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What Lies Beneath [Erebus]

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#1Valeria Hildegard 

What Lies Beneath [Erebus] Empty Fri Jun 10, 2022 11:38 am

Valeria Hildegard


well, i'm taking my time
i'm just moving along
you'll forget about me after i've been gone

The loud screams and pained voices that echoes through the halls of the church were of no surprise to anyone. The Oakland Church had always been a place of despair, for reasons other than the worshipping of God. Valeria stood outside in the silence of the night as she looked upon it with disdain. She was never quite a fan of places of worship but oddly found a sense of twisted comfort in them but this place was far from comfort. With the howling winds, multiples voices echoed, exposing the world of the terrible things done to them. They were quite rampant, enough for the townspeople to warrant calling for help. Although she wasn’t quite sure if she would be able to help much, she was here to accompany Erebus due to their agreement. Their job this time around was to rid the church of the spirits although, to the vampire, that seemed redundant. They always came back. It seemed to be nothing more than an endless cycle of tormenting those tormented sounds but that didn’t bother her. It was a job after all and one that needed to be done. She had very rarely interacted with spirits before so finding the chance to do so was too good an opportunity to pass up on. She always though, or rather hoped, that there would be no life after death and yet, the wonders of the world continued to prove her wrong by indulging her in the realities of haunting spirits and enlightening her with the concepts of heaven and hell. It was troublesome, if anything, as she couldn’t help but wonder that there truly was no end. Nevertheless, thinking about the end was something she could not do right now. After all, she had just embarked upon her journey to find a new beginning. She simply hoped she wouldn’t regret it. Sauntering in with hopes of the rogue following close behind, she looked around the church. It looked so pure and clean that it irked her. During the day, it was always quite busy but at night, the people left it along in fear of the phantoms that haunted their sacred place of worship.
364/2500


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What Lies Beneath [Erebus] HWpjwHq
#2Erebus 

What Lies Beneath [Erebus] Empty Fri Jun 10, 2022 12:21 pm

Erebus

Erebus was clad in his garments, neck to toe, he was something of an intimidating force— even amongst the dead. Erebus possessed a rarely seen artifact for a caped cloak, Nilhatak’s Courpsemourn. It had a rather unique feature, it granted the user ghost speech, and since acquiring it, Erebus had a means to put the Oakland Church to rest much safer even on his S-rank expeditions.

Today he was with Valeria; The Vampire Hunter. She has recently taken bonding to him, and perhaps he too her so it was obvious they would be on many quests together in the coming months, years perhaps if neither died along the way. The demonic presence felt under the Church was strange because Holy monuments were suppose to be void of darkness, further telling Erebus that Illumin was simply a false God, or an evil one. He worshipped only the Founder of Domination, the conceptualized art of War. Holy sacrilege was something he’d sooner spit on, but in the situation where he was offered a million to run laps and make sure the spirits were at bay.... Well, he could pretend to believe in the cause, and distract himself from the blasphemy.

Dropping off his Dhuilan (Named Benny, otherwisely unimportant), Erebus landed and cratered the Cemetery ground beneath his superhuman strength, it was then he dusted his armor, the Shadowguile, clean of dust and grime and circled around to the front entrance, where the Vamp hung out awaiting their quest’s start-up.

“Ah— I see you’re the first to arrive... Looking fancy, I must say.” He began with pleasantries. The nod of his head to the right signaled for her to turn around and follow him into the great room, lined with benches and bibles that hung against the back of the bench frames. A podium was at the front, and of course, the trap door into the catacombs behind it. Why it was there? Erebus still never managed to uncover that story, but he was quite interested in asking the Spirits this time around, just what was it that drew them to Oak’s Holy Ground.

358/2500

#3Valeria Hildegard 

What Lies Beneath [Erebus] Empty Fri Jun 10, 2022 1:38 pm

Valeria Hildegard


well, i'm taking my time
i'm just moving along
you'll forget about me after i've been gone

Compared to the man who walked around adorned for war, quite understandably so, the vampire was clad in a simple outfit comprising of a pair of jeans, a shirt, and a jacket. Her hair was let loose, hiding its pale color within the darkness of the church. The job today was to simply get rid of the lingering presence but for Valeria, it was a bit more than that. It had been a few days since the agreement between the two was reached and this was their first conquest together. She wanted to observe and examine her own feelings and she wanted to see if being around him really did push her to become stronger. Sure, she realized it was something that she needed to do eventually but whether his presence actually made a difference in her sense of urgency was an entirely different question and she was here to find the answer to that.

