Erebus wore his newest clothes, a metal chest plate called the Warrior’s armor donned his torso, tucked at his neck was a purple-indigo scarf with a black cape draping his back to his mid-thighs, it’s ghostly power drew a soft green glow around the perimeter of his form.

The Rogue turned Summoner had a bleached pink hue on his hair, almost blonde if not for that delicate hint, tattoos marked his face all the way down four arms and biceps. His chest and back caked in these markings as well, and black fingertips sharp enough to slit necks seemed to accentuate his otherworldly grace. ‘War God— the dreams and nightmares had told him, his role was to provoke the end of days. So this form, it was his to reap the rewards of.

Erebus Gresham was a monster compared to a mere man now, though to say he was ever normal was an understatement in his legend now. He displayed two arms for all to see, and always kept the others hidden as a level of caution, they were usually crossed or at his side but never visible until combat began. Fortunately for the eyes of the faint hearted, Erebus kept them under his cloak’s draping veil.

Today, he was back at the Church as always, taming spirits. His red eyes scanned a page in his hand, large letters read:
PARTNER: IKANBI.

So upon reaching the Gate, Erebus merely waited in anticipation, eyes peering behind the Church to it’s graveyard until the younger Summoner would arrive.

250/1000

Today, Ikanbi was to accompany two summoners in a bit of a hunting party. Truly, things with Ikanbi had been somewhat stagnant lately, but things were beginning to take a bit of an upwards turn. After all, work was work and Ikanbi was to earn quite a fortune if she wanted to get what she wanted. Eyes on the prize, Ikanbi set out in all black attire today, with dark royal purple trim that matched her dark purple scarf and mask that covered the lower half of her face. After a moment, she cleaned up the shop and headed out. Today, Kuva had left her a note to meet with a new partner, someone on the darker side of town, someone to help Ikanbi become better acquainted with the working of the dark dealings in the area.


Stepping out onto the street, she locked up the shop behind her and bid Kirari farewell. She looked left, then right, then made her merry way upwards, admiring the hanging baskets of greenery that lines the walkways here. She made her way towards the church and wondered what kind of spirits they might have to deal with. She clutched her small knife and wondered whether or not it would even really be useful to her in any capacity.


She truly didn’t know, but she would certainly be finding out. Either way, she was sure she could find some way to make herself useful to the more able Erebus and Sia. She didn’t knock, she merely waltzed in and found Erebus already at work. “Hello, I presume you are Erebus? You’re a lot prettier than I expected.” She said softly. “Where are the targets?” She said, her expression turning more grim suddenly.


288/1000 C Ikanbi

She yawned, she stretched, she spread her legs and exclaimed noises that others would easily call undignified, but she rolled out of bed anyway. Sia freshened up, her red eyes heavy from lack of sleep and lots of…smoke. Her morning smoke was refreshing, she perked up immediately. She was to aid some friends at the church today, something about angry spirits or another. She wasn’t really too sure if it was necessarily her forte, but in either case she figured the money would be most worth if regardless.


After all, Sia had grown to quite like Ikanbi, whom surprised her with her softness quite often. Truly, someone Sia could aspire to be more like. She donned a black outfit today, a black armored lacquer dress with a blood red cloak and hood. Meticulously, she braided her hair in two, twins that fell down either side of her head. She grabbed a knife, and a nice sturdy walking stick, and headed out into the street from her quarters above Ikanbi’s, stopping nearby at a produce stand and exchanging a small pastry to the worker for a few apples and pears.


She carried the apples and pears with her to the church, and tossed a pear to Ikanbi as soon as she saw her, then an apple to Erebus as she introduced herself. “Howdy, I’m Sia. Let’s do this.” Sia bit into her apple, then swallowed and took another bite and quickly finished it after another moment or so, then started heading towards the basement with her knife in one hand and her stick in the other.


265/1000 C Sia

Erebus first heard Ikanbi’s footsteps, and turned to see the tall Huntress. Her colors of choice were commendable, Erebus having something of a similar color scheme albeit the metal chest piece and the cloak over his frame that could be compared to a cardigan with a wide sith-like cowl.

“Yes, Erebus Gresham. I’m a member of Eternal Nightmare.” He answered. Ready to make his own introduction. He paused as she commented on his appearance, Erebus didn’t commonly get those. “Thank you.” He said, moving his body and walking from the gate to the inside of the Cemetery, towards the large Chapel doors. Erebus prepared to ask her if she was who he was looking for as well, although if she knew who he was he was more than certain this was his girl for the job. “You must be Ikanbi, shall we begin?”

