Echoes of the Past

[laraine]

Echo noticed the boy coming close to her brother Sterling. Her eyes widened as he got closer. But her brother already knew he was there. He whipped around and pointed his sword at the mans throat. "If you don't want your head severed from your body, I suggest you run, now." He ordered.

Meanwhile, Echo got to her feet and got a bit away. She looked to the other man and nodded. "I'll be fine, run!"

Still pointing the sword at the man, Sterling turned his head towards Echo.

"Well well well.. if it isn't Echo. It's been a long time. I must admit I was quite shocked to see you...I didn't even think you were still alive.." Sterling spoke calmly, his blue eyes steady.

Echo shook her head. "You...who are you?" She held out her hand before her,

"You really shouldn't do that..sister.."

Echo grit her teeth and her eyes flashed with rage.

"Don't you dare call me that! I don't know what kind of farce you are pulling, but my brother died!! I will.. not let you tarnish his image you jerk!"

"Ah ah ah...Echo you know what will happen once you use one of your powers again..right?" Sterling walked towards her, but Echo couldn't fire off her magic at him.

"If you use the magic on one opponent, you would have wasted one of your shots for almost nothing. You will never accomplish anything that way...Echo..wake up. Stop this fighting right now." Sterling said, serious.

She was taken aback how much he sounded like her brother.

" I Still don't believe you are Sterling! He can't be alive!!" Echo closed her eyes, her soul trembling.

"Just like you can't be alive either...right sister?"

Her eyes opened and she looked up at him. "What did you do?" Echo asked.

"Idiot, I didn't do the stupid thing you did. I was actually spared. What no one realizes is that yes technically there are no survivors...but the bandit group takes one child from every place they destroy. Someone with the skills and the ability to understand the truth.I was spared death because of that. Because I learned that our town was really worshiping a...demon."

"W-what?!" Echo could hardly believe her ears. "No, you are wrong! Loki is not a demon!" Enraged, her power started to flare up from her hands.

"Echo didn't you think it was odd that the deity we worshiped never came down to help to defend his people? Why? Why didn't he save us? If he was so great! He should have saved us!!! He was never on our side to begin with. He saved you, sure. But at what cost? What cost Echo? Your body? your soul? What kind of god would trade in souls?! You have been blinded by his radiance. You don't know his true nature! He tricked you Echo!!"

"Liar...." Echo whispered. " I don't believe you! Sterling would never talk this way!!!" She shook her head, hands covering her ears. She didn't want to hear this anymore.

"Echo..It's me.. it really is..which is why I..." He took a couple steps towards her, a sad look on his face.

"It's why I have to kill you.."

[JxSlaughter]

Jiru kneeled within a pool of the dark muck coming from his eye. He tried to break free from the wires holding him in place but hardly had the strength. He panted, the steam kept coming from the walls. It was dense and hard to breath. There were people in the rooms making the steam, surely they had a hard time breathing as much as he did. But it felt as if he wasn't breathing at all.

His heart beat quickened. How can all this.... come from my eye? He didn't want to think about it, he just wanted it to end. The time that he saved Echo with the sudden arrow accident, was when the most he had ever seen come out. Right now was much more than his mind wanted to take. He gasped for air and the ink continued to expand excross the floor.

Even with his clouded mind, he realized that his uncle knew more about his eye than he had ever told him. More questions swelled from with in him. How... did he know...?

Echo needs me...

[laraine]

Jiru.....

The thought was fleeting as her brother came at her with a sword. She felt her entire world crumble at that moment.

Because it was then she believed this was her brother and that he wanted to kill her....

"No....NO!" Echo screamed, hands on her head and the power within her became unstable.

"Stop...STOP IT NOW!" She screamed and before the sword could impale her she glowed with a strange light. In that instant she unconsciously used her power, flames erupted everywhere. Echo fell to her knees, her brother above her, ready to strike at her with his sword.

She looked up at him, tears flowing down her face.

She screamed, but whatever she said was muffled by the intense flames that roared around the battle area.

[JxSlaughter]

The black substance was all around him now, he couldn't see, he couldn't hear, he couldn't speak or think. It was the demon's turn now. The wiring still was firmly grasped within the area Jiru was held in. The demon didn't seek to find a way out, but was trying to find a way to solidify itself. It formed into a slender column that reached up to the window above- still engulfing Jiru below. It couldn't leave the host. Seeking the cooler air from outside, it hung outside the window of the tower, dripping.

A man from one of the steam rooms called out to the soldiers who soon came into the densely steamed room to control the thing. They got more wires, but with nails in them and tossed it on the higher part of the column where it was turning into thicker mud. They tried to tug it away from the window as they coughed for air. The head came out of the window and the neck collapsed on the men, drowning them with the thin, hot ink.