"You're not looking too bad yourself, I guess." Replying to his pleasantries, she followed the man into the great room. It looked very similar to a typical church, filled with the void of feelings of hope and despair that danced in the union. As they approached the podium, she noticed that he was leading her to the trap door behind which the catacombs rested. "It seems like you've been here before. I don't suppose you happen to know why these spirits latched onto the church in particular, do you?" She was quite intrigued. There was always something about churches that drew her to them despite her disdain. As someone who was arguably closer to these kindred souls than the living, perhaps she wondered if they too came here with a twisted vision of seeking comfort only to end up realizing that it was the place that tied them down to their internal traumas instead.
673/2500


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What Lies Beneath [Erebus] HWpjwHq
#4Erebus 

What Lies Beneath [Erebus] Empty Fri Jun 10, 2022 6:12 pm

Erebus

Erebus stopped at the center of the podium, about ten feet away. His foot dragged against the floor, having picked up on a clue, as he kicked against the wood slightly to reveal the light shade of a slope. He stopped what he was doing to look back to her who had a means to discover a little bit of Oak’s history.

“I’ve been in here often actually,” he offered her with his voice that was silk behind the silence and chirps of crickets outside. He was in agreeable spirits, with a discernment for his work— a side of him she had yet to see, and probably wouldn’t have expected. His face showed crimson eyes that drifted from hers to to the left; sewing the doubt that he knew a little more than the average adventurer did about this place.

In reality Erebus was from this town, it was his local home, somewhere he was forced to deal and survive since the age of a toddler. For twenty years, this place had haunted its residents and despite that, they all still returned here for worship. Even as a boy, Erebus himself was an Illuminite.

Those days ended when he was about twelve, and the sight of a demonic entity here in the church warped his image of the sermon entirely. He was afraid as a child, to be caught alone in this part of town. It was only after he became tough, opting for a life in the forest that he grew up and met more kindred spirits. Eventually, he returned here as a man to find the same answers she was asking for. It came as little surprise though, that every demon attached to the area was under a state of torment.

“Unfortunately that information is case by case, and if there was something else responsible. I’ve yet to find a truth to it. About a hundred years ago, a war was fought where the Cemetery outside is built on, underneath those townspeople are hundreds, maybe thousands of forgotten corpses. Never to be wished off with prayer.” He said, speaking from as much information as he could. “It’s a tragic thing really. They’re damned.” His eyes broke their contact from her and returned to the floor, where he bent over.

His hands, beat the ground as a light fog revealed a gray outline of a circle forming. The more his best and padded around it, the more a sphere was displayed, and tunes too. He continued to uncover the shape of what could be assumed a Devil Worshiper’s Invoking. His face, while serious and evil itself, held the expression of uneasiness. “This has never been here before... At least, not above ground.”

WC:466
824/2500

#5Valeria Hildegard 

What Lies Beneath [Erebus] Empty Fri Jun 10, 2022 6:58 pm

Valeria Hildegard


well, i'm taking my time
i'm just moving along
you'll forget about me after i've been gone

The sound of his footsteps halting brought her wandering eyes back to him, momentarily observing the interior of the church. While the place was quite clean and in pristine condition, there were traces of its age apparent if one looked closely. In the dark, Valeria had no problems observing the old building. While no specks of dust rested within these walls, the wood boasted fragility, perhaps staying strong because of the prayers of the people to assure them that even with practical impending dangers, belief is the answer. It was quite an ignorant system indeed but the vampire wasn't there to offer her own heavily prejudiced take on the people who demanded her help.

She locked eyes with Erebus as he answered her question, bringing up a war that caused a visible confusion in her expression. The vampire had lived quite long so while the tragedy of Oak did sound like something that rang bells in her mind, she was at a point in time where her memories only further dug her dilemma of reality. Sometimes, she couldn't really tell if the things that she remembered happening were a fragment of the reality she had witnessed throughout her life or whether they were nothing more than concoctions of her own imagination, mingling with memories of real occurrences to further send her into a trance.

