[MMatRoS] [M] You Do it All for You [Private]

[Ezrihel]

Silence. Powerful. Unyielding. Demanding. Eradicating silence.

It pervaded her thoughts, quieting her mind yet forging her into what seemed to be a honed edge.

Jumbled flickers of battlefields. From the present, or memories past, she could no longer tell. Were they teeth of a blade or maw that slashed at her side, causing her clothes to stain purple? The flash of white teeth and silver steel, a hum of heat. The choir of screaming voices, one risen above the rest, berating her over and over again.

What. What could it possibly want now?

Am I really that bad?

You brought this on yourself. Defiler!

Lilith, lovely~ Hurt me again, would you love?

All these lives and memories bleeding into each other, overlain with one solitary scream that pierced through the veil of her foggy memories. It ripped and tore at her frame. The sounds of a thousand gunshots. The sounds of aching metal strained past its breaking point, before it sheared off into ragged and warped piece of art. Pain reached its claws deep into her head and tore at her again. She ran long nailed fingers through her hair and ripped at herself with a feral growl; her body convulsed once as she dropped to her knees in the hard volcanic soil. Her brow furrowed deeply as she bit her bottom lip hard enough to draw blood.

The scream echoed across both the physical and mental mediums that Ezrihel found themself suspended in. It was a shocking and surprising blow that overrid their mental defenses, weakened by the transition to the Omniverse. This scream was inescapable, only building in intensity the longer it droned on.

LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE.

Then, once more, silence. Eery and fragile silence, the mind, in the aftermath, wracked with more holes than a fishing net. Foggy eyes look over the ashen landscape as pieces were carefully collected and put together once more. Fingers bled as they traced over familiar cracks in the glass, pushing everything back into place again.

She couldn’t hear her own whimpers as tears fell from her unmoving eyes.

Vulnerable.

You’re vulnerable.

All over again. Vulnerable, once more.

I’m vulnerable.

You’re pathetic, look at you. Unable. Inadequate.

You’re invalid.

Worthless.

Do you really expect to accomplish anything? You’ve done nothing immortalizing in all these lives past. Truly pathetic. You helped man humanity for your own benefit, remember? All you want is control. You crave it, crying out for it like a miserable newborn depraved of its mother’s milk.

Please let it end.

But you rule through chaos, destroying everything that you touch, bringing empires to their knees and baptising yourself in the wake of blood you leave behind you. What are you but a lowly destroyer of order? A wrench in the plans of the noble, an unhealthy dose of entropy, gangrenous necrosis in a wound. You are pus, a broken cog in the machine, nothing more and nothing less.

Kill me.

And you do it all for yourself, thinking of no one and going nowhere.

I don’t want to think of this anymore.

You are the unnecessary defiler.

Let me go.

Disgusting.

Let me go.

Pitiful.

LET ME GO.

She could feel things moving around her, a familiar energy and scent, masked by burnt leather. A flash of energy, light reflected across her glassy eyes.

Then it was gone. The scream completely removed from her reality, but its effects could hardly begin to be guessed at.

The first thing she picked up on was a high pitched whine in her ears, piercing her eardrums as her hazy vision refocused on the landscape before her. A group she remember fighting with at some point or another stood not too far away from where she sat, watching some sort of spectacle's end unfold.

Her weary muscles tensed, allowing her to stand once more. She stumbled a bit as she adjusted her footing to the shifting ashen sands, but quickly composed herself. She would not ever allow herself to appear weak to those around her! Such appearances where simply unbecoming of a being of her stature.

I am not weak...

She grasped her side, still freshly bleeding purple. She scowled as her hand put pressure on the wound, it was inflamed and had angrily welted up where the skin had torn. Her clothes where torn to relative pieces or otherwise dirty and her blonde hair was ruffled, messy and full of soot.

With an annoyed scoff she concentrated on creating a bandage to cover the wound to at least stop herself from bleeding all over the place. Her transition to the omniverse had come with quite a few pleasant and unpleasant surprises and changes; mostly unpleasant though, if she had a say in it.

The most jarring of these sudden changes was her inability to rapidly heal, or for that fact, actually take damage from normal external forces. These stark changes to her basic physiology meant that she had to take things in a much more careful and cautious fashion than she was used to. A lack of the fear of death could do that to someone. Also, a once much higher tolerance to pain and suffering had once dulled her ability to experience pain, but that too had been changed when she was unwillingly drug into this 'omniverse' realm.

