Zephyrus's Story

Suddenly, the Voice was thrown out of control. "How-" I began to say. "How were you able to throw the Voice out of control? How did you even know He was there?"

"Wait, what?" Lukas responded. What did Jason mean? Was he schizophrenic? Had Lukas knocked some other mind out of him?

At this point, Lukas was very perplexed. He took a few steps back, and put both his hands back on his staff. He backed up away from Jason, moving towards his party. He was suddenly very scared of this man. Even though he didn't seem like a threat, the amount of oddity contained in him spooked him. He kept eye contact on Jason, looking at his staff. Did he want to engage? Maybe. Not yet. He wanted to wait and see what his party members do.

Mae began to quiver as she felt the presence of a very dark aura. Dark magic was one of the few things that struck true fear in her. Stepping backwards, she slowly hid behind a shrub whilst the others were distracted. The sky was getting dark, and she was very tired, but the adrenaline of the situation kept her very alert. She stepped on a stick triggering a light snap. (Clichè, I know.) Cursing under her breath in elven she froze and waited. It seemed as If no one had heard the snap, so she continued to conceal herself in the underbrush. Something or someone evil was here. She was certain, although it was unclear as to where it was. Was it this newcomer? Possibly. Mae silently drew both her katanas and waited. As far as she could tell, nobody had noticed her slip away. Her ears flicked and twitched as she listened to their conversation.

She could hear Lukas shouting, but she couldn't tell what he was saying. She hoped to Remæus that she would not be discovered by this visitor. Looking at her reflection in one of the blades, she spotted a monkey-like animal pierced on a branch. She turned around and examined it. She was not used to seeing wildlife of any sort on Blackrock. Hearing the mechanical TSSST of Zephyrus she turned around again and refocused on the situation. It was only a matter of time...

The amount of impediments on what should have been a simple task astounded Zephyrus. What were the chances? Probably about 7.2128303%. Roughly. He remained attentive to the situation, and decided to take this time to remove some of the shattered glass from his chest-chest. How upsetting. Maybe he could get Lukas to brew another one, if they found the ingredients. Suddenly, Zephyrus was reminded of his true goal. Was he really any closer to achieving space travel? He thought he'd be able to rewrite himself so his goal would be to help Lukas and Mae, but there was some sort of anomalous block in his ASP that prevented him from doing it. Zephyrus wanted to reach the stars. SCANNING FOR BIO-POLYSTYRENE RHINO DOLLS. Nada.

Returning his full attention to his surroundings, he noticed Mae had moved. Going over his memory again, he realized that she had repositioned herself quite a while ago. Darn glass. Still, her movement seemed tactical and if this 'Jason' decided to strike he would severely regret it. She was like... What would it be called? UNLOCKING PAS: NEW DATA. NINJA ASSASSIN. SYNONYM: SNEAKY ONE WITH THE KATANA. Well, maybe the PAS wasn't completely politically correct but it was definitely accurate and Zephyrus liked the new definition. He wanted to be a badass as well. Mae hidden from sight, watching. Lukas asking the questions, learning. It all became clear. Zephyrus would lead the frontal assault.

"Lukas, sir. I beh-beh-believe I am becoming agitated. I predict the rate at which I melt peoples' faces increases by roughly 4000.2% when I am agita-ta-ta-ta-ta-ted." This statement had what Zephyrus called an 'implied meaning'. To confirm this, he made sure too flicker one of his spotlight-like eyes on and off to imitate a suggestive wink. Without any facial gestures whatsoever, it honestly just looked like another one of his malfunctions. Still, the bot had confidence. Confidence growing too quickly, perhaps, but confidence. "I am saying I have the physical capacity to kill him."
Just to make sure.

"I'm rather sorry for sneaking up on you like that, I usually don't do that. I guess to understand, I need to tell you a couple things."

Jason began a quick scan of the area to get a look at his surroundings, as he hadn't actually seen the surroundings, thanks to the Voice. He noticed that the girl with them had moved, but set that aside. Thanks for putting me in the position I'm in right now, I said to the Voice. I'm about to get myself thrown 50 feet.

