The Garden of Eden, Beautiful, but somewhat eerie

[AshAvalon]

Paul, Lindsay and Rukia all stumble into a whole new realm. They take a moment to look around. There is pale artifical light made by luminous plants growing on the walls and also light from floating orbs in the sky. The place is gigantic, farther then the eyes can see. Could all have this been below thier feet? The air is heavy but pure. There are plenty of trees bearing all sorts of fruit, even some that have never been seen in this realm. There are rows and rows of food prepared on stands everywhere for the taking. You see fairys flying everywhere and also amazons can be seen. Despite being such a beautiful place, for some reason, it's a little forbearing. It almost feels like you don't want to be too happy here.

"Paul look! Its them!" cried Lindsay also excitedly. Lindsay sees amazons everywhere. But something else too. There were also pale amazons walking alongside the other amazons. She recognized some of them. "I don't understand" added in Rukia. "I know some of those women. They have been dead for years! Impossible! Even for Ash! He never told me he could do spirtualism!" "Actually I can't" replied a voice behind them. They all quickly turned and Ash Avalon appeared behind them. "Your eyes do not decieve you. The deceased amazons of Noma do indeed walk the earth as so long they are here in Eden. This is the power of Fianna, the deity of the fairys. She doesn't have the permission to reanimate them totally, but there souls can visit the world of the living as so long they are willing and they are here. It's obvious the amazon souls were willing to take the chance to visit old friends. Paul shot a look back at Eden. Something still wasn't right with this place. Something was strange, almost ominious and possibly dangerous. He noticed two harpies fighting over a poor medabat. Paul recognized them as Ren and Mai. They were pullin on either side of it, threating to tear it apart. Athena stepped in and stopped them, and consoled the terrified medabat. I'm glad you are here. You must be exhausted. Please there is plenty of food. Eat as much as you want. Time stands still here in Eden. Do whatever you please. When all three of you have had your fill with the residents and refreshement, visit me over there." Ash pointed to an isolated hill where four small crystalline towers stood. "But there is a small warning though. We are right in the middle of the Fairy's Grave. As you may have noticed. There are holes and tunnels in some of the walls. The grave is right behind those walls. But I strongly suggest not leaving this place. Let's just leave it at that" said Ash as he turned to the hill. A couple of lights danced around him. He reached up and held them in his hands before they flew off again, leaving him with a big smile on his face. "His smile is so...empty" said Lindsay.

You are free to do whatever you want here. You can even make your own threads. If you want to leave here, simply say in a post that you are passing through the glowing gate at the edge of Eden and respond back to a Chuzu thread. Actions you can take include but are not limited eating, chatting with an amazon, searching the place or rest.

[Paul Grimm]

Paul looked back towards where the holes in the wall were, and then across the apparently infinite plane. The Fairy's Graveyard eh? To simple, to easy. They were trying to get into that place, for one reason or another, and to bring them so close. It didn't make alot of sense to him. He looked at the people walking around, and sighed. In his gut, he had a bad feeling. He scratched the back of his head and looked towards where Ash was as Lindsay spoke.
"The smile of a empty man." Paul muttered.
"Do you plan to stay, or head back?"

[AshAvalon]

"Of course I'm staying" said Lindsay quickly. "I am too. I haven't seen some of these amazons for years and I know the harpies will be happy to see me." said Rukia as she rushed foward. "Paul, it looks like you don't feel good. I'd say let's trust him for now. I'm not sure, but I don't think Ash would do anything here. I feeling the heebie jeebies too, but let's just do as he said and not go near those openings in the walls. I think I'll just stay close to Rukia. If you don't feel like chatting or eating, just go see Ash now." Lindsay turned and just happened to run into the ghost of Morgana, the vampric amazon. Normally, this should have been impossible, seeing that the souls of the undead are condemmed. Both women were overjoyed, but thier bodies passed through each othe when they tried to embrace. "I'm still getting used to that" said Morgana, "Alot of us are simply ghosts and not oversouls" There was a moment of silence. Morgana looked at Paul. "Don't worry Paul. It's okay. He's been good to us. Just do as he said and do not leave through those openings. There are will o' the wisp out there made from fairy ghosts and alot of them too. Staying out there too long will make you start going insane and eventually they'll eat you to your very soul, but in here you are fine. By the way Lindsay, do you want to see Alice? She's here too." asked Morgana. Lindsay's face lit up. She agreed and Morgana led her away. Paul was left alone. He could see Rukia being crowded by harpies. There were even some he didn't see outside. Maybe he could just rest a bit or follow Lindsay to Alice. Or perhaps he could visit Ash, who could faintly be seen resting by another previously unseen central tower.

