re willing to give. That also...includes the time attached to the tribute. It took me roughly over a year to achieve the rough mastery of Arashi which I learned in the final studies of my training. The magic found in these tomes took that amount off my life. You’d maybe ask how I’d even notice it, the lost time hardly the bat of an eyelash to you, Kamae.”

The witch would shake her head, turn from the once-God to stare off coldly into the depths of the lab once more. ”I felt it eat away at me that night. The same way it does every time I feel that familiar surge in my blood when... it happens.” The final two words died into a whisper as they left her lips, before Celeste would grit her teeth hard, and fold her arms beneath her cloak once more. Did any of it matter to Kamae? Most likely not. Though at least he had a better degree of understanding when it came to what they were dealing with now.

PL: 32,000 | Antisense: Inactive
WC: 629
TWC: 4,482

It was a rather unusual feeling, trust – though not so much as it was to place it in another’s hands again. What were the troubles of some Earth girl to a demon like Kamae? The phantasmal scientist had possibly seen it all in however many cycles around a star he endured, so it was unlikely her particular situation would startle him. So, what made him so deserving to any of these revelations? Her eyes briefly wandered down to the scar left by Kowlin’s dagger. Despite what little the once-God offered by the tongue, he made up for with silence in the witch’s eyes.

Celeste would naturally suspect he had kept a keen ear to everything she said. That intellectual quality about the demon was why she found him so intriguing. He wasn’t a loose cannon like some of the others had been, far more likely to attempt to understand an enemy before sinking to temptations of pointless bloodletting. Oh, there was no forgetting whatever abhorrent crimes against creation he may have committed; this damned soul could strike few as a beau idéal. Though how easily one might become a sinner in a single stroke. When that silence was finally broken, Celeste felt her brow raise before she became overcome with brief fit of giggling.

The witch would spin on her heel, all charm and splendor returned, single finger pointed skyward with a broad smile. ”Oh, so you do care! Or is it just the power you’re interested in?” Mere rhetoric to tease the demon, try to unnerve him a little if only for the sake of her own entertainment. Her echoing laughter would fill the lab as she vanished as the group had arrived. Another display of that umbral smoke, and Celeste was soon uncomfortably close enough for Kamae to detect faint scents of spice, undertones of incense and lavender. She rested a hand on his shoulder, tilting her head to smile with palpable snark up at him.

”You know, it just occurred to me.” Her freed hand would touch at her collarbone once more. ”I might be the only one in our fun little cult, that you’ve never had a chance to play with. Why is that? Decided to save the best for last?” She would take a moment to fluff the locks of her hair playfully. ”Not that I could blame you.” Celeste would hum as she stepped away. ”But, oh! This air is simply too stifling! I hope you won’t mind…” She pointed towards the door with both fingers. ”If I take a moment?” She left without waiting for an answer. In truth, the air was far less pestilent than Celeste would have liked, but what was life without a few white lies? The witch stopped outside and shielded her eyes from the sun, finding it was far brighter than she would have liked as well.

PL: 32,000 | Antisense: Active
- Voidwalker theatrics
WC: 477
TWC: 4,959