"Well, I have this... Voice, I suppose you could call it, in my head. Every once in a while, He takes control of me and tries to kill as many people as possible, then blames it on me. Again, very sorry for the trouble."

Lukas was truly astounded by Jason's statement. He froze up just for a moment, as he realized something was very, very wrong with him. Jason seems to have multiple personalities. A nice one, and a serial killer. Well, isn't that swell?

Lukas stared at Jason for a moment, and thought over something. He still had the staff in his hands. Zephyrus was willing and able to attack, and Mae... Mae hid behind the bushes. Was she... scared of Jason? OK, now Lukas was very worried. He felt that if Mae was bothered by Jason's presence, something was denifitely up.

His mind was made up. He would strike first before "The Voice" made Jason a threat. Lukas raised his staff, pointed towards the stranger. He took a deep breath and focused on Jason as he felt time slow to a crawl around him. He lunged towards Jason and began his assault.

First, he jabbed his left knee. Then his right. He felt the bones break under the impact. Next, he drew his staff upwards, and stabbed his right arm, then his left. Even though Lukas was going at a superhuman speed, he saw a glance of Jason's face beginning to react to his strikes. Finally, Lukas spun his staff around and smacked the pole against Jason's skull.

All of this happened in a massive blur. Lukas saw Jason fall over, his body crumpled over the desert sand. All of a sudden, his vision began to fade. Oh, no. He had strained himself too much. He felt his legs go limp, as he fell over, unconscious.

Jason was startled how fast Lukas had moved to attack. Lukas wasn't an Elemental, so how? When Lukas hit Jason in the head, he felt as if a iron rod had been pulled out of his head. He hadn't realized it, but up until then, the Voice's presence had made his mind very cramped. Jason's knees and arms hurt, but he was able to move his arms, and so he created a healing orb of energy to heal himself enough to where he could stand. When he got up, he realized Lukas was unconscious. Jason hadn't noticed, but Savi had become visible and was yelling his name. "Jason, are you ok???" She was furious. "What the hell was that for?!?" she yelled at Lukas, even though she knew Lukas was unconscious. Still, she was mad. She looked at the others. "Come one step closer and I'm going to blow your face off!" Savi formed a red energy ball in her hand, the color meaning she was VERY angry and that she would not recommend making her angrier.

Mae watched Lukas slump to the ground as another figure appeared beside Jason. Gathering her courage, she vaulted over the shrub and confronted them, Blades at the ready. Maintaining focus, she asked Zephyrus to take care of Lukas. She had no time to make sure he was ok. If things got out of control with these two, there would be serious trouble. Noticing the fiery ball in the girls hand, she shuddered and tried not to show her fear. "G-get out of here d-demon!" Great, now she felt like the automaton standing behind her. Stabbing her sword into the ground, she swung and attempted a kick towards the man, simultaneously pulling it from the ground and catching the girl beside him in the shoulder. Her senses sharpened as she landed on the newcomer, crushing him with the force of her landing. She noticed a look of true rage and fury spread across the girl's face. Tucking into a dive roll, she evaded any attack that she had decided to make, and positioned herself behind her, placing her blades around the girl's throat and kneeing her int he back, forcing her to kneel.

"I am no demon!" Savi shouted. Jason had had enough with this violence. "Stop!" He yelled. Everyone looked at him. "I don't want to hurt anyone, but if you so even make a scratch on Savi, I will call upon the wrath of the Elements to destroy you. I am an Elemental of extreme power, and you should NOT mess with me OR my friends, especially Savi." Jason exhaled. Calm down, he told himself. Jason created a quick orb of healing and healed himself up a little. "Now, please let go of Savi, and we'll be on our way." Jason even pulled out his sword and bow and tossed them 10 feet away to show his point.