[Paul Grimm]

Paul took a single step backwards, towards the exit. He wasn't planning on leaving, simply taking the preverbial step back to look at everything. Eden was certainly a strange place, a nice looking place, but so close to an apparent danger. It was strange. He gave a small sigh. Time stood still here, so you could live forever and never live basically. He started forward again, heading towards where Ash lay. As he approached he looked at the tower, giving it a glance. He leaned against it a moment, standing in silence.
"Your something else, you know that. As far as I could tell, as far as I can remember, you hated Danny Chambers. That much I remember. Yet here you shelter the women who called him king, and you invite in the people that were allies and worked for him, even the person he loved like a daughter." he said, mostly thinking aloud. There were other things he'd ask Ash later, but he had to think of those first.

[randomguy]

Paul thought he saw something on the corner of his eye. He turned back and he cried out in shock. There was someone in the tower! Wait a moment...was that Sakura? He pressed near the tower. It was indeed Sakura. Her clothing had changed to a flowing, grand, pink dress and she laid perfectly perserved in the upstanding tower with a serene, neutral look on her face. Paul noticed the large, purple stoned ring she had on her finger.

[AshAvalon]

Ash jogged to Paul. "Now before you jump to any conclusons, hear me out. "Yes, that is my wife Sakura and she's not alone. If you look into each of these circling towers, you can also see the reanimated bodies and spirits of my wives, Tina, Irene and Rika. They are clothed with the garments they wore when they married me and they each wear the rings I gave to them to swear my alliegance and love to them. Fianna gave them back to me. She promised me to give them back completely if I helped the Seventh Hero fullfill the prophecy. A prophecy only her and I can do. "Seventh Hero? You mean Rukia? What prophecy? What are you up to?" Paul raised his sword and went to the other towers still standing on guard. Indeed, Ash's other wives were in the towers, resting peacefully, each wearing glorious wedding garments and each possesing a ring of a different color. Paul also went to the wide central crystal structure and peeked in. In this one, were many men and women, nine of them, laying side by side wearing identical uniforms. Paul noticed Zelda Avalon in the midst of them. "Those people, were my beloved army, the N.E.T. Together we waged war againest the forces of evil and Zeal herself. Sadly, they were murdered. But there souls are at peace in the netherworld. Their mortal shells are here to remind me of my crimes and responsiblity to existance. Now, back to your questions. You asked why I am sheltering the women of Noma? It's simple. I'm doing it for thier sakes. They inheirted one of my problems, the Tyrant Euu, or Danny Chambers as you knew him. He copied everything about me, my looks, some of my powers, my personality, my beliefs. He won the hearts of the people of these lands, especially the radically feministic amazons of Noma. He was thier champion, thier king. He became everything I was supposed to be. But I could never be a king, even though it was my birthright. After all, I was at war all the time. I was being trained as a killing machine instead of being a benevolent and righteous ruler. As you heard Zeal tell me, my life had no real purpose other then to be a tool, even to my biological mother, who made my surrogate mother not only sacrifice herself but also start me on the warpath. You know the hole that was ripped in my heart when I learned all this and I was duty-bound to execute my mother?! I was a hero, so what? I was still alone and still confused. I was among the mightest the multiverse had ever known, yet I had nobody. I thought I would be cursed to live and fight alone, until I met Hans" said Ash as he pointed to the middle plot in the crystal. Paul barely noticed that Hans grave was the most decorated out of all the other net squads tombs.
To be continued...

[AshAvalon]

Even before we met, Hans was a hero of epic porportions, although he would never admit that. You see, by chance Hans entered into a different dimension, the realm of the fairys and monsters. There were other humans here too. The place wasn't a secret, people came there all the time to interact with each other and the locals there. Eventually that place turned into an attraction were the common man could live out a fantasy life. But unbeknowest to those people that the essence of Zeal was incubating in that dimension. She took control of a particular person and using his body, her powers manifested and she attempted to steal the souls of hundreds. Fianna, who was merely a ghost herself at that time, gave Hans the ablity to use the Fianna's wrath curse and using that power, as well as borrowing the services and courage of his own team, nearly eradicated Zeal. Tragically, she survived and used her orginal host to incubate in again, even after he and Hans thought she was gone. Once that man went back to that world, another conflict happened which the still incubating Zeal used her host to release the Tyrants in the Multiverse. "Who was this man you keep on talking about?" asked Paul. Ash looked away in disgust. "That man was me...Zeal not only stained my soul with her malice, she also used me to give birth to the Tyrants." Paul's eyes widened in shock. Hans went stayed back on earth and was content on living a more quiet and peaceful life, but fate called him again when he was asked to move to the Montev dimension. This was no accident of course because I was just starting the campaigns there to not only destroy the Tyrants, but also to reach Rykos, the moon in which the Fairy's established thier first and mightest colony outside of Mac Anon. Once we found each other and learned about each other, we swore eternal brotherhood to each other. After I was forced to leave the NET to attempt to save my soul and restore my powers, Vincent was left in charge, but Hans did everything he could to aid the NET in heroism until I came back, since Vincent had to deal alot with constant assination attempts on him. It was Hans who exposed the mass muderer who was responsible for killing most of the NET members as well as the former members. But before he could tell me, he too was murdered. I found out myself through mind reading. It was my own wife Rika, but that's another story." Ash yawned. "I'm speaking too much. To put it blunty, I guess I'm just trying to be the ruler and hero that I always dreamed about. I'm trying to be a champion to the amazons and harpies. I'm trying to be a champion to the Fairy race, I'm trying to be a champion to my wives and I'm trying to be a champion to my dead comrades. Ash stopped for a moment while he looked back on Eden.

