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The Final Coliseum: Victory, Death, or Humilation

  • Thread starter Deleted User - 819397
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DeletedUser


Settling over his mind, like a blanket, the meditative state flowed into Argent and filled every fiber of his being. There was perfect stillness in his mind, the sound of the roaring crowd above them faded in the brother's ears, only the sounds of his partner's breathing, his own breath and the words of their opponents existed.

"Surrender and you will not be hurt, this I swear to you." Argent loudly called to them, even as the man with the longsword raced across the field of battle towards them and Aughr let an arrow fly towards the crossbowman.

"Please!" Argent yelled once more, just as the longsword hissed towards him. His arms acting on reflex alone - Argent no longer in control of his actions - the claws swept upwards, batting away the longsword easily, sparks flying between the pair as he did so. The brother continued to plead with the longsword, through three more failed attacks, the last attack Argent simply stepped through, opening the man's stomach to attack as the longsword harmlessly sliced the air. Argent stepped into the man and battered his stomach with a series of punches meant to steal the air from his lungs and force him to his knees.

 

DeletedUser31931

(OOC: This is what I kind of agreed with Johann)
Finishing his breakfast Frank moved off and said to Ferruccio "I'll see you in the sparring hall by the gates, we can agree on a plan there. Ok?" Without waiting for an answer he strolled off and, having collected his sword and a shield and his bow from the armoury he began practising with both having decided that this match using both would probably be a better idea.
 
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DeletedUser28032

Stepping into the silent arena Taranis sensed that something was wrong long before their opponent stepped through the opposing gate and onto the sand "What sorcery is this?" he bellowed suddenly recognising their opponent as the ghost they had seen in the corridor the other day.
The man spoke eloquently of his past and how he had come to be here along with his comrades in arms as all the while a thick fog began form about the mans feet and slowly spread across the arena, a mighty crack of breaking glass far louder than it had any right to be echoing all around them as shapes materialised from out of the fog.
As Laura shrieked in fear behind him Taranis merely stood and watched with a mixture of shock and horror as the ghosts approached them, recognising the four guards that he had killed back in forests, their uniforms tattered and torn with at least two of them missing limbs.
He saw the headless corpse of the woman he'd fought and killed; his first opponent in the arena along with a handful of Sais warriors who had died beneath his blade in long forgotten skirmishes.
Grasping the pendant about his neck Taranis offers up another prayer to the gods as Laura babbled behind him; asking how they were supposed to kill ghosts?
Taranis began to laugh with a mad look in his eye as he began to advance "You think to scare me with dead men? I hold no remorse towards these people, they died warrior’s deaths and they will not stop me! A cursed man holds no fear!" he roars advancing towards the ranks of dead men knowing that if he lingered then he would likely lose his nerve, He made ready bury his blade into the skull of a boy who appeared to be no older than Laura when the crowd parted stopping Taranis in his tracks his eyes going wide with fear.
"No...Not you… please not you...." Taranis stammered pitifully, backing away from the girl as she silently moved away from the others.
The girl appeared to be around maybe sixteen or seventeen years of age, her long red hair cascading down to the small of her back with a single braid hanging by her right ear, her emerald green eyes boring into the quaking warrior. Although it was obvious by her garb that she was a Sais her face and arms bore no tattoos however it was the striking similarity she bore to Laura that was the most horrifying "No Alysanne...please I...I didn't know....I swear to the gods I didn't mean to do it...Please Alysanne" tears rolled down his cheeks as he continued to beg the young girl before him, the pair of blades falling from his hands his eyes never leaving hers as they did so.
He hadn't meant to kill her how could he? He had loved her and yet she had died by his hands...it wasn't his fault… how was he to know what lurked within him? He hadn’t meant to do it.
His back struck the cool hard surface of the arena wall cutting off all form of retreat as the girl walked towards him, his guilt and sorrow over what he had done so great that he no longer held any spatial awareness of what was going on around him even the beast within him seemed to cower and whine with every step she took.
He was going to die and there would be no great feasting hall of the gods for him, only eternal darkness awaited him in the next life as the cursed man suddenly knew fear once again.
 

Deleted User - 819397

The Sorrow's soft, eerie voice called out to Taranis as the specter of the girl Allysanne shambled towards him. "It's so sad...her soul holds a host of sorrows. And you...you are one of them." It was clear that the man knew exactly what to say to unnerve his opponents, as he then turned his gentle, sinister voice to Laura. "Randall was the only hope his family had for survival, you know. He hoped to use wins in the arena to rouse the spectators to give them money for food. You killed him, and his family. Such a shame we couldn't have this fight a month later...you'll have their souls screaming for your demise in a month, if you were to remain alive...which is not a possibility. You both must pay for these poor peoples' untimely demises, so that they might be at rest."

