At First There Was a Church... [Open to all!]

[Bladeswipe]

It was a dark battle, Ombium VI was barren of life now and yet Asura would not relent, Caelus was down to his last dregs against her but she had been around longer, she held more power and he just couldn't fight her. Asura, the goddess of Time was going to defeat Caelus, the God of Space and most likely kill him.

The Lord of Space was against a rock now, his last reserves of magic and control gone and he hadn't defeated her, she was wounded heavily and limping from a broken ankle that just wouldn't heal. Caelus had to snicker at that, Asura had always been able to just reverse her time flow and heal wounds but it would appear she was losing control as well. "Only one thing for it now..." she whispered as she walked towards him. "Aye, get it done quickly if you want my damned power!" Caelus snarled back at Asura as she closed on him and rested a hand against his forehead. He knew what was coming, he had seen it enough to know what happened, she was going to erase him from Time itself and take his power for her own. "Have fun with Space...sister" Caelus muttered before all went black.

--

One of the great churches would undergo a rather... sudden and catastrophic change as all of the walls and the ceiling just exploded outwards, showering the surrounding hundred meters with bits of rock and metal. Thankfully though, there was no one in said church so no one was harmed unless they were it hit by falling rock. Unfortunately, it was a clear day and the dust from the rock would spread high into the sky, luring many people to come and see what had happened.

If any were to come, the church would just be in ruins, almost nothing whatsoever left of it, no traces of magic were present although a strange taste would be felt, it tasted of dark chocolate although it was very fleeting and very faint. If one were to dig into the rubble, they would find Caelus, unconscious and covered in dust but apparently unharmed despite the building just exploding.

[Rhindeer]

It had been a normal day, and Beatrid had nearly completed her early-morning patrol. It was almost time to switch out with a fresh Mordecai and then she could head home, decompress, and get some more mundane chores taken care of. Overall, it had been a good day--no disasters, no drama, no criminals to deal with.

Then, everything changed when the church exploded.

Beatrid had just passed by it when it happened--wood and stone cracked and then burst outward and she had just enough time to swear and drop into a crouch, hands over her head and eyes shut, before a shower of rubble and rock came raining down. None was big enough to seriously injure, but a few larger chunks struck her back and arms and made her grunt in pain. Fuck. Probably leave some good-sized bruises, but in the end, she was unscathed and whole. She waited a couple seconds to be sure it was done, then stood, debris tumbling off of her.

Ansgar's balls!

Fortunately, it was early enough that most folk were still in bed--though no longer asleep, thanks to the noise! Many were poking their heads out of their doors, eyes wide with fear. And what of the folks inside the church? The Father, any acolytes? Loosening the sword at her hip, Beatrid tore off for the church.

"Hello!" she called, climbing over the rubble and pushing some larger stones aside. "Is anyone in there? Are you hurt?" She found the door, half buried by rubble, and she had to shove aside a chunk of wood that may have once been part of a ceiling rafter. Grabbing the door handle, she yanked hard, got it open just wide enough to fit her body through, and slipped inside.

Inside, it was a mess, but it looked empty. Perhaps the Father had been out to gather water or something, thank God. Picking her way over the damage, Beatrid kept calling out to be sure---and that was when she saw it.

Hair poking out of one of the rubble piles.

"Shit..."

She stumbled her way over to the pile and started to dig, dreading what she would find--a mutilated body, no doubt--but instead found a man. Not dead--she pressed fingers to his throat just under his jaw and held a hand under his nose to make sure he was breathing. Just unconscious.

This was too strange.

Satisfied that he was alive, she gave him a hard shake, then smacked his face. "Wake up."

[Heartfrost]

The Baroness of Videns was jumpy. Something seldom seen, but who could blame her? Someone born and raised in Serendipity where magic was a second nature, visiting Connlaoth. The country where magic was forbidden and magic-users hunted down and burned. That's what people said at least. It didn't matter that the Baroness was here on a political mission and that her escort had assured her she would be safe as long as she didn't use any magic. After all, being a mage wasn't illegal. Using magic was.

This didn't do much to comfort Nessa of the Great House Feyal. The green-eyed baroness gazed out from her carriage. It was early morning and few people to be seen. This didn't matter to the raven-haired woman. She knew someone was out there and she didn't need magic to know that. Why? Because she couldn't use her magic. This meant that one of those ... those Mordecais was out there. The Jade Baroness shivered. No she'd be satiesfied the moment she was over the border, sound and safe in her own lands.

The Baroness rubbed her temples, trying to relieve some of the stress she felt. Unable to use magic, she felt naked, robbed of her second half. Luckily the Mordecais field didn't affect magic used before entering. Nessa's skin looked as smooth as ever, her green travelling dress stroking her enchanted curves. Nessa leaned back and the carriage stopped. They wanted for her servant, the young boy Geoffrey. He'd be fourteen this summer, Nessa mused while she waited.
To think of that, what took the boy so long? He was to go into the church, deliver the message and then come back. Where was he?