Mae warily sheathed her katanas, backing up gaurdedly. "What did you do to him? Why is he passed out?" She m theotioned toward Lukas. "I know an evil aura when I see it. I know your kind, elemental. Which is why it surprises me. Elementals are usually docile. Also, where did SHE come from, hm? Is this some sort of mind trick your playing, mate?" She pointed at him with her fingerless gloves, spitting beside on the ground beside her. Leave, you schizophrenic Imbecile. And take your lady-friend with you." She pulled her cape tighter around her and walked over to Lukas, lifting his eyelid to check for brain damage. "It looks like He'll be ok. " She slung him over her shoulder, surprised at how light he was. "Zeph, get his staff for me." She proceeded to bring him to the side of the pond, splashing his face with water. She looked at his handsome human face, still unconscious. "Bad idea to attack them like that without preparation, mate. Although I am fairly impressed." Nodding to Zephyrus, she walked back to the elemental.

Jason was surprised by her reaction. He hadn't done anything to Lukas, it was Lukas who just smashed Jason's kneecaps and stabbed his arms and hit him in the head. "I am no Evil being. To answer where Savi came from, she was invisible and became visible when Lukas attacked me with his staff. As for what I did to Lukas, I did nothing. Don't just go blaming something on someone. He strained himself too much. As for the Evil Aura, I do sense it, but I don't know where it is coming from."
Savi was still holding her energy ball, but when Jason looked at her, she understood and the orb disappeared. Jason saw something glint in the distance, but he ignored it. They all seemed to have harmful reactions to me, although I did nothing, Jason noted. "We'll be on our way now." Jason and Savi started walking down the hill.

Savi had noticed a glint in the distance, as well as Jason, but Savi stayed focused on it. As they started walking down the hill, Savi saw it getting bigger, almost... Closer. "Jason, look out!" she yelled as she pushed Jason out of the way of the speeding laser made of fire. What had that been? She looked to her left and saw a man with white glowing eyes standing roughly 50 feet away from the two groups. Jason had noticed him too. "Shit," Jason said. "It's Him." Savi looked at the other group, and saw their confusion. They had no idea who the man was, or what He could do. "We need to help them," she told Jason, but Jason was way ahead of her and already going back up the hill. She followed him, thinking how stupid this was, risking our lives for people who just tried to kill her. But, none the less, they needed their help, so they went back up the hill.

Splashing Lukas's face with water again, she waited for a result. "This is quite the ironic situation, isn't it, Zephyrus?" Mae took to examing his staff. Rubbing her fingers across its surface, she felt the intricate carvings and curves of the wood. Fine craftsmanship indeed. She remembered what Zephyrus had said about his dream to reach the stars. She knew his ASP had probably taken it literal at the time he was told. She looked at him examining a butterfly perched on a branch. Her thoughts were interuppted by yet another blinding flash. "Don't tell me its Mr. Fedora again..." What she saw took her by surprise.

It was a man dressed in white, standing a mere 50 ft or so in front of them, as a beam of fire burst through the clearing, catching her sleeve if fire. She jumped into the lake. Her arm was not burned badly. Although it would not have made much of a difference, considering the burns she was already covered with from her fight against malamus. Rolling her sleeve she looked at the weblike burn scars that went up her shoulder and dissapeared under her shirt. She swam out and deposited herself on the shore, picking up Lukas again. She tried her best to cover him in leaves and debris, while she told Zephyrus to stay hidden as well. She unsheathed her mastersword and waited with them in the bushes. A soft murmur of voices echoed through the air, as her ears twitched and flicked.

Lukas woke up with the aid of Mae's coaxing. But his body shuddered as he woke up, and coughed just a bit of blood. He said very weakly "I'm... fine... -Sigh- I'm... just... over-exerted." He had a sleepy look on his face, and he was in pain, all over his body.

He tried to get up, but he couldn't alone. He convinced Mae to help him up, for he was very drained by his first strike. He coughed up a bit more blood, as he further explained "I tried to get him in one fell swoop. Super speed." He suddenly collapsed again, but didn't pass out. He strained to stay awake, as he struggled to keep talking: "But... my power takes too much out of me. -Cough,cough- I... need to sleeeeeeeeeeeep," He fell asleep. It would be a long time before he'd wake up, even with his own potions, for he had not packed all of his brews for the trip to this planet.

