Snippet #2076533

In the aftermath of the mission with the demon train, Ash was left with a number of unresolved and uncertain feelings. She’d been unable to save the child and worse still, was even outright hostile towards her on an assumption. She could only be thankful that Deon was able to do what he did to keep her alive. Still, in spite of that knowledge, it bothered her the way things had gone. The entire situation with the monster train she hadn’t achieved anything. All she’d managed to do was run away and help others do that, while Deon and Quake ended up doing all of the fighting. Was she really that useless? She hated relying on others, but in that whole scenario, was there anything she actually could’ve done to help? She couldn’t lay a finger on that train, and when it came to that Frankenstein guy, Deon seemed to have no faith in her ability to engage him. Speaking of which, she’d always thought that Frankenstein was the monster, not the scientist. Seemed she was quite wrong on that aspect, though Deon hadn’t given her much more information other than to steer clear of him. From what she’d heard around the base, even that weedy kid Sebastian had managed to take out a deadly vampire on his own. It was kind of depressing that, comparatively, she wasn’t given the authority to go off on her own and do something like that. Not that she knew if she could.

Breathing a deep sigh, she continued to stare at the rotating ceiling fan above her, the light concealed behind it seeming to flash on and off as the shadows played over her face. The bed wasn’t exactly comfy, but it was somewhere to think over things. Part of her wondered if Claire was doing the same; not that she knew her sister as the kind to mope like she did. Still, it wasn’t like she could sleep, with the noise of Deon and Quake next door doing god knows what, it was kind of hard to relax. She didn’t like to think about it, especially with the way Asmodeus had been conditioning her; but the occasional stray thought filtered through. If it was something like that, good for them, and if it was something else, Ash was quite content not to find out. It was however, taking its toll on her patience, the frustration finally reaching the point where she decided to get up. If it was the former option, those two had stamina she’d never be able to compete with.

Stretching as she stepped out into the hall, she placed her hands in her pockets, before deciding it was a bit warm for her leather jacket, dumping it on her bed in her room as she settled on getting a late night snack. That was, if she could find the kitchen or something, as she was still yet to receive a former tour. Maybe she’d missed it after the incident in the main hall? It wouldn’t surprise her, but no doubt there’d be signs or someone she could ask about the whole thing. For now however, she’d explore on her own, wandering about the halls and past various Renegade employees. Which reminded her, she still needed to discuss with whoever did the payslips around here to forward money into her account. Another mission for when it wasn’t so late in the evening. Heading through another set of sliding doors, Ash wasn’t sure if she was getting anywhere before a voice softly filtered into her mind. It wasn’t intelligible, just some sort of off mutterings, but it was enough to make her curious as she turned through another entryway, before walking along a ramp to a more official looking set of doors.

She wasn’t quite sure why she felt so compelled to head into the room, and as she made her way inside she was a little awed by the displays. What was most eye-catching however was the ebon black blade that christened the centre pedestal, sealed within a glass case. It was ornate and delicate – beautiful, even to those without an eye for design. She was somewhat reminded of a museum exhibit, and part of her wondered if there’d be a grid of lasers surrounding it or something. Still, something bid her to approach and as she did, the case slowly began to slide away, leaving the blade open to the touch. Slowly, she felt her fingers reaching out to grasp it… Before she stopped herself, suddenly very aware that she was somehow being manipulated. Common sense and reasoning began to filter back in through the cobwebs of her mind, and she took a sharp step back, glaring to the sword and glancing about the room. Her eyes stopped and settled on another case, a gruesome looking severed head resting on a pillow. She gagged a moment and covered her mouth, taking another couple of steps back. Was this some sort of trap or something? Were people who were foolish enough to try and take the blade beheaded and put on display? A little paranoid, she hastily decided to back out of the room, but a quick analysis of the automatic doors revealed they weren’t budging. Banging on them a couple of times, no one came to let her out from the room. It seemed for now, she was trapped.

Sighing, she pushed off the door, moving back over to the sword and examining it a bit more closely. It certainly was more interesting then the trophy head in the other case, though she had to wonder why the glass had slid away like that. I mean, if they were trying to protect the blade, wouldn’t the glass be kept up as a security measure? Leaning on the pedestal, Ash gave a startled yell as it began to fall backwards, tipping over as it turned out it wasn’t fixed to the ground. With a soft clatter, the pillar hit the floor, sending the sword clanging to the floor and bouncing a couple of times. Ash winced, remaining tense… But there was no alarm. No poisonous gas filtering in the room. Seemed the place was clear. Grumbling to herself, she set the stand back up, before striding over to the sword, bending over and grasping the handle.