[AshAvalon]

"You are indeed a poor, pathetic soul" said Paul with a challanging smile on his face. Ash looked at him sternly. "What are you really after? No one does anything for free. You know what I think? I think that you are so emotionally unstable and insecure, you have to surround yourself with women to stay sane. Even more so, you are trying to fool yourself by saying you are saving these people. The amazons need no saving. I don't know about your harpie harem and I don't care. I don't know if you remember or not, but your still connected to the murder of Alice Chambers. It was your wife Rika that killed her." "You are indeed a foolish boy. I pity you." replied Ash with a casual grin. "Rika didn't kill Alice, Euu Avalon did. After he regained his memories, he was determined to throw away everything for the sake of not being held back by his former life. That included not only the amazons, but Alice Chambers herself and Baby Lily. He wasn't counting on me finding him so fast, so he only had time to finish Alce, trying to use the diguise of my wife to frame me and her." Ash noticed that Paul was still holding his sword. "You sure you should be threating me? Well if you want to go out in a blaze of glory, I'm only too happy to light the switch." Ash looked at Paul and smiled. Unbeknowest to him, he was actually sending out a mental signal calling both Lindsay and Rukia, who were still nearby. "You want answers boy? Then come, face me!" If you can somehow defeat me, your mark should evolve to the Mark of Cruel Deity. You want the answers and power you need? Then strike me down!" Ash then soke in a language he never heard before. Once Lindsay and Rukia joined Paul, a large tomb covered them all after Ash and Paul moved to a more bare part of Eden. "Paul, you fool! What did you say?!" chided Lindsay. "I'm tired of these mindgames, he's up to something. And it involves you Rukia. "If you're talking about a prophecy Paul, I know all about that. And I'm okay with that!" yelled Rukia. "Come, let me try your might!" yelled Ash as he pulled out both the Avenger and Judgment. He calmly floated toward him. Paul yelled and rushed foward. "Paul, don't!!" yelled Rukia, but Paul ignored them. With no hesistation Paul swung the Masamune to strike Ash, but Ash blocked with his Avenger and despite the force behind the blow, Ash didn't flinch. Undaunted at defense, Paul gave an onslaught of quick blows, but they were all blocked by Ash easily. Paul jumped back and conjured his elemental weapon. He then rushed Ash again and tried to use a two sword style to get to Ash, but he still couldn't get touched. But this time, Ash brandished the Judgment and with a heavy blow launched Paul away. "Why do you rush me like this?" asked Ash. "I saw your harpies and how they are behaving. You are training them how to fight with weapons and techniques I've never seen before. I think you are trying to make your own personal army. And the amazons? I've seen alot of precious materials around here. The harpies are covered with jewelry. Trying to bribe the amazonian nation?!" "Paul! How dare you!" scolded Rukia, geniuely offended at Paul's comments. "Don't defend him Rukia. Can you trust a man like him. He's hardly a man himself. I'm going to get to the bottom of this. I can take him!"

[AshAvalon]

Lindsay bit her lip nerviously. She hated to admit it, but she too in her heart felt Ash was up to something. Why was he so insistant on keeping the amazons here? He put them in a situation where leaving was dangerous. Plus, she talked with alot of amazons in the short time she was here. They all didn't want anything to do with Ash and they wanted to leave. It's not that Ash abused them, but he had a tendency to go feral very often and that was worrying them. If Ash wouldn't let the women of Noma go, she had to make him. Lindsay unsheathed her sword and walked toward Paul to join him in battle. "No, Lindsay not you too!" cried Rukia. *It's okay* said Ash's voice in her head. Rukia gasped in surprise. *They have to withstand this to release the true power of thier marks. Join them Rukia. Attack me! You too must become stronger* Rukia didn't want to, but she knew all about this. Ash once did the same thing to her, which helped her release her mark the first time. Once she did that, Ash embraced her with pride and healed all her wounds. He even did something very special for her. Rukia took out the Eslydion and all three heroes stood before Ash. "Good, it's time to truly begin!" said Ash as he stood ready. All three heroes rushed foward!