Laura stared at Randall's corpse, horrified...that was why he wanted to tap out...he had a family he needed to help survive...even at their age. "No...no..." she muttered, dropping to her knees, overcome with sorrow. Randall's figure reached out and grabbed her, and where he touched went ice cold, quickly numbing the areas. "I...I'm sorry...I didn't mean to," she blubbered. She then tried to free herself from the specter's embrace, and found that he wasn't corporeal...they were truly ghosts. Her back was numb, and she knew she wouldn't be able to twist around safely until the feeling came back. She turned to the fog. "Please! I'm sorry...please just let them go!" she called to The Sorrow, tears streaming down her face. Her response was silence. "No...no...I'm sorry...please...no..." she sobbed, stumbling back from the shambling figures. "T-Taranis...what are we going to do?"
 

DeletedUser

Aughr ignored Argent's pleas to stop the fighting, didn't he understand what Aughr needed to do, what his sole purpose was?
Turning back to his opponent, Aughr shot off another arrow before drawing his sword and charging towards the man, who was still reloading his crossbow.
The Dauhtor warrior raised his sword as he neared his opponent, who had no time to react as Aughr made a wide slashing motion with the blade, hoping to cleave the man's head from his shoulders.
 

DeletedUser28032


Every muscle in his body seemed to tremble with fear and remorse as the spectre of his dead sister looked up at him with cold dead eyes.
It had all started with a trip into the woods where he and a few of his fellow clan members had hoped to kill a deer for the nights meal only the thing they had found was more terrible than any creature they had ever encountered.
Forcing the memory from his mind he hears Laura's cry her voicing so very far a away as Alysanne’s fingers reached up to touch his cheek, her fingers causing his flesh to tingle with cold "Go on...kill me its no more than what I deserve after what I did to you" he spoke to his sister as the tingling sensation turned to pain as her icy fingers began to burn...but what of Laura?
The question suddenly came from nowhere whispering deep from within his mind, does she deserve to die?...no...She didn't, she hasn't done anything to deserve this and I promised to protect her.
Tearing his gaze away from his sister to look at the girl he had adopted Taranis begins to feel a cold rage burning within his chest at what was being done to them, using their own feelings of guilt and remorse against them.
Levelling his gaze at the ghost of his sister Taranis forces his voice to remain steady as he speaks "Alysanne I am sorry for what I did to you and I will always love you...but...but you are not my sister...my sister is dead and you are just a ghost...goodbye Alysanne" using a supreme force of will hw lunges forward passing through the spectre, his entire body seeming to burn with cold stealing the very breath from within him as he stumbles out from the other side to run over to Laura's side, pulling her away from the ghost of Randall bearing down upon her "Stay behind me Laura..." Taranis gasps breathlessly using her name for the very first time without even realising it shielding her from the spectres touch "If you can keep my sister away from me then I think I can kill him...but you have to run as soon as I make my move, don't wait for me and don't look back just run!"
 

DeletedUser13682

“Right, then. Have fun, Frank!” Ferruccio called out. Frank decided to head the wrong way, going toward the training room, instead of the arena they were scheduled to fight at very shortly. “Wrong way, Frank! We’re supposed to be in the arena now!” Ferruccio shook his head. He worried he might have to start the fight alone. Oh well, he would try to hold the enemy long enough for Frank to help out.

Walking to the arena, Ferruccio grabbed his sword; the familiar inscription reminding Ferruccio that he was mortal gleamed in the light as he drew the sword from its sheath. Kneeling down and grasping the sword by the blade, Ferruccio prayed, letting the edge cut his hands. After his prayer, Ferruccio got up, and waited for Frank to arrive, or for him to get shoved into the arena, whichever came first.
 

DeletedUser31931

(OOC: Actually I didn't Johann but I'll go along with you for now.)

Frank practised for about half a minute more before he realised he was in the wrong training hall. No! Turning around he sprinted out of the room into the bit with the sparring hall before the arena and saw Ferruccio. "Sorry I'm late." he said "Took a wrong turning, I was preoccupied."
 

Deleted User - 819397

Ferruccio & Frank
The pair were told to get themselves into the arena right as Frank showed up. It was game on. They walked out, and being the second team to be introduced their opponents were already out there. One of their opponents, a lanky man with longer, sandy hair, wielded a halberd. The other, a stockier man, held a large, spiked ball and chain. The announcer counted down, and the man with the chain began to swing the sphere around his head, clearly skilled with this weapon. The time to fight had come.
(Zem, Johann, in case you missed my earlier statement, you two are in charge of the fight from here on out...I have enough on my hands with Laura/Taranis' fight, RPing The Sorrow as well).