His eyes pierced the shade of the room when he entered, the sun hadn’t quite set into the sky today and was still coming up, it being a quarter to eleven in the AM as of now. Sunlight had flood through a large stainless glass window, so the room had a morning lighting that was warm and orange tinted.

Erebus found himself checking the page in his hand again as he noticed another name; though this one was written in pen, scribble was etched over and it read Sia in bold lettering, when another maiden joined their adventure party and threw an apple he had only just looked up to hear her entry behind them. Such made him curious whether he was losing his mind or just hadn’t noticed it before.

“Perfect. I’m Erebus, now that we’re all here we should start by checking the basement. A tunnel into the ground is there, which takes my guess in where these Ghosts around here come from. Chances for us are good today, the worst spirits aren’t reported until 3AM and it’s long past witch hour here now,”

He’d caught the apple in one hand before she spoke, and bit it after she spoke her part. Letting the paper with their mission objective fall to his side, his attention went to the mission at hand. It was clear they needed to exorcise some unwanted company, Erebus had Ghost Speech due to Courpsemourn—perhaps that’ll come in handy. Erebus takes to the Church’s stage, and pushes the table there out of the way to reveal the door he’d always took downstairs. Two of his four arms gripped a chain and ripped the flooring up. The summoner waited for them to penetrate it’s depth and would follow in behind them afterwards.

637/1000

With intent, Ikanbi listened to Erebus the summoner and among them she walked behind as Erebus lead the charge to the basement. She had listened intently as Erebus spoke, for she could tell he should much to offer her in terms of wisdom and experience. Perhaps he might have made a fine hunter, but, then again, hunter was just a name. The class was really, truly, irrelevant. Either way, the hunting party began. Two summoners and a hunter, in close quarters, they descended the stairwell. Ikanbi noted that Sia intentionally positioned herself to Erebus left, and that Sia made a very conscious effort of being as parallel to Erebus as possible whilst keeping Ikanbi covered from the front.


Ikanbi clutched her knife and as a spirit came out of the wall near her, she stabbed it cleanly through the forehead with its silver blade, causing it to recoil and wail at her as it slithered backwards through the wall. Ikanbi exhaled, she had not anticipated that sort of attack, truthfully. She gazed about as Erebus continued to lead the way. She noted that Sia was not using her magic as brazenly as she recalled her to, but thought nothing of it. After a moment, she began to see the ghosts. A few of them came into her field of view in no time at all and she wound up landing several clean swipes with the silver blade she had loaned. She watched too as Erebus and Sia dealt with some of the ghosts as well.


After another few paces she waltzed around and began to mock the ghosts. She flailed her arms around and made funny faces, pulling her mask away and then pulling at her cheeks and pulling down at her eyes and sticking out her tongue. “Come on is that the best you got?” She said in desiertian and slammed the hilt of the silver blade into another ones forehead, causing it to recoil backwards. She was fearless here, monsters did not terrify her. She had dealt with far worse already. Next though, they had been surrounded, and she backed up to Sia and Erebus in a triangular formation and clutched her knife tightly.

621/1000 C Ikanbi

She ate a banana next, and stared Ikanbi directly in the eyes as she took the first bite, then turned around ans swung her shoulders as she walked, dancing down the stairs of the basement and hopping down past Erebus gleefully. “Let’s roll then.” She said, and put the banana peel on the end of her stick. As they entered the basement, she found it to be much larger than she had anticipated, and much more occupied. She poked through a ghost immediately with the banana on the end of the stick, and it did absolutely nothing except to irritate it incredibly. She couldn’t believe it worked. Perhaps it was the smell? Could ghosts even smell? She didn’t know, but she thought it would be funny if they could either way, so she wanted to see what would happen. In any case, the ghost was toast, or rather, quite the roast, it was heated and ready to beat them and treat them with malicious and vicious, malevolent and violent intent.


Sia laughed. Yes, she laughed, she laughed in the face of the ghosts in the basement and didn’t care how they reacted at all. A true joker, a wild card, an unpredictable sort of person, she dove through the angered one and stabbed the one behind it with her knife, causing it to audibly gasp and exclaim curses at her as Sia herself landed on the ground with a ghost impaled half-way through the ground by the knife in her hand, disappearing into the air around her. Sia withdrew the knife and rolled to her right, avoiding a flying chair from the ghost she had angered and making eye contact with Erebus, giving them a smile and a wave. “You’re not too shabby yourself sir.” Sia said to him, batting her eye lashes. She darted to the left again, then withdrew from her pouch three silver throwing knives, and turned on her heel sharply, sending a volley of them into the ghosts that were encircling around Ikanbi. Sia saw Ikanbi turn around while she readied three more knives, sending two of them into a ghost that was coming in on Erebus’ right side.


