Takeuchi, Liriael, & Xana
The travel-worn and emotionally weary Takeuchi was glad for the sudden surge of the divine presence emanating from the . . . well honestly he could not tell if it was a man or woman seated nearby, with a calm composure that seemed all too natural to them, even if it meant he was greeted by the malign spirit’s presence as well. That one did not seem nearly as foul as that of the demon behind him, and hopefully the angel had a much more agreeable personality, though from what he had been told many tended to look down upon humans for being less than pure. His limp was much more pronounced now than it had been earlier today, mainly thanks to the demon’s brisk-pace to which he was unaccustomed, but luckily practice kept his wince concealed for the most part, although one who paid enough mind to it would notice how tense his face was at the moment. In an effort to keep some grace in front of the angel Takeuchi bowed down just a bit deeper than he would have normally, mainly to try and mask his body language for a few moments longer, and offered his greeting face-down.
“Greetings, I am Takeuchi Hiroto and I have come to assist in the exorcism and capture of this renegade spirit.”
A cold chill crept down the Meister’s neck as a somewhat noticeable shiver crawled up his spine while his stomach turned over at least twice upon feeling the entrance of another demonic presence, and even though it was not nearby the combined auras emanating from the two demon’s and the spirit were sickening to say the least. His bow ended abruptly as he shot-up straight as an arrow and his head turned slightly in the direction from whence this new aura originated, hoping that this new one was not going to join them in this exorcism, Takuechi was not quite sure if he would be able to concentrate on the exorcism enough with the bile creeping up the back of his throat. Strangely enough though, it started fading away, even if relatively slowly, and Lili began transforming back into her human form, luckily enough this way around seemed much less sudden and jolting than previously.
Takeuchi turned his head back towards the angel with a rather relieved, although still slightly nervous, smile spread across his lips. “So, shall we begin then?”
It was impossible for Liri to make or return any verbal greeting whilst still murmuring her binding spell, so instead she half-smiled kindly. She had not missed the slightly-awkward way the human youth moved, but like everything else, it was not her business unless someone else chose to make it so. Turning from both of them, she crouched near the body of the woman, lifting her into her arms and standing. She wasn't sure what method this Takeuchi used to exorcise, but she supposed it would be helpful to have an unmoving target, whatever that method may be.
The woman in her arms was breathing raggedly still, though the spirit inside her body was suppressed for the most part by Liriael's spell, and as such, she struggled not at all. She didn't appear to be in very good shape, though most of that damage had occurred whether before Xana arrived or between then and when Liri had, it was hard to say. The sword at the angel's hip remained sheathed and relatively unobtrusive; it was clear that she was trusting Xana to be able to find a gate to shove the spirit back through. She would destroy the being if she must, but she would much prefer not to.
Anxiety coursed through the Meister's body as he observed the angel quietly lift up and grasp the poor, possessed girl after his, somewhat, unnecessary question, and it felt as if his heart was straddling the back of his throat now while its rhythmic beating began to pound relentlessly between his ears. A series of deep, fluid breaths helped to calm this sensation, but only slightly, as he knew this would be a trial in and of itself, more so than either of his companions knew at the moment. The Meister paused momentarily to look over the poor girl's form, observing how fragile and ragged the human host looked at this moment, forcing a wave of guilt over Takeuchi at how focused he had been upon his own comfort earlier, this girl was suffering greatly and he had not right to even think about complaining at a time such as this.
"This should not take very long."
Despite the declarative structure of his statement, a hint of hesitation and doubt tinted his words, but Takeuchi stiffened his gaze considerably, setting his feet into the ground and clasping his hands together firmly. With a bowed head the young Meister began manipulating his Qi to begin forming a field around the poor girl, releasing his hands and using short but soft movements to help guide the energy and form it evenly around her body. Things were going about as well as they could at the moment; all he could do was hope that his reputable bad luck chose not to interfere the evening.
Darkness writhed at the touch of the Meister's spell. It flooded the woman's form, and then spilled forth from her every pore. The black mist like structure of the possession seemed to cover the woman entirely until she couldn't be seen. It was several minutes into the exorcism before the mist began to take shape. It pulled itself up from the center of the woman's body that quaked in the angels hold. The black mass curled in on itself several times before finally holding an upright position. The darkness shifted several times, forming arms and a head without features. Lifting completely out of the woman's body, it stretched its arms out and swiped at the barrier that the Meister had formed around the woman. Lips curled along the faceless head, jagged teeth emerged from between the darkness like tar. A cold laugh filled the air between them all. It was no spirit that left the woman's body, but a wraith instead.
Takeuchi had his eyes clenched tightly during the few minutes before the mist's transformation, focusing entirely upon the barrier he was trying to craft around the girl's body, sweat had started beading across his brow and his breath had grown much more laborious as this was proving to be a much more difficult exorcism than he had imagined any renegade spirit's would be. When the dark form brushed up against his Qi field it felt like a dagger had been pricked into his chest quickly, breaking this Meister's concentration entirely, and with it the field he had strived so diligently to create to force the spirit . . . no this was much more than that, it had to be a wraith, from the girl's body. A sensation of panic quickly spread through Takeuchi's body as he readied himself for what was to come, this was definitely going to be much more difficult than he had hoped for, and it seemed like his usual luck had reared its ugly head once again.