What she did understand, however, was the different nature of the rogue when working. He seemed almost sad when talking about the corpses which did catch the silver-haired woman off-guard. She didn't particularly see him as someone with a lot of humanity which was ironic considering that out of the two, he was the human. However, she also acknowledged that she didn't know him well enough yet so his unexpected status as an empath served as a reminder of his layers, that she would need time to peel now that she had reached a settlement with him. "Damned they really are but they have to go. Since you've been here before, do you also know how to get rid of spirits? I've never had the opportunity to kill one." Of course, the vampire didn't. She had spent all her life wanting to kill one thing only, narrowing her vision of the world to better accommodate her own hatred.

Her snake-like eyes watched Erebus as he revealed an odd symbol on the ground. From the corner of her eye, she could apparitions in the dark. They were like blurry silhouettes that blended with the dark. "Have you seen spirits above ground before?" She looked back at him, "I think we might have to stay up a bit longer than expected."
1116/2500


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What Lies Beneath [Erebus] HWpjwHq
#6Erebus 

What Lies Beneath [Erebus] Empty Mon Jun 13, 2022 9:43 am

Erebus

“Usually, they would only need to be reminded they’re not alive...” Erebus recalled with an answer to her first bit of dialogue. Things seemed to shape up after that moment though— and rapid intensity ensued thereafter.

The smell of sulphuric wafted across the room, the air began to pick up upon her words. Erebus furrowed a brow when the lines on the ground changed and flowed. The numeral dunes begin to spin, and the force of a poltergeist in the shaape of a torso, takes form and lunges for Valeria’s location.

Speaking in Latin, a dialect inconputable to humans, Erebus is able to discern the words itself.

“STAND NOT BETWEEN HELL, THIS PLACE BELONGS TO — AGH!! BE STILL!” and before the words escaped and the name is actually spoken, Erebus slides to the left, able to see a large arm that if not reacted too by the Vampire, would certainly thrush through her and into his own location...

Lacking legs but having a ghostly tail, the poltergeist took it’s shape as a twenty foot shadowy monster, it’s lower half swirled and seemed to be traveling deep below into the floor, Erebus puts his attention upon it, his eyes narrowing. A dagger slips into his main hands from his sleeves, the third one  was hidden under his cloak while he moves to grip it’s handle, the fourth arm dangles within clenched with knuckles. The Rogue blurred with speed, nothing short of threat from the human itself, but this monster seemed to have strength just as great.

The walls of white began to bleed. The dim blue light became red, and it’s shade-like grey form showed the face of a skeletal reaper. Erebus was quite interested in how it got into the church, just as he was sure that this same beast of a spirit was something he’d defeated along with another— two years ago. While he couldn’t place it’s origin, all that mattered was exorcising it.

“Leave the house, take to freedom.” He chanted. “Leave the Church, be at peace.”

He began to chant in Latin, his words speaking through the layer of limbo. He offered little more than the earning of it’s wrath black energy sprayed a direct line towards Valeria if he had lunged off the first spot, it’s other mass of arm cane towards Erebus, the words seeming to burn and force a smoking white cloud around the base of it’s tail at the floor. Erebus was shocked to see it not doing anything as it should have.

“Valeria, he’s being protected by something. The circle perhaps?” He spoke whilst slicing at the arm as it fully lifted him up, he began to stab it three more times, a loud crash thrashes him and pins his body up to the ceiling, one of it’s arms stays there to keep his movements trapped there, and it began to mash the blood around his back over his body, dripping like a stream to the floor. Erebus was already under a vitality drain, but the drum kept him there unable to phase for a few seconds, his armor began to clink— the pressure alone building upon him.

In this moment, she would be at the whims of figuring things out. After all, he was now ten meters from the circle himself, and she still possessed her maneuverability.

571
1395/2500
——
Erebus takes 1x S dmg to his armor.