628/1000 C Sia

Erebus walked through darkness, lighting a torch for his hand,his other lifted to the air, and a blue light emitted across the flooring as a eight foot, monster of a Knight formed. Water trickling from it’s massive size and sheer power. It was an S-rank caliber foe— known as Bach. The summon flexed it’s power, as it faintly pulsed with blue light. “My name is Bach, I demonstrate little remorse for the wicked,” it said stalwartly, despite the fact it’s Summoner had one of the most infamous identities to the Fioran continent.

Speaking of which, Erebus doubted the women either noted or cared who they were standing beside but Erebus was a reckoning to society. Bach was something like a body guard. They were powerful, and would show it time.

B-rank spirits showed themselves in the form of skin demons, a monster without face or cloth. The girls went to work— stabbing them and flailing their bodies around, Erebus was not one to waste his strength on smaller kill. As he was currently deep in sweat, suffering a vitality drain. His power was immense and so the result wasn’t too potent, but it was enough to allow him the will of hand motions and chatter to fight, a spirit came for Erebus and phased through his form, he stood still as Bach began to brutalize the being. Holding it over his head— he ripped it in half clean and began to destroy everything wildly, as Erebus merely watched, and analyzed the young women proceeding through their combat.

Knives flew by Erebus side as a Ghost was killed in his blind spot. He had to note they were effective combatants, even if they had yet to see Demon Lords. But in time, they’d be powerful enough to eat them. Erebus was once there, so he too saw the potential.

“I see you’ve trained your precision on the blade.” Erebus commented, “I’m something of a Dagger Master myself. If you want some pointers sometime.” He offered, just as Bach slid a blade through four ghost entities and kabob’d their obsolete shape, standing to be much stronger by design and fervor as a Spirit himself.

990/1000

It wasn’t much, truly, but Ikanbi did what she could. Her pathetic little silver knives were classic, and yes, she, Sia, and Kuva had trained extensively in their use, Kuva had been a lovely teacher. “Truly, I am not that great, it is my sister I have to thank for what little gift with the knives I do have.” Said Ikanbi, though then stopped to admire the summon Erebus had brought forwards. After a moment, Ikanbi realized where she recognized Erebus from. “Hey..you’re wanted, actually, aren’t you?” She said after a long moment, and considered her situation. She hadn’t been assigned to hunt Erebus and he wasn’t hostile towards her and Sia at the moment.


She shrugged the thought away. From what she could tell, Erebus was just another lost soul like her that needed work. Perhaps they, like herself, were simply just misunderstood. “That is a rather nice trick you’ve got there though, I quite like this titan of yours.” Ikanbi said admiringly, gazing at the armored thing that Erebus had summoned forth. She threw another knife, then scurried behind Sia and Erebus to collect her other ones, darting about the room and avoiding ghosts left, right, up, down, and even sideways. “Whew,” she exclaimed after a moment, catching her breath after she had collected her knives. “There’s more ghosts here than I thought their were.” She said with a light chuckle, and then continued her assault, backing up Erebus’s summon with a volley of knives, flanking from the side for them.


She watched then as the summon dealt with many ghosts on its own, battering and bopping them about and generally making a clown show of them in ways Ikanbi had only seen legendary hunters perform in her presence before. “Marvelous,” she said quietly with awe. She stepped to the side as Sia too helped out, moving out of the way to give Sia a better position.


947/1000 C Ikanbi

In no time at all, Sia, Erebus, and Ikanbi had set to work. Quickly, Erebus and Ikanbi dealt with many ghosts in great number, and Sia did have to note Ikanbi’s blade work had improved tremendously since their last session together. Still, the number of ghosts was indeed great and many, and Sia found herself wishing she had prepared better and brought along her evil little friends. Today however, she would not be summoning her allies to fight for her, instead, she too brandished silver knives and threw them in volleying flourishes, supporting Erebus and his summons from afar.


