Legacy of Kain: Torments from the Abyss

[Scrab Demon]

Anima chuckled. "Perhaps it's because I'm physically here to kick you, rather than trying to argue using a disembodied voice." She answered, nudging his head with the tip of her boot to punctuate her point.

"You can't get rid of me now. You don't have the strength to even do away with a 'little girl' such as myself." She mocked, smirking.

"You have no choice...No, you have two," She corrected herself.

"You can feed..." She paused to extend an arm behind her, using her supernatural abilities to reel in a particularly noisy spirit. It only got louder when it became aware of Raziel, screaming and trying to struggle away from Anima's hold.

"Or you can suffer an eternity at my hands. Take your pick." She concluded, grinning evilly.

She honestly didn't mind if he chose to stay. He was an interesting looking creature, and she was eager to start unravelling him and unearthing his inner mind.  

[Reaver Of Souls Raziel]

Raziel didn't appreciate being threatened, not in the least. Little girl or no, he would show her exactly what she was dealing with and make her regret ever coming here to meet him. Maybe he would make her an example to Elder God of what happened to people who bothered him.

With a glare of defiance and all the effort he could muster, Raziel sat up and tugged down his cowl, an unearthly light appearing from the gaping maw that once held his lower jaw. Bit by bit, the soul was slowly being drawn in as it screamed in terror.

With his free hand, Raziel grasped Anima's wrist, tugging her down close to his face, fixing her with a hard look and hissing. "Is this what you want...? With my energy restored, there's nothing stopping me from devouring you next. You better get a good, hard look at what you're meddling with, child." His eyes flickered brightly, partially from the intensity in them and also from the new energy his meal was filling him with.  

[Scrab Demon]

Anima gasped from the sudden movement, staggering slightly to keep her balance.

She supressed her rising fear, and looked the irritated wraith in the eyes.

"And? What good would it do? What will stop me from coming back? You devour me, and I will merely be sent back to the Master. Besides..." She couldn't help but smirk in triumph.

"I got you to feed."  

[Reaver Of Souls Raziel]

Raziel narrowed his eyes at her and once he was done feeding, he let go of her hand after not so gently pushing it away. "Impertinent child..." He muttered, readjusting his cowl to cover his face. He then stood up on somewhat wobbly legs, not use to putting weight on them after such a long time of being imobile.

"Getting me to feed was the only thing you could do and you're fortunate that I don't put my returned strength to good use and wring your scrawny neck." While the thought of doing so was appealing, Raziel was no bully; he left the bullying around here to Elder God.

Once Raziel deemed his legs were sturdy enough to do so, he put one foot in front of the other and began to walk away from the other. While he was up, he figured he may as well get rid of some of this pent up frustration by finding a Archon or two to slaughter.  

[Scrab Demon]

Anima smiled. Partially from the flood of relief she was experiancing as the angered wraith walked away from her. She had felt the growing strength in those claws as he had firmly held her wrist, and wasn't too fond of experiancing the pain that was sure to follow his wrath.

But she smiled mostly because she had managed to do what the great Elder God had not.

She was eager to find out just how far she could go with this...

Her resolve strengthened, she followed the wraith, observing him while maintaining a large distance between them. Perhaps he would be more reasonable once the initial anger wore off.  

[Reaver Of Souls Raziel]

Knowing that Anima was following him, Raziel decided it would do the girl good to witness a demonstration of his awesome power, maybe then would she fully understand that he wasn't a force to trifle with.

It didn't take him long to fine two Archons - they had probably come to feast on the abundance of newly arrived souls. Raziel wasted no time, and before they had a chance to spot him, he had already leapt between them, swinging his wraith blade around in an arc and catching them both with one swing. In their surprise and confusion, it didn't take Raziel long to destroy them both, only receiving minimal damage to himself. Oh yes, he still had it~  

[Scrab Demon]

From the cover of several warped pillars, Anima watched the scuffle, eyes wide.

He had already summoned his strange weapon and managed to land a few blows before she could blink.

That...weapon.

Her eyes followed it throughout the short battle, hypnotized by it's otherworldly screeches as it was swung about. There was something about it... that resonated with her.

Then she felt it.

Ravenous.

Insatiable.

...Madness.

Her eyes quickly pooled a solid black, her senses on edge. Yes, she could see it now. It clouded the ethereal blade like a poisonous miasma.

Delicious insanity. A mind left to writhe in darkness for eons. Shattered like glass, unable to be pieced together again.

She MUST have that spirit. Rows of razor sharp teeth were uncovered in a twisted snarl of anticipation.

A sudden burning sensation crawled it's way across her skin, making her recoil in pain.

That's right. She was being watched, wasn't she?

