Enshrined (Shadow)

[MKR]

"Yes, yes I am fine." She replied after a moment, "But please never do that again." It was demeaning in a way, but she had to bear with it for now. A sigh came from her lips as she put her hands forwards and onto Ryan's wounds.

"Lunae lux medicuri eum."
Heal him, Moonlight.​

Blue light congealed in her hands, which she hovered over his wounds the light seeming to stream into the gaps and close them up. Fortunately due to the phantasmal nature of their foe it would seem no foreign objects had come into his flesh. No bullets or shrapnel bar his own.
As the process continued Davina continued to speak.
"That was the previous Awakener of the Divine Knight Zector, Deirdre. I never met her myself, as she died a hundred years ago but she was brought here by Grandmother at the time. They say that at the time she was unmatched, something I am inclined to believe given the display here."

Once all the wounds had been patched she would pause. Sitting down on the ground with her staff besides her.
"Before you face the final trial, if you wish to ask anything else then you should do so now."

 

[ShadowVigilante1]

“R-Right… I’ll try not to do that next time. Well, if there even is a next time.” He nervously replied before she extended a hand to heal him with her magic. His face became somber in its mood as the wounds closed up. “So she was that strong, huh? Guess we were lucky then.” He thought a bit on how the combatant fought, it reminded him of a few adventurers he met during his time at the Eorzean Frontier, how they would channel aether through their bodies to achieve super human feats and magic. Thankfully they were kind enough to teach him the basics on how to channel it, even if the rest of their fighting styles involved technique with the blade. There was one man that caught his eye with their weapon, but it would be best if he took on the challenge of learning the ways of a gunblade another time.

Once she was done healing him, he would sit down as well, deciding to check his ammunition and to reload his rifle. He felt that he was going to need every shot count for this next part. “Yeah… I actually do have a few questions, for right now. So what exactly is Zector, other than being a Divine Knight of course. And what exactly happens if I do manage to awaken Zector?”

 

[MKR]

"Perhaps we were." She replied, raising an eyebrow at his next question. What Zector was "How do you mean? A Divine Knight is much like the machine outside however, they have a mind of their own. Much closer to yours and mine than any rudimentary AI you may know. Though by now it will have lost any resemblance to its former personality, in that they are like the machine outside." She figured explaining the basics would do, the things that would be perceived and sensed.

"Beyond that. It is one of the shards of the Great One, the deity born at the birth of our world and the death of the world the outside lays claim to. As for what will happen if you become Zector's awakener, well they will be at your disposal as you require. The only thing that will be asked in return is participation in the Rivalries. Where the awakeners will contend with one another."
She hoped that made things clear to the man.

 

[ShadowVigilante1]

”The Great One… I’m guessing it’s some sort of eldritch being of sorts. And seeing as it manifested through as you say, “the death of the world outside” I’m guessing the fact it’s been split apart into the different Divine Knights means that it’s something I should slightly worry about. And these… Rivalries.” He would think back to the times he had watched any kind of blood sport while on the job with his father. Definitely wasn’t for cash or glory if it involved some higher being.

”These Rivalries are meant to appease and further seal away the Great One? Am I hitting the mark?” He would think about Zector a bit more however. If it was the piece of some evil being, would he be cursed to be a restless spirit of some form? Just like that previous Awakener whom he had to fight. “And does using Zector in any way curse me? Do I have to abide by some form of agreement until the Rivalries are over?”

He really hoped that wasn’t the case, after all he had other places to be and a fugitive to find.

 

[MKR]

Ryan's statements slowly but assuredly infuriated Davina as he spoke more.
"Cursed Eldritch being!?" She rose to her feet and glared down at him. "The Rivalries are the contest between the Divine Knights to see who is the heir to the Great One's power, Zector does not curse you and the only thing that is required of you is to participate in the rivalries in return."

The woman stomped off towards the exit, "Now, I'm going to keep an eye on your rust bucket outside unless that's going to curse me!"
Infuriated she headed up the stairs, did she not tell him that children wanted to pilot these things what kind of child would wish to be cursed. Not her! What was with this guy did he not want the power to save people, well the Rivalries would offer that and more if he could win and she was even kind enough to help him out only for him to insult the entirety of what she had devoted her life to fulfilling.