Paul came first and swung his sword hard. Ash blocked his with the Avenger. Lindsay and Rukia joined in after ward. Rukia used martial arts with Lindsay thrusted her sword foward. Both women landed blows on Ash. Despite already being damged Ash jumped high and yelled while extending his body. Bluish flames shot out. Paul blocked in time and so did Rukia, but Lindsay was hit with them. She cried out in pain and tried to put the flames out, but they wouldn't extinquish. Paul recognized the blue flames. "He knows cleansing fire! Those flames are impossible to put out!" he yelled. Paul then noticed that a warm orange flame surrounding Lindsay. The flames died when consumed by them. "Thanks Nepthys" she said as she rushed foward again. All three continued thier attacks from all sides. Even Ash was having trouble blocking them. But Paul knew better. Ash wasn't even trying. Without warning though, a faint rainbow colored stream shot foward. Paul recognized it as concentrated mental power, which shouldn't hurt him but it would be deadly to his friends if it connected. Luckily it didn't. Ash started to chant another spell, but Rukia quickly threw her kunai foward and it hooked Ash. She then violently pulled it out, leaving a nasty wound in Ash. It stopped his chanting leaving Paul to do another heavy attack on Ash. All three warriors now tried to do a combination attack but they were all blocked by a barrier, thier three sacred weapons only leaving sparks. Ash then rose up and roared. He flew up and dived bombed the three heroes. His aerial attacked connected with all of them and threw them up. He then followed up with the same attack again from the opposite side, then the bottom, then shot them with demonic and spiritual power from the Avenger and Judgment. Once Paul crashed to the ground, his eyes widened. That last attack was vicious and brutal. Maybe he wasn't holding back after all. Thank goodness for the Hell's Design because he recieved the bulk of the attack and it damaged him quite a bit. Rukia stumbled back while Paul and Lindsay tried to continued the assault. Using power from the Eslydion, Rukia healed herself and Paul while Lindsay recieved more healing from Nepthys. Once they more more healthy, they all rushed Ash again and all simultatinouly stabbed him with thier swords. It was a vicious attack which hurt Ash alot, seeing that three blades were sticked out of him. Ash's eyes glowed red. Rukia and Lindsay suddenly started to twitch. Their bodies rose and separted from Ash. No matter how much they struggled they were caught by an invisible force in the air. "Telekinesis!" cried Paul. Both women were slammed together two times and thrown at Paul, who caught them but got thrown down as well. "Damn, what the hell is he?!" complaining Lindsay. "That's enough of this crap!" growled Paul. When he got up, Ash was chanting again when he was finished, Paul suddenly lost control of his body as more bluish flames covered him. They didn't hurt, but he was litterly paralized. Couldn't move a single finger. He just laid helplesly in the air while Ash then split into three identical parts. There were three Ash's now! They all rose up slowly and rushed Paul, who still couldn't move! The phantom Judgment and Avenger glowed with thier respective powers. When the Ash's met Paul, all three cruelly sliced him and was litterly beserking, slashing and cutting Paul with a near disturbing and sickening fashion, like a butcher slaughering an animal. They all then flew up and in a stylish fashion cut through Paul. The extra Ash's disappeared Even with the Hell's Design, Paul's body fell dismembered, cut up and very much dead. Lindsay's witness to the attack nearly paralyized her with shock and fear. Rukia saw it in her eyes. "Get ahold of yourself woman! This isn't over!" Paul's body glowed and reattached itself, Hell's Design included. Paul then shot up gasping for air. It was obvious that the same feelings in Lindsay were in Paul's eyes too. Was that a small look of fear? Rukia had to do something. "YOU WANT A FIGHT ASH! YOU GOT ONE!" she yelled. Rukia clasped her hands as strange markings suddenly went from the mark on her head and spread all over her. "Release! Mark of Cruel Deity!" yelled Rukia. The immediate area now glowed with a bluish greenish hue. Ash was now moving in slow motion. Even now, he was wearing a manicial smile on his face. "Don't just stand there! Attack him with all of your might!" yelled Rukia. Paul and Lindsay activated thier own marks and with thier addeed power used every possible technique on Ash, who's movements were so slow that it was impossible for him to do anything about the onslaught. The effect lasted for about 20 seconds. Ash was now covered in many cuts, gashes, and burns. He thrusted the Avenger foward to Lindsay who was still hacking away. The sword impaled her through her heart. Ash lifted her up and threw her brutally toward the ground. With such a large sword wound through her body, she died moments later, then revived in moments using her first sunshine. Paul tried to use some black magic to slow Ash down but his reaction time was inhuman. He turned his attention on him and rushed foward with both swords. He blocked the attack, but there was so much force behind it, the attack blew him away and made him crash into the barrier. To be continued

[AshAvalon]

