Lyon sighed quietly. He had sent word to the other "Ten" of the legend...or the ones he had heard of, anyway. His silken robes fluttered around him as he paced inside the cathedral....His soft eyes looked around the empty building. It was quite nice, well decorated and maintained. It'd be nice to live here, perhaps. But he knew it was only a far cry of a dream to live here. Ever since that day...he was losing large tracks of time in his memory. But he knew exactly why. He could feel it now; the flames of shadow had engulfed his heart, and he swore that it would kill him. But no. It did something much worse.

He decided simply to sit down upon the stairs up to the stand, placing his elbows on his knees. He hoped they would come. The entire world was at stake...

"Young man, the Ten may not know who they are," Sliver said quietly, gazing through the twin pools of glass rimmed by wire that rested comfortably on the bridge of his nose. He dissolved like mist, reappearing behind the young man. He sat down next to him, putting his hand what looked to be on his shoulder, but actually just millimeters above. He moved his eyes to looked at the young man, he guessed him to be just thrown into adulthood.
"Patience is the key, but if you were to live in the forest, berries would not appear in your hands by just sitting there, would they?" Sliver looked back at the man, smiling softly.
"Go and find them."

Penny just felt like wandering the street for the day for some reason that was unannounced to herself. She just knew that something was going to happen today, she didn't know where it was going to happen at; she didn't know when it was going to happen but she knew that something had the chance of going down. Softly shrugging her shoulders, she simply continues to wander and wonder what was going on within her life. Things were no longer making any sense and she needed some type of stability. Her family had disappeared and she was left to figure the world out before she was ready. Placing a hand on the back of her neck, she simply dances her fingers along the smooth skin before allowing the appendage to drop back into its place. She needed to find something, anything to calm the nerves that were plaguing her body to the point that she would soon have an emotional break down.

Lyon was not shocked by the mans sudden appearance, as he has met him quite a few times now. Though he didn't know the man's name....He looked behind him. "Oh? It doesn't make sense, though. I can tell whom they are...but they cannot tell whom they are?" He looked down at his necromantic robes. "...Or perhaps..." He started, his light, overgenerous voice filling the air. "This is yet another power this monstrosity has bestowed upon me.... I swear, he becomes more powerful every day..." He said, looking up at the stained glass window of the God of this Cathedral.

"You think, by chance, that I could find them?" Lyon said. His mind prayed to the goddess holding this sanctuary....Not while I am on this sacred ground... "And in reasonable ammounts of time? I'd rather not waste precious hours trying to track them down. Then again, sitting here isn't any more progressive." He looked back at the man. If you stared in his eyes, beyond their innocent outer apperal, you could almost feel the evil swirling in within them.

Stephen would have awoken that morning in immense pain, but he wasn't able to get to sleep the night before. Instead, he had been lying in his bed praying, hoping for the suffering to end. He opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling when the sun started to rise, watching the light grow to cover more and more of his room. Finally, Stephen decided that he was tired of waiting for the day to start and slid out of bed.

There was another positive point to getting out of bed early, he could avoid his parents. It wasn't that he was mad at them or anything, but he was tired of dealing with people in general lately. Stephen took a quick cold shower, the cold being one of the few things that generally numbed the pain. He slipped on some clothes and while he was getting ready to leave, he looked at himself in the mirror.

Those eyes. What is happening? Stephen had noticed that ever since he had been attacked, whenever he looked in a mirror, his eyes would be swirling with blackness. No one else seemed to notice it, so he just attributed it to the fact that he must be going crazy. However, lately it seemed to be getting worse.

Stephen sneaked down the stairs and out the door, making sure not to wake up the rest of his family. There were not many people out yet, for which he was very grateful. The sun was still fairly low in the sky, but it would not be long before it was beating down on the city. Stephen started heading down the street towards the Library, the one place that he had been able to find some sort of sanctuary since the incident.

Suddenly, Stephen felt a terrible pain in his chest. Not now, not here. Not with any people around. He tried to walk back to his house and get out of the prying eyes of the city, but it was no use. The pain drove him to his knees as he clutched his chest, hoping for any sort of reprieve from the pain. Stephen looked hopefully at the front door of hi home before he blacked out and collapsed onto the street.

Penny's constant wandering brought her to a place that she had never been before. Since when was she able to be out for a full night. She was beginning to turn around and go back to the house that was never a home to her, until she noticed a man fall into the street. Quickly as if from instinct that she didn't know was within her, she rushes to the unknown person's side. She didn't know what to do, she had always been a sheltered child who never had to worry about anything in her life. Biting into her bottom lip, she tries to remember anything from the many things that swam through her mind.

