Post by Delashano on Mar 26, 2014 0:16:23 GMT -5
"And make sure to say AWAY from the edge of the Lookout." Jenn said putting as much emphasis on the word away as she possibly could receiving a groan of frustration from Vitam. "I know I know you've told me to already like five times since we got here." Vitam said with a sigh. "You don't have to worry about me, If it makes you feel better I won’t even leave the temple this place is cool enough on its own and there isn’t even that much to do outside." Vitam said trying his best to pacify Jenn's nerves. "and no I won’t go into the rooms you told me not to go into." He said with a grin as he saw a flash of realization pass across Jenn's face. Jenn smirked at Vitam's quick answer and let out a sigh. "Thank you Vitam, I just hate the idea of leaving you here alone so soon after we've arrived. The kitchen is fully stocked if we for some reason take more than the rest of the day and you can skip practice for today." Jenn said composing herself more as she spoke and gaining more confidence with every moment. Vitam was smart and he would be fine on his own for the day even if it was in the Lookout. She couldn't help but feel some remaining twinges of worry but she knew there wasn't anything she could do. Bringing Vitam was simply out of the question, if Astos was right and they WERE dealing with a demon they would almost certainly have no qualms with using Vitam against her. "I'll see you soon." Vitam said giving Jenn a hug that managed to be just enough to get her the rest of the way into being ready to head out.
A few moments later Jenn and Astos were traveling down to the land below the Lookout, being carried by Jenn would cause far too much turbulence for the spell to be enacted properly which meant that they needed to move on foot. "You and Vitam are surprisingly close." Astos said as they made their way down, even with Jenn's flight speed the trip from the Lookout to ground level would take a few moments and after that they would have a lot of walking to do that would get rather boring without talking. "I've been looking after him for a while now, he's a great kid. And really bright too he's even picking up magic already!" Jenn said brightening up immediately as she spoke earning a chuckle from Astos. "Really? I'm surprised you'd take the time to teach a child, it’s not quite the same as teaching someone who already knows how to preform magic." Astos said with an eyebrow raised. "Well.. I initially didn't plan to but he kept asking and asking so I eventually decided to humor him and try showing him the basics. He barely even registered power-wise then but something just sort of clicked for him after a bit and he started doing it. I sort of boxed myself into a corner with that one I guess, couldn't just let him go and try teaching himself without even knowing all of the basics, he could have hurt himself." Jenn said cringing slightly at the thought as they landed.
"You're rather motherly with him ya'know, I haven't seen you two interact TOO much but it's pretty obvious." Astos said as he began taking out the equipment to begin the spell that would track down the culprit of the disasters plaguing the Earth. "I...I...” Jenn's eyes bulged at the statement never having quite seen it like that. "It's not a bad thing Jenn, I'd venture a guess he might see you as the same." Astos said giving her a grin as he put the last touches on his work. Jenn remained silent at that taking a moment to contemplate the revelation, it sort of made sense in a weird way but when exactly had she gotten to that point? She had certainly not planned for that, heck her original plan had been to find somewhere for Vitam to stay. But then of course eventually 'somewhere to stay' had sort of just ended up being with her, the search for a new home for Vitam had just sort of petered off not even particularly long after they had ventured out together. "Maybe it's best to save thinking about that for later, but I suppose this gives me even more incentive to kick this demon's ass doesn't it?" Jenn said her confidence returning in full force as she shot Astos a grin. "I suppose it does then, now lets get on with the hunt shall we?" Astos said returning the grin as he initiated the spell, the various mystical trinkets and spell components floated around him some being consumed by his magic to fuel the spell while others simply began orbiting Astos anchoring the spell to him so that he could maintain it for as long as he deemed necessary.
"Alright assuming everything has been done correctly which considering my track record I can guarantee it has I have a read on the location" Astos said and with that he brought out a map which quickly became enveloped in pale blue light as Astos integrated it into the spell. "And now for the part where I make things much easier." Astos said earning a raised eyebrow from Jenn. "The map will allow me to get us a general area of the location of the demon it'll let us move to it without me needing to check the spell every five minutes and allow us to move at top speed. “Well... That’s interesting. Jenn it looks like we're heading into familiar territory for you." Astos said "Where?" Jenn asked not having quite expected that, the Lookout was the only place she really considered 'familiar territory' unless of course you counted the various Earth settlements that she had visited "The Diablo Desert" the reaction from Jenn was a loud groan of frustration "WHY" She growled in annoyance "Why couldn't it be literally anywhere else that place is nothing but bad memories." Jenn said earning a shrug from Astos "It makes a frustrating sort of sense, nobody really lives in the Diablo Desert save for bandits if someone could find a reasonably large enough place to set up it would be nigh impossible to find them without the aid of magic and even then finding the hideout would be an issue for anyone who didn't spend the majority of a year working on a spell designed specifically to track them down." Astos said with a shrug earning a roll of the eyes from Jenn. "Let’s head on out, sooner we get there the sooner we can defeat the demon and then with any luck you won’t have to deal with that place any longer. And Jenn, not EVERY memory about that place is bad I'd imagine. It was where you met Seikatsu after all." Astos said earning a 'stop being right all the time' glare from Jenn as they set off for the desert.
It had taken them a bit to travel the distance but within a few hours Jenn and Astos were deep within the Diablo Desert the sun unfortunately still high overhead, unfortunately unlike the majority of the planet places such as the Diablo Desert were not quite as effected by the ever changing climate disturbances that had afflicted the majority of the planet now that they knew that the source of the damage was by a specific being Astos hypothesized that it was simply focusing its efforts on the parts of the world that could already viably sustain life, doing more damage to the Diablo Desert served little purpose it was already a barren wasteland and while very small groups of people sought refuge in similar such places if only to retain a semblance of consistence of climate the Diablo Desert itself was well known for being particularly harsh and maintaining a significant population of deadly creatures. "It shouldn't be particularly long until we find the location of its hideout, the desert is large but the closer we get the easier it will be for the spell to pick up on the demons energy." Astos said before taking a gulp from his canteen. "Mhm I just hope we find it soon I'd prefer not to use much more energy filling our canteens we left with a decent amount but still if we're out here for too long we'll need to refill." Jenn said with a sigh "Yeah that would be ideal, if it comes to it I'll manifest the water for us, you'll be doing the fighting for the most part unless the demon brought friends along and the tracking spell doesn't drain me enough to prevent me from manifesting a bit of water if necessary." Astos suggested, it was above all a necessity for Jenn to be as fit for battle as possible; the better she was going into this the better their chances were. Heck with any luck the demon would feel how strong Jenn was and just hightail it out of there, if it turned out that the Demon WASN'T strong enough to challenge Jenn then they could simply keep pursuing it until eventually it realized it had no chance and left or eventually slipped up and got caught in a fight with Jenn or himself.