She took a few deep breaths and regained her senses, recovering from that 'reminder'.

This one was important to the Master. She narrowed her eyes in annoyance. She couldn't have this one.

Anima poked her head back out of cover, only to find that the fight had ended.  

[Reaver Of Souls Raziel]

Now that both Raziel and his twin soul's appetite for battle had been sated, the wraith blade crawled back up his arm, but its glow was still quite visible in the darkness of the spectral realm.

Raziel made sure there was no other enemies around before he checked over his shoulder to see if Anima was still there. Persistent little thing, wasn't she? Raziel's couldn't help but feel his curiosity pique; why of all creatures would Elder God choose something that resembled a small child?

Raziel gestured her to come out with a flick of his head. "Come here, child. I wish to speak with you. Don't worry, I will not harm you." Raziel was all bark before; although being a vampire gave him a natural lust for killing, there was no satisfaction in attacking something defenceless, be it child or animal.  

[Scrab Demon]

Apprehension settled in her stomach, and she pushed away the feeling as she stepped out from her cover, making her way towards the wraith.

"Yes? What is it?" She replied, coming to stand before him at a comfortable distance. She couldn't help but steal a quick glance at his arm, before meeting his eyes.  

[Reaver Of Souls Raziel]

"Your name's Anima, correct?" Raziel hadn't really been paying attention when she had told him who she was, too wrapped up in wallowing in his own despair. It was kind of pathetic, now that he thought about it, he couldn't believe he let himself get that way...

"Who -- or what, are you, exactly? Why did Elder God choose you, a mere child, to do his bidding?" Raziel asked, looking over her form. Raziel may have been nothing more than a corded skeleton, but compared to this thin, frail looking child, he looked downright muscular.  

[Scrab Demon]

Anima furrowed her brows in thought. "It has been a long time since I came into his hands..." She explained, a distant look in her eyes as she attempted to remember.

She shook her head slightly, as if giving up her pursuit of the memory.

"But I am his childe. He created me. Made me to be what I am." She declared with a sense of childish pride, displaying those knife-like teeth in a contented grin.  

[Reaver Of Souls Raziel]

It unnerved Raziel to see a child with a grin disturbingly similar to Kain's - full of pride and sharp fangs.

"Made you into a monster..." Raziel said offhandedly, forcing his gaze away from that sickening smile and giving a dismissive shrug. "At least one of us is happy with what we have become." He couldn't hide the disdain in his voice, even if he wanted to.

"So what now? What are your Master's instructions to me? I'd ask him myself, but after our last spat, I don't think we're on speaking terms anymore." Raziel said, an invisible smirk tugging at his lips; he took great pride in being able to get under the creature's skin. Eternal patience? Yeah right...  

[Scrab Demon]

Anima chuckled. "Yes, I've heard him trying to 'persuade' you. The old man has lost all patience with you, which is a very hard thing to achieve. Congratulations. You've done the impossible." She joked, choosing to ignore Raziel's comments.

Besides, she wouldn't use the term 'monster'. It was just too plain for her.

She preffered something more like 'malevolent force', or maybe even 'a fiend of maliciousness'. She loved being completely and utterly wicked, given the chance.

She did thrive on suffering after all, and she wouldn't change it for the world.

"I might be his childe, but that does not mean that I know what he plots. For the short term, I was to make sure that you regained your strength and returned to the physical realm." She explained, glancing upwards.  

[Reaver Of Souls Raziel]

Now that Raziel was feeling better and had put his depression behind him, he felt he was ready to return to the physical realm... however, he wouldn't let Anima know that, at least not until he knew a little more about her.

He crossed his arms over his chest, raising an eyebrow at the small girl. "And how exactly are you planning to make me follow through with this? Yes, you did convince me to feed, but if I had chosen not to do so, in my weakened state, I do not doubt you could have made my world even more miserable than it already was. Although now that I have my strength back, I feel I'm hardly in the position to be taking orders from someone like you; Elder God's childe or not, you're still just a child." Raziel said, his turn to give a smug smirk.  

[Scrab Demon]

Anima looked up at him, her expression tightened in irritated dissapointment. "I wouldn't expect you to cooperate now..." She sighed, crossing her arms.

"However, you still don't have any other options. There's nothing here for you. I doubt you'd just sit here in the spectral realm, picking what's left of your nose for the rest of eternity. Unless you're looking to become a superior archon, then I'm sure something could be arranged." She pointed out, sarcasm leaking into her voice.

"There's something you need to find in the physical realm, and standing here won't get you anywhere."

"Besides, I don't appreciate being judged by my appearance, and it won't do you any good." she muttered, looking away.

It still rubbed her the wrong way when people underestimated her because she looked like a child. Those snooty humans had learned, and this creature would learn as well.