By this time, all three heroes were out of breath and running out of ideas. "Pathetic. I'm only using about 20% of my power and this is the best you are giving me. I'm not even really using my defenses! You can never harness our power with that skill. You won't even be able to defeat Zeal, the last Tyrants, Atrentis and his dragon pet. I'm better off killing you myself so you won't get in the way. Paul growled under his breath. He was so enraged it was practially maddening. Never before has he been humiliated like this. The three heroes looked around and noticed the amazons looking on. They all wore expressions of horror, anger, worry and doubt. Lindsay was especially taking this hard. "Come on! He's not immortal. We hit him once, we can do it again!" yelled Paul. Despite thier frustration, his companions answered the call and readed themselves again. Time for another round.

to be continued

[AshAvalon]

"Enough of this. Disappear" said Ash with a cold glare in his eyes. All three heroes stopped when they heard whistling in the sky. They looked up and were astonished at what they saw. A full salvo of glowing lights was raining down on them at a frightning pace. "Angel's Tears!? EVERYONE! RUN!" yelled Rukia as she threw a smoke bomb down. Rukia escaped the fury of the malcious attack and Paul quickly brandished the Psychosis wand which made the psychic energy bounce off of him, but Lindsay wasn't so lucky. She braced herself for the attack. However, to her surprise Guardian Airtos shot out of Lindsay's body, grabbed her arm and hurled her away from the epicenter of the attack. Lindsay was getting hit only by the rouge shots, enough to cause big burns, but nothing compared to what Airtos took. She was being litterly incenerated by the attack. But what made Lindsay cry out in terror was that Airtos was still carrying the Celestrial Sword. If that sword broke, she could share the same fate as her other beloved, deceased guardians. After the smoke cleared, Lindsay forced herself to see what happened. Paul was unharmed and he quickly went to check on Airtos. She was very much dead and more importantly, the sword was broken cleanly in two. Paul knew that the guardian was dead now. With the Guardians, they could regenerate if thier weapons remained undamaged. Paul, already near madness with anger already, reached a new level of rage, angry at the fact that Ash single handly killed Lindsay's guardians. Lindsay has been like a little sister to Paul for a long time and this act made Paul's hatred toward Ash all the more stronger. Paul looked at the slain woman once more. Even in death, she was a beautiful angelic being. Paul noticed that she was sinking in the ground very quickly. She was gone in seconds. Lindsay was shellsocked and was nearly hysterical. Nepthys was out now trying to restrain Lindsay. Ash was once again, totally emotionless, staying true to a man in whom death no longer stings and who can kill with no remorse. It truly reminded Paul of his former self and that disgusted him even more. He roared and with a giant show of power, released a completly new aura of power. Ash smiled at first, but then frowned. He thought that he accomplished his purpose with Paul, but he recognized this presence. It was merely the return of the formidable Avenger. That was good, but not enough. Paul rushed foward at a shocking pace, appearing near Ash in seconds. Paul swung his sword down and Ash blocked with both his Avenger and Judgment. The clash of powers was explosive and it could even be felt by the spectators watching. Once the flash and boom cleared both men were blown away from each other. Paul was still holding his sword and Ash was still standing at the ready too, but his swords were cracking and crumbling, eventually shattering to peices. Paul wasted no time in rushing Ash again, but this time Ash teleported away and appeared behind Paul grasping a third sword on Ash's back. As he was pulling it out, his appearance was changing. Ash's hair was turining from shoulder lenght white hair to very long blue hair. His old tattered armor was being replaced with a long blue cloak and baby blue robes. Once the sword came out, it quickly flashed