Placing her middle and forefinger on his neck, she tries to find a pulse. There was one but it was weak, she didn't know if she should leave him or just stay by his side until he regained consciousness. Penny tossed around the thoughts for a few minutes before pulling the man from the street. She didn't want anything to happen to him while she ran home. Looking down to his body once more, she sighs and takes off in the direction that she had came from. Homeward bound. No detours unless she knew they would get her to her destination even faster.

Things flew past her eyes as she continued her run, almost nothing seemed to catch her eye in the dull morning light. So many things were just waking up and this was always the moment that Penny always loved seeing but today was different, she couldn't bring herself to stop just to watch the flowers bloom from their nights sleep. "Home Penny. You just need to get home." Taking a deep breath while her body was still in motion, she tries to refocus and continue on with her movements.

Sliver looked at Lyon gently.
"Would I tell you to look for them if it is a hopeless cause? I believe in you, Lyon, but I can't believe in you for you. You must do that yourself. Do you understand?" Sliver paused for a moment to let him think about what he had said. "I knew you were on of the Ten before you did yourself. Your father saw you as a good son, and you didn't know until you were told. It does make sense, just not in an obvious way." Sliver looked at the stained glass that covered the opposite wall of the worshipplace. "See that window? It is made of many small pieces, some are as small as your smallest fingernail, some are as large as your head, but all of them can be found. It is the same in real life. It won't be easy, but it will be worth it."