#7Valeria Hildegard 

What Lies Beneath [Erebus] Empty Mon Jun 13, 2022 10:26 pm

Valeria Hildegard


well, i'm taking my time
i'm just moving along
you'll forget about me after i've been gone

To be reminded of their status as the undead was apparently the way to rid this church of the ghastly spirits that surrounded it. The vampire nodded, slightly underwhelmed by the method but nonetheless, intrigued. She, for one, knew just how powerful knowledge and awareness were. After all, she remained shrouded in the layers of denial for that very reason. To be aware of one's vulnerability really brings forth a lot more advantages, for others at least. Valeria sort of pities the poor souls who were trapped beneath this apparent holy structure, sent off without prayers and unaware of their own fates as the undead. Breaking the news to them, in a way, was a lot harsher than killing them because it would make them recognize their lack of humanity. The vampire herself knew all too well how that particular feeling burned within her frozen heart.

Pulling herself out of her thoughts, her nose picked up the scent of sulphuric acid lingering in the church. Scrunching her nose, she could tell that within the realm of possibilities, the chances of this going well were rather slim. Her eyes that followed the apparitions made their way back to the circle once the figures had disappeared, not hidden away in the darkness because the creature of the night could find them quite easily. The glowing circle began to take form, spreading out like a mandala on a canvas, stinging her gaze in the process. Its appearance was as beautiful as it was devious and for good reason. As the numbers started swaying around, giving rise to a figure, Valeria moved towards the side to avoid the reach of the desperate spirit, shrouded in darkness.

Her snake-like eyes followed as it began to take more practical form, chanting in what she recognized as Bellan, before being interrupted by Erebus. She swiftly moved away as the poltergeist manifested into a long shadow monster, diving into the wooden floorboard and slithering through it like a snake. Even in the darkness, its shadowy figure stood distinct against the old, creaky wooden floors, making it rather easy for the vampire to follow its traces. As Erebus began to take action, she stood on the sidelines, ready to jump in if needed but he seemed more than capable of handling the situation himself. However, the monster was quite fast. As it sped through the floor, wreaking havoc in its path as a testament to its strength, she couldn't stand aside for long. Instead, she kept a close eye on it because compared to humans, her sense of sight was a lot keener in this environment.

The walls began to bleed, earning almost a scoff from the woman who could not smell the blood. "Be careful, it's using illusions." The problem was that she could not tell where the illusion ended and reality began. She could only speak for the blood but when it began to show its skeletal face, she was at a blank. Erebus, however, seemed more experienced as he chanted in Bellan, attempting to drive the spirit away but that didn't seem to work. The vampire swiftly moved to the side, staying closer to the circle, as an attack making use of what she guessed was darkness magic, came her way. It hit the podium, in front of which she stood, causing the wood to decay and melt away, bringing forth another burst of the smell of sulphuric acid. As her attention was momentarily taken by the horrendous effect of its attack, it seemed that her partner was caught. His words entered her ears with little instruction before he got attacked.

The scent of his blood invaded her nose but Valeria managed to keep her focus, immediately aiming for the floor where the circle was drawn. If the monster was being protected by it, she simply needed to get rid of it. Turning her attention towards the glowing ring, she clenched her fist before aiming it toward the floor with as much strength as she could muster up. Luckily, the old stature of the church meant that it had been structurally weak in areas, allowing the floor that adorned the circle to crack against the impact of her attack. The cracks in the floor separated the circle, causing the glow to flicker away as an indication that it was working. A shriek escaped the monster, seemingly weakening its power. However, she needed more strength to completely break the surface on which the circle was drawn. As she recoiled her arm to go for another hit to cause a crack large enough to destroy the circle, she felt something slither over her wrist, pulling her back from making her next attack.
1900/2500


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#8Erebus 

What Lies Beneath [Erebus] Empty Wed Jun 15, 2022 3:52 pm

Erebus

Valeria was right, the bloods smell wasn’t captured quite like the smell of sulphur and rotten eggs, but the scent of iron was not pungent at all from it’s change in scenery, not exactly anyways. The side of his abdomen had large finger-holes gaping through Shadowguile, damage from the spirit was considerable and appeared to pierce armor, if there was a scent of blood now it was surely off his own bones rather the walls.

The distraction of her bashing four balled-knuckles through the wood was plenty for the beast’s strength to wade, just long enough for his multiple appendages to clasp and push with a strength comparison to a grizzly.