It was just about now that the church exploded. The carriage shook, the horses whinnied and was about to start a mad frenzy. Nessa was quicker. She was already out of the carriage, tugging on the horses leather harness, screaming to the driver to hold 'em horses!
Then she spun around, her eyes wide. Before her lay a ruin. The grand church which had just been there was ... gone. Piles upon piles of rubble lay there instead.
"How could anyone have survived that?" was the thought that went through Nessa's mind before she broke into a sprint. One of hers was in there! One of her servants! And she blamed herself. She was meant to protect the people of Altas Verde. Not send them into exploding churches. While Nessa ran she caught the glimpse of another woman in the corner of her eye. Nessa stopped, only to follow the woman inside the church when she found a door.

Nessa entered and she realised something. She couldn't taste magic in the air. Her instincts told her that something like this could not have been achieved without magic. She didn't even think Connlaoth had a weapon this powerful, to blow up entire buildings in mere moments. So where was the magic?

Nessa followed the other woman and fell to her knees, to help her dig. Nessa too had seen the hair and she nursed a vain hope that maybe it was her servant, still alive. She didn't care that her emerald green dress got dirty or that her nails broke. Garments could be replaced, nails grew out again. A life could never be replaced.

Nessa could barely hide her disappointment when the man in the rubble proved to be another.
"Is he alive?" she asked the braided woman. Very soon Nessa got her question answered. No one would slap another and tell them to wake up if they were dead. Well, maybe somebody who didn't know what they were doing, but this woman looked like a soldier and a soldier probably would know.

[Bladeswipe]

It felt as though he was being torn asunder. As though an entire part of himself was ripped away and then removed, he felt empty, almost dead, as though he shouldn't be able to exist without that part of himself.

It was then that he felt it, a part of the lost section was returning to him but it seemed as though it had went through a catastrophic change, it was smaller, it was weaker and it didn't make him feel whole but it was better than nothing.

Then he was dragged out of the black abyss that he was in, something was drawing him away and back to consciousness. Ow... He thought, something painful smacking him, it would seem that he might be in danger.

Black eyes opened onto dust and a person above him, someone who seemed rather worried or angry. The same black eyes shot to the side and spotted a second person who was looking worried as well. Time to move, eh? He thought to himself and vanished before appearing next to the Mordecai, standing upright with his arms crossed over his chest. Not a single ounce of magic would be felt as he done so but it was obvious he couldn't have done so without something special.

"Right, people are touching me, that's not a good thing" He murmured and dusted himself off before shaking his hair free of dust and hopping back, an orb of violet energy appearing in his left hand. "Now, until my questions are answered, no one comes any closer or I will blow you into chunks" His voice told them that he believed it was a valid threat.

"First question, where the hell am I? The last thing I remember... actually, I don't remember anything but that doesn't matter." He growled softly and narrowed his eyes, the orb in his hand expanding slightly as it started to absorb stray spatial energies that floated around. Strangely though, it wouldn't be suppressed by the Mordecai's ability nor would it give off any magical signature at all. In fact, this orb was made of pure, compressed cosmic energy and radiation.

[Rhindeer]

Fuck. The commotion had drawn snoopers.

Giving the woman a sidelong look, Beatrid opened her mouth to answer, to tell her to leave and let herself and other soldiers handle it--because surely others would be on the way; that was no small blast, and nothing natural could have caused it. Every Mordecai in the vicinity would be here soon. But the words never left her mouth, because the man moved.

Not just moved as in woke up, which he did, but one second he was there and the next he was standing off to the side. A chill went through Beatrid, the hairs along her arms and neck standing on end, and that dread only increased when he formed a ball of light.

Shiiiit.

She didn't know how he was doing it, but his statement answered at least one of her questions--such as how this had happened.

He had blown up the church.

The only question that remained was how the fuck he was doing this now? Another chill rushed through her as she thought that, maybe, her blessing was failing, that her Mordecaism was faltering somehow, but she reined in the panic and stared him down, remaining kneeling where she was and keeping both hands up and away from the sword buckled at her hip.

The others would be arriving soon.

She kept her voice calm as she answered, even as her heart drummed in her chest. In a way, her Mordecaism made her feel protected if not invincible, her main defense against the chaos of magic, and now she felt naked in the face of it. Could you lose your ability? Had it happened to any Mordecai before? She took a deep breath to try and still those thoughts; they wouldn't help her here.

"You're in Reajh," she answered, voice cold and even. "In the church you destroyed." She lifted an eyebrow. "I find it hard to believe none of that is memorable."

She flicked a glance at the other woman, gave her a warning look. Hopefully she listened to him and stood down as well. There was a time and place for heroics; this wasn't it.