and transformed as well, turning into a stout, greenish blade with glowing symbols covering the blade. Despite his beserking, even Paul was surprised at what he saw. Ash was a woman once again, which was nothing new, but this time, it was one that he had never seen before and her aura was ridiculously potent. It was so strong that Paul estimated that it exceeded even the mighty Chaos monsters. Her face and visible body was covered with glowing lines, all branching from her forehead, where the Mark of Fierce Diety was located. From her description from Jack and Sakura, she might have resembled Taelia, Ash's biological mother. Paul remembered that it was told that Ash was being harvested to be her new body. Apparently, she managed to implant her likeliness in him, but failed to put her spirit in her, thus allowing Ash to use her powers and appearence instead. She raised the sword, which Paul recognized before it transformed as Rictor's Excalibur. How Ash got it was a mystery, but more importantly, he seemed to have been able to release a new stage of it, when activating his mark, much like Rukia did. Mark of Cruel Diety she called it? The sword pulsed with a strange rythym. It floated everywhere, but it didn't seem to be doing anything. Paul looked down at his sword however and saw that the resonating sword was indeed working on the Avenger. It too was beating in a simliar fashion. It was slowly losing power until it transformed all the way to the basic Murasame! Lindsay's Phoenix Blade degraded to the Falchion also. Paul figured that whereever Rukia was, who had not reappeared yet, her sword proably turned back into the White Shadow. Losing that sword was the only thing that could even the odds againest this new foe. She raised her sword again and the area flashed red. Both Paul and Lindsay felt like they were caught in a small explosion aimed right at them. The brutal attack critically wounded Lindsay but only affected Paul slightly. "What's wrong general of Noma? Where is your strength?" said the woman in a otherwordly voice. "Must you always rely on the strength of others?" She picked up Lindsay by her shirt. Lindsay was so hurt, she could only hang limply. She was then slapped cruelly and repeatly. "Pathetic! Just die!" she yelled as she punched Lindsay in the stomach. Her fist could be seen on the other side of Lindsay's body, who's whites of the eyes could already be seen as blood exploded from her mouth and body. Her body regenerated of course a few seconds later. Taelia smiled again. I'm going to keep on humilating and dismantling all of you until you all get with the picture. Let's see who gets tired first!" Taelia drew her sword again and advanced toward Paul, who was out of ideas and knew it was futile to fight back. He refused to beg for his life however. He vowed to do what he could. Taelia went on the attack again; using the Great Fairy Sword of Silence to create another small explosion, which launched Paul in the air. Taelia spread her large wings and joined him up there. When she met him, she attacked Paul with a stylish combination of melee attacks and sword slashes. When she was done, Paul was once again slain. He awakened a few seconds later by the power of his third sunshine. Without pause, Taelia rushed Lindsay again and used a different sword dance to cut Lindsay down again. She too was forced to use her third sunlight. Taelia wasn't done with the heroes unforunatley. She once again advanced toward Paul to chop him up once more, but looked up when she sensed someone falling. It was Rukia and she was divebombing Taelia with her White Shadow aimed straight foward Taelia's head. She countered by swinging the sword at her but Rukia disappeared in a puff of smoke. Before Taelia could figure it out Rukia appeared behind her and jammed both her Requium katana and the White Shadow into Taelia's back. Taelia cried out in pain and some blood fell from her wounds and mouth. Despite the terrible attack, she still smiled. "That's good Rukia. Maybe there's some hope for you three at all. Taelia pulled herself off of the swords. Rukia noticed that her wounds were already closing up while the Fairy Sword was once again beating.