The last time she had seen her own blood was when a hole had been punched through her chest by a former lover with the rather annoying and emotional reasoning of "You made me watch as you killed my family." She couldn't help but roll her eyes at the memory of that lovely encounter. It seemed that some people refused to accept logic and be reasoned with in the slightest. Her dear sweet Lilith had always been a rather fickle and irrational woman, going to such great extents to punch as many holes through Ezrihel's body as possible while screaming about the sanctity of things such as life and how you can't just go around killing children.

Am I really that bad?

Why not? She could remember arguing at one point. Why couldn't she just go around, killing any she please? What made the women and the children so special that they should be exempt from any and all excessive torture and murder? She had always hated that sanctity of life bullshit reasoning people threw up because they couldn't accept a loss. She simply couldn't understand what made life so sacred. People, humans and her own race alike, killed all kinds of things on a daily basis.

Am I really that bad?

They killed bugs like flies, mosquitoes, gnats, ticks and fleas because they where pests. They killed cows, chickens, pigs, varying types of wild beasts in order to eat and dress fashionably, even as a pointless sport. They held the obsessive drive to kill most forms of micro organisms, because they were pests.

Am I really that bad?

In Ezrihel's eyes, people were pests as well. Tiny little mites deserving of the fate predestined for them, nothing more and nothing less. Life was only sacred to people because those people were living, as the dead had no sorts of input on any part of the situation. It was all worth a bit of a chuckle in the eyes of the Andromedan God, what with the way humans practiced this strange sort of hypocrisy. Things only mattered when they applied to themselves, to hell with anything else, they seemed to scream to the heavens.

Am I really that bad?

Though, Ezrihel did feel a tad bit disappointed that humanity didn't like it when their own logic and ways of living was turned against them, used as a sort of pointed dagger to expose all the little weak spots. Ezzy did, however, love wielding this dagger in a threatening fashion, dragging it teasingly along the soft flesh of the belly of their prey. They loved tearing apart the agency that a victim once held dear, leaving them a vulnerable and quivering wretch before they moved in, breaking and removing any unnecessary and annoying issues before repurposing the husk to their own needs and goals.

Green eyes flash towards the thief they traveled with. Every detail would be memorized here and now. The burnt appearance of his leather armor, how it seemed to stick to his form, making slight cracking noises as he adjusted, shifting and trying to stand up from the soot covered ground. As he moved, she could see how his chest shifted with each exhale, something about it seemed uncomfortable when he inhaled though. Most likely an injury he had sustained during his daring encounter with the master wyrm they had just finished fighting.

The skin that was exposed was dirty, stained dark with volcanic ash and slick with sweat, reflecting some of the heavy light that filtered down through the clouds of thick smoke and smog that blanketed the entire area, casting the entirety of the environment into a hazy rusty orange hue.

His silver-grey eyes showed a sort of defiance, most likely the external expression of his current aches and pains. They were tired but bright in comparison to how is dark hair laid plastered across his forehead with sweat. His cheeks were pulled tight, a sort of dismay at the situation that had just occurred. His lips were cracked and dry from the heat the interior of the volcano had presented. She couldn't help bu notice how he pressed then together into a tight line as he took in everything.

A soft murmuring of the wretched artificial intelligence could be heard, but it was given little attention as she concentrated on the bandage. With a slight scoff, she had decided to go ahead and create new clothes as well as change her hair color while making the bandage. Why? She was tired of fighting to keep such light hair clean looking, especially in this climate. Besides, with how she was currently feeling, she had decided that something darker would suit her best anyway.

Gone where the days where a blonde maiden was viewed as a prized catch. She was no longer in the south, she was no long restrained by humanity's limited concept of what could and couldn't be beautiful. Besides, she liked being able to see her eyebrows and eyelashes more clearly.

With a soft, toying chuckle, she had concepted the idea of the outfit she wished her form to be adorned in, drempt and drew it up in her mind's eye. As a bandage materialized onto her body, seeming to melt out of her body before becoming its own object, her outfit was replaced as well. The process was seamless, a flawless shift to her new clothes.