 

[ShadowVigilante1]

“Hey, wait! I didn’t mean-“ He would sigh as she stormed off. Welp, that was another woman he pissed off, somehow. And for some odd reason, he half wished that ghost was still around to offer him advice of some sort. But nothing he could do about it now. He stood up and checked if everything was properly topped up. He’ll need to make one hell of an apology later. Well, he HOPED he could even be offered a chance at an apology.

He looked towards the now open door into the final chamber and delved down into the dark below. He whispered to himself in the echoey hall. “Six of us went down into the pi-“ He would accidentally slip on a stray rock on the staircase and would tumble down on his side the rest of the way.

“Ow! Ack! Motherfu- Agh! Son of a- Agh!“

The sounds of Ryan’s pain would echo up back above to wherever Davina was. Probably giving her a bit of satisfaction.

He managed to stop himself from snapping a bone or joint as he attempted to take hold of one of the stairs and managed to stop his tumble. He was breathing in and out at a rapid pace as he slowly got up. “Agh… guess that’s karma for me.” He would turn back around to see what exactly the final trial had in store for him.

 

[MKR]

After Ryan's less than graceful descent down the stairs what he came to face was another wall, inside it a glowing red gem illuminated by phantasmal green torches. Suddenly, once more a voice echoed from without and within. The exact same as before, which had heralded the first trial and now had even more in store for the man.

Now reveal onto me the color of thy soul

Thou who wouldst be an awakener

Here exists a fragment of the great power

If thou seekest to claim it, prove thy worth.
Commencing the final trial...​

The gem lit aflame all of a sudden, a bright flash emanating forth from it and from one moment to the other. Ryan suddenly would find himself in a foreign location, perhaps the closest equivalent he could have seen was The Burn, yet for its pristine white hills this new environ was ash grey, clouds looming overhead and yet surrounding him. Countless swords dotting the landscape like markers to graves.

Before he had much time to take in his surroundings however, a pool of utter black coalesced in front of him. Tainting the greys with something pure from one end of the color spectrum, rising from the pool- or rising of the pool even was a giant thing. It was almost monstrous in appearance, like a mech but ghastly. Spreading its arms it bellowed, leaning its face down to Ryan as it revealed rows of teeth as its face simply split open.

The final trial, had commenced.

 

[ShadowVigilante1]

Ryan began to eye up the jewel standing before him. To think this all manifested in a day is amazing to say the least. But then he came to the grey field of unlimited blades. “Well… this looks familiar.” He said as he took a look around. “So what, is this some treasure hunt for a special weapon here?”

As he vocalized his thoughts, he raised his gun up as he saw the dark lake form into a creature. He would slowly step back as the Loa Erebonius towered over his figure. His situation could best be described as David and Goliath, and he was clearly not ready to be David.

“I‘m gonna need a bigger gun.”

He began to walk backwards a little faster before turning around 180 degrees into a full sprint in order to get some distance from the towering shadow. Once he managed to do so, he began to fire round after round towards the beast. He did not let up on the trigger until all his ammo was wasted. With that, he would pull out another grenade and threw it at the shadowy creature, hoping it would be just as effective as it was with the Phantom from earlier.

 

[MKR]

As Ryan focused on making distance, the giant thing intended to close it. Lumbering steps sending reverberations through the ground as it stepped closer and closer, when Ryan turned back the giant approached bit by bit, step by step. Either unable to run or in no hurry and unfortunately for him the landscape, dotted though it was in swords, lacked any firearms for him to take should he reach them.
Bullet after bullet burrowed into the hide of the giant shadow, rending parts of it from itself. Yet given its semi transparent nature even bullets which ripped through one of these empty parts of its texture still seemed to tear into the shadow as the projectiles could not be seen leaving the thing, nor inside.

The detonation of the grenade would have more of an affect, causing the monstrosity to pause for a moment in its lumbering step as it caught itself, yet unlike against the phantom this was far from enough by itself. Instead it once more presented its jagged jaw, teeth which were part of its face opening wide for a void of its insides to be revealed. And Loa Erebonius leaned down, belching forth from its gut like a rampant torrent was a spout of what could only be called a black flame.
First it concentrated around the sentinel's feet, bursting outwards but as it straightened itself the heatless flames that still burned at one were bellowed in the direction of the running man. The gout stopping shortly afterwards as the giant stepped closer once more.