Laura & Taranis

Laura slowly and shakily stood after Taranis pulled her away from Randall, telling her to remain behind him while he went to kill The Sorrow. As if in response, the eerie man's voice, flattened and directionless from the thick fog, called out to them. "So bold...so brave...but you don't know the full extent of the powers those you have killed have. Show them..." Alysanne and Randall each raised a hand, pointing at the one who had killed them. A strangely watery substance flowed from their fingers, quickly covering the distance between them and the living pair. As Randall's beam hit Laura, a horrible scream filled her mind, and an image of the instant Randall died burned itself into her mind. She could only assume Taranis felt the same thing from Alysanne's attack.

The image slowly faded, and she found herself lying down again. The Sorrow's voice came at them again. "Sais...you think that the worst kind of pain is physical. You are wrong...psychological pain is far worse...is it any wonder that the girl is afraid of you? Is it any wonder that the one crack in your armor is your sister, dead by your hand? Is it any wonder that my greatest sorrow...is being without my unit...without my partner? My sorrow fuels me...gives me strength to fight...but it kills me at the same time. You shall not survive the sorrows I shall inflict on you in these next couple of minutes. Your only hope is to surrender..."
 

DeletedUser31931

(OOC: I get the nasty feeling I know how this fight will end.)
As Frank saw their opponents he swore. Ball and chain, getting inside that was going to be tough. A job for someone nimble and quick, hopefully Ferruccio could take care of that. "Ferruccio, we have to try and split them. I think if we double team the halberd then we can get him out of the range of ball and chain and I can kill the halberd whilst you distract ball and chain. Then we have a much better chance.
 

DeletedUser13682

Ferruccio entered the arena with Frank, and just like last time, he was too late to hear his entrance. Ferruccio's and Frank's opponents had also entered the arena; one was a skinnier man with a halberd, the other was a muscleman with a mace on a chain. Ferruccio hAd a plan thought out. He would take on the halberd man, blade to blade, while Frank would take on mace man, his shield allowing him to take the punishment of that spike better than Ferruccio could with his body. Frank had other ideas though. "Frank," Ferruccio said. "I think it would be better if you took on the one with the mace. You have a shield and you can take the blows from that mace better than I could with my body or my rapier. With that chain and enough skill, which it looks like he has enough of, he could possibly break my sword in half. Then I would be in a world of trouble."
 

DeletedUser31931

"Sure, however, for any of this to work we are going to need to separate them." Frank replied as the two other men began to charge "Well we're out of time now, your plan!" he shouted as he began to charge, and then just before they were about to meet he threw himself sideways. Ball and chain began to turn towards him and halberd stopped unsure for half a second but then went to back up ball and chain.
 

DeletedUser


As if struck by a lightning bolt, the longsword dropped from the man's hands as he fell to his knees, clutching at his torso -- lungs refusing to draw breath. A panicked look was upon his face, mouth open wide as he tried desperately to gulp for air that his lungs refused to take.

Taking a step backwards, after kicking the longsword far from the man's grasp, Argent waited for the man to regain his breath -- which would take quite awhile with how hard the brother had slammed his fist into the hollow between the ribs. Argent was sure he'd felt the sharp ends of his claws sink just deep enough to leave small cuts across the man's torso.

Behind him he could hear Aughr and his opponent tussling, but Argent only sat and waited for his opponent to breathe once more, and when he did, Argent only looked down at him and softly spoke "Do you surrender?"
 

DeletedUser

Aughr's calculated move was exactly right, and his blade cleaved through his opponent's neck as if it were butter.
The startled head rolled of the neck and hit the sand, the body crumpling to the dirt, Aughr hit the ground and rolled, before springing to his feet.
He had sent four souls on their way, now only forty-six remained until Aughr could liberate himself from this pitiful existence.
Turning, he saw Argent standing over his opponent, calling upon him to surrender.
Why didn't he just kill him?
Seeing it as an opportunity, Aughr moved to within twenty paces of the pair, at which point he drew his bow, notching the arrow to the string, he pulled the string back to his cheek and aimed at the downed opponent.
"Argent, move out of the way." He snarled.
 

DeletedUser13682

Thankfully, Frank agreed with his plan. Ferruccio started to walk toward them, but they both charged at Frank, who had charged back. “Wait, Frank! Don’t just charge!” But it was too late. He was already in the thick of the battle, with mace guy trying to smash him, and halberder bringing up the rear. Ferruccio decided he had to get halberder off of Frank. “Hey! Lanky, dumb, and ugly! Get your rear over here so I can kick it!” The halberder heard and ran over to Ferruccio. They began their duel.