Pushing against the appendage, Erebus used his acrobatics and through adversity; he extended his legs in perseverance. Legs shaking under the immense weight, he held firm and slowly pushed his way out against the monster; Erebus was glad he didn’t skip on those leg days, he would later comment.

Whipping daggers into the beast over and over; he finally saw the opportunity to roll out of harm against the surface of the ceiling. He fell with the grace of an athlete, a singular backflip before he landed to a kneel at the floor, two arms against the wood to his side for support— nimble as a black cat. In a blurred line, he zoomed forth to the center mass of the monster and shot upward. Rounding a knee to the skeletal entity’s face, disconnecting it’s field of vision from Valeria.

However in the same moment, her wrist was hooked, she was grabbed, the monster attempted to thrust it’s gigantic arm back and pull her far away from the runic-glyphs flickering off the floor. “Damn it,” he muttered, his words followed up instantly by the pinching effects of his vitality drain. Thus, they spurring a cough of blood after that didn’t hinder his rapid haste, but was painful nonetheless— being no novice to this line of work, Erebus was able to stay in mobility well beyond the average human.

Erebus forced both hind-legs into the poltergeist’s sternum. One lunging leap from the bounds of his position sent him whirling back to meet her going in reverse of the direction she was dragged. He snatched his cape off the class of his neck and thrusted it into her shoulder, the next moment was done with finesse, as he activated it’s ability in the very same moment it left his last fingertip. It was a long shot, but if successful? It would trigger her to phase into the realm of limbo and let her see the dimension of the dead for but a brief instance.

Everything in that second, the blink of a second, would be white out and greyed to her eyes. She’d fall from the monster’s grasp eight feet into the floor, potentially rolling into it with a somersault with the momentum. In the same moment this occurs, Erebus touched the ground about ten feet behind her— onto his back with peak acrobatic flare. The Spymaster planted his hand against the surface that slid him to his halt and retained his balance as a Rogue with precision, he stood there off one hand upright but upside down, taking in one final picture of her location in relation to the monster’s.

Erebus spun one of his three a daggers around his fingers with flavor that befit his mastery and in one aimed stride flung it outwards. It sailed towards the poltergeist’s left eye-socket, which was considerably large in size and dimension; similar to the size of a baseball, if not larger... The next moments were Valeria’s and he would react as the chain of actions continued there out.

- Nihlatak’s Phase activated -400MP

640
2035/2500

#9Valeria Hildegard 

What Lies Beneath [Erebus] Empty Thu Jun 16, 2022 11:40 am

Valeria Hildegard


well, i'm taking my time
i'm just moving along
you'll forget about me after i've been gone

The slimy grip on her wrist burned into her skin, pulling her away from the cracked floorboard. It seemed that attacking the glowing runic drawings on the floor did indeed work towards weakening the powers of the monster, as made obvious by the shriek that escaped its body. She flinched as the sound invaded her ears but didn't have much time to react as she felt her body being pulled back. As Erebus attacked the poltergeist, the impact that sent it flying in the other direction dragged her with it. Yanking at her shoulder, her body was moved away from the circle that she was so close to destroying.

She planted her feet firmly against the floor, dragging her against it for a few feet before pulling her off her feet but as she moved through the air, the cape was tossed on her shoulders by her partner who moved in the opposite direction. It instantly weighed down on her as her free hand grasped onto the cloth that engulfed her entire body. Instantly, her vision was hindered. The darkness that surrounded her took on a shining white, blinding her momentarily before her eyes adjusted. While her vision remained perfect amid the darkness, she could see a lot more. Multiple apparitions flying away from the chaos caused by the monster blurred her sight as the screams of the creature, which seemed chaotic and wild suddenly seemed even more demonic.

Because of the properties of the cape, her wrist managed to phase through its grip, letting her escape before the monster collided against the old walls towards which it was headed. For a moment, she felt like she was falling, causing her to extend her arms forward and roll over into a somersault as she landed against the floor before stabilizing herself. She could hear the thud of the rogue landing behind her. The scent of his blood lingered in the air, indicating that he had taken a bit of damage. Valeria, however, focused on the monster in front of her.

