paixaorpg | Lost in the Fields [active]

Behind Zetta and slightly to the left, long locks of silver hair floated down slowly, joined by Urd's upside-down head. She was hovering over the field, arms crossed as she watched him try and fail to find anything of interest on his map. "It's not rocket science," she finally spoke up, twisting around in the air so that she was right side up.

Urd had been flying back to St. Destino after taking a much needed breather and some alone time when she saw the Overlord. Maybe she should have just kept flying, but there was something about him she couldn't resist poking at. Maybe it was because he was a demon. Maybe it was because he was such a fool. Whatever the case, the urge to tease him was overwhelming.

Zetta's head snapped up and he turned to glare at Urd as she spoke up. So this was the chick he'd been talking to. He scoffed, snapping his journal shut and crossing his arms. "Then why don't you just tell me where to go? I've only been here, what, a week?"

He didn't get what was with this lady. Seriously, was telling him where this magical, interdimensional church was really that hard? Did she have to make it that difficult?

Urd held out her hands on either side of her and shook her head, sighing. "You're on an island, genius. There's only so many places you can look." She floated towards him and placed her hands on his shoulders, steering him around.

"The city is that way." She turned him around again, towards the west. "That way is the church." Letting go and moving away before he could strike out, Urd placed her hand against the side of her mouth. "If this is how you take directions, how could you possibly defeat Laharl?" With that last comment, her tone of voice was fairly dripping with sarcasm and condescension.

Zetta jerked away shortly before Urd let go of him, immediately turning to face her with a harsh glare. "I know where the city is!" he snapped, anger only continuing to rise as she taunted him. What the hell was with this woman, anyway? Did she actually think he wasn't capable of finding his way around the island? Sure, it was taking him awhile to find the place, but he was going to look at the map.

"Because I beat the little brat and the other two before! I'm the strongest Overlord in the cosmos. I don't think you understand just what that means," he ground out.

"They seem to think otherwise," Urd replied lightly, leaning back and crossing her arms behind her head. "All I've seen you do so far is make empty threats...and whine." Her eyes had closed while she spoke; now she opened one, gazing at him with obvious challenge.

"But if you were a threat to those kids, I'd just have to stop you."

"Empty...?" he repeated, wondering for a moment if he was hearing her right. His expression slowly shifted to an arrogant grin. "Heh, you forget that that kid's an Overlord. But, I guess if you really want a taste of my power..."

A bright, violet aura suddenly erupted around Zetta as he pulled out a sword about as long as Zetta was tall, his cape billowing behind him in an unseen wind. "Then I'll show you what I've got!"

Urd lifted an eyebrow and moved back further, lightly tapping the sword. "Ohh? I've seen bigger." As she landed on the ground, she held her arm out rigidly to her side -- thunder boomed across the cloudless sky and bright light briefly emanated from the goddess. As the glare faded, she was revealed in an entirely new outfit. The tight dress, cape and gloves were her official goddess ensemble.

"I've been needing to work out some stress," she said lightly, eyes hard. A battle aura of her own seemed to be building despite her casual stance and voice.

Zetta hardly seemed phased by the transformation. "Not bad. Though I never pegged you for the magical girl type. As far as the stress goes... Looks like we've got something in common." He shifted his grip on the sword as it began to gather energy. "Let's see if you can dodge this! Darkness Falls!"

The grin on his face taking a more sinister feel, Zetta tossed his sword high into the air. At it hit its zenith, it disappeared in a shower of sparks, summoning four large swords which immediately slammed down as Zetta brought down his arm.

"Magical girl? You just wanna see me in a school girl uniform."

The cloud of smoke and debris cleared to reveal that Urd hadn't even left her spot during Zetta's attack. Her arms were crossed at the wrist in front of her face -- apparently, a translucent green shield she'd summoned was enough to protect her from the swords.

She lowered her arms and blew him a kiss before raising her right arm high above her head. Since he'd taken the consideration to yell out his attack beforehand, it was only fair she do the same. "Summon Lightening!" Urd cried out. Immediately, huge bolts of lightening came crackling down where Zetta stood, one after another.

"If you keep the sparkles to a minimum, maybe I'll be able to actually stomach it."