"I think I have an idea on how we can beat this heat, it'll take a bit of energy to work it out but I'm already burning energy as is under this heat, I think you might have been wrong about the Demon not working on the desert, I think it might have just cranked the temperature up." Jenn said brushing a bit of sweat from her brow. "Alright what's the plan?" Astos said as they paused "One moment." Jenn muttered and with that she began manifesting something her smoke billowing out wildly before being reined in by Jenn as she drew it all around them creating a field of smoke around them a few long strands reached out into Jenns open palm and then everything began to solidify the majority of the smoke coalesced into fabric the fabric being held in place by wood that forced it to keep its shape, the fabric provided just enough of a barrier to leave Jenn and Astos in a much more comfortable shade. "I really wish I'd had this technique back before I met Sei, would have made my life much better." Jenn said with a laugh as Astos looked over her creation. "Interesting, if we didn't have more pressing matters I'd ask more about it." Astos said with a laugh as they pressed on once again. It didn't take long after the creation of Jenn's 'sun shield' before Astos informed Jenn that the spell was beginning to focus in more which meant that they were getting closer to the source. After a few more minutes of travel however Jenn grabbed hold of Astos' shoulder preventing him from advancing any further. "Jenn what are you doing I'm fairly certain we're rather close." Astos said turning toward Jenn and finding her looking far more perturbed than he had expected. "Astos take cover, I can feel something coming are way, it's probably not strong enough to be the demon especially if you're spell isn't reacting to its approach but it's definitely strong." Jenn said to which Astos began opening his mouth with clear intention of suggesting he take part in the fight only for Jenn to silence him with a look "You need to keep the spell active don't you? It would be a waste of time to have you end it and restore it. I'm certain I can take this thing down without too much effort." Jenn said before handing him the handle of the sun shield and pushing him in the general direction of a relatively sturdy looking rocky outcropping. Astos begrudgingly took cover where Jenn had pushed him towards, he didn't like the idea of Jenn taking on everything that came there way but evidently he wasn't going to receive much of a choice in the matter.
Jenn cracked her neck and knuckles as she felt the energy source's fast approach, just a little bit longer now and it would be in sight, more than enough time to do a few physical adjustment with her shifting. Dropping into a fighting stance Jenn let her smoke envelop her body and with a image in mind let her magic do its work her body stayed in its same general shape but more pronounced muscles took form and her hair receded back to its normal short cut length, clothing became less baggy and for the first time in many years an actual upper body garment formed itself upon Jenn's chest as light leather-like armor formed, Jenn knew that at her opponents level such armor would be little more than paper if they were actually trying but that was the point to MAKE them have to work at it to hurt her. Jenn's transformation was complete as her opponent came into view, an unconventional creature came into view standing easily five feet at the shoulder it appeared to be some sort of quadruped creature vaguely reminiscent of a wolf, the 'vaguely' part came into play when you noted that it's 'fur' was clearly some sort of hardened scale-like material and the utter lack of definable face on the beast save for a wide maw filled with sharp teeth. "Hello there big guy, I'm guessing you're not here to lead us to where who we're looking for are you?" Jenn asked with a smirk as she watched the beast, it pawed aggressively at the sand as even without visible eyes appeared to be staring her down, preparing for battle. Te only answer Jenn received was a low threatening growl as the beast began a slow approach moving in a circle around Jenn while keeping its face trained on her at all times. "Guess that's a no then. Unfortunately that means we have a problem." Jenn said as she drew her hands together letting smoke run down her arms and begin condensing between her palms, drawing her hand away from one another Jenn manifested her weapon, a long spear with a jagged tip, the creature despite it's apparent blindness let out a growl as it appeared quite able to see Jenn's new weapon.
"If you're not going to make the first move then I will." Jenn said her eyes narrowing in focus as she spun the spear and with a burst of energy charged the beast, the creature lout of a howl and in response began charging at Jenn as well, the two met in the middle and quickly clashed, the beast bringing its large clawed paws up to swat at Jenn only to have its blows blocked by the spear and to receive a swift kick to the chest causing it to let out a howl before moving in for another attack Jenn smirked as the beast moved in a fairly predictable manner it was simple enough to reposition her spear and with a quick jab she slammed the metal head into the beasts right shoulder... unfortunately for Jenn the beast didn't let such a thing give it pause as it first brought down its left paw upon the spar shattering the handle and removing the important bits from Jenn's grasp and then with its injured right paw swung out at Jenn clawing through the front of her armor and drawing its claws across her abdomen. "You think yourself so very smart girl. But you rush into battle against a creature you don't even understand." taunted a very unfamiliar and yet strangely close voice. It took Jenn a moment to realize that it was the beast that she was fighting speaking; it spoke with a strangely regal tone that didn't quite match the creature. "So you CAN talk...” Jenn muttered as she drew herself away from the beast and manifested a sword into each hand however just as they formed the beast was on her again lashing out at her with its claws and teeth, Jenn found herself needing to put far more effort into blocking and dodging it's attacks than she had anticipated, the creature was certainly strong but she should have been more than a match for it. "You're likely confused why I'm giving you such a challenge are you not you girl." The beast spoke again holding off on biting at her in order to do so but nonetheless continuing its endless barrage of attacks only occasionally pausing to roll away from or pull back from a retaliatory strike from Jenn, it was eerie how the creature seemed to read her so well. "I'm not so blessed as some beings of this plane and my own, I lack the ability to manifest the energy of the spirit but I have long since learned how to tap into such energies and use them to fuel my form, to push my body beyond what it could normally achieve!" the beast said with a roar as its energy suddenly flared up and in a flurry of motion it struck Jenn sending her into a large rock, Jenn let out a groan of pain as she pulled herself up from the rubble as the beast slowly stalked closer. "See girl, you stand no chance against me. And if you cannot best me in battle how do you intend to defeat the only warrior who COULD, the man you seek." the beast said as it's toothy maw curled into a taunting smile.
"I'm not quite done yet, and man oh man do you talk a lot. I guess THIS is what it's like for everyone else when I fight usually I'M the chatterbox but at least I'm not an idiot about it like you are." Jenn said with a smirk as she fell back into a fighting stance now taking a slightly more defensive posture. "And what girl do you mean by THAT." The beast said the edges of its maw twitching in annoyance. "Because, me I just like to talk I taunt and chat and sometimes I'll admit give a bit more information that necessary. But YOU you go off and spout exactly how you work and give me everything I need to kick your ass." Jenn said with a smirk powering herself up to her full strength. The beast snarled at the comment and lunged at Jenn only to be met with nothing but air. "You can’t use energy, or magic for that matter except to make you stronger and that means that you can't fly. But me, I can and that gives me the advantage!" Jenn said with a smirk from high above the beast having transitioned into 'flight mode' once the beast had begun it's lunge, now armed with a bow Jenn took aim at the beast and began firing arrows into it manifesting new arrows as necessary. The beast howled in pain as some arrows pelted its hardened fur while others found places to dig into the fur and bite into its flesh. "You think yourself SO CLEVER DON'T YOU!" The beast snarled as it began more capably dodging the arrows. "You FORGET however that mysticism is not the only manner in which one can take to the skies!" the beast said with another snarl as once again it's power skyrocketed and without much warning the beast darted towards a large rock and using it as a kickoff point rocketed into the sky towards Jenn.