[paladinchambers]

Lindsay gritted her teeth in despair and prepared for another painful experience. But something miraculous happened at that point. The ground that swallowed Eatos started to break into a small fissure. Taelia stopped her advanced and looked back to see what was going on. She was met by a malcious scythe slash and it carved a laceration that snaked along her entire body. "Gaah!" yelled Taelia as a fountain of blood poured out of her. She dropped down to the ground and was convulsing. Her wounds were closing, but they were not really healing correctly.Even the mighty Taelia was shocked at the ambush. Lindsay couldn't believe her eyes. At first, she thought Eatos was alive after all, but the being in front of her was not her beloved Eatos. Her face was covered by an expressionless mask that only had two eye holes. Her hair, tattered clothes and body were dirty and messy and she was covered by bandages everywhere. In her hands, was a mencing scythe, dripping with blood. The only sounds coming from her were hard, exagerated breathing. Paul looked back at Taelia. Amazingly, she lifted herself up and her wounds closed, although there was a long, ugly scar covering her body, which was now nude since the zombie Eatos, or whatever she was, cleanly cut off her clothes. "Bitch! It's going to take me forever to regenerate this!" she yelled. The markings over Taelia's body were now retracting and her appearence was disappearing until Ash's bodies returned. Amazingly, no additonal damage was done to Ash's body, as if he litterly switched bodies. He stared at his enemy, while she shuffled to him. "So, it is you Eatos, or should I say, Deathscythe. How do you do it? How do you stay beautiful even in death?" Paul took in everything he saw. From what he saw, it looks like despite Taelia's incredible power, her achellies heel seemed that she was all offensive, but her healing powers seemed to only be helped by her sword and her regeneration. Unlike white magic or even the powers of Ash, she could not truly heal herself, not that it made her any less dangerous. His second observation was that the monster advancing toward Ash may be Eatos, but not. This Deathscythe or whatever, was moving in erratic fashion, graceful, yet slightly clumsy. But to Paul's further surprise, Ash bowed down in submission. "I give up. I have no desire to fight a beserking, mindless diety and risk injury to my friends or myself. Lindsay! Don't worry about Eatos. She's sleeping inside of Deathscythe. Wake her up. She's waiting for you. We will fight again. Become stronger until then" Lindsay finally started to relax. Her face felt hotter. She touched it and felt something running throughout her body and heading to her forehead. She looked into a nearby reflective surface and just managed to see the lines and symbols shrinking into the symbol on her forehead. It was just like Rukia. Lindsay gasped. She was so terrifed, she had no idea that she just attained a new level of power. Ash took down the shield and turned away. Deathscythe was just about to behead Ash when her body stopped in the middle of the action. It then seemed to become bound by invisible forces. Ash walked away and then became surrouned by his harpies. Rukia ran to Ash and pushed her way past the harpies crowding Ash. "What you you trying to do Ash? You cost them sunshine. Why are you attacking people you told me you were trying to help?!" Ash chuckled. "Come now Rukia. Do you actually think I was trying? My only goal was for to forcably unleash the Mark of Cruel Diety. IT's the only way to do it. I'm disappointed in Paul, but when it comes to Madam Lindsay, hers was just about to unleash. If I would have went any further, it would have gotten ugly. And besides, I don't feel like getting in a fight with Lindsay's lover. I need to rest now. Please attend to our guests and please tell everyone...they are free to go if they wish" Ash walked away, almost being litterly carried away by his harpies. They were talking sweetly to him, cursing Lindsay and Paul and telling Ash how much he should have destroyed them. Rukia thought to herself. *No doubt, Ash really wasn't trying to kill us, and he approached this the exact same way he did with me. I'm sure they won't accept that story though* The bonds holding Deathscythe were now gone and she limply fell to the floor. She groaned and slowly lifted herself up. Lindsay ran to her and took her into her arms. Deathscythe was still, simply lying limp in her arms. Lindsay cried and tears fell on Deathscythes mask. She held her close. "He got you too, I'm so sorry. Deathscythe's mask started to crack and her appearence started to break down. "No please, don't go!" pleaded Lindsay. Paul gasped. Both he and Lindsay were sure Deathscythe was dying. When the mask broke off, the sweet face of Eatos was seen underneath, smiling and teary eyed. Deathscythe's bandages, dirty clothes and ripped wings were all replaced by Eatos angelic appearence. Lastly, the scythe too broke down and formed intself into the Celestrial Sword. "I'm different from the others, my love." said Eatos. "I will not die...if we still need each other. Lindsay cried tears of joy this time. Even Nepthys shed some tears. The teary reunion reminded her of her long deceased love, Kyle. The amazons were all cheering and clapping. Rukia ran to everyone. "Everyone, we can go now. There's no need to stay if you don't want" she said meekly. "Ash is letting everyone go." The amazons didn't need to be told twice. Ash asked them to please stay until thier leaders came for them. He told them Eden too was thier inheiritence but he also let them know that he refused to force him upon them. Unlike the harpies and fairys, the amazons were not bound to him. The amazons were excited to go back and they wanted to leave soon. But to thier surprise, they recieved orders from Lindsay and Paul to stay put. If Atrentis was behind the terrorists attacks most recently commited to the amazons, it was in thier best interest to stay here where Ash Avalon would personally be. Atrentis was mighty but the heroes were confident that the ancient power of the fairys could far surpass his. No word though on how it will help with that secret project Atrentis was trying to accomplish. If only Ash would fight with them instead of beating around the bush. There was no doubt he was a good guy deep inside somewhere, but at the same time, he was dangerous and proably should be put out of his misery. The fairys tended to the heroes and lead them to bed. The trio announced they would be leaving in the morning. They were prepared luxourious sleeping quaters by the fairys. Rukia went by herself however to find Ash. She found him sleeping by himself with the harpies sleeping soundly around him. "You haven't changed" said Rukia to herself. "Why did I ever accept your marriage proposal?" She turned to leave. "There's still room for you Rukia. The harpies always like more company at bedtime." said Ash, no longer pretending to sleep. Rukia looked back at him and laughed. Nevertheless, Ash and Rukia slept near each other for the first time in a long time.

[paladinchambers]