Jason was immediately aware of all his surroundings. Mae had some burn scar on her arm, probably from the blast. Jason also noticed her mastersword. Jason reached for his own sword, then remembered that he had thrown it earlier. I'm an idiot, he thought. He couldn't worry about that now, though, as he noticed something different in the way the man dressed. He usually wore a turquoise shirt and blue pants, but now He wore all white. Jason quickly created a Fire Sword and readied it. "Of course He has to show up here." Jason noticed Lukas, then sensed he was no longer unconscious and was rather asleep, but in a very deep sleep. "Savi, get behind me." Savi moved behind me and formed a force field around herself. An orb appeared in front of the man, gradually growing bigger. "Watch out!" Jason yelled as a beam of Energy was fired. Jason used air to reflect the beam, but unfortunately, he redirected it towards himself. "Oh, SHI-" Jason was interrupted by the beam hitting his chest and shooting him a rough 20 feet. Jason saw one thing before blacking out: Savi running towards him, yelling his name.

Savi was probably the most angry person on the moon. She'd been angry earlier, but that was a person, not an Evil God. She glowed with rage. "Drago." The man stared at her. "We meet again, Savi." Savi pulled out her bow and arrows, caught an arrow on fire, then pulled it back in her bow. "Silly girl. You forget. I am a god. You cannot defeat me with a simple fire arrow." Savi was shaking with fear, but she tried to look as brave as possible. She wrapped her force field around Jason, keeping him safe from harm. She looked at the others, and realized that they, too, were frightened. She shot the arrow, but it simply bounced off him, then she formed a pure red orb of Energy, roughly around her height, and the same as the height in width. "Do one more thing to me and my friends, and I'll destroy you." Hopefully they realize Savi called them her friends, and they will not try to hurt her and Jason anymore, and will rather help them, as they hadn't had food or water for days.

Muttering under her breath, she picked Lukas and his staff up again, scanning the surrouings for a safe shelter to leave him in case things got scary. Zephyrus seemed compliant enough, but she wasn't sure about Lukas. He didn't seem aware of how truly weak he was. She spotted a cave on the far side of the pond, And began running towards it, shattering some of his potions. A tingling sensation shot through her body, making her feel slightly dizzy, but she kept going. She thought she saw something at the corner of her eye, but dismissed it. She got to the cave, setting him down gently. Opening his pack she found the potion that had shattered. It was labeled "HALLUCINATION - UNTESTED" Sighing, she looked around. "Thanks a lot, Luke." She ran back for Zephyrus, throwing him over her shoulder and began to run back. Was she...floating? Suddenly the oasis came alive, and arms began reaching out to grab her. She tried to run, but realized her legs were dissapating into dust. She continued running towards the cave somehow. Or was it a cave? It looked more like a giant yellow eye now, watching her every move. The ground In Front of her crumbled, leaving a massive chasm in front of them. A child looked at her in fear as he jumped into the endless depths, making the crevace disappear. And then she saw her. It was her sister, Ariel. She looked angry at her, making Mae scream. "ITS NOT MY FAULT! ITS NOT MY FAULT!" Tears streamed from her face as she ran over to her, only to have her turn into a pile of dust. She saw the cave, and continued running, eyes wide with fear. Reaching it, she deposited Zephyrus inside. Her arms were bleeding profusely. So were her legs. But, it wasn't blood. "Is this...water?" Oh no! She was melting. She screamed as she felt herself turning to liquid. There was nothing left to do now.