He seemed a little surprised as she came out of the attack unscathed, and even more so when she attacked. As each bolt came down, he leaped backward, only bringing up his hand to deflect the last one. "Huh. You're a bit more powerful than I thought," Zetta finally said. "Might even give Alex a run for his money." Though he had to wonder... Was lightning a god thing or just the ones that seemed to find him? Just as long as she didn't have an army of cats lying around anywhere.

He dodged? Well, that was fine. It would be disappointing if a couple of lightening strikes would be enough to fell an Overlord. The demonic power surrounding Zetta couldn't just be for show, could it? Urd jutted her hip out, placed her hand under her hair and flipped it away from her back dramatically.

"Don't underestimate a goddess, Red." As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she was moving with inhuman speed towards him, fist flying out with a strength enhanced by magic. Behind her, her feet hovering over ground left a distinct path in the grass.

Urd's showiness didn't seem to bother Zetta that much. After all, dramatics were pretty much the norm among Overlords. "Gods are small fry to me, lady!" he called back as she began to charge. "Don't count yourself as special."

His hand wreathed in dark flame, Zetta swung his arm forward in an attempt to catch the goddess's fist. The grin never left his face. And here he had thought there wouldn't be anyone in this place who could even come close to his power. Finding a worthy challenge was practically a dream come true.

Now he wouldn't be bored.

Their hands connected with a burst of wind; it was more an affect of their clashing battle auras than kinetic energy. The force of Urd's punch kept them gliding over the ground, her own grinning face mere inches away from his. "They must just be handing out the Overlord title!" she laughed. This was...fun! It'd been too long since she'd really gone all out like this. Genie was a lover, not a fighter, and Belldandy...

...well, best not to think about that. Focus on the fight.

As soon as they stopped their movement, Urd flew backwards over the ground at an angle, tossing fireballs at him in quick succession.

"Yeah, laugh it up. I haven't even started yet!" Zetta countered each fireball with one of his own, knocking the last one out of the way with his sword. In one swift move, he leaped into the air, slashing twice before bringing his sword back and swinging it at Urd with both hands.

Urd stopped herself from moving any further backwards, instead focusing on the sword coming down on her. Damn, he was quick. There was no time to dodge it. Narrowing her eyes, she brought up her hands as she chanted a quick and dirty spell algorithm at high-frequency. Catching the sword in her protected hand, she winced even as she smirked up at him. "That almost hurt a bit," she said breathlessly as his sword slowly began pressing down on her.

With a sudden burst, she pushed his sword away and dodged away at another angle. Just a little longer...

"A bit," his ass. Zetta had seen her wince there. He landed in a crouch and for a moment he wondered why she wasn't attacking. Playing the defensive route, huh? Fine by him. Just meant he would have to bust through it. He never bought that whole best offense being a good defense bull anyway.

Zetta put a little more room in between himself and Urd, gripping the hilt of his sword with both hands. Laughing, he charged toward her, intending to break that damn shield for good.

In the moment Zetta had taken to prepare himself for his powerful charge, Urd has kicked up the speed and darted around him, weaving about in a seemingly random pattern. Just as he came towards her, she stopped her mad dash and slapped her hand on the ground, eyes wide with excitement.

Immediately, the ground under Zetta glowed with bright light. Apparently, the goddess had been drawing a mandala under them as she dodged and led him around and had now used it for a containment procedure. It had been risky, the spell targeted demonic blood as it did. If she hadn't moved fast enough outside the pentagram now shining up from the grass, she would have been caught in it as well.

It probably wouldn't hold without an added boost. Urd slowly moved a few steps away, staring into the fierce eyes of the Overlord with a smile. Behind her, a similar light spread out from her back and a woman with wings seemed to grow out from behind her. World of Elegance, Urd's angel and the reflection of her soul, moved with the goddess as if a shadow. Or, more accurately, a mirror.

"Demon, born in darkness..." she began, moving her arms along with the angel in a graceful, precise series of gestures, eyes closed. Her voice seemed different, supernatural in its clearness and volume. "I invoke my divine right as Second Class Godddess, Administrative License and Norn of the Past, to seal you, Overlord Zetta, in this binding of holy light." Runes formed themselves from the light of the symbol on the ground, rising up in spiraled ribbons around them. They were the visual confirmation of Urd's spell, strengthening the magic seal that, with any luck, would contain Zetta.

Of course, with Urd's usual connection to Heaven either cut off or transformed in some way, it was impossible to tell how it would turn out.