"Greetings, young maiden. Oh, sorry, you aren't a maid working here? Damn, disappointed... I wanted to give you an excuse to knock down that vampire's head.” The deep and dark voice made its way into Ash’s head, startling her a little as she instinctively looked over to the decapitated piece in the other display. “Yes, it's a vampire's head, sadly. An ugly one, at that. Pisses me off, but that's not why you are here, is it?” Ash blinked a little, finally recognising that the source of the voice was none other than the sword in her hand. Annoyed, she glared at it. “I’m not here for anything.” Apparently, the sword didn’t seem to care or notice her words, continuing off on a rambling tangent. “I remember the first one like... I think you'll know who this one is. ‘The Immortal’? Ah yes, he is... An interesting challenge. Then there was the boy, who was -very- easy, but I saw talent... I think he goes by ‘Inferno’ for now? One hears things-“ Annoyed by the sword’s rant, Ash began tapping it against the ground, rapping it repeatedly on the floor with little care for its wellbeing. “So you actually gonna tell me something useful or…”

The blade chuckled a little sinisterly, before Ash felt a dreading coldness run down her spine, the room beginning to swirl with darkness, fading the floor, walls, everything from sight. "Heh... You want something useful? Okay... Let's start with this~" As the whole world vanished, Ash glanced around nervously, before screaming as she felt her feet go out from under her, tumbling down into the black. Falling, falling, the endless void and the rush of the cold air around her was all she could see and feel. Steadily, the darkness began to obscure and engulf her. Up her legs, over her torso, creeping over her neck. Desperately, Ash craned her head upwards as it slipped over her mouth silencing her panicked screams before slowly covering her frantically darting eyes. In the end, she felt herself blinded in the dark, and the world went silent and senseless.

…

Unconscious, Ash slumped to the floor in the room, lying face first on the ground as her mind drifted away. Her fingers still loosely clutched the sword, as its voice aberrantly floated about the room. "... Well that's just great, isn't it? Now I have to waste more time by waking you back up. Nice going, princess." The sword gave a sigh of disdain, before Ash slowly began to rise to her feet. "Mmm, thank you for your help there. It's been a long time since she slept like that." Ash laughed a little, but it was hollow and somewhat sultry, the girl casually flicking her hair over her shoulder as she got to her feet. Darkness seemed to permeate from her body, and the calm blue of her eyes had been replaced by a deep, dark crimson… "... Well, your, well, new. Uh, yeah, they’re going to be pissed at me if you leave this room. Why don't you sit down and let's talk this over, shall we? I mean, I'm a god damn sword! Do you KNOW the weaknesses I obv-” In intense irritation, Ash swung the sword around to her face, glaring at it. “Shut up.” She seethed with a venomous tongue, before running a finger down the length of the sharp end. “Shutting up now…” The sword mumbled, Ash examining herself in the reflection of the sword. “My, the little girl’s all grown up now, isn’t she?” Playing with her fringe momentarily she laughed, tapping the sword over her shoulder as she strode towards the door. “Tell me, sword. How long’s it been since you’ve had some fun?” Grinning, she stepped up to the doors, shadows appearing from the crevices as it pulled the entryway open.

"... What are you doing? Y -- You don't honestly think -- I really have to tell you something... Something bad if you try to use me -- please tell me we're going to have some tea?!" Savouring the panic in the blade’s voice, she stopped a moment, glancing back to the case in the room. Stepping up, she made one sharp movement, vertically cleaving through the head, case and pedestal in one swift and violent motion. “Does that answer your question?” She chuckled, watching the blood trickle down the sides of the blade. "..... I would say I'm impressed, but they are going to be pissed now. I mean, you can use me, you'll start feeling your heart in pain in a few minutes.... It's all very complicated stuff from here. Although... If I may make a suggestion for you, miss...?" The blade spoke, attempting to draw out a name from its wielder. It seemed however, that it would receive no such answer. "Do go on. I'm so VERY interested in your trifling and insignificant feelings." The sarcasm was palpable as she continued her way out into the hall of the base. At this, the sinister aura of Eclipse finally unleashed itself, surrounding both itself and Ash as she could begin to feel its power flooding out. A sinister purple eye opened on the length of the blade, eying Ash. "... Why don't we head out and look for some poor demon waiting to die in a fight to the death?" It's voice was now different too. It sounded so much deeper, so threatening, so menacing, so... Much more evil.

“You make it sound so innocent.” Ash chuckled menacingly, cradling the blade for a moment as she brought it up to her face. “But the thing is, I’m anything but innocent. Tell me… Where can I find Claire Clade?” Eclipse let out a chuckle at her words, closing its eye a moment before speaking. "Do you feel the boy's presence like I can? Inferno's blood? If you can... That's where she is. Moving... Others are nearby. Are we going to cause a scene, m'lady?" Laughing in response to the blade’s ignorance, Ash pointed it down the hall. “Direct me. I intend to cause a slaughter.”