Jenn watched as the beast bolted for the rock, the thing was certainly MUCH smarter than she'd given it credit for but just as she had underestimated it the beast was doing just the same with her. She'd identified what it planned to do as it spoke and had drawn back her bow in preparation, the beast's outer coating of fur mad doing damage exceptionally difficult BUT she had seen that her arrows COULD do damage to its less protected bits and as the beast rocketed towards her claws out and maw snapping in anticipation of taking a chunk out of her Jenn fired an arrow and that arrow fly straight and true right into the beasts maw causing it to let out a strangled yelp as it began flailing in the air, it was easy enough to avoid and Jenn watched as the beast flew through the air and crashed into another large rock it's power quickly fading away. "That should take care of that.." Jenn said with a sigh before flying over to where she had left Astos. "That was impressive Jenn, I was worried for a bit but I guess I shouldn't have doubted you." Astos said with a laugh "Is it done for? I'm guessing if you've come back for me that it is." Astos asked curious as unlike Jenn he was not able to so easily detect energy, he was able to do so given a chance to meditate but the sort of on the fly energy detection Jenn was capable of eluded him. "Yeah its energy level is already way below anything even remotely safe and still falling. Let’s go." Jenn said with a sigh as she returned her armor to smoke and began wrapping her wounds, thankfully the armor despite being unable to stand against the beasts blows had been thick enough to prevent it from dealing nearly as much damage as it could have simply leaving Jenn with a number of new bruises and cuts the majority of which were easily dealt with by being bandaged. They would certainly need attention later but for now bandaging would have to suffice.
With the beast defeated Jenn and Astos began their search once again, as far as Jenn could sense the beast had been the only notable power signature above ground but both Jenn and Astos were both well aware that there was a fair chance that there could be more beings like the beast considering that Jenn could still not sense the presence of the demon that they were seeking. “I think… I think we’re here Jenn, the spell’s stopped pointing me in any direction other than downward.” Astos said halting there progress in the general area of where his spell was indicating that they needed to begin heading down. Jenn took a quick look around at let out a sigh of annoyance, all around them for as far as they could see was sand, not an usurping sight in a desert but the landscape around them was even devoid of some of the larger rocks that had dotted the desert not too long ago, those would have been a great potential place to have hidden an entrance to a secret underground lair but unfortunately it appeared that they were not quite so lucky. “That means we’re going to have to blast out way down doesn’t it.” Jenn said with a sigh as she began manifesting a longer handle for her sun shield, one that she could jam into the ground rather than having to carry around as almost certainly they would be here for a while longer. “Unfortunately it looks that way, we could try searching for an entrance but considering what’s around us it’s unlikely that there is one in the conventional sense.” Astos said as he kneeled and placed a hand into the sand trying to get a feel for the area as he began expanding his mind outward. “The other demon certainly had to come from somewhere but if this demon can manipulate the climate like it has been maybe it just opened the desert up and spit it out.” Jenn said with a roll of the eyes as she kicked a small rock sending it flying. “I doubt that, if it were capable of such a feat it almost certainly would have used it against us already. Perhaps with time it could do so but then that would mean it had been expecting us if it sent that beast after us. You didn’t feel any activity around our arrival did you?” Astos inquired, he doubted that Jenn has as she almost certainly would have said something. “Nope, everything was more or less clear up until it got within my range and even then it was only because the thing wasn’t displaying it’s full power until it got relatively close. “ Jenn said as she began forming a ball of energy in the palm of her hand.
“What’s the verdict Astos, should I get to blasting?” Jenn asked as Astos stood once again. “It appears so, I can feel an open location below us, not even that far down so you shouldn’t end up exhausting yourself to get us there if I help with the process, but I can’t sense a discernible exit point.” Astos said as he too began channeling energy. “Well I guess we’ll have to ask the bastard down there how he pulled that trick off before I blast him to bits.” Jenn said with a smirk as she and Astos began what would become a long process of blasting back and in some instances glassing sand while manifesting physical barriers to prevent the sand from flowing back into their tunnel. By the time Jenn and Astos reached the rocky barrier that Astos had sensed to be the way into where the demon was most likely located the sun had long since fallen leaving Jenn and Astos to do their work by the light of their energy and a few basic lighting spells that Astos constructed. With the sand cleared from the rock Jenn and Astos slumped against the walls of the tunnel. “What was that about us not being exhausted from this?” Jenn said with a chuckle as she took a drink from her canteen. “I believe I said it ‘shouldn’t’ I can in fact be wrong, it’s just uncommon.” Astos said with a smirk that caused Jenn to toss her now empty canteen at him. “You ready to head down there?” Astos said becoming serious for the moment. “Yeah, I may be a bit tired but I’m more than ready to kick some ass, I just want to get this all over with so we can head back home.” Jenn said with a sigh as her thoughts drifted to Vitam. “Well then let’s get this party started.” Said 'Astos' however there was something just a bit off about his tone that caused Jenn to look up Jenn felt her blood run cold as she found someone who was very much NOT Astos sitting where he had been. “Who th- FUUUUUUUUUCK“Jenn began to shout only for the ground below her to crumble causing her to tumble into the emptiness below. “Heh oh this is going to be FUN” the man said not having fallen to the depths below, with a snap of his fingers the hole Jenn had fallen into resealed itself and he disappeared becoming little more than a red mist as the walls that had kept the sand at bay crumbled leaving not a single trace of the entrance to the cavern below.
Luckily for Jenn the cavern she had fallen into was quite spacious, enough for her to grab hold of her senses and shift into ‘flight mode’ a few feet before she would have hit the ground below. The cavern was pitch black with only her smoke’s luminescence providing any light and as Jenn began thinking up how best to light up her way so she could find and tear the bastard who had done this apart the walls began to slowly light up as various runes began glowing with a pale red light. Now as the cavern began to become more visible Jenn could see that she was not alone, the man from before was in what she could best approximate to be the center of the room, the room provided just enough light for her to get a good look at him, tall, built like a fighter, skin a sort of ashy red with two small horns poking through short cropped black hair, the only clothing to speak of was a pair of baggy silk pants as his chest and arms were wrapped tightly with bandaging much like herself. “Good to see you Jenny, I KNEW if I mucked around enough with the idiots up top that you’d make your way to me eventually.” The man said giving her a toothy smile. “It was actually pretty fun getting to just hang around with you for a bit but it started getting boring after a bit so I decided to cut to the chase.” He said with a laugh, meanwhile Jenn fixed upon him a glare that by its intensity alone could kill a lesser man.