Wasting no time, she leaped forward as she caught sight of the dagger flying past her and towards the monster from the corner of her eye. As the blade pierced into the monster's eye, causing a spurt of black goo to taint the wooden floor, her body followed close behind. Her wrist was still tingling with a burn left behind where the creature grabbed her but the rush of adrenaline pumping through her body made it so that she didn't notice. As she moved, her left hand removed the cape from her body while the right one balled into a fist, pulling it back before slamming sideways into the back of the dagger, pushing it a lot deeper into its huge eye socket until the blade completely disappeared into it.

The force of the sent it into a state of frenzy. The wall behind it cracked ever so slightly as its body was pushed deeper into it from the impact. Its body attempted to flail around in pain but the vampire was quick on her feet as she raised her leg to collide it against the monster, sending it flying in the direction opposite to where the circle was located. She was sure that Erebus would pick up where she left off as she leaped back towards the cracked circle. The glowing lines around it flickered as she approached, pulling her fist back and then slamming it against it. The impact caused the pieces of wood to go flying, causing cracks within the drawn circle as the runic glyphs faded back into the darkness. The light disappeared as it faded to being nothing more than a simple drawing against the tattered floorboard.

The screech of the monster was the only thing she heard as she turned back immediately to see what was happening. It really did seem like the drawing was some sort of protection, or perhaps, even a summoning ring that gave rise to this monster which immediately seemed a lot weaker but more volatile upon its destruction of it.   Its weakened state finally weighed down on it as the attacks delivered by Erebus previously and her own hits crashed against it. With no more protection available, the monster began disintegrating. Whether Erebus delivered a final blow or not to rid the church of the monster was up to him but she found herself asking, "Is it over?"
2639/2500


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What Lies Beneath [Erebus] HWpjwHq
#10Erebus 

What Lies Beneath [Erebus] Empty Sat Jun 18, 2022 9:47 am

Erebus

Erebus flipped his legs around in a bound, putting display behind the acrobatics of his Rogue pathos. He thrusted himself, the air around his center taking off like a bullet. Slice ! Rip ! Jab ! Stab ! At unquestionable mastery, Erebus was a true menace with knife and hand, he was chosen by War. His strength immeasurable in the face of adversity. When put to the hardest challenges, Erebus was at his most ruthless, his most stubborn. Arms flailed to snuff him. Taking attention off of Valeria, as a crushing roar splintered the floor and caved a hole into the location of the Church. Something which was surely going to warrant a bounty against both their names.

However, not one to push over easily Erebus would make sure his bag was larger as per usual. After all, the dangers on these missions ranged and it seemed he was always on the most dangerous. Now too, was Valeria, who showed the prowess and promise of a serious threat I’d she ever acquired the tools to end others with more than just her raw power. As the soul screamed and wailed, Erebus repeated his same words in Bellan, which were to set the spirit away, and remind it that it really was dead. That the future for it had long sense passed but a promising next realm might embrace him.

Falling to his feet, the Spymaster turned around and breathed harshly, his hand clenching the ripped holes in his lower abdomen. Walking towards the silver-haired succubi— Erebus bent and threw his cloak over his shoulder nodding to the right towards the door behind him. “It’s over. We did it,” he answered without a lot to say. Ere was usually not much of a talker anyways, and their recent affairs had been distracting him. He decided that he might like to take his stride from her. Not that she wasn’t impressive, but perhaps, too inspiring to really try and keep leashed to his work. Erebus rather that anything else.

When she would take a spot bendy to him, he’d casually explain that he enjoyed working with her. That something was going to separate them for awhile, and that he preferred not to be tied down and also didn’t want to concern her with the case of the extreme danger. Erebus was nearing the plot with Morrigan, Odin’s true goal and he could not provide an adequate answer towards his success or his life. Despite their violent and rather odd situations hip, that he would have to pull himself away from her to grow. In the same hand, he knew Valeria would find her glory and conquer her own goals.

Someday he hoped to cross paths with her once more. But for now— his presences would likely go off the grid, and they may not return.

It’s just business— he reasoned, and would embrace her if she chose to allow it. Though to say they’d feel the same after all of it was over for some time, would be unlikely. This was a pardon, and a farewell. Their small arc together reminded him what it meant to be human. He would carry that into his future as he further reached his destiny.

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