Edited 2010-03-31 00:00 (UTC)

Zetta skid to a stop and threw his arms up in front of his face as the ground began to erupt into light. "What the--?!" Lowering his arms and squinting, he looked for the goddess, finally noticing her silhouette through the light. But there was something odd about it. Something--wings. Those were wings. When the hell did she get wings? No, when the hell did she get an angel out of her back?!

The Overlord's eyes widened as what was about to happen finally started to sink in. "Shit," he breathed. "Son of a...!" He needed to get out of this symbol thing, fast. Or... Or if he could interrupt it! Or both.

The charge wouldn't have as much momentum behind it, but it was just a chance he was going to have to take. There was no way in hell he was going to give this bitch the satisfaction of using a seal on him! He snarled and rushed toward Urd (as far as he was concerned the angel didn't matter, he wasn't pissed at her), roaring out an enraged cry.

It was cut short as he slammed into the walls of the seal, and he took a couple steps back, stunned for a moment, staring at the wall of light before him. "You... You... Son of a bitch!" Zetta slammed his fist against the walls repeatedly, his teeth grit and white eyes practically blazing.

A few beads of sweat on her forehead, Urd smiled grimly at Zetta on the other side. She felt a bit dizzy, flushed and tired, but she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of knowing that. Don't let him see you're having a hard time standing up. Apparently, high level magic like this took a much larger toll on the goddess here in Paixao. Then again, she suspected as much.

"Calm down!" she called over his general growling and rage. Arms crossed, she exchanged glances with her angel before stepping right in front of the seal, eyebrow raised. "I'm not gonna keep you in there forever, you know." With a sigh, she sat down on the grass, pulling out a bottle of sake from apparently nowhere. She gazed up at him impassively as she forsook the usual cup and took a drink straight from the bottle.

"Wanna drink?"

"Why the hell should I calm down?! I can't even freaking invite into this damn place and yet you can call in another troop? How the hell is that fair?!" Though even as he said that, he had at least stopped pounding on the wall, his fist resting against it. Ugh, it wasn't even the two-on-one thing. Ganging up on people was a basic demon strategy. He'd seen it so many times that he didn't care. Dammit... a few servants and the Yoshitsuna! Couldn't he have that?

Zetta stared at the bottle for awhile, switching between glaring at it and glaring at Urd. Sure, she said she'd let him out but that didn't mean he liked being trapped in this damn seal in the first place. "...Whatever. Just hand it over," he grumbled.

Urd blinked a few times at him, eyebrows raised. Troop? What did..."Ah," she said with a smirk. "She's not another troop." The goddess tossed him the corked bottle, not quite stupid enough to put her hand through the seal. "I don't expect you to know this, but all goddesses of my rank have angels. She's a part of me, a part of my soul. There's not exactly a way to separate us." Well, some very rare procedures could divide a goddess and their angel, but that was so unlikely to happen that it might as well be a myth.

She brought up her knee to her chest, tilting her head as she watched Zetta. "So, who would you invite, given the chance? I didn't think a big bad demon like you would have friends."

Zetta caught the bottle easily. "Wait, you mean you didn't just grab her from Celestia?" That didn't sound anything like what he'd heard before. After all, Alex was a god of some sort and he couldn't do anything like that. "That's... weird."

He glanced down at the bottle, wondering whether or not it was strong enough to matter. With the way most humans' constitutions were, he imagined most of their alcohol was probably like drinking water. Ah hell, whatever. I need the drink, he thought, uncorking the bottle and taking a swig. He wiped his mouth with his sleeve and thought about Urd's question.

"Of course I don't have any friends, what do you take me for? I guess I'd bring over a few servants or whatever could get me out of this damn place. A battleship, a couple facilities... I don't know... Salome too, I guess. Pram'd probably know a way out," he told her. Trenia might be a good choice too, but he had to wonder just how much mana it took to make a wish to get out of here. Alex... Alex would probably make things interesting too. That didn't mean he wanted them all here at once, but still.

"I'm not from the dimensions you're familiar with," she replied, as though that explained anything. Urd didn't want to talk about herself anyway. She was far more interested in him. She figured him for some kind of comedic relief in Laharl's world, but the more she interacted with him, the more interesting he became.

Gesturing for him to toss the sake bottle back, she considered his response. Obviously, demons from the Netherworld would never admit to any sort of relationship past servants, vassals or enemies, but she had to wonder if this Salome or Pram were something else. "A battleship?" she snorted in amusement. "Yeah, we all wish we could have a battleship."