Her body was now adorned in dark, navy blue fabric that hugged her form. Every edge between her skin and the fabric was lined with a flexible gold thread embroidering. Her neck was covered by a thick metal choker collar, a large chain attached to it, running between her cleavage and attaching to a chain that ran horizontally around her ribs and under her breasts. Metal ribbing supported the fabric that cupped her breasts before hooking into a chained shoulder strap that held her short cape in place around her shoulders.

The metal ribbing met below her belly button, exposing her cleavage and the pale skin of her belly. Another chain ran around her hips, meeting up at a lock that rested just above the crest of her pelvis. A long chain ran down from this lock, and at the end a cast iron key hung.

Her boots has thick metal ribbing, a long guard running up the front of her leg before meeting with the toothed top of her boot. Angry claws made up the knee joint of her boots. Above her boots, her right leg was bare, skin showing without regard to prudish old world views, but her left leg remained covered.

With a swish of her hips, she let herself enjoy the quiet clanking that her chains gave off, the weight they, and the floor length trail of her outfit, added to her frame was pleasant. She sighed, reaching up and stretching before running her hands through her thick hair. Following this motion, black color ran out from the roots of her hair, traveling down the shaft of each strand of hair until her entire mane was a deep ebony black in color.

In a rather confident and almost playful fashion she gave a soft smile, put her hands on her hips and strode forward to Demetri. She made eye contact with him, looking deeply and interestingly into his eyes, really taking the moment to fully gauge and judge his emotional state. Dropping her arms by her sides, she reached her right hand out to brush it against his left arm. Her expression was soft and empathetic.

"Demetri, I am... Somewhat uncertain about your relation to the being that just disappeared, but that being said and known, I can still tell that it mattered to you. Would you mind my asking what its relation to you was? Not meaning to be disrespectful in any way, but that was quite the display... But I don't understand what exactly just happened. In all my lives I have no experience with what exactly I just witnessed was. Forgive my ignorance on the matter."

[Demetri Malius]

Demetri paused for a moment as he heard footsteps behind him. turning around to greet Ezzy while she approached. She seemed a bit shaken, as much as she tried to hide it, it was apparent. She did not stutter or tremble, but she seemed so stiff, so rigid. He examined her as she walked towards him, and he could not help but also immediately notice her hair had transitioned from her bright blonde to pitch black. Not only that, but her entire outfit had changed. The blue, gold-rimmed cloth was appealing, as well as the chains on her that hung close to her body. Her bandaged wound seemed to be a bit severe, but they would have to wait to get home to rest. He would much rather deal with their injuries there than here in this heated oven of a place.

Demetri’s mind could not help but wander a bit before she spoke, bringing him back to reality. Yes, Nealaphh, the Headmaster. Demetri forgot how new the woman was to the omniverse.

“Headmaster Nealaphh was one of the first brings I met here in the omniverse, it was a brief meeting involving a pink haired girl that I haven't seen since, but he was quick to provide me with as much information as possible about the realm.” The thief slowly walked over to a nearby rock as he spoke, trailing a bit with his words, thinking about them as they escaped his mouth, pausing ever so often to find the right words. “ I suppose he gained a bit of respect from me for it. In addition, I believe he was making his way to help aid my escape from Nippur before the assault from LAW disrupted him and my captors. He is as loyal to his supporters as they are to him, sometimes even more so. I can respect a leader with those traits.” The thief leaned against the large rock, sliding down into a slouch as he gave a long sigh, clearly tired and worn, at least physically. “ Under his leadership I was given no restraints, but I had left of my own accord due to my actions most likely causing strain of foreign relations in the future.” he waited a long moment in thought before looking up at Ezzy. “I had hoped to be allied with him along with the Thieve’s Guild, but it appears that such an arrangement is currently delayed. For now we will carry on, and like I said,” he spoke as he turned to Klee and Shen. “Let me know if there is anything I can do to help the institute. Its leader may be away, but its supporters should not fall apart. This bitter victory must be taken advantage of, lest it be for nothing.”

Iris seemed to hum in agreement, not even making any nonsensical jokes at her Creator's solemn words.