The halberder was much better than that Jonds guy he had faced before. He was blocking, thrusting, and whacking with ease, even though the weapon was 6 and a half feet tall. Even though Ferruccio was dealing with the guy, he didn’t think he would be able to knock him out without resorting to his power. Ferruccio didn’t want to use it, but it was a possibility he would have to consider. To make it seem like he was having an easier time than he really was, he called over to Frank. “How’s it going with Mr. Smash It, Frank? This guy here is pretty fun. I think I might put him into acrobatics!”
 

DeletedUser31931

The ball and chain flew over his head as he rolled out the way. Pulling himself to his feet he brought his shield up just in time to see the top of it smash his face ducking down to avoid splinters. Moving diagonally backwards Frank slipped what remained of the shield off of his arm and threw it at the man's face. As it crashed into his face Frank used that as a point to sheath his sword whilst drawing his bow from it's holder with it's quiver, notching an arrow and raising the bow he fired. "How's it going with Mr. Smash It, Frank? This guy here is pretty fun. I think I I might put him into acrobatics!" came a shout from Ferruccio, whereas Frank had actually been keeping an eye of Ferruccio and knew this wasn't the case. Ferruccio was keeping the halberdier off of him but Ferruccio wouldn't last forever. Meanwhile the arrow Frank had fired and hit Ball and Chain straight in the stomach. Notching another arrow he fired again, this time straight through the heart. Spinning round he notched another arrow and aimed it straight at halberd's legs, but he missed, the arrow skimming past his skin to bury itself in the sand. With Ball and Chain taken care of, Frank drew his sword and charged for the second time. He and Ferruccio would take care of Halberd together.
 

DeletedUser28032

As the beam struck Taranis' mind with filled with the images of what happened that night, of his sister asleep with in the low roofed hut and her screams of fear and pain as the thing towering over her had killed her...as he had killed her.
Snapping out of the dream he finds himself upon his knees staring vacantly at the sand as the Sorrows voice drifted out from the dense fog all around them, he wanted to scream and bellow back at him in defiance but found himself unable to do so.
"And what of your Sorrow? What about all the people you have killed within this place? I made one mistake and now I am forever cursed for it, exiled from my clan and disowned for my family...what penance have you served for those you have killed? At least my opponents died warrior deaths you...you are nothing but a coward hiding behind other peoples regrets" the voice that had started out so low and filled with misery slowly grew with intensity before finally coming out as a snarl as the realisation that he was going to die filled him.
But was his own mortality that angered him it was the fact that he had failed Laura, he had promised to look after her and he had failed "Come on then Sorrow lets get this over with....Kill me! Stop hiding behind my ghosts like a coward and face me like a man… or are you too afraid that my death will haunt you like all the others?"
 

Deleted User - 819397

The ghosts around the struggling pair wavered as Taranis angrily demanded that the Sorrow examine his own doings. For once the calm in the man's voice was broken, as he truly seemed angry now. "You think you understand me? You think you can comprehend what I've had to deal with?" The fog faded slowly, revealing The Sorrow on the other side of the arena, no longer looking healthy. His entire body was atrophied, as though he hadn't eaten in forever, and his face was gaunt, missing patches of skin. "I can hear the spirits of the dead...they cry to me...all of them, as no one else can hear them! They demand I put their grudges to rest...that I make those who killed them suffer! My team...I was powerless to stop them from being slaughtered. They incapacitated me first...my only love was lost in that struggle, after I gave myself so that she might be saved!"

By this point, the fog and the ghosts were gone, yet the waves of agonized sadness that emanated from The Sorrow were more incapacitating than anything he had thrown at them previously. "I am forced to fight in this arena...so that those who have displeased the guards are guaranteed to be slaughtered, as I cannot be killed. I am cursed, Taranis an Dearg, in a way worse than you are, as you have the chance to redeem yourself. I do not have that chance." The anger had gone out of the man's voice again, but that only increased his sadness. "I am doomed to continue in this manner forever...and I have no choice but to kill you now."

Laura, who had been silent throughout this process, gasped. "I-I get it now!" she exclaimed. "He's been hinting at it ever since this fight started...he doesn't want to kill us...he's giving us a chance to realize...that he's -" Laura suddenly flickered and vanished, gone as though she'd never existed.

She came to herself slowly, first hearing the crowd, murmuring amongst themselves. She slowly stood, and the crowd erupted in cheers. "Well well!" the announcer boomed. "It appears little Laura Krends managed to best The Sorrow! What wit!"

