Welcome to Gaia! ::

(( Well I did give you the other mercs, U: either that or you could post one really long post describing the battle's events before I rejoin.
THE GATE THE GIANT DOOR THAT WE'VE BEEN REFERRING TO FOR THE PAST FEW PAGES. =_= It's kinda annoying when you're spacy...
Anyway, as I was saying. They took a detour into the demonic realm from the cave, to the inner pathways of the gate, so we're backtracking and what not.))

They stepped through the gate as it closed behind them. "..." An uneasy feeling came over both of the elves, that someone else was here indeed, invisable.

Black smoke and shadows writhed at thier feet, concealing the pit that was the portal to Hell. Aleta could feel the pain and suffering eminateing from it, the pain and suffering of the evil souls in the grip of thier eternal punishment. It gave her a strange sort of satisfaction, to know justice was being administered.

A shift occurred in the room, the shadows began to curl and cluster together at the edge of the pit, and took the form of a man.

No.... not a man. Not even close.

"I've been waiting Aleta." A voice said. It was as if many voices were layered on top of one another, and in the background noise of the many voices working as one, there was only a single vocal pattern she recognised, Zethriel's.

The figure solidified, enclosed in a cloak as black as the darkest reaches of space, darker than shadows, than night, as if light has never touched this person.

((I'll be extending this post later. I'll break it down in 2 or 3 posts so other characters can react. I can't belive this is almost over... we have come so far, and it took us a year to finish!))

"Ah... you brought friends!" A dark, clawed hand exposed itself from the shadow of its sleeve, and pulled back the hood, revealing a face that was vaugely familiar.

Rafeal gasped, "Zethriel! What have you done to yourself?" Aleta was shocked as well, He's different... why? Is he stronger?

His eyes were blank, dully white as if they were rolled back into his head. Fangs protruded from his mouth, his skin looked leathery, and folded up wrinkled and ugly when he grinned coldly, mildly entertained. "I am not Zethriel, this is merely his body and oppressed soul. I am Ketress, the demonic Master of Puppets if you will. There are others." He sneered, using Zethriel's face. "I have possessed your brother for quite sometime. Some of the voices he hears belong to my kinsmen, some of them are the result of the insanity he has been driven to! Zethriel says this is all worth it to him, and we have much to gain from out partnership!"

Aleta looked at him contemptously, "So it was you who told him to do all of these things!? To kill the innocent, my family? To persue destructive powers? Its your fault!"

Ketress/Zethriel laughed, "Not at first. He has always been violent, its what drew me to him." The demon chuckled, "I tricked him, weakened his mind. And here we are today~."

Suddenly, his expression changed, he growled and mumbled something to himself, then Zethriel's voice came forth undistorted, "Stop standing around, and let me kill her already!" He growled, his voice cold and agitated, eager for blood.

"As you say, Zethriel. You listened to me, I listen to you now."

Aleta drew her blade, Rafeal stood by with his bow ready. "You're not going to touch her as long as I live!" Rafeal hissed, his vioce cold and low, thretening.

"We'll see about that brother! I'll kill you to!" Zethriel cackled, staying true to the nature of the madman.

Then he began to change again. A large pair of wings extended from his back with a FWHOOSH! and his claws began to grow longer, his fangs protruded as his arms and legs grew thin, yet taught with muscle. Zethriel's white hair grew long and ragged, his body grew evermore thin as he grew in size and strength. Shadows swireled around him, drawn from the pit behind him.

What was once Rafeal's brother was now a grotesque, corrupted, beast. The embodyment of evil itself.

Aleta took a step back, holding all of her terror within her. "No! I will kill YOU! I made a promise, a promise I will keep! Revenge is mine, do you hear me, sick basterd!"

In response, the creature let a shrill noise somewhere between a screech and a roar with its many-layered, distorted voice. This noise would send most people running, but Aleta stood her ground, and looked the monster in its blank, emotionless, white eyes, and ran straight toward it, blade drawn, yelling, "Whol ussta fuma, whol Ssussun, whol l'tresk'ri!" A battlecry, the only words she knew in her ancestral tounge. It meant "For my family, for Light, for the world."

((I'm still writing stuff on word, but yeah you can post. I edited the one above me. The only thing I'm going to write will be the very end of the battle. You gan help here to. Its more fun that way, I won't know exactly how this battle will go.))

The demon swung at her, trying to grasp the little annoying thing running about her feet. Rafeal was trying to distract him, fireing arrows that didn't seem to hurt him. Aleta caught sight of Duri, and said quickly, "Get up! We won't leave you, or anyone else behind!" She rolled out of the way as a claw swung at her again, she managed to nick the hand while doing so, leaving a scratch tht leaked black and red blood. Will light hurt him in this form? She wondered.

Rafeal remembered something from playing videogames when he was a kid, "Hey! This is like a final boss battle! You have to find his weak point!" Aleta nodded in response, and began to look for possible weak points.