 

[ShadowVigilante1]

After Ryan’s Grenade had exploded underneath the shadowy colossus, he kept on moving and loaded his rifle in a hasty manner. He had not even hit the bolt catch on the rifle when the colossus spewed forth a vile flame from its gaping maw. Ryan would do his best to run away from it, eventually diving behind a greatsword which managed to provide cover for most of his body.

He would take this time to regain some of his breath as he pressed the bolt catch on his rifle, now fully loading it. He was hoping modern firearms would have been enough to deal with a creature of eld, but sadly that wasn’t the case. He would quickly sling the rifle behind his back as he spotted a Longsword across from him. As soon as he heard the Loa Erebonius take another step however, some measure of fear took over him as he continued his sprint around the arena.

“Shit shit shit shit!”

Yep, that’s me. You’re probably wondering how I got in this situation. Well… it all started when-

HEY WE GOT NO TIME FOR IN-BRAIN SKITS!

*ahem*

Well it was clear that bullets will do next to nothing against that thing, so grabbing that sword was the best thing to do. Make some slashes against its eyes and head most likely. He would quickly go up to one and would attempt to grab the sword with two hands. “Why is this so much harder than it looks?” He said as he slightly flexed his muscles attempting to pull the sword out. He seemingly only managed to loosen it however as soon the looming shadow came closer and closer towards him. Well he hasn’t tried buckshot just yet!

He would grab the rifle from its sling as he once again attempted to gain distance, switching the rifle to it’s shotgun mode and fired it at the head of the Loa Erebonius, hoping to shoot its eyes out wherever they are.

 

[MKR]

The rifle once more brought to action, the array of pellets burrowed into the 'flesh' of Loa Erebonius, tearing through the face of the creature. Whether it had struck at its eyes or not was uncertain as it was impossible to tell if there was even such a thing on its form. In reaction however, it did bring up its hand to cover its face for a moment for what it was worth a reaction had been brought forth from the giant.

A reaction turned retaliation as the shadow turned its hand downwards, the palm now facing the ground. Impossibly fast 'something' fell downwards or perhaps 'nothing' did as whatever impacted the ground could not be seen. What it did do however was send a rippling shockwave through the terrain, one which would destabilize Ryan were he not careful. For the same measure however, the loosened sword too was shaken out of its scabbard of grey dirt. The weapon he had longed for was now within his grasp, however the adversary native to this realm would not cease its pursuit. Lumbering steps driving it closer and closer to the man with the variable gun. The hand not used to cause the shockwave swiping down at his general location.

 

[ShadowVigilante1]

Seeing his bullets do nothing once again, he finally just decided to use that sword to kill whatever this thing was. He wasn’t ready to depart this mortal coil just yet. He let his rifle fall by his side as the sling caught it from falling, as he went back to pulling the sword out of the stone. But then the earth below shook at the giant’s command.

”Just how strong is this thing?”

Ryan managed to keep his ground, even managing to pull the sword out with the shockwave’s help, not that he would have known. He glanced down at his new blade then back at the shadow, seeing its other hand coming down to meet him head on. He decided to take a risk and charged forward, attempting to sprint past the shadow’s swiping arm and towards its legs. He planned to begin taking it down a notch by attacking that thing’s thighs, hoping to use it as an avenue to attack it’a head, the obvious weak spot.

As the battle went on, Ryan’s heartbeat began to speed up. This feeling… the place between life and death, it was reminiscent of that day. The day he left his father. Today, he would change his life once again.

 

[MKR]

In the void they were in, this arena, nothing was kind enough to answer Ryan's question about his foe. The winds coming and going nowhere, brushing only against distant objects carried no whisper on them as they passed to tell him his answer, neither did anything about their surroundings, it was just him and it. The claw passed over him, cutting into the ground where he was as Ryan came closer to the being.

His blade collided with the shadow creature's leg, at the same time there was a feeling of mass as it carried through but his eyes certainly showed that the beast was for lack of a better word, hollow. Mere shadows dancing on its externals composed its entirety as there was no flesh seen before or now. This too wouldn't slow down his adversary however, perhaps his earlier attacks had been effective but his adversary was simply incapable of processing that it was wounded. One thing however, was clear. Where before there had been shadows there was now a clear gash across it's legs, same with the pinpricks of bullet holes seen throughout its body.

With Ryan now below it, Loa Erebonius' maw grew agape once more, black smokelike flame billowing inside once more. Directed straight down they would spread across the floor, barraging mostly forwards but also spreading slightly around the creature itself as they sought to retaliate against the man aiming to change his life once more.