It was morning now, or at least the heroes thought it was. After all, no sun was in the grave. Rukia woke up and saw Ash gone already while she had additional food and blankets around her. She looked around and fixed her messy hair. She saw Ash in the distance. He appeared to be running around, playing with his harpies. They were all around him, circling him and hovering around him. Rukia just stood and watch the cute site. It was almost like how a man would play with his daughters. "He's been doing that for an hour or so now" said Paul as he came from behind him. Rukia looked at Paul and noticed the Dark circles around his eyes. "You didn't get much sleep last night?" asked Rukia. "No, Lindsay and Eatos...too much noise. Keep me up all night" he said with a yawn. "What the heck were they doing?" Paul yawned again and ignored her. But the real reason why it was hard to sleep last night was another avatar came into the grave last night. Ash woke up and immediatley confronted her. She came her looking for us, but Ash wouldn't allow her to enter in the grave with her present state. Just like the other's, she's tainted with evil." "I wonder why he just didn't take care of her right then and then?" "It wouldn't do any good. If Ash would take out a possessed avatar, that power needed to open the true seal of the grave wouldn't be with us, it would be with him and Ash most certainly isn't going to help us open the seal. Believe me, I asked" "You tried to talk to him again? How did that go?" "What he told me was this. Each time we defeat a fairy avatar, she returns back to Ash's body purifed, thus restoring each others souls. The avatars are an extension of Ash's soul. Apparently, all the avatars have fragmented souls and now they have to stay inside Ash to stay in existance. They also keep his soul together and pure also. You remember when Ash was fighting Zeal and that monster before he fell? Remember when Zeal took control of the avatars. Zeal used her own magic and soul to peice together the fairys souls, but her influcence is influcening thier thoughts and actions in a negative way. Ash is in the same state somewhat, since Zeal's comaination in his soul is active when the avatars are absent or tainted themselves. That pathetic man. He's litterly housing 9 souls in his body, all which need each other to keep the balance of power in him. Zeal can never be cleansed from his body. That darkness will always be a part of him. "Thus not allowing him to rest peacefully or enter into heaven" said Rukia sadly, remembering when Ash told her all of this. "The ritual...may be the only way" continued Rukia. Both heroes turned and saw Ash again. He was tackeled by his harpies again and he was laughing as they held him down and nuzzled him. "He's quite the player" added Paul casually. "Yes, he was quite the charmer. It's obvious since I'm number five" said Rukia with a sigh. "But that's alright. His heart is big enough for the harpies, the fairys and me, maybe even the amazons one day..." There was a pause for a few minutes. "Tell me one thing Rukia. You know him better then any of us. Can he be trusted?" "Yes, you just have to understand" Paul took those words in. "Does he deserve to be saved?" Paul said again sternly. Rukia took a long pause. "If not for his sake, at least for the fairys sake. If we succeed, countless pain and death will be ceased." "Let's get going." said Paul curtly. That avatar is waiting for us outside. She knows we have to come out eventually and she's here for us." Lindsay was finally coming out of bed. She was a mess, but seemed unusually perky and giddy, raising thoughts again to what exactly has made her in such a good mood. Paul debriefed her and both warriors ate a little food, cleaned themselves up and left the grave without saying too many goodbyes. There was no need to say bye to Ash. Before she left Rukia, saw him laying on a hill with harpies nearby still. She left an encouraging thought in her head, knowing that Ash would pick it up, knowing that his mind is constantly scanning when he is idle or sleep. She was sure when he picked it up, he would be pleased and grateful. The heroes braced themselves and went through the portal, leading back to the stadium.

[paladinchambers]

A thought came into Ash's head while he was resting. It was a stray thought thrown at him by Rukia. He took it in and smiled. He knew what was waiting for them outside the garden. The earth avatar was formidable, but he was confident the heroes could take her on. Now there was an important work that needed to be done. He rose up and called to his harpies. They all knew what was about to happen. They chirped and sang happily as they got into more dressy clothes. Today would be the day the entire surviving harpie race was reconciled together. Athena met Ash and embraced him. They all headed toward the same portal where the heroes left and once back on the world surface, all flew toward in one accord and headed straight for the other portal in the stadium, the one leading to the elemental mansion. Paul heard fluttering of wings and barely had enough time to duck as all of Ash's harpies flew. The sight of the flying harpies was magestic. It was almost like a rainbow streak was shooting threw the skies, especially when Hikari and LuLu shot past, with thier incredible array of colorful feathers. Lindsay noticed that the two male harpies of Eden were not with them. Lindsay asked Rukia about this, and Rukia made it known that all the harpies except one choose Ash as thier mate, using lovebites and pheoromones as proof of that. While the two male harpies enjoyed Eden's blessings, they didn't have the attention of any of the many beautiful harpies except for Gabrielle, a harpie who was so interested by the amazons, they adopted her as an honorary amazon. Even though they were somewhat bitter by the harpies affection toward Ash, this quickly faded when they found out they were popular with the amazons. Now they don't mind at all, and the amazons consider them as friends and Gabrielle as practically as one of the family. Paul noticed the harpies and Ash disappearing to the area where the portal was. 'The elemental mansion. The harpies. We should do something" he suggested. "Why?" asked Lindsay. "Ash is covered with harpie pheromones and he has the entire surviving population of harpies living with them. In additon, there' a good chance they will not remember Euu, or rather Danny Chambers since he moved on. The harpies will most likely convince Siren and the others to come with them to Eden where they will live forever. Let it go. The harpies where nevere meant for city life. You always saw it in their eyes. There loyality to Euu was the only thing keeping them there. Ash is giving them a wonderous land where he personally will love and care for them. They will be happier and they will be good for each other." Paul was quite surprised at Lindsay's pro-Ash speech, but in his heart he knew she had a point. But there were more things to worry about. A fairy avatar nimbly jumped down and when she looked up, the group was warped to Rykos again. It was time to seal the next avatar.

Continued in Rykos.