“Where. Is. Astos.” Jenn snarled as her smoke began whipping around her wildly her hands tightening into fists as she prepared herself to launch at the man at any moment to begin pummeling him until he told her what she wanted to know. Despite Jenn’s rage the man remained unperturbed and kept up a cocky grin “Needed to get rid of him for a bit Jenny, I didn’t want that idiot poking around here you’re the only one I needed to show up. But don’t worry he’s still in once piece… also alive, not exactly in the BEST shape but he’ll live… probably… I don’t actually care either way.” He said with a shrug, while relieved to know that Astos was still alive assuming she could believe a word that came out of the man’s mouth Jenn’s rage remained solidly in place. “LOVE that look, you’re beautiful when you’re angry.” The man said disturbing Jenn with how genuine the comment seemed to be. “I’m going to start hitting you now, whenever you’re ready to lead me to Astos give the word.” Jenn said as he eyes narrowed and she launched forward with all the speed she could muster closing the distance between herself and the man within seconds and taking a swing at him only to hit emptiness. “Hrm, almost disappointing how slow you are now, come on Jenny I KNOW you can do better than that.” The man said with a laugh from behind Jenn, before Jenn could twist around and take another swing at him she felt a sharp impact against her side as the man slammed his leg into her sending her flying into one of the caverns walls. “I almost feel BAD fighting you like this; you barely even stand a chance. Maybe I SHOULD just kill the human, maybe THAT could get your attention. I was hoping maybe just maybe you’d be a bit of fun like this but ugh It’s barely worth all the effort it’s taken to get you here. “ The man said with a dramatic sigh as he floated over to the wall Jenn had hit as she dug herself out of the impact crater.
With a howl of fury Jenn summoned a long sword and blasted out of the crater and up to the man taking swing after swing at him mixing in the occasional kick only for her blows to be dodged or deflected with little to no actual harm being inflicted on him Jenn let out another roar and abandoned actual swordsmanship entirely simply smashing the blade against the man’s arm with all the power she could muster the blade managed to cut into the man’s forearm but shortly after the raw force necessary caused the weapon to shatter, despite the wound the man was actually grinning. “Now that’s a bit better!” He said before nailing Jenn in the jaw with a hard right. “I guess threats DO work, usually you’re a bit more composed than this but I suppose this is an emotional time for you.” He said through a flurry of punches and kicks, Jenn managing to hold off a defense against the majority of them though finding that simply blocking did not actually do her much good due to the amount of power behind each hit. Everything the man was saying seemed like utter nonsense to her, some of it made a bit of sense but it was as if he already knew her, if he wasn’t such a threat she’d have taken the time to pry into what the hell he meant.
“I think though I know how to get you REALLY riled up Jenny” He said with a smirk “QUIT CALLING ME JENNY” Jenn said with an angry growl as she deflected a punch and managed to slip through he man’s guard and strike him in the chest, the strike actually causing a brief flicker of pain to flitter across the man’s expression before he retaliated nailing Jenn in the chest with enough impact to once again send her flying into a wall “That wasn’t bad Jenny, I knew If I could get you going this could be fun. Now let’s stop playing with the kid gloves. I said I could get you really riled up and here’s how. You’ve got ten minutes to show me the power I want to see from you or I kill the brat on the lookout.” The man said crossing his arms over his chest as he watched in anticipation for the reaction.
Back in the crater as the man spoke Jenn was pulling herself together, it was unbelievable how hard this guy could hit but of course if he could beat down the beast from earlier then it sort of made sense. Any further analytical thought on the situation was lost to Jenn however as the man issued his challenge, once again her blood ran cold but just as quickly her rage sent it boiling, the attack on Astos had been enough to send her into a fury that she hadn’t felt in a LONG time, but threatening Vitam, that had been enough to send her completely over the edge. The roar of fury unleashed from the crater and the explosion of energy caused the cavern to begin to shake under the intensity as rather suddenly blue smoke shifted to red and Jenn rocketed out of the crater at a speed far beyond what she had been capable of before. “THERE SHE IS!” the man said as he rapidly began blocking and dodging Jenns wild flurry of attacks. “THERES MY JENNY! I KNEW I COULD GET YOU TO DO IT!” The man said with wild grin as he defended himself before let out a shout of pain and surprise as he pulled away from Jenn as quickly as he could looking down for a brief moment he noted long claw marks on his arms where he had defensed the last few attacks from Jenn and it was then that he noticed the small shift Jenn had made, her hands possessed long sharp claws now.
“I’m going to enjoy gutting you, It’s been a long time since I had someone I could really hate and congratulations you stupid bastard cause I’m about to unleash a whole lot of pent up aggression.” Jenn said with a cold fury that sent a shiver down the man’s spine. “Good, let it go, stop letting them cage the anger. Let it out, show them what an Efreeti can do.” The man said with a grin, and while every fiber of her being screamed to tear him apart she paused. “What did you call me?” Jenn said her eyes narrowing as she prepared to strike if the man didn’t answer in a manner that she liked or if he simply made a move beyond breathing. “Efreeti, what you are. What I am.” He said a bit genuinely surprised that her curiosity had been enough to halt the onslaught. “I’m not a demon, I’m not like you.” Jenn growled as the red smoke began whipping around violently as she felt disgust over the concept of being anything like the man before her. “I’m aware, and I never claimed to be a demon. Your friend was simply a tad mistaken, surprisingly easy for the weak mind of a human to mix up Efreeti energy with Demon, Efreeti are a time of Genie, the most powerful type, I am a full blooded Efreti and you my lovely Jenny are lucky enough to be half Efreeti. You can feel the power of your heritage flowing through you can’t you? It’s probably helping you think a bit more clearly, to see that sticking around with those humans is a waste of your potential. I can HELP you Jenny, set you free. Bring you home.” He said and Jenn could practically feel the genuineness of his statement.
Apart of her COULD feel such feelings, this form brought forth all of her anger with the world. All the negativity she still felt towards the people of Earth. How much she hated her years of servitude to those who had wronged her. Jenn took a step towards him “Who are you?” Jenn asked “My name is Ketsueki. Jenny I a -“ Ketsueki began to explain further who he was but found the process far more difficult with a fist firmly lodged in his gut. The Efreeti coughed up blood; he’d barely even seen Jenn MOVE let alone felt her power up. “I told you, don’t call me Jenny. That’s a name only the people I like can call me. You think attacking me and my family is how you’ll get me to choose YOU, I’d sooner die than accept you’re ‘help’ even if it would free me. Now please do me a favor and die quickly.” Jenn said as she unleashed a wave of energy into Ketsueki’s gut separating the Efreeti’s upper half from his lower half, the two sections of the efreeti never quite hit the floor however as instead he burst into red mist and shot in every direction pieces enter into all of the runes in the cavern causing the light within the runes to be extinguished. Jenn let out a few ragged breaths as she felt around for Ketsueki’s energy signature, instead she could only sense Astos much further away, his signature weak but still very much alive. Finding Astos had been easy once Jenn took a moment to calm herself and power down, after that it had simply been a matter of blasting through the roof using the majority of her remaining energy to do so and the rest of her energy to fly them back to the safety of the Lookout all the while praying that Ketsueki had not actually had a means of attacking Vitam. Returning to the lookout Jenn immediately stormed the temple in search of Vitam and was overjoyed to simply find him in the kitchen making a sandwich, Jenn promptly passed out after explaining that she and Astos had succeeded and asking Vitam to drag Astos’ unconscious body into the temple before promptly passing out for two days.