Urd looked up at World of Elegance and nodded slightly at some unheard inquiry. The angel smiled serenely and twiddled her fingers at Zetta before faded away, a few brightly glowing feathers stirred into the wind by her disappearance. "So what's your obsession with Laharl about?" The goddess leaned forward a bit, grinning. "He doesn't seem to reciprocate your feelings."

"Obviously." He couldn't help but get the feeling that she was avoiding the question. Oh well, he could just pry it out of her later if he was really interested.

Glancing down at the sake bottle, he took one last drink before tossing it back. "Heh, yeah, but I bet no one's got one like mine. I've got the Yoshitsuna. Wrestled it from Tyrant Overlord Baal's hands--uh, flippers." He was a prinny by then, after all. "All you need to do is mention that name to any other Overlord out there and they can tell you what kind of a feat that is."

Zetta breathed a quiet "Huh," as the angel disappeared, but immediately snapped to attention as she began asking about Laharl. "What the--?! No! The little brat was my vassal before he and his little friends tried to smother me to death. I'm just trying to put him back in his place."

Urd lifted her hand to casually catch the bottle, taking a drink for herself. An Overlord with flippers...how odd. Then again, demons could come in all shapes and sizes.

She snickered at his reaction to Laharl, eyes glittering with amusement. "Hmm...I can't imagine the little prince being a vassal to anyone, least of all, you. Still...you can't let that injustice go, can you?" Sighing, she stood up. Once again, a bright light emanated from the goddess; once the glow had faded, she was back to wearing her previous outfit.

The little break in the battle had been necessary for Urd to regain her power by drinking sake. Now that she was fully-charged again, she could continue the fight, but...the need for battle had already been sated. Hands on her hips, she gazed down at the demon thoughtfully.

"I'll let you out and take you where you need to go. Try attacking me and I'll do worse than trap you like this. I'll seal you into some kind of object, never to be released. Got it?"

Zetta's expression soured again as Urd continued, but he took a few steps back from the wall of the seal to let the goddess do whatever she had to do. Just as long as it didn't take too long to get him the hell out of here and she actually took him where he wanted to go, he was fine with whatever.

"Of course I can't. I never said he and his damn friends could leave. Their service wasn't up yet." And it was embarrassing as hell to have had them escape from under his (severely bloodied) nose (and face).

He narrowed his eyes at the threat. "You better not," he growled. "And as long as you don't give me a reason to curbstomp your ass we won't have anything to worry about." No way in hell was he going to ever, ever end up as some useless object ever again. At least he could grant wishes as the Sacred Tome...

Rolling her eyes, Urd placed both hands, palm out, in front of her chest. "Yeah, I'll keep that in mind." Sure, he was a bit more challenging in a fight than she expected, but she had every reason to believe she'd come out on top when push came to shove. Even if he was more powerful (and she highly doubted that), he clearly had no head for strategy.

As she considered the merits of getting in another fight with him to test this theory, she made a series of complicated gestures, accessing the spell program and ending it quickly. The mandala faded and with it, Zetta's entrapment. She folded her arms, outwardly appearing casual and indifferent, but charged and ready should he try to attack. "And what are you expecting to find in Halloween Town anyway?"

Zetta didn't have much reason to attack now. She'd kept her end of the deal so far and as long as she didn't try to go after him while his back was turned he didn't care what she did.

"I don't know," Zetta replied with a shrug. "Better than sitting around here not getting anywhere. I think I've made it clear that I don't want to stay here forever." He wasn't even sure what was supposed to be in that place or how this whole worlds-in-a-castle thing worked. Sure there was that dimensional thing Urd mentioned before, but that didn't make it any less strange. Who did that, anyway? What was the point?

"Not real big on thinking ahead, are you," she replied dryly, the question more of a statement of the obvious. Urd lead the way, arms crossed behind her head as she allowed herself to relax...slightly. A breeze stirred the fields and the scent of the surrounding ocean was faint.

She fell into silence, not really up to asking him more questions or guessing at his intentions; she felt tired now, even though she'd recharged her power with sake. It was more of an emotional thing, the past few days catching up to her. Her hands dropped down to her side and she frowned a bit as the church came into view.