Montblanc eyed the cathedral spire in the distance. Glancing at the small piece of paper in his hand, he nodded to himself, then tore it to shreds. It's the right place, alright. Damn lots. Why do I always end up being sent out for the dangerous stuff. Almost if they're rigged...Hmmm....maybe-no way, they wouldn't do that to me. He shook his head, clearing his thoughts, and hopped off the rooftop, making his way towards the building.

~~~~

Montblanc crouched in a high window, in the bell tower of the church climbing apparatus and noise dampeners in place. He watched the two people below, listening to them converse. One seemed to be rather ethereal, fading in and out into mist. Finally, he heard something, that he couldn't help chiming in on. He hopped out of the window, and slid down a rope, landing lightly on a bell, making no noise. He hopped to the wall from there, his finger hooks on the left hand latching into a crack, and he nimbly scrambled down headfirst, using the plentiful handholds in this lace. He never could resist a chance to show off. Slowly flipping forward, his feet contacted the ground, and Montblanc stood up, smirking a bit. He slipped his climbing hooks off his fingers, leaving the ones on his boots in place, and dropped them into their pouch. He held out his now hookless hand to the fully solid individual. "Greetings. I heard you say you need to find some people? I do believe that's my cue. Ah, forgive my rudeness. The name's Montblanc. Montblanc DuGall. The Thieves guild sent me, you requested our assistance?" He sized up the man as he talked. Not too much of an obvious threat, seems rather naive. Better not let my guard down though. You never know.

Lyon nodded, hearing what the spectre like man said to him. "I'm sorry. My self-esteem is probably lower than a broken bridge. It has been ever since the day almost twelve years ago. I remember it perfectly...but everything between then and now is kind of in a fog....I have these terrible dreams every once and a while...I see things that my hands have done. Terrible things." He said. He obviously was drowned in self-pity.

"But I suppose you're right. I cannot simply give up on myself or the world. It must be saved. And I-" Lyon was cut off. Suddenly, a man skittered down the wall, like a spider, before flipping off. He walked over, and offered a hand to him. "Montblanc DuGall? Heh! So, my curriers did reach some of them. Even as far as the Thieves' Guild. Hello, Montblanc, I am Lyon." Lyon said, with new spirits. He eagerly shook the man's hand. "And per chance did they explain why you are being sent here?" He asked, politely.

"This is where it begins." Sliver said. Strips of mist curled off of him, rising up and evaporating in the rising sun. Within moments, he was completely gone. Where his feet had been, there was a thin layer of dust on the stairs, written in the dust, in large, loopy handwriting was the word "Sliver".

(This second half of the post is from Jinn)
The young girl stepped out onto her front step. She ran across the busying road and onto the other side of the street. From a small stand she bought a large, red apple. She bit into it, and noticed a large bruise on the side. She out her finger against it, pushing in slightly. After a moment, she pushed in again, and this time to no resistance, the apple had healed itself. She smiled, and took a bite, licking her lips from the juice that escaped the corner of her mouth. she say a large, abandoned cathedral just down the road, the sun shone into the stained glass wall, reflecting bits of light on the sidewalk. She consentrated hard on the light, specifically on a blue tile, with her mind, she willed it to become silver, and it did. She sat and played with the reflections, even though the glass itself didn't change at all. She figured it must be even more enchanting inside. she found the door, the large silver handle gleamed in the golden sunlight. She reached out and curled her hand around it, pulling it open easily, though others bigger then her usually had to struggle for a bit. She walked inside, and noticed two men sitting there. She tried to turn away without them hearing, but she had not such luck as her foot ground across the ground. She didn't want to look like she had something to be guilty about, so she just turned back, waiting for a scolding or someone to yell. She didn't notice the colors of the glass spinning across the floor faster and faster as she got nervous.

Penny found herself panting softly as she reached the confines of her house. She didn't know if the man would be okay but she wanted to make sure that she was able to find something to do to help him. Sadly she didn't know what she could do. She had no training in what to do in the situation that she had faced so she had to just forget what she had seen. Just like most of her life had been, forget what you see and remember just what your suppose to. That was her rule in life and that was one of the few that she allowed herself to live by. After taking a quick shower, she just sits in her living room for a simple reason; Penny was anti-social. Living a sheltered life tends to allow a person's skills on how to be around and get along with other people to vanish after a while. That's simply what happened to her. Her mother and father thought it best for their last born to be at home and under their supervision for most of the day and night, never giving her a chance to go out and be an actual child. So she just sat, waiting for the sun to hide behind the horizon once more before she would allow herself to be seen again.

Sliver walked quietly through the street, almost completely invisible except for a faint outline that most wouldn't notice. On the side of the road, a man was sprawled across the ground, sometimes moving in violent convulses that rippled through his entire body.
sliver went down on his knees, and touched the man on his chest. He felt his heart beating, but he also felt something that felt like a reverse heartbeat, as if instead of pumping blood through the body the right way, it was sucking it back inside. Sliver formed his hand into a fist over the man's heart.
"Hold on," He murmured. He watched as the man started to dissolve into the air, disappearing. Sliver shut his eyes closed as he felt himself being pulled as if through a black hole. Opening his eyes, he was back inside the cathedral, the man lying on the floor in the middle of the cathedral, in the middle of whirling fragments of colors. He looked up, and saw a young girl, it was starting to come together, only a few more to go. His Prophecy was beginning to come into play...

Montblanc shook his head at the question, leaning against one wall. "Hmm...not really. Something to do with the beasts? Why does it sound like you expected me in particular?" He watched as the man of mist faded out once more, not reappearing this time. A girl opened the door, scuffing a foot against the floor. Then the light being refracted through the stained glass window began to alter. At first merely changing color, but the longer the girl stood there, the more intense the swirling and changing of the colors was. "-the hell?" At that point the mist man reappeared, along with what seemed to be a dead man. Montblanc scowled, and looked at him. "Alright, you're obviously the one behind all this. If you don't explain to me right now what the hell's happening, I walk. You lose my help. And something tells me that would disapoint you far more than it would me.

Sliver sighed. "You're partly correct, Montblanc. I'm sorry for the vagueness of it all. You'd think four thousand years would be long enough for me to pull it together." Sliver gestured with his hand. "Maybe even be able to add a little bit of elegance to it." his hand fell back to his side.

"You are familiar with Profecy, I assume."

"My father always said that was only a story," a girl piped up from across the room, the light whirring on the floor came to an abrupt halt as she quickly walked over. "Excuse me, but that Profecy isn't true. Everbody says it." she brushed a hair out of her face.

"But it is! Haven't you noticed? You of all people, Jinn. Every day, the world gets darker, colder. The other people tell themselves that, and they tell you. Their denial is only in means of self preservation in the fact they are powerless to do anything. The Ten is forming. Right now. In this cathedral. You are the ten. Every life in Lotteima depends on you. There is nobody else qualified." Jinn looked up, her eyes wide.

"You're kidding me." Sliver shook his head.

"I wish I was. The end is coming, and you're the only ones who can do anything. You're free to refuse, but just know that when that happens, you damn us all. All ten of you are needed."

Montblanc sighed, and stepped off the wall, rubbing his temples. You expect me to believe I'm one of the Ten? I'm sorry, but I find that hard to believe. I memorized that ten. One of light? Nope. Broken? Nuh-uh. I doubt you would consider me honorable. I could go on. Needless to say, I don't think I believe you. For example, what happens if I decide to just cut your purse and leave? I mean, I could ev-" He abruptly cut himself off midsentence, his eyes, inflection, and body language showing no sign of the knife until it was being thrown across the room at an inhuman speed towards the man's chest. Without waiting to see it strike the target, he whirled on the others, deftly replacing the claws on his hands. "Anybody else object to me leaving? I don't believe in all this shit. I know a scam when I see one, believe me. You want free service, be my guest. Just find someone more gullible to do it. Now then...anybody going to try and stop me?" He scowled, clinking his claws together lightly.