The black creature was starting to hate the dense fog and spewed itself into one of the steam rooms to it's right. Only reaching far enough to scare the men away, even though it wanted to kill them. It did it again to the left side. The men ran, and called for more soldiers. The steam was no longer being created but the creature was enormous now, and there was black liquid all over the inside of the tower.

Because the top of the column was in the steam for a while longer, the surface became thinner and the end of the wires that were nails fell off the creature and onto the ink covered floor. When the steam left the creature started to turn into a thick muck again. The column eagerly tried to form teeth to cut through the wiring to break free.

The steam workers tried to start the steam again but there was ink in the coals and the room smelled horrible as the black stuff was in the fire, making a smog. Soldiers came in to stop the monster from being able to gnaw itself free. They tossed more wiring around the top part of the neck on the creature. It roared, spewing muck at them. Then it came low and swept them to the side of one of the ink covered walls, stunning them.

The monster was able to be very active for a while longer, and finished forming teeth. It gnawed off the wiring and towered over to the window again. The men tried to get up and stop it, but they were piled painfully on top of each other and couldn't get out of the now thick mud they were tossed into.

The long slender face reached out of the window. Two slender arms reached for it as well. Trying to fit into the window of light. Grasping onto the corners of the window it started to pull itself out. The men called for backup but they would not come in time. As the creature pulled out, two column formed beneath itself, helping to push itself out. These would be the legs. The torso was outside and the legs climbed up the walls pulling the rest of it behind, which was forming a tail. Jiru was somewhere among the inside of the monster.

Screaming, yelling and people fleeing from the right tower, was all it took was to get people to see the massive black thing. The long black body coming out of the window took it's first step into the world.

[laraine]

The disruption the monster caused had Echo and Sterling both look to where it was walking.

"What is that thing?" Sterling ask, disgusted.

Echo had seen that muck before. It was the same muck that seemed to ooze from Jiru's eye.

"Jiru?" She whispered, then got up and started to run towards him. "Jiru!"

He's in trouble, I just know it. Oh Loki, please help Jiru!

She ran towards him as the others ran away in a panic.

Sterling himself was still baffled, then saw Echo run towards him. "Not good.." He mumbled and vanished.

"Jiru!!!" Echo yelled. "jiru is that you?! Are you okay?" She called up to the monster. Wondering briefly if Jiru could even hear her.

[JxSlaughter]

On the monster's left side of his head a with a red center bobbed out from beneath the muck and straightened itself on the head of the creature. It stared at her. The monster's mouth was open, dripping as it stood there, with sticky columns of itself in between its lips. After a while it just started to move slowly along, as if she was nothing interesting to see.

A man with black hair from the top of the tower ran over yelling, "Nothing to see here!! Finish the battle, we will take care of the beast!!" On the field below there were some soldiers that were armored differently from the rest. They carried black wires in their arms as they ran toward the creature- weapons were mounted on their backs. No one could see a single inch of skin in their costume, as it was full body armor. The man from the tower was Jiru's uncle, but the creature paid no attention to him.

[laraine]

Echo's eye twitched, first at Jiru not even paying attention to her, and then this soldier running over and telling her what to do and how they were going to handle "The monster".

"That's no monster! Its Jiru! covered with that stuff from his eye! and Jiru! Don't you dare walk away from me when I'm talking to you!" Echo growled, storming after Jiru as he made it snail paced walk through the battlefield.

"Just what the heck are you doing Jiru?! I told you to wait up there! Jiru answer me! I know your in there somewhere!" Echo yelled, staring up at the monster.

She started to call his name over and over until her voice was hoarse.

She decided the best way to get the monsters and Jriu's attention was to bug them till he got annoyed.

"Jiru if you don't stop now you will destroy everything! Is that what you want?!" Echo clenched her fists. She was scared of this new Jiru, but knew that somewhere Jiru's heart still beat. If only he could hear her.

Jiru....please....don't leave me alone now...Jiru I know you are in there...

[JxSlaughter]

The thin dragon like creature was large enough to tower over Echo standing only on it's front arms with plenty of room to spare. The monster didn't really understand what she was saying. It kept walking into the field and happened to pick up one of the bandits that was fighting with one of their allies. The man squirmed and kicked in the monster's mouth but was unable to say anything because of the thick substance. It was about to pick up and eat one of their allies until the full body armored soldiers caught up to him and lassoed a wire around its neck. He soldier assumed Echo to be a girl because of her voice, especially from all the screaming. "Ma'am, please step back. The creature is very unpredictable..." The monster was so sluggish and hardly responded to anything at all. The creature didn't even seem to notice the wires and kept trying to reach for the man from where it was still standing. But it didn't seem to notice that the man was running away now. It's mouth was open, teeth showing, and still driping.