A few moments later Jenn and Astos were traveling down to the land below the Lookout, being carried by Jenn would cause far too much turbulence for the spell to be enacted properly which meant that they needed to move on foot. "You and Vitam are surprisingly close." Astos said as they made their way down, even with Jenn's flight speed the trip from the Lookout to ground level would take a few moments and after that they would have a lot of walking to do that would get rather boring without talking. "I've been looking after him for a while now, he's a great kid. And really bright too he's even picking up magic already!" Jenn said brightening up immediately as she spoke earning a chuckle from Astos. "Really? I'm surprised you'd take the time to teach a child, it’s not quite the same as teaching someone who already knows how to preform magic." Astos said with an eyebrow raised. "Well.. I initially didn't plan to but he kept asking and asking so I eventually decided to humor him and try showing him the basics. He barely even registered power-wise then but something just sort of clicked for him after a bit and he started doing it. I sort of boxed myself into a corner with that one I guess, couldn't just let him go and try teaching himself without even knowing all of the basics, he could have hurt himself." Jenn said cringing slightly at the thought as they landed.
"You're rather motherly with him ya'know, I haven't seen you two interact TOO much but it's pretty obvious." Astos said as he began taking out the equipment to begin the spell that would track down the culprit of the disasters plaguing the Earth. "I...I...” Jenn's eyes bulged at the statement never having quite seen it like that. "It's not a bad thing Jenn, I'd venture a guess he might see you as the same." Astos said giving her a grin as he put the last touches on his work. Jenn remained silent at that taking a moment to contemplate the revelation, it sort of made sense in a weird way but when exactly had she gotten to that point? She had certainly not planned for that, heck her original plan had been to find somewhere for Vitam to stay. But then of course eventually 'somewhere to stay' had sort of just ended up being with her, the search for a new home for Vitam had just sort of petered off not even particularly long after they had ventured out together. "Maybe it's best to save thinking about that for later, but I suppose this gives me even more incentive to kick this demon's ass doesn't it?" Jenn said her confidence returning in full force as she shot Astos a grin. "I suppose it does then, now lets get on with the hunt shall we?" Astos said returning the grin as he initiated the spell, the various mystical trinkets and spell components floated around him some being consumed by his magic to fuel the spell while others simply began orbiting Astos anchoring the spell to him so that he could maintain it for as long as he deemed necessary.
"Alright assuming everything has been done correctly which considering my track record I can guarantee it has I have a read on the location" Astos said and with that he brought out a map which quickly became enveloped in pale blue light as Astos integrated it into the spell. "And now for the part where I make things much easier." Astos said earning a raised eyebrow from Jenn. "The map will allow me to get us a general area of the location of the demon it'll let us move to it without me needing to check the spell every five minutes and allow us to move at top speed. “Well... That’s interesting. Jenn it looks like we're heading into familiar territory for you." Astos said "Where?" Jenn asked not having quite expected that, the Lookout was the only place she really considered 'familiar territory' unless of course you counted the various Earth settlements that she had visited "The Diablo Desert" the reaction from Jenn was a loud groan of frustration "WHY" She growled in annoyance "Why couldn't it be literally anywhere else that place is nothing but bad memories." Jenn said earning a shrug from Astos "It makes a frustrating sort of sense, nobody really lives in the Diablo Desert save for bandits if someone could find a reasonably large enough place to set up it would be nigh impossible to find them without the aid of magic and even then finding the hideout would be an issue for anyone who didn't spend the majority of a year working on a spell designed specifically to track them down." Astos said with a shrug earning a roll of the eyes from Jenn. "Let’s head on out, sooner we get there the sooner we can defeat the demon and then with any luck you won’t have to deal with that place any longer. And Jenn, not EVERY memory about that place is bad I'd imagine. It was where you met Seikatsu after all." Astos said earning a 'stop being right all the time' glare from Jenn as they set off for the desert.
It had taken them a bit to travel the distance but within a few hours Jenn and Astos were deep within the Diablo Desert the sun unfortunately still high overhead, unfortunately unlike the majority of the planet places such as the Diablo Desert were not quite as effected by the ever changing climate disturbances that had afflicted the majority of the planet now that they knew that the source of the damage was by a specific being Astos hypothesized that it was simply focusing its efforts on the parts of the world that could already viably sustain life, doing more damage to the Diablo Desert served little purpose it was already a barren wasteland and while very small groups of people sought refuge in similar such places if only to retain a semblance of consistence of climate the Diablo Desert itself was well known for being particularly harsh and maintaining a significant population of deadly creatures. "It shouldn't be particularly long until we find the location of its hideout, the desert is large but the closer we get the easier it will be for the spell to pick up on the demons energy." Astos said before taking a gulp from his canteen. "Mhm I just hope we find it soon I'd prefer not to use much more energy filling our canteens we left with a decent amount but still if we're out here for too long we'll need to refill." Jenn said with a sigh "Yeah that would be ideal, if it comes to it I'll manifest the water for us, you'll be doing the fighting for the most part unless the demon brought friends along and the tracking spell doesn't drain me enough to prevent me from manifesting a bit of water if necessary." Astos suggested, it was above all a necessity for Jenn to be as fit for battle as possible; the better she was going into this the better their chances were. Heck with any luck the demon would feel how strong Jenn was and just hightail it out of there, if it turned out that the Demon WASN'T strong enough to challenge Jenn then they could simply keep pursuing it until eventually it realized it had no chance and left or eventually slipped up and got caught in a fight with Jenn or himself.