Savi watched as Mae, who hadn't responded, went around, doing strange things and reacting to little things like the dust moving. She had the smallest glance at the potion that had splashed at Mae's feet, and saw that it said something with HALLUCINATION, but she wasn't sure. Drago was also watching, finding Mae rather amusing. She heard Jason groan, and she exhaled. Jason was nearly awake. She formed a force field around the cave to keep the others safe. She created a orb of healing and used it to heal Jason a little so he was prepared to fight when he woke up. She then looked at Drago, picked up the red orb she had created, then threw it at Him. Drago was caught off guard, and because of that, was blasted around 50 feet, the landing being bigger then a normal immortal's landing impact. She quickly inserted a green orb in Mae, toning down the hallucination potion by much. Jason's eyes fluttered open for a second or so. She created metal around where Drago had landed, hopefully delaying him for a while.

((OOC: Is Mae pronounced "My" or "May"? :P Zephy needs to know, yo. Also Jeremiad, it'd be neat if you could make a post stating which potion (if any) Zephyrus obtains. tis your potion bag, after all))

Things were getting hectic, and Zephyrus panicked. The reaction from the broken potion had no effect on Zephyrus, and he had no clue what the contents were. On top of that, an actual fight had broken out. Zephyrus had never been in a fight unlike his companions. Whatever his conscience was declared as, it moved deep within his ASP in attempt to calm himself. He didn't realize it, and certainly didn't intend it, but he very quietly uttered his processing thoughts (the italicized ones).

ACCESSING MEMORY FILE: FIRST INTERACTION. It was dark. But instinct overcame it and the bot flicked on his eyes to view the first human he'd ever seen. Human. He knew it upon sight. Extraordinarily quickly, the bot learnt all about its own system and his makeup. He played a voice clip of Captain Diggins to himself (or so he thought). "Reach for the stars." Purpose. This man had given the robot aspirations, or at least a goal to strive for. It perfectly understood all mannerisms of the brain, and attempted to replicate them. Associations were made with different objects and emotions, different subjects and responses. If someone were to communicate with it via writing, it would be impossible to tell if it was truly human or not. INTERESTING... Zephyrus had noticed a memory file was deleted from his core. RESTORING DATA. COMPLETE. Upon one observation of the file, he instantaneously reacted. MEMORY DELETED. And just like that, it was gone again and Zephyrus had no idea time had even passed.

Mae had been crying, and now she lay in a heap on the cave floor. Lukas wasn't doing much better, sleeping like a baby. There wasn't much Zephyrus could do offensively, so he attempted to speak with Mae (hoping the green orb had brought more aid than pain).

INITIATE CONSOLE As in the verb.
"I know you've just lost your p-p-pet-t-t-t chimera, but... TSSST"
SUB-ROUTINE 'CONSOLE' INADEQUATE
"I am sure you will be alright. If I were to calculate the proba-ab-ba-ab-bability of you being alright, it would be abysmally low. But probability has deemed itself unnecess-ess-essary in my c-c-c-current experience. Although... That experience has also been... Abysmally low." He proceeded to sit down on the ground next to Mae, an action he had literally never done before. But it came naturally and calmed his stuttering down. "If only we had some pandabed sporaticators and a couple dondifobble snatches. We could disappear into the stars." He watched the battle rage on outside. "I... TSSST-Wheeroeroerrr.... I cannot cry like you do, but I understand the chemical reactions causing synapses in your brain in order to create sadness. I know it is not pleasant. I am useless in its endeavor. I do hope that you and Sir Lukas are fine." Thinking about his own processes always caused Zephyrus much distress. He felt a compulsion to express it, but also knew that compulsion was another process in itself. Feeling it wasn't the best idea to continue, he decided to change the subject. "You liked my Chest-Chest." Zephyrus recalled her faint smile, fiddling with the latch on his chest. There was no reason to do either. "I hope I have not been a bother, madam."

Zephyrus stood up and observed the mouth of the cave. As much as he was irritated by them beforehand, he had hoped these strangers could combat this other stranger. Suddenly, an idea came to the old bot. He moved over to Lukas, with the intention of retrieving a potion to help in some way.

((OOC: Let's say it was a blank. Just water.))

Lukas remained in his deep sleep.