[laraine]

"What is going on here? Jiru wont answer me at all.." Echo whispered and then turned to the solider who was trying to hold him down. "What is going on? Why is this happening? Why was Jiru turned into this?" Not expecting him to answer she walked closer to the gooey mess and tried to think.

Could one of my powers free Jiru from the mess? I don't know if anything will work though. Air and earth probably wouldn't do anything.. and if I used fire Id burn jiru with the goop. But...water might also be dangerous, the goop might get into other people.
I'm not sure what I should try. I have to somehow get closer...maybe Jiru will hear me if I get closer.

I have to do something, I can't let this go on much longer....

Jiru....please.. wake up...

Doing one of the most stupidest things she could think of, She pressed a hand against the monster.

"Jiru if you can hear me... WAKE UP!" She yelled. "Stupid Jiru! If you don't say anything how can I help you?!?!"

If I use the water magic... I will start to be eaten away....No...don't think about that now. Jiru is in trouble. I have to get rid of the ooze.

Not knowing if he heard her or not. She pulled away and stepped a couple feet back.

She closed her eyes and held up her hands.

[JxSlaughter]

Monster's eye widened with interest and turned it's head to Echo. It felt the deity's presence ever closer. It attempted to remind her of her demise to use the power as it sluggishly walked up to her, dragging the soldiers a few feet to turn its head. He stared at her, the center of his eye seemed to glow red. Trying so hard to communicate, it was apparent- as it only started to care now. It moaned in a deep, despairing, sinister voice that was surely not Jiru's.

"It's... not... fair..."

[laraine]

Echo blinked, looking up at the monster as it seemed to finally take interest in her. "What? What isn't fair? Who are you? What did you do with Jiru?" Echo demanded, ready to fire off her magic.

This thing.....is not Jiru...but I know he's inside this thing..somewhere...

[JxSlaughter]

The creature motioned his head up and down quickly as if it beckoned her to look behind her. Even though nothing was there. He spoke very slowly with long pauses in between as if it was hard for him to speak, and each word sounded more painful to say.

"It isn't fair..."

"I can't see it..."

"HE will kill you..."

It took another slow step towards her. One of the men started to reach for the weapon behind his back, it was an axe and he was about to toss in into the monster's body.

[laraine]

The last thing it said startled Echo.

He will kill you? Does he mean Loki?

She stared hard at the monster. "Its all right! I was meant to die, I've made peace with that! Now please let Jiru go!I know Jiru is inside of you! Tell me what you want! I want to help you if I can!" She yelled to the monster.

The battle around them still pursued. But her only focus right now was on Jiru. She would not let this thing consume him body and soul.

"Please! JIRU! WAKE UP!" She screamed as loud as she could, tears starting to flow down her face.

[JxSlaughter]

As the two were talking more soldiers and wiring came around the beast. The man threw the weapon as hard as he could. It landed on the beast's back and ink spewed out as the weapon slowly slid of the sticky thing. They eye ball that was staring at Echo quickly receded in the muck to hide. The men pulled the wiring among its legs and it finally collapsed. The eyeless thing faced the men and roared, but the slow movement wasn't enough for the creature to get back up with all the management.

One of the soldiers came up to Echo trying to comfort her. "Don't worry about this..." He paused to think. "Jiru, person-- we will take care of this." Another man started to analyze the scene and turned to one of the soldiers that was wearing lighter armor, her shape hinted the gender of a girl. "Quickly, the first group as nearly fallen. It is time to test your taming skills, the last batch of bandits should be here soon." The woman nodded and raised both her hands and they started to haze purple.

[laraine]

Echo didn't know what to do. It seemed as if her voice wasn't reaching Jiru, and the other officers were getting too much in the way. It really was starting to piss her off.

At this point the bandits seemed to almost all die off. Of course the strongest being left for last. Before them soon stood the toughest of the tough. The ones that killed, and loved it.

Echo was torn on what to do. She wanted to fight the bandits..but at the same time, she wanted to save Jiru.

In the end she made the choice only she could decide.

She looked sad and tilted her head up to the sky. "Loki...protect me..."

Looking ahead at the monster that was in pain. She summoned all of her strength.

Her hand's glowed blue.

Water....

For the second time that day she called upon the water, and it came in waves.

She narrowed in on the ooze covering Jiru.

"Please forgive me..." She whispered. She shot her arm out and the water cascaded over the monster, trying to rip it apart and free the human within. She knew she would not only be going against Loki, but against the people of the city now, by doing this. But this was her choice. She couldn't leave this up to them.

"Jiru!! Wake up!" She yelled.