Sia grabbed her stick, and began to wave it through many of the ghosts, running around the room and irritating them greatly as she did her best to capture their attention and draw their anger so that Erebus and Ikanbi might do better work with the ghost’s attention diverted. She waved the stick around, with the banana peel on the end of it, poking through the ghost’s heads, their torsos, their abdomen’s, and their groins. She kept this up for quite some time, continuously bouncing back and forth across the room and keeping up her little game of keep away with the ghosts. Eventually, she got bored and threw the stick into one of them, then brandished two silver knives, slicing through the ethereal makeups of the ghosts before her with the silver blades.


She landed, then scurried off, circling around the great summon Erebus had brought forwards. “My that’s impressive.” She said about it admiringly. It was a sight to behold, truly, and she knew that it was not a force she wanted to mess with. She too had heard tales of Erebus, he was notorious, but it didn't bother her. Why would it? She was no saint, and after all, they weren't too bad on the eyes either. "You know, I've heard about you, you're a lot hotter in person."


949/1000 C Sia

Erebus listened and watched, keeping tabs on everyone’s movements as he manned Bach from behind with the motions of his wrist; slight pushes and pulls seemed to wind the Golem up to make fluid motions, proving that even the smallest gestures were all it took.

“Wanted?,” he mentioned with a smirk that spelled both frustrated and condemned across his label, but it also seemed to admit the best things about it. Upon realizing the jig was up, he answered them with little deception. “I’m a bit of a catch I guess.” He finished, throwing back his fist, which caused the Summon to activate a spell coating it’s weapon in flowing water. The final attack on a simple ghost would encapsulate the creature, to which Erebus, walks forward. Untucks a dagger at his waist and quietly pokes his hand through the bubble, killing the final target.

He turned around, examining both females, the ire of leaving them both was that they were attractive and seemingly into him. But then again, Fiore was a small place. “You guys kicked ass, nice moves.” He offered them a compliment in return— “you can reach me in Oak City if you’d like to run anymore operations. Consider me a contact. For now I’m gonna plunder some chests down here for extra jewels.” Erebus motioned his head to the door behind him. Whether they followed him now didn’t matter, they had done enough to be rewarded and Erebus was going to leave soon as well.

Erebus decides without hesitation to start looting around the room, as he and Bach begin pulling up abandoned dressers, ripping things from their places; and checking old chests for rare items beneath the basement dwelling, the catacombs were deeper so Erebus avoided that and stayed nearby. The Dagger Master was particular about his craft, only doing as much for the rank of said mission, in return for the offered payment.

This would net him more Bounty by stealing down here. But at least he made more money to balance it, meeting these two women was refreshing. Erebus hoped to see them again, if not sooner then later at the least. He returned back to report his Quest for rewards with the girls if they hadn’t left with him.

1287/1000

-End & Exit-

This particular assignment had gone swimmingly, truly. Ikanbi was delighted to find that she worked well with Erebus and Sia, even if perhaps the company was questionable. The three of them strolled about the basement, digging up anything extra that may have been of note to the three of them and making small talk as they did so. Ikanbi listed to Erebus as he spoke of Oak and nodded then aided with the rest of the plundering as the three of them scoured the basement meticulously.


After a while of this, the three of them did wind up calling it, and they set back upwards to the streets in order to collect their rewards. Ikanbi and Sia chatted willy nilly about girl stuff, and Ikanbi stole glances at Erebus every once in a while, unable to contain her smile. Something about bad boys just did it for her, truly, it just couldn’t be helped.


“Well, it was a pleasure working with you, I do hope to see more of you around.” Ikanbi said finally before her and Sia parted ways with him for now. “I quite like that one.” Ikanbi said to Sia after he was out of earshot.


1197/1000 C Ikanbi

Too, Sia had no problem dealing with the rest of the ghosts, especially with the aid and assistance of Sia and Erebus. The three of them made quick work of the spirits, and plundered about and pillaged the rest of the basement with little regard for their own safety. They didn’t find much of note, but what they did they split amongst themselves, and Sia noted that Erebus was certainly a more formidable person than they appeared. How delightful, she thought to herself.


“It has truly been a pleasure, Erebus.” Sia said as the group of them wrapped up their assignment. She tailed behind the other two this time, keeping the rear guard as they made their way back up through the church to collect their rewards. She nudged Ikanbi closer towards Erebus playfully, but didn’t say a word as she did so. After Erebus left, Sia spoke on the matter again. “Don’t worry, I have a feeling we’ll be seeing him again soon.”



1113/1000 C Sia