A Wraith… Liri would have gritted her teeth had she the ability over the chanting she was performing, and when it seemed that the exorcist was slipping, she formed the cadence back into song, the binding spell this time moving to reinforce the barrier that the young man was forming with his own energy, suffusing it with angelic strength in addition to the spiritual powers of a human. She held her grip steady against the shaking of the host, her breathing even and calm, and hoped dearly that this would work. A Wraith was not something that anyone should take lightly.
Xana had remained silent over the course of these events--she would be useless until they required a gate. The closest one at this point was a gate she had repaired only a few nights before, but even that was still a few hours from their current position. That in and of itself would have been of little concern, but the appearance of a wraith complicated matters somewhat. Of course, either way, she was useless to this group without the gates; physical violence, as much as demons reveled in the bloodshed, was something that was impossible against a wraith--violence usually lead to utter destruction, and demons were barred from outright destroying spirits and wraiths. At Treylion's 'request', not only was she stuffed back into her fleshy meatbag form, but this barred her from using any sort of pyrokinetic ability without exposing herself.
The demon huffed as a new influx of fear and panic flooded her system, something a bit refreshing as the wraith's rage and malice threatened to overwhelm her senses. While the angel and exorcist continued holding the freed wraith inside of their own little bubble, she thought about potential options for this situation. While extremely dangerous, if not unheard of, they could attempt to stuff the wraith back into the vessel and proceed to perform the ritual at a gate instead of out in the middle of nowhere...
"Would it behoove you to know that the nearest gate is to the north?" she asked, her voice dripping with sweet sarcasm, realizing that this was probably all she was going to be good for in the long run. "A few hours north, no less?" She walked around the barrier, letting chills run down her flesh and enjoying every second of it for once--perhaps the physical reminder of Inferno was something that induced nostalgia in her, or maybe the presence of the wraith was affecting her mental integrity. "If you think you can contain it in your little bubble for that long, then we should get moving. Now."
Despite Takeuchi's best efforts to contain the wraith in his Qi field, something it was not necessarily meant to do in the first place, and the added angelic energy donated by his new companion, he was unable to continue keeping the barrier secure around the powerful wraith, and when the hideous being of darkness did finally burst through the resulting shockwave was enough to send the fragile Meister toppling backwards, head-over-heels. The wraith turned, towards its former angelic captor, that cold, empty laugh echoing through the area around them and lunged for her, hoping to take out the one that it knew could keep it held captive. Meanwhile, the dazed Meister did his best to regain his composure, shaking his head lightly to try and fend off the dull pain throbbing in his temples, and also grasping furiously into his the kimono sleeve which contained the paper talismans he needed next, hoping beyond all hope that he would be able to concentrate for long enough to conjure his next ability.
Liri would have sighed had she the opportunity, but instead she rolled her eyes in Xana's general direction. She'd kept the thing bound this long, she could manage a few more hours, but the important thing was saving the host. Xana also could have mentioned this fact earlier, perhaps before letting the boy start his work. As matters were, however, the wraith burst out of his sphere of energy, lunging for her. Liri evaded the swipe, then spared a breath to speak. "I can contain it. Just get us to the gate before I'm forced to kill it." Summoning her breath to her, she exhaled in a vibrato note, causing the wraith to stiffen, its joints locking up in paralysis. She could only hold the joints, however, not the entire being. Jerking her head, she indicated that they needed to get moving. This thing was a lot stronger than most of the foes she'd bound in the past-- if she was allowed to concentrate, she could make it, but she didn't look forward to the next few hours.
A wave of relief washed over Takeuchi as his angelic companion managed to rebind the wraith, no thanks to his complete failure, and inwardly the frustrated Meister was scolding himself for being so careless, letting the entity break his concentration and endanger others in such a fashion, a salty taste teased his palette as Takeuchi bit his inner-lip so hard it started bleeding slightly. With another determined step, this time clasping talismans in one, outstretched arm, Takeuchi brought his good hand up to his lips, his thumb, index, and middle fingers held straight while his ring-finger and pinky were bent at the second knuckle, he began whispering a soft chant. The paper talismans began glowing brightly, as Takeuchi began clenching his eyelids together forcefully, and burst into thousands of shards of light, swirling into the air and gathering around the wraith, forming around the entity's limbs and clasping them to its body tightly. After several moments the brilliant, white light dimmed to a dull pink color, with barely visible gaps between the shards at their juncture points, by now they resembled cherry blossoms. The Meister let a sigh escape his lips as his chant was finished, but he needed every ounce of concentration to keep the spell intact. "I hope this helps, but we must hurry." Takeuchi turned his head at the demon slightly, hoping that a brief look would help reinforce the hushed urgency in his voice, that was all he could spare before he was forced to start chanting quietly once again.
The demon did feel the urgency in the voice of the exorcist. She sensed the impatience growing in the angel--a good sign that she was actually capable of showing some emotion after all. With a quick flash of a grin, the red-headed woman beckoned the others to follow her. She would finally have a moment to shine, although the prospect of watching the angel slaughter the wraith was rather tempting as well... In any case, she tossed a quick wink toward the quivering exorcist as she slowly began heading toward the north. Hopefully they would be able to feed her for a bit as they made their way toward the gate.