“So with that out of the way, shall we be off? I believe we have accomplished our task here, and there is work to be done to establish the guild's name. I also with to say that your new look is pleasing to my eyes, Ezzy.” His last statement was spoken offhandedly as he stood up from the large rock, taking a few steps into the direction IRIS’s internal HUD displayed the Nexus gate to be.

Soft buzzing sounded in his ear.

“Don't encourage the succubus cCreatorrrr…” his robotic companioned whined. The thief could only smirk and chuckle as he waited for his other companion to follow.

They would trek through the barren, ashen landscape, all while Demetri spoke a bit about his past. He would only mention that he was a thief in his life before the omniverse, and then recount the year he had spent here. He recalled the day he infiltrated an Empire base on the same day he summoned IRIS, the day he spent in the Ashen before assaulting a man named Victor Wolfe, the same Prime who was hunted along with Sasuke the day they met in the Nexus. It was a busy part of the year since he ended up fighting alongside them directly afterwards to defend from a group called LAW. He recalled every detail, describing it all to her. Even the events that almost led to his arrest in Ambrosia and his meeting of the alchemist named Finneas and Dr.Mcninja.

She nodded along, asking questions and listening to his answers, wanting to know each detail, especially when someone else was involved. After his recounting of events, IRIS began chiming in about the omniverse itself, speaking about the verses and different elements of Omnilium, especially with how she used it with Demetri. It was clear that the little robot had helped him through much in his time, even during her little bits of teasing. They found time to pass fast as they already found themselves passing through the gate into the Nexus.

“So pleasing to have the distilled air of the Nexus instead of the heavy and cloudy atmosphere from the Ashen. I feel as if I can breathe better already. Now, once we get to the tavern, we can see if we can get ourselves patched up. Sound agreeable you?” He asked Ezzy. walking alongside her towards the gate to Camelot.

[Ezrihel]

She moved along side the nimble thief, nodding along and absorbing as much information about his past as she could. He told her about how he had been some simple joe schmoe thief before being summoned to the omniverse, then he had spent several days tracking, planning and learning about an Imperial Base before infiltrating it and successfully managing to escape without taking any damage at all. It was, all in all, quite an impressive story.

He then went on to talk about a man named Victor Wolfe, and how he assaulted the man while helping a small creature by the name of Daxter. He had knocked out the guards at the entrance before disabling the camera system and tracking down the aforementioned Victor Wolfe. Demetri told her how the small Daxter creature only, pretty much, slapped at the assassin's leg before scurrying back behind Demetri.

This, for obvious reasons, made for a vary awkward first impression for the assassin, and it was no smooth sailing schmoozer romance of a date that followed. Leaping from the shadows, or was it stumbling in from the background? Anyways, two more people had joined into the fight, before finally a third buddy of mister Wolfe had stepped in. Needless to say, the battle wasn't exactly rigged in poor ol' Demetri's favor. With the odds not ever in his favor, he did eventually surrender to the... New Babylon bullies and ruffians, submitting himself before the King when some utterly crazy shit had decided to go down.

Blinking their eyes, Ezzy listened intently as her companion prince thief went on to talk about the LAW war and the institution, some pink haired girl was mentioned in passing, and though Ezzy was curious, she didn't decide to question him much on such an unimportant and insignificant detail. So, the Victor Wolfe man was with another Prime called Sasuke, and those were the two people that had caused that huge debacle of an event at the fountain in the center of the stark white Nexus the day she had gotten the pleasure of meeting this absolutely dashing young thief man.

What a party this all had been so far. From the fountain of infinity, to Camelot, buying the tavern and having to refurbish the disgusting inside, then getting drug on a goose chase to the Ashen Stepps, a place that they had finally managed to leave just a mere few moments ago, to fighting an extra huge ass dragon.

And that wasn't even mentioning how she had been drug from her more than pleasant home universe, thrust face to face with a greasy and rather nasty looking scruffy man in a large furry trench coat. He had wielding an annoying yet intriguing sword that enjoyed playing word games with her. Though, looking back and remembering the final memories she held in her home universe, she had to say that she did feel quite different compared to now. She had once felt much more... Masculine then, versus this strange femininity she was experiencing. Something about this seemed unnatural, like a restrictive suit she was crammed into, though why she felt this way she couldn't begin to comprehend.