 

[ShadowVigilante1]

Ryan would grunt as he swung the blade in his hands, feeling the weight of metal swinging forward. He would feel the mass of the Loa Erebonius’ “flesh” collide with his sword, digging into it like a knife with human skin. He would slightly stagger forward as his body began to run out of energy. He would make quick glances to the legs. Wounds from the bullets and grenade, looks like they did manage to cause sufficient wounds. But that was when he spotted the black flame spewing forth from the maw of the monster.

He was almost exhausted, but he had yet to play all his cards. He would grit his teeth as he felt the flow of energy around his feet as he concentrated. It felt like… water, a flowing stream which coiled around his legs before compressing like a spring. He would hold the Longsword in a reverse handed grip before kneeling down slightly as a warm feeling built up bellow him. He would let out a battle cry as he sprang upwards behind the Loa Erebonius. He would raise the sword with both hands and used it in an attempt to plunge a wound deep into the back of the creature. If he managed to do so, he would hold onto the back to the creature, attempting to do so while using his rifle to fill the creature’s back with lead, aiming mainly for where a heart or core would be.

 

[MKR]

As he shot forward the black gout of smoke and faux flame could be defined as uncomfortably close. Though giving off no apparent heat at this distance, with Ryan passing by it did still feel like he was being boiled in his own skin. But that moment passed as the blade plunged into the black form of Loa Erebonius, finding home as the beast swung around to try and track its adversary. This swing combined with the blade sliding down for a moment until it got 'stuck' would cause quite the bumpy ride.

Still if Ryan was able to hold on despite these issues he would find the monstrosity's back exposed and ready to partake in lead like one did their morning breakfast. Though the time he would have available there was debatable as among Loa Erebonius' many abilities there was object permeance. A roar came from the giant, shaking the air itself before it brought its claw down where Ryan was. Because while he could certainly see the damage his blows were inflicting at this distance and that they were far from nothing.

The creature seemed ill intent on slowing down, unable or unwilling to register its growing wounds.

 

[ShadowVigilante1]

Ryan held on for dear life as he was swung left and right like a pendulum on a clock, not to mention a little ways down. He nearly loses his grip for a moment but manages to grab hold with his other hand. As the giant stopped for a few moments, Ryan would fire loads of ammunition right into the creature’s back. As the black smoke dissipated he quickly let go of the sword before the monster’s claw came right for him. This thing was far from dead and he’d need one more thing to blow it apart. That’s when he got an idea.

He ran again right between the legs of the Loa Erebonius, moving to where he could stay on the border of the black flame’s cone. “Alright big guy, are you ready?” He fired a few rounds at the head of Loa Erebonius, wanting to agitate it into attacking him with its breath attack once again. From there he would grab the last 2 grenades on his person and would wait until the Loa Erebonius opened it’s gaping maw once again.

 

[MKR]

The hand slammed on the blade, its wielder long gone though the thorn in the black giants side was quite literally driven further inside it. Vanishing from the exterior though now properly embedded inside Loa Erebonius. As Ryan ran forward his prediction on the actions of the Giant proved to be on point as the gaping jaw which also formed the unknown creature's head split open, jagged teeth on showcase as it leaned downwards.

Black flame, much more akin to smoke, bellowed from its jaw once more, aiming to incinerate the would be awakener. For added effect the beast even stepped backwards as Ryan went forwards, placing him right in the middle of the gout of black flame. Were Ryan to claim victory, he would need to act quickly as the black rain of heat poured down upon his exact location and this time, there was no blade to hide behind.

 

[ShadowVigilante1]

Seeing the dark giant stomping towards him as the black flame bellowed from its monstrous jaw, Ryan quickly pulled the pins on both grenades and tossed them right into the open mouth of Loa Erebonius.

”Open wide and eat this!”

As soon as the grenades left his hands, Ryan began to run in the opposite direction, the flames licking at his legs giving him the sensation of his body boiling. It was an agonizing few seconds for him, it felt like his legs would bubble and burst underneath him as he kept running. But he kept running, and running. Those few seconds almost felt like half a minute to him, but those few seconds wouldn’t matter if Loa’s head wouldn’t explode in the next couple of seconds.