Laura didn't care about that...what she did care about was she could still see The Sorrow and Taranis...yet they seemed to be a mirage, shimmering and translucent. On the other side of the arena, near the other entrance...was what Laura had been expecting to see.
 

DeletedUser28032

Watching as the fog and the spectres slowly drifted away into nothingness Taranis gasped at the sight of the Sorrow, his already gaunt features now appearing to be practically skeletal as he ranted at them looking as if he was already dead to the Sais warrior.
Half turning his head to look at Laura as she suddenly exclaimed with the sudden epiphany Taranis watched in horror as she blinked out of existence before she could finish speaking "What the hell have you done to her Sorrow If you've hurt I..." Taranis stopped mid sentence as a thought struck him.
Never the brightest of people he had never even considered the possibility that the answers had been staring him in the face all along as he ran through everything that had been spoken and happened between them within the arena, how the Sorrow had known the things about his sister that he had never spoken about to anyone it left only one explanation "None of this is real...this is all a dream..." he whispered quietly to himself as an evil smile spread across his lips as he began to chuckle menacingly, with Laura now safely out of harms way he was now free to wreak his vengeance upon the man who had put him here "Well done Sorrow…very well done… but now I believe its time for me to turn this dream into a nightmare" advancing on the withered form before him Taranis loosened the mental restraints holding the beast within him; his eyes turning blood red as his teeth grew into fangs and his skin seemed to grow taught across his arms as if something was trying to burst out from beneath it as the pressure built up within him as it tried to surge out of him in a single violent manifestation.
Racing across the ground far quicker than any would think possible he seizes Sorrow about the throat feeling the icy numbness creeping down his arms as he lifts him from off of the ground and stares the man right in the eyes “Time to die Sorrow” it is just as he is about to start squeezing that the final pieces finally clicks into place, the words echoing around in his head:


…After I gave myself so that she might be saved!
…I cannot be killed​


"Oh now that is a very neat trick...no wonder nobodies been able to kill you before..." he breaths quietly dropping the man back onto his feet, the feral visage slowly disappearing as he began to return to normal slowly speaking as it does so "...After all how can you kill somebody who is already dead?"
 

Deleted User - 819397

As soon as Taranis uttered the word "dead", he immediately woke up from the trance The Sorrow had imposed on him. Laura turned around, having started walking across the arena to look at the form across the way. "You figured it out too...I'm glad." She hadn't been paying attention to the images that portrayed Taranis and The Sorrow, and had missed his partial transformation as a result. "Come on...I think you'll want to see this," she beckoned.

As she approached the huddled mass on the floor, she could tell that she had been correct. They had thrown The Sorrow's body into the arena, for some unknown reason. The corpse looked very similar to how the specter of the man had seemed once the fog had dissipated. The difference was that the eye where the ghost had the tendency to bleed from was ruined, clearly the cause of his death. It seemed when he exercised his powers, the spirit was forced to remember his own demise. Which begged the question why the first day his eye had bled...

"It's because appearing outside of the realm between life and death is very...taxing," the calm, controlled voice of the Sorrow explained, clearly still able to read peoples' minds. Laura spun around, worried that the fight was still on, but the man simply chuckled. "You bested me in the only arena I have power, you've won. Be at peace." He turned to his body and, though his perpetual smile didn't fade, his eyes grew colder. "While they have my body...while they deny it a final resting place...I must endure in this world. They bring it to the arena so that I'm forced to return from the spectral realm upon completion of the fight." As he spoke, several guards came out and quickly hauled the corpse away, clearly not ready to lose The Sorrow. "In truth, we all died that day. All six of us did. Despite the supernatural powers we all had, derived from the emotion that fueled us...we died rather than be captured and brought to this place. I did not realize that my guilt over my love...The Joy's death would be enough to make me return. They figured it out and bound me to my body before I left the realm of the living again...and I'm stuck here now. I fight because The Overlord has some power over me...he can hurt me, even though I'm dead. If I don't kill...he tortures me. I apologize for having to do my best to kill you...truly, it is another Sorrow I must bear."

The specter began to fade, despite the bleeding eye. Clearly the combination of the fight and this materialization had exhausted him for the moment. "I ask you, the first people to survive me...please...burn my body. Find it and destroy it. Now that I'm bound to it a simple burial won't help...get rid of it...so that I might rejoin The Joy and the others in the afterlife. They were always the only ones who could ease my sorrows...help me see the good in life. Please...I beg you..." With that, the man faded entirely, and Laura found herself being escorted out of the arena.
 
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