She really wasn't sure she wanted to go back in there right now.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Yeah, sure, he only had the barest hint of a plan in mind so far, but what was wrong with that? He didn't have to have every little thing planned out. Why should he? Whatever problems or obstacles there were out there could either get out of his way or he'd force them.

And it wasn't like he didn't have anyone who could do planning for him if he did need it. He'd just grab a professor or two. Pram was usually pretty good at that kind of thing, too, even if it was pretty damn annoying to ask her for anything.

Zetta brightened as the church came into view, although he looked a little confused. "Huh, thought it would be bigger than that." For a castle with a bunch of worlds in it, they sure had pretty boring exits, especially compared to the gates into the city. Guess they were more proud of the shiny stuff.

It took him a moment to notice the silence, but once Zetta did, it instantly became an awkward one. He'd been to busy thinking about other things on the way down and hadn't even thought about Urd's quietness, but now that they were here... "What, gone speechless on me?" he challenged, trying to shove the odd silence away.

Urd glanced sidelong at Zetta at his challenge, profile blank for a few seconds. Then she sighed, hands palm-up on either side of her torso in a gesture that somehow managed to be insulting. "You should know appearances mean nothing when it comes to real power," she said lightly as they approached the door. She was actually grateful that he'd managed to get her out of her own head. It wouldn't do to start brooding now. Too much to do.

"Come on, the interesting bits are still ahead." She opened the door and stepped inside, her heels making audible noise in the empty building.

Admittedly, Zetta still didn't get why that was. Why have it if you weren't going to flaunt it? Sure, there was that whole "laying low" bull, but as far as Zetta was concerned that wasn't for him. He'd rather charge head on and show off his real power than to shove it off to the side for no one to see. He knew there were tons of people who wanted to be Overlord solely for the chance at bragging rights, and damn were those bragging rights nice.

He followed after Urd into the church, still looking less than impressed but willing to go along with it all for now.

Into the decrepit looking church, up the stairs and down the short hall to a door that was as non-descript as the rest of the building. Urd glanced at Zetta as she placed her hand on the door handle, gauging his reaction (disinterest all the way, apparently) and opened the door to the white oblivion of the hallway between worlds.

"If you needed proof that Paixao is a floor in a castle, here we are," she said softly in the stark emptiness of the hall. "I'm not 100% certain, but I think this is what Castle Oblivion actually looks like." She turned around, walking backwards to face him as she spoke. "I've tried to explore this area more, but there doesn't seem a lot available to see right now."

Another, quiet "huh" escaped Zetta's lips as he stared into the white corridor, crossing his arms. Sure, he figured Urd hadn't been lying about the whole castle thing as it seemed too weird a lie to actually be a lie, but still... "...Weird. So Castle Oblivion's what this place is called?"

Didn't seem to be much to the place from what he could say. Only one door, bunch of white walls, black globe thing... Seemed like it'd be a pretty boring place if it weren't for all the worlds stuffed in it.

"If the anonymous post on the message board is to be believed. Since I'm pretty sure it was Marluxia who posted, who can say for sure?" Urd replied, opening the next door to the bright sunlight of Destiny Islands with the casual indifference of someone who'd done the same activity several times. "Do you trust the word of the people who put you here?" She stepped through the door and onto the beach, not stopping her stride.

It was short work getting to the cave where the next door waited. She didn't bother with a light spell this time, knowing Zetta was quite capable of caring for his own needs. "There's a hallway between each world. I heard somewhere that the worlds are actually formed from memories of people trapped here, but I can't even imagine the kind of power it would take to do so on this big a scale. There are no other explanations, though." Another door opened and this time, the scene waiting on the other side was still as the grave.

Urd gazed out at the Hinterlands with a small frown. "You're on your own from here."

"At least the name's not bad." Before he could ask any more questions, Zetta quickly became sidetracked by the sudden tropical paradise that unfolded in front of him. "Damn..."

He took a few steps out and looked around. While the hall had been pretty convincing, seeing a giant tropical island pop out of nowhere sure as hell was solid evidence. He continued to follow after Urd, continuing to examine the world with more than a little curiosity. He was almost disappointed as they came to another hall, but when they arrived at the next world, he was much more pleased. This was a place he could grow to like.

"Heh, just the guide, huh? Can't even get a tour of the place?" he asked, a cocky grin appearing on his face once more. "Oh well, I can handle this place with my hands tied behind my back."

Lost in the Fields [active]

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