"I think I have an idea on how we can beat this heat, it'll take a bit of energy to work it out but I'm already burning energy as is under this heat, I think you might have been wrong about the Demon not working on the desert, I think it might have just cranked the temperature up." Jenn said brushing a bit of sweat from her brow. "Alright what's the plan?" Astos said as they paused "One moment." Jenn muttered and with that she began manifesting something her smoke billowing out wildly before being reined in by Jenn as she drew it all around them creating a field of smoke around them a few long strands reached out into Jenns open palm and then everything began to solidify the majority of the smoke coalesced into fabric the fabric being held in place by wood that forced it to keep its shape, the fabric provided just enough of a barrier to leave Jenn and Astos in a much more comfortable shade. "I really wish I'd had this technique back before I met Sei, would have made my life much better." Jenn said with a laugh as Astos looked over her creation. "Interesting, if we didn't have more pressing matters I'd ask more about it." Astos said with a laugh as they pressed on once again. It didn't take long after the creation of Jenn's 'sun shield' before Astos informed Jenn that the spell was beginning to focus in more which meant that they were getting closer to the source. After a few more minutes of travel however Jenn grabbed hold of Astos' shoulder preventing him from advancing any further. "Jenn what are you doing I'm fairly certain we're rather close." Astos said turning toward Jenn and finding her looking far more perturbed than he had expected. "Astos take cover, I can feel something coming are way, it's probably not strong enough to be the demon especially if you're spell isn't reacting to its approach but it's definitely strong." Jenn said to which Astos began opening his mouth with clear intention of suggesting he take part in the fight only for Jenn to silence him with a look "You need to keep the spell active don't you? It would be a waste of time to have you end it and restore it. I'm certain I can take this thing down without too much effort." Jenn said before handing him the handle of the sun shield and pushing him in the general direction of a relatively sturdy looking rocky outcropping. Astos begrudgingly took cover where Jenn had pushed him towards, he didn't like the idea of Jenn taking on everything that came there way but evidently he wasn't going to receive much of a choice in the matter.
Jenn cracked her neck and knuckles as she felt the energy source's fast approach, just a little bit longer now and it would be in sight, more than enough time to do a few physical adjustment with her shifting. Dropping into a fighting stance Jenn let her smoke envelop her body and with a image in mind let her magic do its work her body stayed in its same general shape but more pronounced muscles took form and her hair receded back to its normal short cut length, clothing became less baggy and for the first time in many years an actual upper body garment formed itself upon Jenn's chest as light leather-like armor formed, Jenn knew that at her opponents level such armor would be little more than paper if they were actually trying but that was the point to MAKE them have to work at it to hurt her. Jenn's transformation was complete as her opponent came into view, an unconventional creature came into view standing easily five feet at the shoulder it appeared to be some sort of quadruped creature vaguely reminiscent of a wolf, the 'vaguely' part came into play when you noted that it's 'fur' was clearly some sort of hardened scale-like material and the utter lack of definable face on the beast save for a wide maw filled with sharp teeth. "Hello there big guy, I'm guessing you're not here to lead us to where who we're looking for are you?" Jenn asked with a smirk as she watched the beast, it pawed aggressively at the sand as even without visible eyes appeared to be staring her down, preparing for battle. Te only answer Jenn received was a low threatening growl as the beast began a slow approach moving in a circle around Jenn while keeping its face trained on her at all times. "Guess that's a no then. Unfortunately that means we have a problem." Jenn said as she drew her hands together letting smoke run down her arms and begin condensing between her palms, drawing her hand away from one another Jenn manifested her weapon, a long spear with a jagged tip, the creature despite it's apparent blindness let out a growl as it appeared quite able to see Jenn's new weapon.
"If you're not going to make the first move then I will." Jenn said her eyes narrowing in focus as she spun the spear and with a burst of energy charged the beast, the creature lout of a howl and in response began charging at Jenn as well, the two met in the middle and quickly clashed, the beast bringing its large clawed paws up to swat at Jenn only to have its blows blocked by the spear and to receive a swift kick to the chest causing it to let out a howl before moving in for another attack Jenn smirked as the beast moved in a fairly predictable manner it was simple enough to reposition her spear and with a quick jab she slammed the metal head into the beasts right shoulder... unfortunately for Jenn the beast didn't let such a thing give it pause as it first brought down its left paw upon the spar shattering the handle and removing the important bits from Jenn's grasp and then with its injured right paw swung out at Jenn clawing through the front of her armor and drawing its claws across her abdomen. "You think yourself so very smart girl. But you rush into battle against a creature you don't even understand." taunted a very unfamiliar and yet strangely close voice. It took Jenn a moment to realize that it was the beast that she was fighting speaking; it spoke with a strangely regal tone that didn't quite match the creature. "So you CAN talk...” Jenn muttered as she drew herself away from the beast and manifested a sword into each hand however just as they formed the beast was on her again lashing out at her with its claws and teeth, Jenn found herself needing to put far more effort into blocking and dodging it's attacks than she had anticipated, the creature was certainly strong but she should have been more than a match for it. "You're likely confused why I'm giving you such a challenge are you not you girl." The beast spoke again holding off on biting at her in order to do so but nonetheless continuing its endless barrage of attacks only occasionally pausing to roll away from or pull back from a retaliatory strike from Jenn, it was eerie how the creature seemed to read her so well. "I'm not so blessed as some beings of this plane and my own, I lack the ability to manifest the energy of the spirit but I have long since learned how to tap into such energies and use them to fuel my form, to push my body beyond what it could normally achieve!" the beast said with a roar as its energy suddenly flared up and in a flurry of motion it struck Jenn sending her into a large rock, Jenn let out a groan of pain as she pulled herself up from the rubble as the beast slowly stalked closer. "See girl, you stand no chance against me. And if you cannot best me in battle how do you intend to defeat the only warrior who COULD, the man you seek." the beast said as it's toothy maw curled into a taunting smile.
"I'm not quite done yet, and man oh man do you talk a lot. I guess THIS is what it's like for everyone else when I fight usually I'M the chatterbox but at least I'm not an idiot about it like you are." Jenn said with a smirk as she fell back into a fighting stance now taking a slightly more defensive posture. "And what girl do you mean by THAT." The beast said the edges of its maw twitching in annoyance. "Because, me I just like to talk I taunt and chat and sometimes I'll admit give a bit more information that necessary. But YOU you go off and spout exactly how you work and give me everything I need to kick your ass." Jenn said with a smirk powering herself up to her full strength. The beast snarled at the comment and lunged at Jenn only to be met with nothing but air. "You can’t use energy, or magic for that matter except to make you stronger and that means that you can't fly. But me, I can and that gives me the advantage!" Jenn said with a smirk from high above the beast having transitioned into 'flight mode' once the beast had begun it's lunge, now armed with a bow Jenn took aim at the beast and began firing arrows into it manifesting new arrows as necessary. The beast howled in pain as some arrows pelted its hardened fur while others found places to dig into the fur and bite into its flesh. "You think yourself SO CLEVER DON'T YOU!" The beast snarled as it began more capably dodging the arrows. "You FORGET however that mysticism is not the only manner in which one can take to the skies!" the beast said with another snarl as once again it's power skyrocketed and without much warning the beast darted towards a large rock and using it as a kickoff point rocketed into the sky towards Jenn.