 

[MKR]

The twin explosives passed by and into the gaping jaw of the black creature. Though as he ran Ryan would not see the spectacle unfurling behind him. Twin explosions detonating in the open jaw of the creature, the black heat ceasing behind it as the creatures face was rendered into but a few black lines.

A loud thud followed, Loa Erebonius resting on one hand as both its knees now were collapsed onto the ground. Everything that aught to be its skull no longer there, yet still it somehow felt like eyes were boring into Ryan from the shadowed remnants of its face. Its dark wings flapping in furor at the seeming defeat, at least. It had been beaten, no?

The moment felt like one where the creature would bellow, yet no ear shattering roar passed through the air this time. Still however the ground shook, as if expecting the waves of sound to crash over it and in turn Ryan. It collapsed forward, its body shaking and quivering on the ground as if forced into motion by some puppeteer trying to pull its strings, writhing on the ground like a corpse refusing to die.

And then- a voice.

Terminating the Final Trial.

Take heed, awakener...

Here exists a fragment of the great power...

The flame and the jaws that devour the world...
​

All around him, circling the arena he had just fought the giant black behemoth in were white flames, almost seeming more like a vapor than any fire. A sharp contrast with what Loa Erebonius had just assaulted him with. In the air, in front of Ryan however. Letters of this selfsame flame seemed to arrange themselves for his vision.

Z E C T O R
​

And as that moment passed, the flames seemed to devour the entire battlefield whole. A flash of white devouring him, followed by what could only be the black of unconsciousness. Even if there was no boiling heat this time there was still uncertainty.
Uncertainty broken when a voice spoke up and he found himself face down on the stone.

"Seems you won." Davina sat on the stairs where Ryan had fallen earlier, the door behind him opened and unveiling a purple, no, palatinate machine. Sitting in a kneeling position, seemingly dormant. The promised prize for this contest, one of the Divine Knights of Erebonia whose name had appeared in front of Ryan after felling the dread giant.

"Your new friend will be waking up in a moment, so how about you two go and meet one another."

 

[ShadowVigilante1]

As soon as the explosion went off, Ryan didn’t stop running. But when he heard the loud thud of the Loa collapsing, he turned around to see its destroyed skull. Since he assumed it was made of magic, he raised up his rifle with a tired motion, ready to keep fighting it. That was until the ground shook, causing him lose his footing. He would be kneeling on the ground with a shocked look as the Loa keeled over and began to quiver. Then, that voice…

”The flame and jaws that devour the world? Is that what she meant by the death of the outside world?”

Ryan would look around to see the white flame beginning to devour the field, the swords going ablaze throughout. Through the brightness of the fire, he managed to glimpse at the door showing the Divine Knight’s name. “Zector…” The name lingered in his mind before the numbing vision of pure white engulfed him and put him in a state of incapacitation. Silently he thought to himself: “Is this what it means to pilot such a machine? To become a slave to it’s nature and fate?”

Soon he would gasp for air as he found himself lying flat on the floor. He would roll over onto his back as he heard Davina’s voice, smiling at the welcome company while raising his head up in order to look at Davina from his position. “That was a struggle, still made it though.” He would lie back down to catch his breath, he’d need more training in magic to deal with this land that’s for sure, he’d also need a new weapon as well. Before he could get a chance to pass out again, he would perk his head up to see the door that displayed the name earlier was opening to reveal the Divine Knight he had been tasked with acquiring. Zector, the Palatinate Knight.

He would slowly begin to get up as if he had one too many beers in a night and began to walk over to Zector. “Good idea, would be nice to talk with a sentient machine.”

As Ryan began to approach, a voice echoed in his head, it asked him a simple question.

”Dost thou desire the power?”

Ryan’s head would perk up slightly as he heard the voice, his head looking right towards the Palatinate Knight. “Was that…?”

“If thee and I are of one accord, a covenant can be made. Thou hast but to call out my name.”

The lights on the Divine Knight would shine red as it began to stand up from its kneeling position. It would soon walk past the open doors, now standing in front of Ryan.

“Thou who art willing to do what it takes to change the world.”

Staring up at the the Palatinate Knight in awe, Ryan would soon close his eyes before opening them in order to recite the Knight’s holy name.

”Very well, become my sword, Zector!’

Soon a ball of magical symbols began to surround Ryan, giving off a bright light towards Davina. It would soon fade away as the Divine Knight stoically nodded.

“Then we are of an accord, mine Awakener.”