They had kept calling her Ezrihel in her memories. Why had they called her that? Her name was Ezzy. Her name had always been Ezzy. Ezzy Von Althaus. Not Ezrihel. Ezrihel was a masculine name, and yet regardless of that factor, she felt like the name was all too familiar to her. It seemed to describe the very base and soul of her being.

She touched the sword on her hip, contemplating as they walked through the barren Nexus. This entire line of questioning thoughts had her deeply invested and deeply worried about her state of mind. Something didn't seem right, something didn't line up. Why had she slept with a female house slave in her final memory? Why... Why could she only vaguely remember a wife who's face was ever bitter and cold? Though she couldn't find a justification behind why she wouldn't bed a beautiful person of either gender, she couldn't think of any reason as to why she would be in that situation.

Maybe, just maybe memories from a past life were happening to bleed through into her current one. She didn't really wish to dwell on such a subject for much longer.

After a moment more of hearing him talk, the ever infernal Artificial Intelligence attached to the handsome cutpurse spoke up, though this time there was no sarcastic or condescending tone to the whirring of the machine. It spoke out clearly, sharing detailed information about each verse it had gathered data on so far. The most detailed information was on Camelot, but that made the most sense, as they had spent a considerable amount of time in that verse, and she had always assumed that Demetri had gotten the Artificial Intelligence to do some research on the verse and specific areas that he was looking to set up a base of operations in.

With a slight smile, Ezzy couldn't help but pause and give a laugh, an action which made her widen her eyes in surprise and cover her now grinning mouth. She cast a quick glance at the thief, too quick for him to notice unless he was intently watching her facial expressions and eye movements. Clearing her throat, she made as if the random outburst had never happened and asked a question.

"When we get back to The Sly Courtesan, what do you plan to do to spread the good word of the guild?" Before she even realized it, her mouth kept moving and she continued speaking, her voice extremely playful and confident, "Maybe use me as the guild poster girl on a Dataverse post?"

Touching the side of her face, she couldn't help but turn away to hide her flushed face from view, pretending to mess around with her high frequency O Katana strapped to her side. After a slight second of this she was actually adjusting her sword on her hip, trying to make certain that it was both comfortable at secured to her body.

She didn't understand what exactly it was that was happening, but she wasn't sure that she entirely enjoyed it. She felt like she was slipping away, losing control and her face coming undone. Never before now had she struggled with uncontrolled motions or other actions. She felt like she was pushing pieces of glass back into place and praying that they held together.

Be careful, you'll smudge up the mirror with blood, love~

Then what'll you do when you can no longer see me, hmm~?

She paused, stopping dead in her tracks just inside the Nexus entrance gate to Camelot. That voice was unyieldingly familiar as it echoed through her skull.

Enjoying this little game of cat and mouse? I sure am~

Who was talking to her. Who who who?

I will win, and you'll lose, it's that simple my dearest.

She started walking, looking at Demetri and giving a slight smile and waving her hand, "Oh, I just remembered something important! Care to answer a few questions of mine while we walk back to the tavern?"

The master thief, though looking over her with slight concern, nodded.

I want to know more about you. "So how did you become a thief exactly?" Why. "To be more specific, why did you decide to become a thief," What drives him to continue this profession. "what made you decide to keep being a thief after you were summoned? You could have started all over and done something completely different."

She couldn't understand why she was talking, why these questions were leaving her throat. It was like some invisible force from within, that voice, that voice was controlling her, it's command was her new task. It reached through her entire body and commandeered it, and she could only watch from within as her agency was stripped away from her and she became just another thing looking out from some disjointed shell.

Though, to every other outside observer, she hadn't changed at all. She still moved normally, spoke in the same tone of voice, though albeit a bit more playful and curious than what was normal for her. She was completely normal in every aspect; though that pesky little machine might have been able to pick up on the fluctuations on power within Ezzy.

What do you want?

...

What. Do. You. Want.

....

What do you want? What do you want? What do you want? What do you want? What do you want? What do you want?!?!!

Heheh, you're so beautiful when you're flustered like this. So bent on your ideas of control. It's a fine day to play this game, isn't it~

What. Game.

It's okay lovely, I promise you that when you come to your understanding for the day, I'll shower you in praise and affections.

What do I need to understand? What is it you keep coyly and playfully trying to tease me about? What do you want. Give me my body back.