Jenn watched as the beast bolted for the rock, the thing was certainly MUCH smarter than she'd given it credit for but just as she had underestimated it the beast was doing just the same with her. She'd identified what it planned to do as it spoke and had drawn back her bow in preparation, the beast's outer coating of fur mad doing damage exceptionally difficult BUT she had seen that her arrows COULD do damage to its less protected bits and as the beast rocketed towards her claws out and maw snapping in anticipation of taking a chunk out of her Jenn fired an arrow and that arrow fly straight and true right into the beasts maw causing it to let out a strangled yelp as it began flailing in the air, it was easy enough to avoid and Jenn watched as the beast flew through the air and crashed into another large rock it's power quickly fading away. "That should take care of that.." Jenn said with a sigh before flying over to where she had left Astos. "That was impressive Jenn, I was worried for a bit but I guess I shouldn't have doubted you." Astos said with a laugh "Is it done for? I'm guessing if you've come back for me that it is." Astos asked curious as unlike Jenn he was not able to so easily detect energy, he was able to do so given a chance to meditate but the sort of on the fly energy detection Jenn was capable of eluded him. "Yeah its energy level is already way below anything even remotely safe and still falling. Let’s go." Jenn said with a sigh as she returned her armor to smoke and began wrapping her wounds, thankfully the armor despite being unable to stand against the beasts blows had been thick enough to prevent it from dealing nearly as much damage as it could have simply leaving Jenn with a number of new bruises and cuts the majority of which were easily dealt with by being bandaged. They would certainly need attention later but for now bandaging would have to suffice.
With the beast defeated Jenn and Astos began their search once again, as far as Jenn could sense the beast had been the only notable power signature above ground but both Jenn and Astos were both well aware that there was a fair chance that there could be more beings like the beast considering that Jenn could still not sense the presence of the demon that they were seeking. “I think… I think we’re here Jenn, the spell’s stopped pointing me in any direction other than downward.” Astos said halting there progress in the general area of where his spell was indicating that they needed to begin heading down. Jenn took a quick look around at let out a sigh of annoyance, all around them for as far as they could see was sand, not an usurping sight in a desert but the landscape around them was even devoid of some of the larger rocks that had dotted the desert not too long ago, those would have been a great potential place to have hidden an entrance to a secret underground lair but unfortunately it appeared that they were not quite so lucky. “That means we’re going to have to blast out way down doesn’t it.” Jenn said with a sigh as she began manifesting a longer handle for her sun shield, one that she could jam into the ground rather than having to carry around as almost certainly they would be here for a while longer. “Unfortunately it looks that way, we could try searching for an entrance but considering what’s around us it’s unlikely that there is one in the conventional sense.” Astos said as he kneeled and placed a hand into the sand trying to get a feel for the area as he began expanding his mind outward. “The other demon certainly had to come from somewhere but if this demon can manipulate the climate like it has been maybe it just opened the desert up and spit it out.” Jenn said with a roll of the eyes as she kicked a small rock sending it flying. “I doubt that, if it were capable of such a feat it almost certainly would have used it against us already. Perhaps with time it could do so but then that would mean it had been expecting us if it sent that beast after us. You didn’t feel any activity around our arrival did you?” Astos inquired, he doubted that Jenn has as she almost certainly would have said something. “Nope, everything was more or less clear up until it got within my range and even then it was only because the thing wasn’t displaying it’s full power until it got relatively close. “ Jenn said as she began forming a ball of energy in the palm of her hand.
“What’s the verdict Astos, should I get to blasting?” Jenn asked as Astos stood once again. “It appears so, I can feel an open location below us, not even that far down so you shouldn’t end up exhausting yourself to get us there if I help with the process, but I can’t sense a discernible exit point.” Astos said as he too began channeling energy. “Well I guess we’ll have to ask the bastard down there how he pulled that trick off before I blast him to bits.” Jenn said with a smirk as she and Astos began what would become a long process of blasting back and in some instances glassing sand while manifesting physical barriers to prevent the sand from flowing back into their tunnel. By the time Jenn and Astos reached the rocky barrier that Astos had sensed to be the way into where the demon was most likely located the sun had long since fallen leaving Jenn and Astos to do their work by the light of their energy and a few basic lighting spells that Astos constructed. With the sand cleared from the rock Jenn and Astos slumped against the walls of the tunnel. “What was that about us not being exhausted from this?” Jenn said with a chuckle as she took a drink from her canteen. “I believe I said it ‘shouldn’t’ I can in fact be wrong, it’s just uncommon.” Astos said with a smirk that caused Jenn to toss her now empty canteen at him. “You ready to head down there?” Astos said becoming serious for the moment. “Yeah, I may be a bit tired but I’m more than ready to kick some ass, I just want to get this all over with so we can head back home.” Jenn said with a sigh as her thoughts drifted to Vitam. “Well then let’s get this party started.” Said 'Astos' however there was something just a bit off about his tone that caused Jenn to look up Jenn felt her blood run cold as she found someone who was very much NOT Astos sitting where he had been. “Who th- FUUUUUUUUUCK“Jenn began to shout only for the ground below her to crumble causing her to tumble into the emptiness below. “Heh oh this is going to be FUN” the man said not having fallen to the depths below, with a snap of his fingers the hole Jenn had fallen into resealed itself and he disappeared becoming little more than a red mist as the walls that had kept the sand at bay crumbled leaving not a single trace of the entrance to the cavern below.
Luckily for Jenn the cavern she had fallen into was quite spacious, enough for her to grab hold of her senses and shift into ‘flight mode’ a few feet before she would have hit the ground below. The cavern was pitch black with only her smoke’s luminescence providing any light and as Jenn began thinking up how best to light up her way so she could find and tear the bastard who had done this apart the walls began to slowly light up as various runes began glowing with a pale red light. Now as the cavern began to become more visible Jenn could see that she was not alone, the man from before was in what she could best approximate to be the center of the room, the room provided just enough light for her to get a good look at him, tall, built like a fighter, skin a sort of ashy red with two small horns poking through short cropped black hair, the only clothing to speak of was a pair of baggy silk pants as his chest and arms were wrapped tightly with bandaging much like herself. “Good to see you Jenny, I KNEW if I mucked around enough with the idiots up top that you’d make your way to me eventually.” The man said giving her a toothy smile. “It was actually pretty fun getting to just hang around with you for a bit but it started getting boring after a bit so I decided to cut to the chase.” He said with a laugh, meanwhile Jenn fixed upon him a glare that by its intensity alone could kill a lesser man.
“Where. Is. Astos.” Jenn snarled as her smoke began whipping around her wildly her hands tightening into fists as she prepared herself to launch at the man at any moment to begin pummeling him until he told her what she wanted to know. Despite Jenn’s rage the man remained unperturbed and kept up a cocky grin “Needed to get rid of him for a bit Jenny, I didn’t want that idiot poking around here you’re the only one I needed to show up. But don’t worry he’s still in once piece… also alive, not exactly in the BEST shape but he’ll live… probably… I don’t actually care either way.” He said with a shrug, while relieved to know that Astos was still alive assuming she could believe a word that came out of the man’s mouth Jenn’s rage remained solidly in place. “LOVE that look, you’re beautiful when you’re angry.” The man said disturbing Jenn with how genuine the comment seemed to be. “I’m going to start hitting you now, whenever you’re ready to lead me to Astos give the word.” Jenn said as he eyes narrowed and she launched forward with all the speed she could muster closing the distance between herself and the man within seconds and taking a swing at him only to hit emptiness. “Hrm, almost disappointing how slow you are now, come on Jenny I KNOW you can do better than that.” The man said with a laugh from behind Jenn, before Jenn could twist around and take another swing at him she felt a sharp impact against her side as the man slammed his leg into her sending her flying into one of the caverns walls. “I almost feel BAD fighting you like this; you barely even stand a chance. Maybe I SHOULD just kill the human, maybe THAT could get your attention. I was hoping maybe just maybe you’d be a bit of fun like this but ugh It’s barely worth all the effort it’s taken to get you here. “ The man said with a dramatic sigh as he floated over to the wall Jenn had hit as she dug herself out of the impact crater.
With a howl of fury Jenn summoned a long sword and blasted out of the crater and up to the man taking swing after swing at him mixing in the occasional kick only for her blows to be dodged or deflected with little to no actual harm being inflicted on him Jenn let out another roar and abandoned actual swordsmanship entirely simply smashing the blade against the man’s arm with all the power she could muster the blade managed to cut into the man’s forearm but shortly after the raw force necessary caused the weapon to shatter, despite the wound the man was actually grinning. “Now that’s a bit better!” He said before nailing Jenn in the jaw with a hard right. “I guess threats DO work, usually you’re a bit more composed than this but I suppose this is an emotional time for you.” He said through a flurry of punches and kicks, Jenn managing to hold off a defense against the majority of them though finding that simply blocking did not actually do her much good due to the amount of power behind each hit. Everything the man was saying seemed like utter nonsense to her, some of it made a bit of sense but it was as if he already knew her, if he wasn’t such a threat she’d have taken the time to pry into what the hell he meant.
“I think though I know how to get you REALLY riled up Jenny” He said with a smirk “QUIT CALLING ME JENNY” Jenn said with an angry growl as she deflected a punch and managed to slip through he man’s guard and strike him in the chest, the strike actually causing a brief flicker of pain to flitter across the man’s expression before he retaliated nailing Jenn in the chest with enough impact to once again send her flying into a wall “That wasn’t bad Jenny, I knew If I could get you going this could be fun. Now let’s stop playing with the kid gloves. I said I could get you really riled up and here’s how. You’ve got ten minutes to show me the power I want to see from you or I kill the brat on the lookout.” The man said crossing his arms over his chest as he watched in anticipation for the reaction.
Back in the crater as the man spoke Jenn was pulling herself together, it was unbelievable how hard this guy could hit but of course if he could beat down the beast from earlier then it sort of made sense. Any further analytical thought on the situation was lost to Jenn however as the man issued his challenge, once again her blood ran cold but just as quickly her rage sent it boiling, the attack on Astos had been enough to send her into a fury that she hadn’t felt in a LONG time, but threatening Vitam, that had been enough to send her completely over the edge. The roar of fury unleashed from the crater and the explosion of energy caused the cavern to begin to shake under the intensity as rather suddenly blue smoke shifted to red and Jenn rocketed out of the crater at a speed far beyond what she had been capable of before. “THERE SHE IS!” the man said as he rapidly began blocking and dodging Jenns wild flurry of attacks. “THERES MY JENNY! I KNEW I COULD GET YOU TO DO IT!” The man said with wild grin as he defended himself before let out a shout of pain and surprise as he pulled away from Jenn as quickly as he could looking down for a brief moment he noted long claw marks on his arms where he had defensed the last few attacks from Jenn and it was then that he noticed the small shift Jenn had made, her hands possessed long sharp claws now.
“I’m going to enjoy gutting you, It’s been a long time since I had someone I could really hate and congratulations you stupid bastard cause I’m about to unleash a whole lot of pent up aggression.” Jenn said with a cold fury that sent a shiver down the man’s spine. “Good, let it go, stop letting them cage the anger. Let it out, show them what an Efreeti can do.” The man said with a grin, and while every fiber of her being screamed to tear him apart she paused. “What did you call me?” Jenn said her eyes narrowing as she prepared to strike if the man didn’t answer in a manner that she liked or if he simply made a move beyond breathing. “Efreeti, what you are. What I am.” He said a bit genuinely surprised that her curiosity had been enough to halt the onslaught. “I’m not a demon, I’m not like you.” Jenn growled as the red smoke began whipping around violently as she felt disgust over the concept of being anything like the man before her. “I’m aware, and I never claimed to be a demon. Your friend was simply a tad mistaken, surprisingly easy for the weak mind of a human to mix up Efreeti energy with Demon, Efreeti are a time of Genie, the most powerful type, I am a full blooded Efreti and you my lovely Jenny are lucky enough to be half Efreeti. You can feel the power of your heritage flowing through you can’t you? It’s probably helping you think a bit more clearly, to see that sticking around with those humans is a waste of your potential. I can HELP you Jenny, set you free. Bring you home.” He said and Jenn could practically feel the genuineness of his statement.
Apart of her COULD feel such feelings, this form brought forth all of her anger with the world. All the negativity she still felt towards the people of Earth. How much she hated her years of servitude to those who had wronged her. Jenn took a step towards him “Who are you?” Jenn asked “My name is Ketsueki. Jenny I a -“ Ketsueki began to explain further who he was but found the process far more difficult with a fist firmly lodged in his gut. The Efreeti coughed up blood; he’d barely even seen Jenn MOVE let alone felt her power up. “I told you, don’t call me Jenny. That’s a name only the people I like can call me. You think attacking me and my family is how you’ll get me to choose YOU, I’d sooner die than accept you’re ‘help’ even if it would free me. Now please do me a favor and die quickly.” Jenn said as she unleashed a wave of energy into Ketsueki’s gut separating the Efreeti’s upper half from his lower half, the two sections of the efreeti never quite hit the floor however as instead he burst into red mist and shot in every direction pieces enter into all of the runes in the cavern causing the light within the runes to be extinguished. Jenn let out a few ragged breaths as she felt around for Ketsueki’s energy signature, instead she could only sense Astos much further away, his signature weak but still very much alive. Finding Astos had been easy once Jenn took a moment to calm herself and power down, after that it had simply been a matter of blasting through the roof using the majority of her remaining energy to do so and the rest of her energy to fly them back to the safety of the Lookout all the while praying that Ketsueki had not actually had a means of attacking Vitam. Returning to the lookout Jenn immediately stormed the temple in search of Vitam and was overjoyed to simply find him in the kitchen making a sandwich, Jenn promptly passed out after explaining that she and Astos had succeeded and asking Vitam to drag Astos’ unconscious body into the temple before promptly passing out for two days.