Hmm, I think you mean my body, lovely. You see, you're a parasite, nothing more and nothing less. Well, actually if we're speaking in terms to me, you've been very amusing to watch, but I'd much prefer the controls back before you decide to do something boring with it.

A parasite? Pfft, excuse me. The host is not the parasite, if anything, you, the voice in my head, is the parasite thriving within.

Oh hohohoh. I'm the parasite? My dearest, little, worthless mite, you have the roles reversed here in your world, in your view. Of course you'd think you were ever in control. With a seamless action, the voice spread pain deep into her head, pain that would have paralyzed her in her tracks had the voice not kept her body moving. He listened to her screams, toying and giving little chuckles at her suffering.

Hush little baby... Don’t make a sound...

Hush little baby... Don’t make a move...

And then it spoke to her, I can see it... In your eyes, your terror... Your fear... What am I going to do to you, you ask? The voice, it mocked her with it’s false kindness. It spoke so softly, so gently, as if she were precious and breakable; but Its words, what it said betrayed any sort of kindness. Oh my, Dearest you should know how I like my fun.

All she could hear was her own ragged, terrified heartbeat as this creature turned to her, its eyes, eyes like that of two daggers, pinning her to her spot against the stained wall. Sap... She was covered in their blood. Oh god, It was all over her! Would this thing, this vile beast, would it end her like he had ended all the others before her? Would she just become some smudge on the carpet of her inner mind?

He stepped over to her, things underfoot making squelching noises that sickened her to her very core. He came closer, closer and closer he drew until he was directly in front of her, and then he knelt, touching her cheek with a warm, wet gloved hand... The fabric was rough against her skin, but all she could manage to focus on was the slimey dampness as it left a stain on her flesh... He looked her dead in the eyes... His eyes... His eyes were so very captivating, almost enthralling as his left hand slipped under her own right hand, holding it in what would be a highly comforting way in some other situation.

This is gonna hurt... Me more than you... His words were curled; one could hear the malice in his tone as his hands began to caress her. Her traumatized mind couldn’t even comprehend what his words could have meant. Instinctively, she darted her hand out and struck him across the face. He didn't even flinch, no, he caught her petrified stare with eyes that carried the sparks of insanity, something was broken within him.

I really wish that you hadn’t have done that. It said with a slight sigh, she could feel the warmth from his gloved hands as he placed said appendages on either side of her head and pressed with great force. She heard sickening cracks right before pain exploded from her skull... It hurt, it hurt so bad, the pain running up her arms and through her body as if suddenly her body had become full of live wires. She could barely hear him as she hissed, writhing in pain; pain like two hot irons against her bones, burning her to the core. I truly hate hurting you, please, do stop struggling.


Why don’t you just lie back and take it, like a good ol’ girl? Granted, I do like the thought of being rough with you, hehe.

I’m the master. I control you, and you take the punishment. Must I tell you again?

She wasn’t ready for this. Anything, anything but this nightmarish torment! She began to panic, trying to squirm away from it, screaming and thrashing within her own head. Anything to get it away from herself.

Please! Please no! No!

It took her.

It stole her away.

She could feel the pain as she died on the inside. With her agency ripped away, she could have no other reaction but to become numb towards the situation; lying there with only a silent tear rolling down her cheek as it took her heart and spirit, crushing her beneath its might.

I’m sorry for hurting you. It whispered to her. It- he- sounded so genuine, but she felt nothing for him or anything really. To her he was nothing but a sick, disgusting being taking residence inside her skull. Eventually he withdrew to clean himself of the matter.

Looking down at her fragile form, he made himself more mentally presentable.

I did this because I love you. I love you more than my own eternal soul. Am I really that bad of a person because of this? She could do nothing but stare at that one spot in the abyss below her, a splotch free of blood, and refuse to answer to him. She couldn’t even bring herself to speak. She couldn’t even bring herself to think or begin to understand what happened. He said something quietly, like the sound of wind on a winter evening and her eyelids fell, and she passed unconscious.

It's okay dear, I promise that someday you'll come to the limit of your brokenness.

He was in control of her now, and the world would know it with certainty.

And it will all be okay.

He looked threw her eyes at the interior of the tavern and gave a short sigh. "I can't wait to see this place thriving!"